Wendy L. Morris

TARGET ARTICLE: Singles in Society and in Science

We suggest that single adults in contemporary American society are targets of stereotyping, prejudice, and discrimination, a phenomenon we will call singlism. Singlism is an outgrowth of a largely uncontested set of beliefs, the Ideology of Marriage and Family. Its premises include the assumptions that the sexual partnership is the one truly important peer relationship and that people who have such partnerships are happier and more fulfilled than those who do not. We use published claims about the greater happiness of married people to illustrate how the scientific enterprise seems to be influenced by the ideology. We propose that people who are single-particularly women who have always been single-fare better than the ideology would predict because they do have positive, enduring, and important interpersonal relationships. The persistence of singlism is especially puzzling considering that actual differences based on civil (marital) status seem to be qualified and small, the number of singles is growing, and sensitivity to other varieties of prejudice is acute. By way of explanation, we consider arguments from evolutionary psychology, attachment theory, a social problems perspective, the growth of the cult of the couple, and the appeal of an ideology that offers a simple and compelling worldview.

The Unrecognized Stereotyping and Discrimination Against Singles

A widespread form of bias has slipped under our cultural and academic radar. People who are single are targets of singlism: negative stereotypes and discrimination. Compared to married or coupled people, who are often described in very positive terms, singles are assumed to be immature, maladjusted, and self-centered. Although the perceived differences between people who have and have not married are large, the actual differences are not. Moreover, there is currently scant recognition that singlism exists, and when singlism is acknowledged, it is often accepted as legitimate.

Depression symptoms and body dissatisfaction association among polycystic ovary syndrome women.

OBJECTIVE One publication reported that lower body satisfaction and lower education were independent predictors of depression in polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) in women. This study replicates that analysis using different instruments, and adds androgen levels to the model. METHODS Cross-sectional analysis of questionnaires (Quick Inventory of Depressive Symptomatology-Self-Report, Body Esteem Scale) and serum androgens from a community cohort with (n=94) and without (n=96) PCOS, matched by BMI category. Non-parametric tests, Spearman correlations, and negative binomial regression models were analyzed. RESULTS Depression symptoms were common (40-60% in lean, overweight and obese BMI categories) in the PCOS cohort, albeit generally of mild severity. The PCOS women had similar depression symptom severity (P>.20) and similar body dissatisfaction (P≥.25) as the regularly cycling women in total and stratified by BMI category. In both the PCOS and non-PCOS cohorts, depression symptom severity was positively correlated with dissatisfaction with physical appearance and physical conditioning (P<.02). Body dissatisfaction (especially perception of physical conditioning) was strongly associated with more severe depression symptoms in non-obese PCOS women (BMI<30, P<.04) before and after controlling for age, testosterone and free testosterone. In contrast, for obese women with PCOS, depression was unrelated to body dissatisfaction after controlling for age. CONCLUSIONS Among non-obese PCOS women, their subjective body image was strongly associated with the severity of their depression symptoms. Most of the obese PCOS cohort had low body satisfaction and depression symptoms, therefore individual differences in the body dissatisfaction scores were not helpful in identifying depression symptom severity. Neither testosterone nor free testosterone was associated with depression symptom severity in PCOS women after controlling for body dissatisfaction and age.

How does Sexual Orientation Affect Perceptions of Single People

Past research has found that single people are perceived more negatively than coupled people. However, in past research, the target’s sexual orientation was not explicitly mentioned. The current experiment manipulated the sexual orientation of targets and also measured the sexual orientation of participants to test whether the relatively negative perceptions of single people are held about people and believed by people regardless of their sexual orientation. Three hundred ninety heterosexual and 226 gay and lesbian participants from Israel and the United States read descriptions of target people. Targets were described as heterosexual, gay, or lesbian; single or in a long-term relationship; and men or women. Although single people were consistently perceived more negatively than coupled people, F(1, 600) = 130.78, p < .001, η2 = .18, participants perceived the differences between coupled and single targets as being largest when they rated targets of the same sexual orientation as themselves, F(1, 600) = 10.38, p =.001, η2 = 0.02. Furthermore, regardless of their own sexual orientation, participants who expressed a stronger desire for a long-term romantic relationship held more negative views of single people compared to coupled people, r = .10, p < .01.

A Longitudinal Study of the Development of Emotional Deception Detection Within New Same-Sex Friendships

Previous studies show that close friends improve at lie detection over time. However, is this improvement due to an increase in the ability to decode the feelings of close friends or a change in how close friends communicate their true and deceptive emotions? In a study of 45 pairs of friends, one friend from each pair (the “sender”) was videotaped showing truthful and faked affect in response to pleasant and unpleasant movie clips. The other friend from each pair (the “judge”) guessed the true emotions of both the friend and a stranger 1 month and 6 months into the friendship. Judges were better at guessing the true emotions of friends than strangers, and this advantage in judging friends increased among close friends over time. Surprisingly, improvement over time was due mostly to a change in the sender’s communication, rather than an increase in judges’ ability to decode their friends’ feelings.

The Effects of Stereotype Threat and Power on Women's and Men's Outcomes in Face-to-Face and E-mail Negotiations

COPYRIGHT 2015 BY PSI CHI, THE INTERNATIONAL HONOR SOCIETY IN PSYCHOLOGY (VOL. 20, NO. 3/ISSN 2164-8204) *Faculty mentor Sex differences in salary negotiation have been suggested as one of the causes of the “glass-ceiling,” the pattern that women do not advance as far in their careers as men do (Stuhlmacher & Walters, 1999). Men are four times more likely than women to negotiate for their salary and, when it comes to first job offers, only 7% of women negotiate whereas 58% of men do (Babcock & Laschever, 2003). According to a meta-analysis (Stuhlmacher & Walters, 1999), when women do negotiate, they negotiate for lower profits than men. These sex differences in negotiation are particularly problematic given that the amount of money asked for during a negotiation largely determines the outcome salary (Barron, 2003). The purpose of the current research was to better understand multiple factors that may increase or decrease gender differences in negotiation outcomes. Because women are stereotyped as being less effective negotiators than men (Kray, Thompson, & Galinsky, 2001), they tend to negotiate less successfully than men when they experience stereotype threat (Kray et al., 2001; Tellhed & Björklund, 2011). The current research examined situations that may minimize the effects of stereotype threat and reduce the salary gap. Negotiation outcomes were explored in situations in which the salience of sex varies (face-to-face vs. e-mail negotiations and same vs. mixed sex negotiations) and in situations in which sex differences were likely to be minimized when women were in a position of power. ABSTRACT. Stereotypes that women are less assertive and competitive than men lead women to experience stereotype threat in salary negotiations (Tellhed & Björklund, 2011), resulting in sex differences in salaries. The present experiment tested whether the effects of stereotype threat on negotiations are moderated by variables that may decrease the salience of sex such as dyad composition (same vs. mixed-sex), mode of communication (face-to-face vs. e-mail), and power. Ninety-six undergraduate participants (37 men, 59 women) negotiated for a hypothetical salary as well as an actual monetary award. As predicted, stereotype threat negatively affected women’s outcomes and positively affected men’s outcomes in mixed-sex pairs but not in same-sex pairs, Wald Chi-Square = 9.85, p = .002. Interestingly, there were no differences between the face-to-face and e-mail negotiations; both forms of negotiation were affected by stereotype threat in mixed-sex pairs. The basic findings of the present study were consistent with past research; participants assigned to a position of power were more successful in the negotiation regardless of their sex, Wald Chi-Square = 22.74, p < .001, d = 0.49. Limitations, implications, and possible ways to reduce the effects of stereotype threat are discussed. The Effects of Stereotype Threat and Power on Women’s and Men’s Outcomes in Face-to-Face and E-mail Negotiations

Stereotyping and Nonconformity: The Effects of Punk Music on Social Behavior

Previous research has demonstrated that nonconformist behavior can be primed via visual activation of nonconformist stereotypes. The present experiments were conducted to determine if nonconformity can be primed via aural activation of the punk stereotype. In Study 1, 46 male and 104 female students from McDaniel College were primed with punk, popular, or no music and exposed to social pressure. Not only did participants exposed to punk music fail to exhibit nonconformity, they conformed more than participants who heard popular music and almost as much as those without a prime. As Study 2 determined that members of the population in question did associate the stereotype of nonconformity with punk music, possible alternative explanations and areas for further research are discussed.