Donna Henderson-King

Women or feminists? Assessing women's group consciousness

Social psychological research often relies on measures of group identification in assessing levels of group consciousness. However, for women, the relationship between gender identification and group consciousness may not be a straightforward one. Questionnaire data were used to examine the relationships between measures of group identity and group evaluations with other attitudinal, phenomenological, and developmental measures of feminist consciousness. Research participants were 234 undergraduate women; the majority (75%) were white and from middle-to upper-middle-class backgrounds. The results supported the hypothesis that use of the reference group “feminists,” rather than the more general group “women,” would be more strongly related to other dimensions of group consciousness in women.

Media Images and Women’s Self-Evaluations: Social Context and Importance of Attractiveness as Moderators

The current research examines the effects of exposure to ideal images on women’s self-evaluations, taking into account the moderating influence of social contextual and individual difference factors. In Study 1, women were exposed to either ideal images of women or neutral images. Participants viewed these images in a context in which (a) men were not present, (b) men were present, or (c) men were present and made comments about some of the images. Results indicated that participants’ weight-esteem was negatively affected in the ideal image/men present condition but that those in the ideal image/men comment condition actually exhibited higher levels of weight-esteem. A second study replicated the results of Study 1 and also showed that the importance participants placed on physical attractiveness influenced the effects of viewing ideal images.

Feminist Consciousness: Perspectives on Women's Experience

Research on feminist consciousness has often relied on feminist self-identification as an indicator of womens group consciousness. In this study, several measures of group consciousness including group evaluations, political beliefs about gender relations, and sensitivity to sexism were used to predict womens self-identification as feminist. This set of variables was also used to predict four stages of feminist identity: passive acceptance, revelation, embeddedness/emanation, and synthesis. Findings emphasize the importance of not relying simply on self-identification in research on feminist consciousness. A view of feminist consciousness that goes beyond a dichotomous approach is recommended, as is further work on assessments of the phenomenology of consciousness.

Materialism, Sociocultural Appearance Messages, and Paternal Attitudes Predict College Women's Attitudes About Cosmetic Surgery

Rates of cosmetic surgery procedures have increased dramatically over the past several decades, but only recently have studies of cosmetic surgery attitudes among the general population begun to appear in the literature. The vast majority of those who undergo cosmetic surgery are women. We examined cosmetic surgery attitudes among 218 undergraduate women, most of whom were White. Specifically, we examined their acceptance of cosmetic surgery and expressed desire to undergo cosmetic surgery procedures, and several potential predictors: appearance attitudes of mothers, fathers, and friends; awareness and internalization of sociocultural appearance messages; and materialism. Multiple regression analyses indicated that materialism and internalization of sociocultural messages consistently emerged as significant predictors of acceptance of cosmetic surgery and desire for cosmetic surgery procedures. Paternal attitudes positively predicted acceptance of cosmetic surgery for social reasons and desire for cosmetic surgery; nonmaterialism negatively predicted considering cosmetic surgery and the desire for cosmetic surgery procedures.

Educational Experiences and Shifts in Group Consciousness: Studying Women:

This study takes a multifaceted approach to group consciousness. The authors assessed changes in women’s feminist consciousness due to their exposure to feminism through women’s studies. Feminist consciousness was measured at the beginning and end of a semester during which some research participants were enrolled in an introductory women’s studies course. Women’s studies students were compared with students who were interested, but not enrolled, in women’s studies. As expected, women’s studies students showed an increase on several aspects of feminist consciousness, whereas non-women’s studies students did not. Non-women’s studies students became less sensitive to sexism. It is also noteworthy that, although they became more feminist, women’s studies students did not become more negative toward men.

In-Group Favoritism and Perceived Similarity: A Look at Russians' Perceptions in the Post-Soviet Era

Using social identity theory, belief congruence theory, and optimal distinctiveness theory as frameworks, the authors examined whether perceived threat would moderate the relationship between perceived out-group similarity and group evaluations. Russian undergraduates evaluated Russians, Ukrainians, Moldavians, and Georgians on a number of dimensions. It was expected that when an out-group was seen as a severe threat, perceived similarity would result in in-group bias. However, when an out-group was viewed as nonthreatening, perceived similarity was expected to be negatively related to in-group bias. As hypothesized, although perceived similarity and in-group bias were negatively related for those who felt unthreatened by Georgians, a nonsignificant positive relationship existed for those feeling threatened.

Feminist Consciousness Among Russians and Americans

Most empirical research on feminist consciousness has been conducted with North American women. In this study we examined feminist consciousness and attitudes toward womens issues among Russian and American women and men. Survey data from undergraduate students provide evidence of both cross-cultural and gender-related differences. Women scored higher than men on 4 of the 5 aspects of feminist consciousness measured in this study. American students scored higher on three aspects of feminist consciousness; however, Russian students were higher on sensitivity to sexism. Data concerning attitudes toward specific womens issues are also presented. Findings suggest that judgments about feminist consciousness based solely on these attitudes could lead to misconceptions about levels of feminist consciousness across cultures.