Laura Madson

Gender Comparisons in the Private, Collective, and Allocentric Selves

Abstract Researchers (e.g., M. B. Brewer & W. Gardner, 1996; H. C. Triandis, D. K. S. Chan, D. P. S. Bhawuk, S. Iwao, & J. P. B. Sinha, 1995) have suggested expansion of the standard model of individualism-collectivism to include peoples close personal relationships in addition to their identification with in-groups. There has been considerable discussion of the hypothesis that women are more collective, interdependent, relational, and allocentric than men (e.g., S. E. Cross & L. Madson, 1997; Y. Kashima et al., 1995). In the present study, the authors used the Twenty Statements Test (M. H. Kuhn & T. McPartland, 1954) to examine gender differences in the self-concept by assessing the accessibility of private, collective, and allocentric self-cognitions. The U.S. women described themselves with more allocentric and more collective self-cognitions than did the U.S. men. Discussion focuses on the implications of those data for interpretation of other gender differences as well as for traditional models of individualism-collectivism.

Ten Easy Ways to Engage Your Students.

Twenty years of research shows that using interactive techniques more often can make a class more effective. For example, a study of six thousand physics students compared classes using passive lecture to classes using interactive techniques that allowed for discussion among students and between the professor and students. The study showed that students in classes that used interactive approaches rather than lecture learned twice as much.

Elaboration of models of the self : Reply to Baumeister and Sommer (1997) and Martin and Ruble (1997)

The authors see little conflict between their description of possible gender differences in self-construals and R. F. Baumeister and L. Sommers (1997) argument that men and women focus their social interests in divergent spheres. The authors suggest that mens orientation toward a larger social sphere and less intimate relationships than womens allows men to maintain an independent self-construal. In reply to C. M. Martin and D. N. Rubles {1997) comment, the authors clarify the nature of the self-construal, caution against cross-cultural application of these models, and suggest possible roles of the self and situations in the direction of behavior.

Inferences Regarding the Personality Traits and Sexual Orientation of Physically Androgynous People

Three studies investigated inferences about physically androgynous (PA) people. In Experiments 1 and 2, participants rated the personality, gender-role behavior, occupation, and sexual orientation of male, female, and PA targets in a within-subjects design. Targets were presented in color photos in Experiment 1 and in verbal descriptions in Experiment 2. Experiment 3 used verbal descriptions in a between-subjects design. In all three studies, participants inferred that the traits and behaviors in the PA targets were less gender-typed than those in the male and female targets. Participants also inferred that the PA targets were more likely to be homosexual and less likely to be heterosexual than the male and female targets. These results indicate that people draw conclusions about psychological characteristics from a persons physical appearance, but challenge Brewers (1988) and Fiske and Neubergs (1990) descriptions of how gender affects this process. Assumptions about PA people may also reinforce butch/fem stereotypes of lesbians and gay men.

A Test of Whether Attributions Provide for Self-Enhancement or Self-Defense

It is well known that people often make attributions in a way that is favorable to their self-concepts (see R. L. Collins, 1996, for a review). However, it is less clear whether the primary effect is to enhance self-esteem or to defend against the possible loss of self-esteem. The authors performed an experiment to test these possibilities against each other. In a completely between-participants design, participants recalled either a positive behavior or a negative behavior that was performed by themselves or others. They then judged the positivity or negativity of the behavior and made trait attributions about the actor (i.e., himself, herself, or others). The results indicated that although judgments and trait attributions for positive behaviors were similar for the self and for others, judgments and trait attributions for negative behaviors were less negative for the self than they were for others. The authors interpreted these and other findings as supporting a defensive strategy rather than an enhancive strategy.

Learning Risk Factors for Suicide: A Scenario-Based Activity.

We created a classroom activity to illustrate factors that may predict suicide. In the activity, students rank 4 fictional individuals in terms of their relative risk for attempting or committing suicide. Students described the activity as “eye-opening,” and students who participated in the activity learned more about the warning signs of an impending suicide attempt than students who did not participate.

Readers' perceptions of four alternatives to masculine generic pronouns.

STYLE GUIDES SUGGEST A NUMBER OF WAYS to avoid using masculine pronouns in reference to mixed-gender groups: (a) using paired pronouns such as “he or she” (American Psychological Association, 1994; Miller & Swift, 1988; Schwartz, 1995). (b) alternating between masculine and feminine pronouns (Addison Wesley Longman, 1998; Frank & Treichler, 1989), or (c) using the pronoun “they” in singular contexts (American Heritage Dictionary, 1992; Chicago Manual ofstyle, 1993). Unfortunately, some of those strategies have disadvantages that may not be intuitively obvious. For example, Madson and Hessling (1999) found that readers overestimated the frequency of feminine pronouns in alternating text, perceiving it to be lower in overall quality and more biased in favor of women in comparison with text containing the paired pronouns “he or she.” We designed the present study to replicate and extend those findings (Madson & Hessling, 1999) by using different stimulus material and additional conditions. Specifically, we wanted to determine (a) whether readers would perceive the singular “they” as a good alternative to generic masculine pronouns and (b) whether readers would perceive the paired pronouns “she or he” as essentially equivalent to “he or she.” A total of 23 1 introductory psychology students (1 13 men. 118 women; 43% Hispanic, 39% Caucasian; M age = 19 years, SD = 2.66) participated in partial fulfillment of a course requirement. The participants read one of four versions of an essay describing techniques for improving study skills. Two versions contained paired pronouns beginning with the masculine pronoun (i.e., “he or she”) or with the feminine pronoun (i.e., “she or he”). The third version contained the plural pronoun “they,” and the fourth alternated between masculine and feminine pronouns (i.e., “he” in one paragraph, “she” in the next). Dependent variables were the perceived frequency of masculine and feminine pronouns, perceived gender bias in the text, the perceived effectiveness of pronoun usage in eliminating gender bias, and the overall quality of the passage. The participants estimated pronoun frequency on a Likert-type scale (1 = never; 5 = all the time) and on a percentage scale-that is, they estimated what percentage of all the

The importance of traits, group memberships, and relationships

Abstract An experiment was conducted to replicate and extend previous findings that traits are considered to be more important than group memberships (Trafimow & Finlay, 2001). In the present experiment, relationships were evaluated as well as traits and group membership. Participants listed five of their traits, five of their group memberships, and five of their relationships. They then ranked (relative to each other) and rated (in absolute terms) the importance of these traits, groups, and relationships. Consistent with Trafimow and Finlay (2001), traits were considered more important than group memberships. A new finding was that relationships were also considered more important than group memberships. Further, the data also indicated that, whereas the perceived importance of traits and groups is only weakly related to their cognitive accessibility, the perceived importance of relationships is significantly more related to their accessibility. Taken together, the findings suggest that even in individualist cultures, people think their relationships with others are more important than the literature on individualism might suggest.

Future Health-Related Behavioral Intention Formation: The Role of Affect and Cognition

ABSTRACT This study investigated the differential contribution of affect and cognition to behavioral intention formation during pursuit of future health-related goals. Cognitive evaluations, affective evaluations and behavioral intentions were measured for each of 32 health-related behaviors. The timeframes of the cognitive/affective measures and the behavioral intention measure were varied between current and future timeframes creating four different conditions. Within-participants correlations between affect and intentions and cognition and intentions were calculated to determine the contribution of each factor to behavioral intention formation in the different timeframes. Results did not support the hypothesis that a shift from a reliance on affect to a reliance on cognition would occur as temporal distance increased. Within-participants analyses revealed a decrease in the contribution of cognition to behavioral intention formation when forming attitudes in the future condition.

A Classroom Activity Exploring the Complexity of Sexual Orientation

Sexual orientation subsumes sexual attractions, sexual behavior, psychological and emotional attachments, self-identification, and affiliations with a particular community. These elements are often overlooked in the use of terms such as lesbian or heterosexual. In this activity, students categorized the sexual orientation of 10 fictional people, some of whom presented inconsistencies between different aspects of their sexuality. By illustrating the difficulty in defining rigid and consistent categories of sexual orientation, the activity stimulates animated discussion and receives positive feedback from students. I use this activity in teaching the Psychology of Women, Sexual Behavior, and the Psychology of Sexual Orientation, although instructors could use it in other courses as well.