Negative Consequences For Women Research Articles

Shaken Confidence: The Effects of an Authority Figure's Flirtatiousness on Women's and Men's Self-Rated Creativity

Anecdotal evidence suggests that sexual harassment may cause women to doubt their abilities, attributing their success to their professor's or supervisor's attraction to them rather than to their qualifications. Two experiments assessed whether a decrease in confidence could result from something as seemingly harmless as flirting. In Experiment 1, a male confederate posing as an advertising executive asked 56 female students to draw an advertisement, which he then praised. He behaved either flirtatiously or neutrally. In Experiment 2, female and male students interacted with a flirtatious or neutral advertisement executive of the other gender. In both experiments, women's self-creativity ratings decreased significantly more from pre-to posttest in the flirtatious condition than in the control condition. Men were affected less than women by the ad executive's flirtatiousness. The results suggest that flirtatiousness by an authority figure may have negative consequences for women's self-confidence.

Relationship Violence by Women: Issues and Implications

This article presents an analysis of the use of violence by women against their intimate partners. Although women may use violence as often as men do, both the motives for and the effects of women's violence are quite different. The political agenda of some observers caused them to ignore or downplay violence by women, fearing that attention would be diverted from the more serious problem of male violence. Such a strategy is likely to have negative consequences for women and science. Finally, implications for prevention, intervention, and research are discussed.

Empty nest, cohort, and employment in the well-being of midlife women

Whether the empty-nest experience has positive or negative consequences for women's well-being at midlife may depend on their historical cohort membership and employment status. In this study, it was posited that the empty nest was likely to be a negative experience among the particular cohort of women (Cohort II) who reached adulthood during the period of strong societal emphasis on women's maternal role known as the feminine mystique, would be experienced positively among the earlier cohort (Cohort I) who as young adults were encouraged to enter the labor force during World War II. Analyses of covariance tested the relationships among empty-nest status, cohort membership, and employment status, and three measures of psychological well-being, adjusted for age, education, and marital status. The results of this study show that cohort and employment each have important independent associations with women's well-being at midlife, but that the experience of the empty nest depends on these two factors, especially cohort experiences.

Economic pragmatism and the ideology of sexism: Prison policy and women

For many years, women prisoners have been denied the same facilities and services as men and their particular needs have been overlooked. Corrections practices and policies reflect not only attention to cost-cutting and economies of scale, but also an ideology of sexism. This article gives examples of the unequal and inadequate treatment of women in prison in Victoria, Australia, and then takes four policy issues which have negative consequences for women. Analysis of female prison populations points to the need for non-custodial sentences, affirmative action in vocational/work areas and programmes for drug abusers. For too long, governments have emphasized control, punishment and smooth management to the exclusion of facilities and programmes that respond to the needs of clients.