Strong Gender Effect Research Articles

Taking sides: Gender and third‐party partisanship in disputes

AbstractWe examine the role of a norm protecting women in understanding third‐party partisanship in verbal and violent disputes. Our analyses are based on reports provided by male inmates and men they know who have never been arrested. The results show that third parties are more likely to support female adversaries than male adversaries. The gender effect is stronger when we control for the relational distance between adversaries, which indicates that a privacy norm might inhibit this normative protection. The gender effect is somewhat weaker when we control for the relative physical size of the adversaries, which indicates that a general norm protecting vulnerable people partly explains the gender effect. The strong gender effect that remains, however, demonstrates the importance of the normative protection of women, regardless of relative size, during disputes. The results have implications for research on situational factors in violence and violence against women.

Do gender and age affect willingness to ride in driverless vehicles: If so, then why?

BackgroundIn the past few years, there have been great strides in the development of technology for driverless vehicles. However, research into consumer perceptions of this technology has lagged behind the technology itself. A few reports have indicated that age and gender might have effects on consumers’ willingness to ride in driverless vehicles; however, to date, none of these studies has sufficiently explained why these effects occur. The current study seeks to address this gap with a causal mediation model using various scales and emotional responses as potential mediators. MethodsIn three studies, participants were presented with two hypothetical scenarios about riding in a driverless ambulance or car. They responded to five previously validated scales and provided six emotional responses to the scenarios. These 11 potential mediators were tested in order to develop a causal model. ResultsThe data was mixed with regards to the effect of Age on willingness to ride in driverless vehicles. There was a strong effect of Gender across all three studies, with females being less willing to ride compared to their male counterparts. This effect is explained largely by fear. The cause of fear is largely explained by participants’ perceptions on the complexity and value of driverless vehicles, as well as the “fun factor” involved. ConclusionsWhen reporting what type of person is willing, or not willing, to ride in a driverless vehicle, it is also important to note why they respond in this manner.

Job Mobility, Tenure, and Promotions in Political Science PhD-Granting Departments, 2002–2017: Cohort, Gender, and Citation-Count Effects

ABSTRACTUsing updated data from 2002 and 2017 on the political science discipline, we show how the cohort and gender composition of US PhD-granting departments has changed dramatically over time. Integrating 2002 and 2017 data, we examine overall patterns and gender differences in job mobility, tenure and promotion, and university prestige level among non-emeritus 2002 faculty, controlling for cohort effects. Even with this control, we find strong gender effects in some of these success dimensions. We then introduce another variable, citation counts, and find that women are consistently less cited than men, with important variations in the pattern across different cohorts. A control for citation counts show that some of these gender differences tend to disappear and we consider possible explanations for these findings.

Unfavourable gender effect of high body mass index on brain metabolism and connectivity

The influence of Body Mass Index (BMI) on neurodegeneration in dementia has yet to be elucidated. We aimed at exploring the effects of BMI levels on cerebral resting-state metabolism and brain connectivity, as crucial measures of synaptic function and activity, in a large group of patients with Alzheimer’s Dementia (AD) (n = 206), considering gender. We tested the correlation between BMI levels and brain metabolism, as assessed by 18F-FDG-PET, and the modulation of the resting-state functional networks by BMI. At comparable dementia severity, females with high BMI can withstand a lower degree of brain metabolism dysfunction, as shown by a significant BMI-brain metabolism correlation in the temporal-parietal regions, which are typically vulnerable to AD pathology (R = 0.269, p = 0.009). Of note, high BMI was also associated with reduced connectivity in frontal and limbic brain networks, again only in AD females (p < 0.05 FDR-corrected, k = 100 voxels). This suggests a major vulnerability of neural systems known to be selectively involved in brain compensatory mechanisms in AD females. These findings indicate a strong gender effect of high BMI and obesity in AD, namely reducing the available reserve mechanisms in female patients. This brings to considerations for medical practice and health policy.

The Effects of Pitch, Gender, and Prosodic Context on the Identification of Creaky Voice

Background/Aims: Creaky voice in American English plays both a prosodic role, as a phrase-final marker, and a sociolinguistic one, but it is unclear how accurately naïve listeners can identify creak, and what factors facilitate or hinder ist identification. Methods: In this study, American listeners are presented with 2 experiments containing stimuli from both high- and low-pitched male and female speakers. Other manipulations include whether the auditory stimulus is a full sentence or a sentence fragment, and whether it is completely modally voiced, completely creaky, or partially creaky (final 40-50% of the utterance). Results: Accuracy is lowest on partial creak, suggesting that creaky voice is least salient when it serves as an utterance-final marker. There are no strong gender effects aside from a weak tendency to identify creak more often in females than males in the whole creak condition in one experiment. In contrast, when no creak is present, listeners false alarm on the low-pitched males. Conclusion: Rates of identifying creak in male and female speakers are similar, suggesting that listeners have a comparable ability to hear creaky voice in all speakers.

Determinants of cardiac repolarization and risk for ventricular arrhythmias during mild therapeutic hypothermia

PurposeWe aimed to investigate the factors that modulate the extent of QTc prolongation and potential arrhythmogenic consequences during mild therapeutic hypothermia (MTH). MethodsWe studied 205 patients after out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (131 underwent MTH). QTc was measured at baseline, 3h, 6h, 12h, 24h (end of hypothermia), 48h and 72h, and ventricular arrhythmias quantified. ResultsDuring MTH, the QTc interval increased progressively peaking at 12h (mean increase 42ms, 95% CI 30–55). There was a strong gender effect (P<0.001) and a significant gender-by-MTH interaction (P=0.004). At 12h, the QTc interval was markedly longer in women as compared with men (mean difference 50ms [95% CI 27–73]. Anoxic brain injury (P=0.002) was also positively associated with QTc prolongation. The risk for ventricular arrhythmic events was not higher with MTH compared with no hypothermia (incidence rate ratio 0.57, 95% CI 0.32–1.02, P=0.06). However, typical cases of Torsade de pointes occurred in association with AV block and LQT2. ConclusionQTc prolongation during MTH is strongly affected by female gender and moderately by concomitant anoxic brain injury. Although the overall risk for ventricular arrhythmias is not greater with MTH, Torsade de pointes may develop when other contributing factors coexist.

Gender and anthropometric effects on whole-body vibration power absorption of the seated body

The gender and anthropometric effects on vibration absorbed power characteristics of the seated body are investigated through measurements with 31 males and 27 females considering two different back support conditions, and three levels of vertical vibration (0.25, 0.50, and 0.75 m/s2 rms acceleration) in the 0.5–20 Hz frequency range. The absorbed power responses for the males and females revealed strong gender effect, which could be mostly related to differences in body mass of the two groups. Subsequent analyses were conducted considering different datasets grouped corresponding to three ranges of the body mass-, build-, and stature-related parameters for both the males and females. Notable differences were evident in the absorbed power responses of the males and females with comparable anthropometric dimensions. Males revealed significantly higher peak and total absorbed power responses compared to the females of comparable anthropometric dimensions, except for the lean body mass. The differences, however, were relatively small in the data for males and females of comparable body mass. The peak power for the females, invariably, occurred at a lower frequency than that for the males. The total absorbed power responses revealed some degree of correlations with the body mass, lean body mass, body fat, and hip circumference ( r2&gt;0.60), irrespective of the back support condition and excitation magnitude for both the genders.

Intervention effects in the relative clauses of agrammatics: The role of gender and case

Individuals with agrammatic aphasia are known to have difficulties interpreting Object Relative Clauses (ORCs), but not Subject Relative Clauses (SRCs). This asymmetry is recently understood by resorting to locality principles, captured by a featural version of Relativized Minimality (RM). The same principles are held responsible for intervention effects of phi-features with the same value in child language, when these are syntactically active. There are no studies on the intervention effects of phi-features in agrammatism. This work investigates comprehension of headed Relative Clauses (RCs) by Greek-speaking non-fluent Broca’s aphasics (agrammatics), focusing on gender and structural case, which the language marks on both the determiner and the noun. Two RC tasks were administered, differing on whether the case of the first (relativized) DP was nominative or accusative, depending on the preceding instruction. The findings established the expected SRC vs. ORC asymmetry, shedding light to earlier misleading results due to side effects of case morphology. Moreover, a strong similarity effect of gender was found in ORCs, although it is not a syntactically active feature in the relevant sense in Greek. We claim that the similarity effects of gender in the ORCs of Greek-speaking agrammatics are not intervention effects anchored to some specific principle of syntactic locality. Support for this claim is also provided by their presence even in the SRCs of the same individuals. As for structural case, neither intervention nor general similarity effects of it were detected. There were, however, additional difficulties for SRCs whose relativized subject had accusative, not patterned by ORCs with nominative relativized objects. We suggest that one has to ensure that relativized subjects end up with nominative case in the RCs tasks of languages with rich case morphology, and conjecture that phi-features are not involved in the computation of locality in agrammatism.

Grammatical gender assignment in French: dispelling the native speaker myth

ABSTRACTThis study highlights the complexity of French grammatical gender as a lexical property at the interface of morpho-phonology and the lexicon. French native speakers (n = 168) completed a gender assignment task with written stimuli illustrating common versus uncommon nouns, vowel-initial versus consonant-initial nouns, compounds and grammatical homonyms; they also indicated the strategies they used to assign a gender to stimuli. The findings showed strong lexical and gender effects suggesting that grammatical gender must be acquired for individual lexical items as morpho-phonological cues alone are unreliable and vary greatly.

Cooperation or Competition? A Field Experiment on Non-monetary Learning Incentives

Abstract We assess the effect of two antithetic non-monetary incentive schemes based on grading rules on students’ effort, using experimental data. We randomly assigned students to a tournament scheme that fosters competition between paired up students, a cooperative scheme that promotes information sharing and collaboration between students and a baseline treatment in which students can neither compete nor cooperate. In line with theoretical predictions, we find that competition induces higher effort with respect to cooperation, whereas cooperation does not increase effort with respect to the baseline treatment. Nonetheless, we find a strong gender effect since this result holds only for men while women do not react to this type of non-monetary incentives.

Gender and Reproductive Outcomes: The Effects of a Radio Serial Drama in Northern Nigeria

A large body of evidence has documented the effectiveness of mass-media communication programs in increasing family planning use and changing reproductive behavior. But the potential impact of these programs on the mediating role of gender norms has not been systematically assessed in Nigeria. Regionally representative cross-sectional end line data collected for the evaluation of a long-running entertainment-education radio serial drama program aired in northern Nigeria are examined for program effects on both reproductive and gender outcomes as well as the relative effect of gender on reproductive outcomes. The drama was popular, with 70% of the sample listening weekly. Results show that the drama positively impacted both sets of outcomes especially the reproductive outcomes. Results further indicate a strong relative effect of gender on reproductive issues.

Morphometric differences in planum temporale in schizophrenia and bipolar disorder revealed by statistical analysis of labeled cortical depth maps.

Differences in cortical thickness in the lateral temporal lobe, including the planum temporale (PT), have been reported in MRI studies of schizophrenia (SCZ) and bipolar disorder (BPD) patients. Most of these studies have used a single-valued global or local measure for thickness. However, additional and complementary information can be obtained by generating labeled cortical distance maps (LCDMs), which are distances of labeled gray matter (GM) voxels from the nearest point on the GM/white matter (WM) (inner) cortical surface. Statistical analyses of pooled and censored LCDM distances reveal subtle differences in PT between SCZ and BPD groups from data generated by Ratnanather et al. (Schizophrenia Research, http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.schres.2013.08.014). These results confirm that the left planum temporale (LPT) is more sensitive than the right PT in distinguishing between SCZ, BPD, and healthy controls. Also confirmed is a strong gender effect, with a thicker PT seen in males than in females. The differences between groups at smaller distances in the LPT revealed by pooled and censored LCDM analysis suggest that SCZ and BPD have different effects on the cortical mantle close to the GM/WM surface. This is consistent with reported subtle changes in the cortical mantle observed in post-mortem studies.

Single Nucleotide Polymorphisms at the PRR3, ABCF1, and GNL1 Genes in the HLA Class I Region Are Associated with Graves' Ophthalmopathy in a Gender-Dependent Manner

To investigate whether a conserved HLA class I region influenced the development of Graves' ophthalmopathy (GO) in patients with Graves' disease (GD) in a Taiwan-Chinese population. Case-control study. Four hundred sixty-eight Taiwan-Chinese patients with GD; 200 of these patients had GO, whereas 268 patients did not. Five single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) between the HLA-A and HLA-C loci were genotyped. The Mann-Whitney U test and chi-square test with Bonferroni correction were used. The odds ratios (ORs) were estimated by applying unconditional logistic regression with a 95% confidence intervals (CIs). Strong gender effects on the distribution of the SNPs were apparent: male GD patients carrying an A allele at rs2074503 in the PRR3 gene tended to avoid demonstrating GO (P = 0.008; OR, 0.450; 95% CI, 0.248-0.819), whereas female patients tended to show GO (P = 0.01; OR, 1.486; 95% CI, 1.098-2.012). In addition, only the female GD patients with a T allele at rs1264439 in the ABCF-1 gene tended to demonstrate GO (P = 0.005; OR, 1.539; 95% CI, 1.139-2.081). Analysis of the haplotype blocks of the SNPs rs2074505 (GNL1) and rs2074503 (PRR3) showed that haplotype HA1 was underrepresented in male GO patients (P = 0.004; OR, 0.418; 95% CI, 0.228-0.767), whereas HA-4 was underrepresented in female GO patients (P = 0.007; OR, 0.660; 95% CI, 0.490-0.895). The results suggested that SNPs at PRR3 and ABCF1 genes and the haplotype composed by SNPs at GNL1 and PRR3 between the HLA-A and HLA-C genes tended to predict GO in a gender-dependent manner in patients with GD in Taiwan.

Smoking behavior and sociodemographic differences among young people: Further evidence from southern Sweden based on public health survey data

Tobacco-smoking behaviours of young people between the age of 18 and 25 years are less understood than those of middle-aged people. The aim of this study is to contribute to improved knowledge of some of the factors that are associated with smoking and cessation among young people. We use the most recently available public health survey data from the southern region of Skåne in Sweden to analyze these factors. The survey is a cross-sectional study with a total sample size of 28,198 individuals with 2801 in the age category of interest. We apply statistical measures of association between smoking and gender and also model the relationship between smoking and smoking cessation and the role of a set of sociodemographic determinants by means of logistic regression to estimate odds ratios. The findings include significant differences between the younger age group and the older group with respect to the odds of smoking and method of cessation. We also find differences between young women and men with regard to smoking prevalence, intensity and cessation methods. In particular, young women attempt to quit smoking by means of unassisted methods to a significantly higher extent than do young men. There are significant differences between young people and older individuals with respect to a range of smoking behaviours. There are also strong gender effects within the group of young people. Policy development and anti-smoking interventions need to take such differences into consideration for improved effectiveness.

Allocation criteria under task performance: The gendered preference for protection

We devise a randomized experiment using task performance in which players (acting as spectators/stakeholders) directly decide on allocation criteria under ignorance or knowledge of the payoff distributions. Our main result is a strong and significant gender effect: women choose significantly more protection (i.e., they choose criteria in which a part or all of the total sum of money allocated among participants is equally distributed) before (but not after) they know the payoff distributions. The gendered preference for protection exists not only for stakeholders but also for spectators, whereas it disappears for both groups once the payoff distributions are known. Alternative explanations based on risk, competition and inequality aversion are discussed.

Personality trait theory and multitasking performance: implications for ergonomic design

Although system designers usually minimise the role of individual differences in operation, personality variables could explain differences in multitasking performance. A concomitant theoretical issue is whether primary or surface personality traits do a better job of predicting performance than the Five-Factor Model (FFM) or global traits. A sample of 174 undergraduates completed the Sixteen Personality Factor Questionnaire (16PF), which was followed by a performance task. A computer-based task that measured simultaneous performance on an arithmetic task and a mental rotation task was used to measure multitasking performance; scores measured the percent accuracy. Primary traits for low emotional sensitivity and high abstractedness, self-control, and general reasoning were all correlated with performance (R 2 = .11), but global or traits corresponding to the FFM were not, except in one sporadic task trial. There was also a strong gender effect on performance. Implications for the study of personality traits in ergonomics are discussed.

Frequency of Coronary Angiography and Revascularization among Men and Women with Myocardial Infarction and Their Relationship to Mortality at One Year: An Analysis of the Geisinger Myocardial Infarction Cohort

To determine sex bias in the selection of strategies to evaluate patients with acute myocardial infarction (AMI), and determine if the choice of strategy influences survival. Controversy exists regarding the role of female sex in the use of invasive evaluation for AMI and its possible effect on adverse outcomes. Electronic health record data from the Geisinger Acute Myocardial Infarction Cohort (GAMIC) was analyzed which included 1,968 men and 1,047 women admitted to the Geisinger Medical Center between January 2001 and December 2006 with acute myocardial infarction (AMI).Multivariate logistic regression analyses were used to determine independent correlates of an invasive evaluation. Multivariate logistic regression modeling stratified on sex was used to determine when invasive evaluation was done and whether there was a correlation with mortality. In unadjusted analyses, male sex was a significant predictor for the use of invasive evaluation (odds ratio = 1.71, 95% CI = [1.46, 2.00]). Adjusted for baseline differences (like age, renal function, co-morbid conditions) multivariate analyses found no significant relationship between male sex and invasive evaluation (OR = 1.02, 95% CI = [0.82, 1.23]). Females in the STEMI group were found to be less revascularized. No difference was observed in the one-year mortality between women and men regardless of invasive evaluation or revascularization. Sex was not independently associated with the occurrence of an invasive evaluation of a MI. Females in the STEMI group were less revascularized. There was no strong gender effect on survival irrespective of the performance on an invasive evaluation or revascularization.

Predictors of two forms of attrition in a longitudinal health study involving ageing participants: An analysis based on the Whitehall II study

BackgroundLongitudinal studies are crucial providers of information about the needs of an ageing population, but their external validity is affected if partipants drop out. Previous research has identified older age, impaired cognitive function, lower educational level, living alone, fewer social activities, and lower socio-economic status as predictors of attrition.MethodsThis project examined attrition in participants of the Whitehall II study aged between 51–71 years, using data from questionnaires participants have completed biennially since 1985 when the study began. We examine the possibility of two distinct forms of attrition – non-response and formally requesting to withdraw – and whether they have different predictors. Potential predictors were age, gender, marital status, occupational grade, retirement, home ownership, presence of longstanding illness, SF-36 quality of life scores, social participation and educational level comparing participants and those who had withdrawn from the study.ResultsThe two forms of attrition share many predictors and are associated but remain distinct. Being older, male, having a lower job grade, not being a home owner, not having a long standing illness, having higher levels of education, and not having retired, were all associated with a greater probability of non-response; being married was associated with higher probability in women and lower in men. Being older, male, having a lower job grade, not being a home owner, having lower SF-36 scores, taking part in fewer social activities, and not having a long standing illness, were all associated with greater probability of withdrawal.ConclusionsThe results suggest a strong gender effect on both routes not previously considered in analyses of attrition. Investigators of longitudinal studies should take measures to retain older participants and lower level socio-economic participants, who are more likely to cease participating. Recognition should be given to the tendency for people with health problems to be more diligent participants in studies with a medical screening aspect, and for those with lower socio-economic status (including home ownership), quality of life and social participation, to be more likely to request withdrawal. Without taking these features into account, bias and loss of power could affect statistical analyses.

Heritability Analysis Suggests Comparable Genetic Component of Mechanical Pain Threshold and Tolerance: Table 1

Genetic basis of pain sensation became one of the hot topics in pain medicine over the past several years. Although numerous studies have suggested the existence of the genetic component of pain threshold, majority of these findings were based on a candidate-gene approach and remained un-replicated, and thus of limited importance (1). Commonly used approach to investigate genetic basis of any trait is to initially estimate heritability, which is defined as the proportion of the total variance of the measured trait attributable to genes. We performed a heritability analysis of the mechanical pain threshold and tolerance in a large-scale pedigree, based on the isolated population of the island of Vis in Croatia, within 10, 001 Dalmatians project (2). A total of 349 subjects were involved in the measurement of mechanical pain threshold and pain tolerance using Algometer Wagner ForceOne. After initial training measurement, subjects were exposed to the actual pain threshold measurement. Three consecutive pain threshold measurements on the dorsal side of the middle phalange of the index finger (on both hands) were performed by a single trained measurer. Additionally, we performed two consecutive measurements of pain tolerance on the same site of both hands. Mixed model analysis was performed using Sequential Oligogenic Linkage Analysis Routines – SOLAR (3), with age and gender as the predictor variables. The results indicated intermediate level of heritability of pain threshold (0.508 for right hand and 0.362 for left hand) and pain tolerance (0.542 for right hand and 0.307 for left hand, notably, the last heritability estimate was not significant ; Table 1). A strong gender and age effects were recorded in all models, with the exception of age in the pain threshold models (Table 1). These results suggest that gene mapping efforts are likely to have similar success both in pain threshold and pain tolerance, despite some previous suggestions that pain threshold is more a physiological function, while tolerance is influenced by stronger modifying effects of different environmental and psychological confounders (4). Furthermore, it should be noted that we detected difference in handedness - the heritability for pain tolerance in left hand was insignificant, with very large standard errors. This could arise from the overall small sample size or it could be pointing to differential mechanisms of pain tolerance in left vs. right, that is dominant, vs. non-dominant hand, which was implied before (5). Regardless of these results, high heritability does not warrant productive gene mapping. Heritability of height was commonly reported as one of the highest ones, generally in the range of 0.92-0.97. However, only creation of a mega-consortium of studies, which consisted of over 180, 000 measured subjects and used genome-wide approach, surpassed previous nearly futile efforts and yielded 180 loci involved in determination of the adult height, and showed a highly polygenic genetic architecture of height (6). If the same is applicable to pain, then we might be expecting a rather complex and lengthy search for genetic architecture of pain. However, the use of hypothesis-free approach, such as genome-wide association study, promises wider and deeper understanding of pain sensation, which is interesting not only for better understanding, but also for the development of new approaches to pain diagnosis and treatment.

Vocational interests of intellectually gifted and highly achieving young adults

Vocational interests play a central role in the vocational decision-making process and are decisive for the later job satisfaction and vocational success. Based on Ackerman's (1996) notion of trait complexes, specific interest profiles of gifted high-school graduates can be expected. Vocational interests of gifted and highly achieving adolescents were compared to those of their less intelligent/achieving peers according to Holland's (1997) RIASEC model. Further, the impact of intelligence and achievement on interests were analysed while statistically controlling for potentially influencing variables. Changes in interests over time were investigated. N= 4,694 German students (age: M= 19.5, SD= .80; 54.6% females) participated in the study (TOSCA; Köller, Watermann, Trautwein, & Lüdtke, 2004). Interests were assessed in participants' final year at school and again 2 years later (N= 2,318). Gifted participants reported stronger investigative and realistic interests, but lower social interests than less intelligent participants. Highly achieving participants reported higher investigative and (in wave 2) higher artistic interests. Considerable gender differences were found: gifted girls had a flat interest profile, while gifted boys had pronounced realistic and investigative and low social interests. Multilevel multiple regression analyses predicting interests by intelligence and school achievement revealed stable interest profiles. Beyond a strong gender effect, intelligence and school achievement each contributed substantially to the prediction of vocational interests. At the time around graduation from high school, gifted young adults show stable interest profiles, which strongly differ between gender and intelligence groups. These differences are relevant for programmes for the gifted and for vocational counselling.