Sex or gender identity? Understanding children's reading choices and motivation

The extent to which children's reading choices could be predicted by their motivation and gender identity was examined. Two hundred and twenty‐three children (average age 9 years 11 months) completed questionnaires measuring book reading choices, reading motivation, gender identity (identification with masculine and feminine traits) and a standardised reading assessment. Sex differences were found in children's reading motivation and reading choices. In addition, feminine traits were more closely associated with reading motivation and engagement with neutral books compared to masculine traits. Whilst children's sex predicted their choice of reading male‐ or female‐orientated books, the extent to which they identified with feminine traits was a better predictor in choice of neutral books. Results are discussed in relation to previous research examining sex differences in children's reading choices. In addition, implications for reading activities and choice of books available at school are discussed.     

The relationships among sex,gender identity factors,and career-decision-situation-specified personality traits

The present study revealed that gender identity involved the integration of various gender identity factors as suggested by Spence (1993) and that career-decision-situation-specified personality variables could be classified into higher order personality trait dimensions as suggested by Tellegen (1985). The results also indicate that the pattern of the relationships found in this study among masculine personality traits, feminine personality traits, and careerdecision-situation-specified personality variables reflecting higher-order personality trait dimensions of Tellegen’s (1985) model was similar to that of the relationships among masculine personality traits, feminine personality traits, and general personality traits reflecting higher-order personality trait dimensions in Lubinsky, Tellegen, and Butcher’s (1981, 1983) studies. Multiple regression analyses showed that the addition of a gender identity role attitude factor and a gender identity behavioral interest factor to sex and a gender identity personality trait factor did not improve significantly the prediction of the career-decision-situation-specified personality variables.     

Is Creativity Masculine? Visual Arts College Students’ Perceptions of the Gender Stereotyping of Creativity and Its Influence on Creative Self-Efficacy

This study investigated visual arts college students’ perceptions of the gender stereotyping of creativity and the influence of this stereotyping on creative self-efficacy. The sample consisted of 1198 Chinese visual arts college students. The results showed that (a) both male and female students identified stereotypically masculine traits as more important to creativity than stereotypically feminine traits are, (b) male students demonstrated higher creative self-efficacy than their female counterparts did, and (c) students’ gender significantly moderated the effect of the gender stereotyping of creativity on creative self-efficacy. Specifically, the gender stereotyping of creativity had a positive effect on male students and a negative effect on female students. These findings revealed that gender stereotypes dominate concepts of creativity in Chinese art education and may hinder female students’ development of creative self-efficacy, resulting in gendered inequality in the visual arts field. The implications of these findings for visual arts education in China are discussed.     

The Development of Gender Stereotype Components

Developmental research has been limited by a narrow concept of stereotypes. A more complex model is presented, and developmental changes in gender stereotypes were investigated using the new model. In 2 studies, children were told about several sex-unspecified children, each described as having 1 masculine or 1 feminine characteristic. The children then predicted the likelihood of each story child having other masculine and feminine characteristics. In Study 1, 56 children (4–6 years) were told about target children who liked either a masculine or feminine toy, and then children predicted the targets' interests in other toys. In Study 2, 76 older children (6, 8, 10 years) were told about target children with a masculine or feminine characteristic from 1 of 4 categories (appearance, personality, occupations, toys), and then they predicted the likelihood of targets having other masculine and feminine characteristics from the same and from different categories as the cue. 2 developmental trends emerged: ( a ) children appear first to learn associations among characteristics relevant to their own sex and, later, to learn them for the other sex, and ( b ) older children's stereotypic judgments are more extreme than those of younger children. The implications of these results for the development of stereotypes, assessing gender knowledge, and understanding social judgments are discussed.     

性别角色对大学生自卑感、孤独感的影响

目的:探讨性别角色与自卑感和孤独感的关系.方法:采用UCLA孤独量表、缺陷感量表和贝姆性别角色量表对427名大学生进行问卷调查.结果:男大学生比女大学生有更显著的男性特质,女大学生比男大学生有更显著的女性特质;孤独感不存在性别差异,但男性特质及女性特质对孤独感都有显著的负向预测作用;自卑感不存在性别差异,但男性特质的提高能显著降低自卑感,这种作用在个体女性特质高时表现尤为显著.结论:性别角色对孤独感和自卑感有显著预测作用,需对大学生进行正确的性别角色塑造.     

Two-year study relating adolescents' self-concept and gender role perceptions to achievement and attitudes toward science

To assess the developmental relationship of perceptions of self-concept and gender role identification with adolescents' attitudes and achievement in science, a two-year longitudinal study was conducted. A battery of instruments assessing 16 dimensions of self-concept/gender role identifications was employed to predict students' achievement and attitudes toward science. Specific behaviors studied included self-concept in school and science and mathematics, attitudes toward appropriate gender roles in science activities and careers, and self-perceptions of masculine and feminine traits. One hundred and fifty-five adolescents, enrolled, respectively, in the seventh and eighth grades, participated in the study. Through Fisher z transformations of correlation coefficients, differences in relationships between these two sets of variables were studied for males and females during the two years. Results indicated that students' self-concepts/gender role perceptions were related to both achievement and attitudes toward science, but more related to attitudes than achievement. These relationships became more pronounced for students as they matured from seventh to eighth graders.     

Traditional and Evaluative Aspects of Flexibility in Gender Roles, Social Conventions, Moral Rules, and Physical Laws

Traditional and evaluative aspects of flexibility regarding transgressions across several domains (masculine and feminine gender roles, moral rules, social etiquette, and physical law) were assessed in 24 4-year-olds, 40 8-year-olds, and 46 college undergraduates. Traditional and evaluative aspects of flexibility yielded distinctly different patterns of response. Data indicated an age-related increase in flexibility on traditional measures (i.e., traditional rule flexibility, cultural relativity) for transgressions in all domains, except physical laws. In contrast, subjects in all age groups were consistently negative in their evaluations of transgressions in moral rules, etiquette, and masculine gender roles. Female subjects viewed masculine gender role transgressions with greater flexibility and less negativity than did male subjects. Results demonstrate the multidimensional character of flexibility development in different social and physical domains. Results suggest that masculine and feminine gender roles and social etiquette may not fall within a common domain of social convention.     

Gender Labels and Play Styles: Their Relative Contribution to Children's Selection of Playmates

The relative contribution of gender labels and play styles (masculine or feminine) in playmate selection was evaluated in 60 children between the ages of 4 and 8 years using a novel interview measure. In the interview, when targets' gender labels and targets' play styles were presented as independent dimensions, children showed predicted sex differences in preferences for gender labels and for play styles (including toys, rough-and-tumble play, and activity level). However, when targets' gender labels and targets' play styles were presented as competing dimensions, boys of all ages chose female targets with masculine play styles over male targets with feminine play styles. In contrast, younger girls (4–5-year-olds) chose female targets with masculine play styles, whereas older girls (6–8-year-olds) chose male targets with feminine play styles. This suggests possible sex differences in the contribution of gender labels and of play styles in the development of children's preferences for same-sexed playmates.     

大学生性别认同调查与教育对策

文章运用贝姆性别角色量表对大学生的性别认同进行调查得知,我国大学生性别认同类型分布在男子气的女性、女子气的男子、未分化三种类型上的比例偏高,这反映我国大学生存在性别认同问题。为促进健康的性别认同,应该在大学生中开展性别教育。     

中学生性别角色观的性别差异

性别角色观是指人们对男女性别角色的总的看法,是一种有关性别角色的价值观。本文采用问卷调查的方法,对430名中学生的性别角色观进行了研究,结果发现:(1)男女性别角色正价特质排在第一位的分别是勇敢和漂亮;负价特质排在第一位的分别是虚伪和自私;(2)男女生均认为勇敢、幽默、善良、浪漫、阳光帅气是男性的正价特质,但是在阳光帅气这一特质上有显著的性别差异;男女生均认为漂亮、大方、温柔、可爱、体贴、自信、细心、善良是女性的正价特质,此外,女生的正价特质中,男生认为还有纯洁和真诚,女生认为还有孝顺和亲和力;(3)男女生均认为虚伪、自负、自私、女性化强、奸诈、迂腐、自夸和斤斤计较是男性的负价特质,此外,女生的负价特质中,男生认为还有傲慢和霸道,女生认为还有懦弱和无能;男女生都认为自私、虚伪、势力、自大、斤斤计较、炫耀是女性的负价特质,且自私在男女生中均排在第一位。(4)年级对性别角色影响的卡方检验结果显示初中生和高中生的性别角色观没有显著差异,但是不同年级在性别角色特质选择的频数中可以看出:初中生与高中生皆将勇敢作为男性正价特质的第一位,但是初中生较高中生而言更不喜欢男生懦弱,高中生较初中生而言更不喜欢男生女性化强;高中生和初中生都不喜欢女生自私,但是高中生比初中生更看重女生的漂亮、大方、温柔。     

民办高校大学生性别角色与社会适应关系研究简

对福建省民办高校大学生的性别角色与社会适应水平的关系进行研究,结果发现不同的性别角色导致大学生的社会适应能力表现出显著差异。在四种性别角色类型中,男性化和双性化的社会适应能力比女性化和未分化更高,而社会适应能力最好的性别角色是男性化,其次为双性化,未分化的社会适应能力一般,而女性化的社会适应能力最差。这一结果和前期大部分研究支持双性化是理想型性别角色的观点稍有不同。福建省三所民办高校大学生中普遍表现出社会适应性一般。     

Gender differences in reading motivation: does sex or gender identity provide a better account?

This study examined sex differences in reading skill and reading motivation, investigating whether these differences could be better accounted for by sex, or by gender identity. One hundred and eighty‐two primary school children (98 males) aged 8–11 completed a reading comprehension assessment, reading motivation questionnaire and a gender role questionnaire. While there were no sex differences in reading skill or extrinsic reading motivation, girls had significantly higher intrinsic reading motivation. However, responses to intrinsic motivation were better explained by gender identity than sex. In addition, a feminine identity was more closely associated with many different aspects of reading motivation than a masculine identity. Implications for our understanding of sex differences in reading are discussed.     

The effects of perceived professor competence,warmth and gender on students’ likelihood to register for a course

Abstract

The present research examined whether students’ likelihood to take a course with a male or female professor was affected by different expectations of professors based on gender stereotypes. In an experimental vignette study, 503 undergraduate students from a Canadian university were randomly assigned to read a fictitious online review, similar to those found on RateMyProfessors.com, that varied professor gender, overall quality score and level of caring for students. Students responded to items assessing their likelihood to take a course with the professor, perceived competence and warmth of the professor, and their own gender bias. An analysis of variance revealed an interaction between professor gender, student gender, quality score and caring. When quality score was low, male students indicated a lower likelihood of taking a course with female professors who were not described as caring. Regression analyses showed, however, that students' gender bias was negatively associated with likelihood to take a course with a female professor. These results imply that student gender plays a role in evaluations of female professors who do not display stereotypical warmth but that gender bias, which is typically higher for males at the group-level, may be an underlying factor.     

The Construction of Complementarity in Physical Education

This paper discusses the ways in which feminine and masculine subjectivities are constructed as complementary-that is, defined in opposition to one another. This concept will be explored in the context of secondary physical education through an analysis of open-ended interviews with students and teachers as they talk about themselves and each other in relation to physical activity and their expectations of masculine and feminine bodies. It will be argued that physical education is an important location in and through which bodies are inscribed with gender differences which contribute to the marginalisation of girls in relation to physical activity and help to inscribe the female body as lacking those qualities associated with the active male body.     

The effects of differential college environments on academic learning and student perceptions of cognitive development

It was the purpose of this study to assess the effects of differential college environments on academic learning and cognitive development by testing Pascarella's theoretical general causal model with longitudinal data from a national database on college students. Secondary analysis of longitudinal data from the 1986 Cooperative Institutional Research Program (CIRP) freshman survey and from the 1990 follow-up CIRP survey was conducted to formulate the five clusters of independent variables and two dependent variables as postulated by Pascarella. The final sample was composed of 2,165 students at four-year institutions. The data were analyzed using path analysis. Direct, indirect, and total effects of all variables are reported. Results of the path analyses partially supported Pascarella's theoretical causal model. Findings suggested that student precollege traits, the quality of student effort in academic pursuits during college, and interactions with faculty and peers are more salient influences on learning and student perceptions of cognitive development than institutional characteristics and institutional environment. Based on the findings of the present study, a refined causal model for college student academic and cognitive outcomes is proposed. Recommendations and implications for further study are given.     

家庭受教育水平对大学生学习投入 影响的实证分析

基于2016年中国大学生学习与发展追踪研究的调查数据,分析了以父母是否受过高等教育为代表的家庭受教育水平与大学生学习投入之间的关系。研究发现:父母受过高等教育与父母未受过高等教育大学生的学习投入存在显著差异;在引入性别、年级、专业、生源地等控制变量后,父亲是否受过高等教育对大学生学习投入没有显著影响,母亲是否受过高等教育对大学生学习投入影响显著;母亲是否受过高等教育对大学生教育经验丰富度的影响最为明显,对生师互动、主动合作学习水平不存在显著影响。家庭受教育水平较丰富的大学生,在高等教育场域中仍占有一定的优势。     

Sex differences in education: exploring children’s gender identity

Abstract

Gender stereotypes associate mathematics and sciences with boys, whereas reading and writing are typically associated with girls. This study investigated sex differences in primary school children’s motivation (confidence and value) across four academic subjects (maths, science, reading and writing) and examined how their identification with stereotypical masculine and feminine traits related to their motivation in these subjects. Five hundred and thirty-two children (aged 9–11, 52% boys), from five UK schools participated. Sex differences in reading and writing motivation were wider than sex differences found in maths and science motivation. Interestingly, the extent to which children identified with feminine traits was a stronger predictor of their reading and writing motivation than their sex. Gender identity provides an innovative approach to the study of sex differences; it challenges the dichotomy inherent within sex differences research and can lead to a more critical and nuanced understanding of sex differences in education.