Sex Differences In Socialization Research Articles

Causal evidence for the adaptive benefits of social foraging in the wild

Sociality is a fundamental organizing principle across taxa, thought to come with a suite of adaptive benefits. However, making causal inferences about these adaptive benefits requires experimental manipulation of the social environment, which is rarely feasible in the field. Here we manipulated the number of conspecifics in Trinidadian guppies (Poecilia reticulata) in the wild, and quantified how this affected a key benefit of sociality, social foraging, by investigating several components of foraging success. As adaptive benefits of social foraging may differ between sexes, we studied males and females separately, expecting females, the more social and risk-averse sex in guppies, to benefit more from conspecifics. Conducting over 1600 foraging trials, we found that in both sexes, increasing the number of conspecifics led to faster detection of novel food patches and a higher probability of feeding following detection of the patch, resulting in greater individual resource consumption. The extent of the latter relationship differed between the sexes, with males unexpectedly exhibiting a stronger social benefit. Our study provides rare causal evidence for the adaptive benefits of social foraging in the wild, and highlights that sex differences in sociality do not necessarily imply an unequal ability to profit from the presence of others.

Why do men stigmatize individuals with eating disorders more than women? Experimental evidence that sex differences in conformity to gender norms, not biological sex, drive eating disorders’ stigmatization

ABSTRACTPrevious research has shown that men are more stigmatizing than women toward individuals with eating disorders, including anorexia nervosa and muscle dysmorphia. We hypothesized that previously observed sex differences in eating disorders’ stigmatization are driven by sex differences in individuals’ levels of conformity to masculine and feminine gender norms. Young adults (N = 545) completed validated measures of conformity to masculine and feminine norms and were then randomly assigned to read a character description of a male or female individual with anorexia or muscle dysmorphia. Subsequently, participants’ stigmatizing attitudes toward the characters were assessed. Multivariate analyses indicated that participants’ conformity to masculine and feminine norms were superior predictors of stigmatization relative to biological sex (male/female). Further, participants’ conformity to masculine norms, but not feminine norms, was significantly predictive of stigmatization. Specific masculine norms predictive of eating disorders’ stigmatization included self-reliance and heterosexual self-presentation. Our findings argue against the notion that men are intrinsically more stigmatizing of eating disorders than women; rather, sex differences in socialization to masculine gender norms may drive stigmatization. Importantly, our study highlights masculine gender norm conformity as a target for researchers involved in the development of prevention programs for eating disorders’ stigmatization.

Competition-related factors directly influence preferences for facial cues of dominance in allies.

Alliance formation is a critical dimension of social intelligence in political, social and biological systems. As some allies may provide greater “leverage” than others during social conflict, the cognitive architecture that supports alliance formation in humans may be shaped by recent experience, for example in light of the outcomes of violent or non-violent forms intrasexual competition. Here we used experimental priming techniques to explore this issue. Consistent with our predictions, while men’s preferences for dominant allies strengthened following losses (compared to victories) in violent intrasexual contests, women’s preferences for dominant allies weakened following losses (compared to victories) in violent intrasexual contests. Our findings suggest that while men may prefer dominant (i.e. masculine) allies following losses in violent confrontation in order to facilitate successful resource competition, women may “tend and befriend” following this scenario and seek support from prosocial (i.e. feminine) allies and/or avoid the potential costs of dominant allies as long-term social partners. Moreover, they demonstrate facultative responses to signals related to dominance in allies, which may shape sex differences in sociality in light of recent experience and suggest that intrasexual selection has shaped social intelligence in humans.Significance statementAlthough alliance formation is an important facet of social intelligence in political and biological systems, we know relatively little about the cognitive processes involved in social preferences for allies. As recent experience may alter the leverage provided by different social partners, here we tested whether preferences for facial cues to dominance-prosociality (masculinity-femininity) alter in light of recent experience of violent and economic contests for status. Our findings demonstrate sex-specific responses to these facial cues. While men’s preferences for facial cues related to dominance in allies strengthen following losses (compared to wins) in violent contests, women’s preferences for facial cues related to dominance in allies weaken following losses (compared to wins) in violent contests. These findings suggest that intrasexual selection, in part, has shaped the evolution of social intelligence in humans as revealed in flexibility in social preferences for allies.

Women, power, and sex composition in small groups: an evolutionary perspective

AbstractDespite the massive influx of women into the workforce, women have made only minor gains into top management positions. Most explanations for this asymmetry have been based on sex differences in socialization and traits. We propose that an evolutionary psychological perspective offers an alternative explanation: sex differences in power are due to differences in the way men and women use influence behaviors insmall groups, and these differences were sculpted, in part, by natural selection. This produced sex differences in psychological and physiological mechanisms—principally in the neuroendocrine system—that influence motivations to use influence in groups. We review studies on sex differences in influence in small groups. For each type of influence behavior that we examine—competition, dominance, and coalition formation—we discuss ultimate and proximate causes. We conclude with implications for future research and for public and organizational policy. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Post-nestling behaviour in goshawks, Accipiter gentilis: II. Sex differences in sociality and nest-switching

Abstract. Relationships between juvenile male and female goshawks, Accipiter gentilis , were studied in 130 fledged broods, in which 187 young hawks were radio-tagged during 1980-1984. The proportion of the smaller male goshawks was least at fledging in broods that had lost most young, possibly because of siblicide by females. Males dispersed at an earlier age than females, especially from large broods and in areas where there were few rabbits; females dispersed early only from broods that hatched late. Distances moved after dispersal were related to rabbit abundance, with males killing fewer rabbits and moving further than females. During the post-fledging period, the spacing of siblings was significantly aggregative in randomization tests. Male fledglings stayed together with other males less than females stayed with other females, but males did not avoid females more than other males, nor did having female siblings accelerate male dispersal. It is therefore suggested that the males dispersed early from poor food areas because they were better developed than females and therefore better able to fend for themselves when food-stressed, and not as a result of being driven away by sisters; their absence would also leave more food for their kin. Eleven early dispensers (10 male, one female) were then recorded for 1-10 days at goshawk nests 2·5-23 km from their own. They switched mainly to nests in the rabbit-rich area, either because only these nests were profitable as a source of food, or because intruders were tolerated only where there was enough food for them not to prejudice the survival of residents.

Continuities and discontinuities in self-regulatory and self-evaluative processes: a developmental theory relating self and affect.

This article presents a developmental theory of the relation between self and affect. Self-discrepancy theory (Higgins, 1987) is used as a framework for considering developmental and individual differences in children's self-concepts, self-regulation, and self-evaluation. Developmental changes in children's representational capacities are described that produce developmental shifts in this self-system. Different modes of caretaker-child interaction are distinguished in terms of how features of the interaction impact psychologically on the child. The implications of these differences for children's self-system and emotional/behavioral vulnerabilities are discussed. The development of self-regulatory and self-evaluative processes are distinguished with respect to developmental continuities and discontinuities. Patterns of sex differences in socialization, conduct, and emotional problems are described to exemplify the need for distinguishing these two processes developmentally. The question is raised whether children can be socialized to maximize the positive conduct valued by society and the positive self-regard valued by individuals.

Instrumental and expressive socialization: A false dichotomy

Barry, Bacon, and Child's (1957) cross-cultural study of sex differences in childhood socialization has been influential in bolstering the instrumental—expressive sex-role dichotomy. We critique their method of data analysis and factor analyze their data. Expressive and instrumental socialization are found to be separate factors or dimensions, rather than opposite ends of a single dichotomy. Additionally, no factor representing sex differences in socialization emerges, but rather each factor tends to contain substantively similar emphases in the training of both boys and girls.

Economy and Child Training Reexamined

The research by Barry, Bacon, and Child 1957 and Barry, Child, and Bacon 1959 on childhood socialization and economy is among the most influential of cross-cultural studies in the scope of its impact. This research showed that sex differences in socialization and demands for compliance both tend to be related to the mode of subsistence production in societies. Linking social structure to child training and personality development in a systematic, empirical way, these studies were well received by social scientists in a variety of disciplines. Various parts of this work were widely cited, reprinted, and used in classrooms during the decade following publication, and this interest continues. For example, some research activity has been stimulated (Bolton, Bolton, Gross, Koel, Michelson, Munroe, and Munroe 1976; Cone 1979) and subsequent sets of data codes have been published (Barry and Paxson 1971; Barry, Josephson, Lauer, and Marshall 1976, 1977). The upsurge of work on gender during the past decade often has referred to the work on sex differences in socialization (cf. Tavris and Offir 1984) and has reflected a renewed interest in sex-role socialization.

Sex Differences in Socialization and Family Dynamics of Female and Male Heroin Users

This article examines gender differences in socialization experiences and family dynamics of heroin addicted women and men. While problems do exist in the families of drug addicts, these data indicate a lack of severe pathology in family functioning. However, the existing familial conflicts suggest important gender differences in retrospective perceptions. Initial drug use for women was more closely related to interpersonal affiliative issues. Women who use heroin are more likely to seek out an addict peer group because of poor self‐image and as a reaction to an unhappy family situation. Men, in contrast, experienced the greatest difficulty in their early years with extra‐familial forces, such as school, poverty and peers. Peer group activity was a more important influence on the male addicts' initial drug use. Men were also significantly more likely to report using alcohol and illegal drugs for peer acceptance. Both groups described their mothers more positively than their fathers, with men reporting the most postitve attitudes towards mother. Both addicted men and women need assistance in working through early relationships and in developing realistic vocational goals. These results also indicate the need for family members to participate in drug rehabilitation.

Can Sociality Have a Favorite Sex Chromosome?

A number of models have recently been proposed that attempt to explain the origin and maintenance of sex-biased sociality among diploid organisms. Like models of the evolution of sociality in haplodiploid species which rely on relatedness asymmetries, sex-linked altruism models, by assuming a genetic substrate for sociality on sex chromosomes, also rely on asymmetries in (sex chromosome) relatedness to account for observed sex differences in sociality. However, sex-linked altruism necessarily entails within-genome conflict and instability leading to suppression of the sociality gene's activity. On the other hand, these sociobiological models do serve to raise some rather basic questions about the levels of selection and even the origin and maintenance of sexuality.

Getting Involved in Sport: Sex Differences

Despite the social change of the last decade or so, everyday observation reveals that the sexes still tend to live in different social worlds: one for boys (sports, business) and another for girls (babies, typing). In the latter, serious ac tive involvement in sport — ''masculine" sports in particular — seems generally not encouraged. An extensive literature on sex-role socialization illuminates the mechanisms that explain why this is so. The other side of the coin, however, is less apparent. What social forces account for those girls and women who do become seriously involved in sport? Do they undergo socialization similar to, or significantly different than, their male counterparts? In recent years, a few researchers have begun to pay attention to this pro cess (see Kenyon and WcPherson, 1972), and some of the more important determi nants of sport involvement have emerged-for males. Not surprisingly, there is a paucity of research on wemen, a commentary probably both on their devalued status relative to men and on the tension between the roles, "female" and ''athlete". The present paper adds to the small amount of empirical data that have begun to fill this void. It focuses on sex differences in socialization into sport; specifical ly, on the influence of socializing agents.

Type A behavior pattern and coronary heart disease in men and women

In the United States, the risk of coronary heart disease is twice as great in men as in women. Men's excess vulnerability may be due in part to hormonal factors, but cultural factors appear to play a very important role. In the U.S. men smoke more than women and more often develop the hard-driving Type A Behavior Pattern, and these behavioral differences are major causes of men's higher rates of coronary heart disease. These sex differences in behaviour are strongly influenced by culture and socialization. Sex differences in socialization might be expected for the Type A behavior pattern, since this behavior pattern appears to contribute significantly to success in traditional male roles, but not to success in traditional female roles.

A cross-cultural survey of some sex differences in socialization.

A cross-cultural survey of some sex differences in socialization.