The effects of gender on the retrieval of episodic and semantic components of autobiographical memory.

PubMed

Fuentes, Amanda; Desrocher, Mary

2013-01-01

Despite consistent evidence that women exhibit greater episodic memory specificity than men, little attention has been paid to gender differences in the production of episodic details during autobiographical recall under conditions of high and low retrieval support. Similarly the role of gender on the production of semantic details used to support autobiographical memory recollections of specific events has been largely unexplored. In the present study an undergraduate sample of 50 men and 50 women were assessed using the Autobiographical Interview (Levine, Svoboda, Hay, Winocur, & Moscovitch, 2002). Women recalled more episodic information compared to men in the high retrieval support condition, whereas no gender differences were found in the low retrieval support condition. In addition, women produced more repetitions compared to men in the high retrieval support condition. No gender differences were found in the production of semantic details. These results are interpreted in terms of gender differences in encoding and reminiscence practices. This research adds to the literature on gender differences in memory recall and suggests that gender is an important variable in explaining individual differences in AM recall.

Editorial: Let's talk about sex - the gender binary revisited.

PubMed

Oldehinkel, Albertine J

2017-08-01

Sex refers to biological differences and gender to socioculturally delineated masculine and feminine roles. Sex or gender are included as a covariate or effect modifier in the majority of child psychology and psychiatry studies, and differences found between boys and girls have inspired many researchers to postulate underlying mechanisms. Empirical tests of whether including these proposed explanatory variables actually reduces the variance explained by gender are lagging behind somewhat. That is a pity, because a lot can be gained from a greater focus on the active agents of specific gender differences. As opposed to biological sex as such, some of the processes explaining why a specific outcome shows gender differences may be changeable and so possible prevention targets. Moreover, while the sex binary may be reasonable adequate as a classification variable, the gender binary is far from perfect. Gender is a multidimensional, partly context-dependent factor, and the dichotomy generally used in research does not do justice to the diversity existing within boys and girls. © 2017 Association for Child and Adolescent Mental Health.

The Intrapsychics of Gender: A Model of Self-Socialization

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Tobin, Desiree D.; Menon, Meenakshi; Menon, Madhavi; Spatta, Brooke C.; Hodges, Ernest V. E.; Perry, David G.

2010-01-01

This article outlines a model of the structure and the dynamics of gender cognition in childhood. The model incorporates 3 hypotheses featured in different contemporary theories of childhood gender cognition and unites them under a single theoretical framework. Adapted from Greenwald et al. (2002), the model distinguishes three constructs: gender…

Psycho-Social Determinants of Gender Prejudice in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Nnachi, N. O.; Okpube, M. N.

2015-01-01

This work focused on the "Psycho-social Determinants of Gender Prejudice in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM)". The females were found to be underrepresented in STEM fields. The under-representation results from gender stereotype, differences in spatial skills, hierarchical and territorial segregations and…

Gender differences in loss of psychological resources following experimentally-induced vicarious stress.

PubMed

Ben-Zur, Hasida; Zeidner, Moshe

2012-07-01

The present research focuses on gender differences in resource loss, perceived threat, and negative affective reactions induced by experimental manipulation of vicarious stress. Israeli students (54.7% women) were randomly allocated to one of two conditions: (1) Threat Condition (n=98), in which participants were exposed to a video film depicting terror attacks and (2) Control Condition (n=30), in which participants viewed a video film depicting a series of non-emotive news broadcasts. Participants also completed measures of mastery, optimism, and self-esteem. The data indicated that whereas under the Threat Condition women scored lower on psychological resources and higher on perceived threat than men, no significant gender differences were observed under the Control Condition. A path analysis revealed that gender was directly related to perceived threat and resource loss, which, in turn, were related to negative affect. In addition, a greater sense of mastery was related to lower resource loss. Overall, these experimental findings suggest that gender and mastery bear prominent effects on cognitive and emotional reactions to vicarious life threat.

Small-worldness and gender differences of large scale brain metabolic covariance networks in young adults: a FDG PET study of 400 subjects.

PubMed

Hu, Yuxiao; Xu, Qiang; Shen, Junkang; Li, Kai; Zhu, Hong; Zhang, Zhiqiang; Lu, Guangming

2015-02-01

Many studies have demonstrated the small-worldness of the human brain, and have revealed a sexual dimorphism in brain network properties. However, little is known about the gender effects on the topological organization of the brain metabolic covariance networks. To investigate the small-worldness and the gender differences in the topological architectures of human brain metabolic networks. FDG-PET data of 400 healthy right-handed subjects (200 women and 200 age-matched men) were involved in the present study. Metabolic networks of each gender were constructed by calculating the covariance of regional cerebral glucose metabolism (rCMglc) across subjects on the basis of AAL parcellation. Gender differences of network and nodal properties were investigated by using the graph theoretical approaches. Moreover, the gender-related difference of rCMglc in each brain region was tested for investigating the relationships between the hub regions and the brain regions showing significant gender-related differences in rCMglc. We found prominent small-world properties in the domain of metabolic networks in each gender. No significant gender difference in the global characteristics was found. Gender differences of nodal characteristic were observed in a few brain regions. We also found bilateral and lateralized distributions of network hubs in the females and males. Furthermore, we first reported that some hubs of a gender located in the brain regions showing weaker rCMglc in this gender than the other gender. The present study demonstrated that small-worldness was existed in metabolic networks, and revealed gender differences of organizational patterns in metabolic network. These results maybe provided insights into the understanding of the metabolic substrates underlying individual differences in cognition and behaviors. © The Foundation Acta Radiologica 2014 Reprints and permissions: sagepub.co.uk/journalsPermissions.nav.

Perceived Gender Differences in Performance in Science: The Case of Lesotho Secondary Schools

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Khanyane, Marethabile; Mokuku, Tšepo; Nthathakane, Malefu C.

2016-01-01

The paper reports on a study aimed at investigating perceived gender differences in performance in science at secondary school level, as well as beliefs on possible underlying causes for these differences. The study is situated within the interpretivist paradigm and uses a typology of factors drawn from the Educational Effectiveness Research model…

Evaluating gender similarities and differences using metasynthesis.

PubMed

Zell, Ethan; Krizan, Zlatan; Teeter, Sabrina R

2015-01-01

Despite the common lay assumption that males and females are profoundly different, Hyde (2005) used data from 46 meta-analyses to demonstrate that males and females are highly similar. Nonetheless, the gender similarities hypothesis has remained controversial. Since Hyde's provocative report, there has been an explosion of meta-analytic interest in psychological gender differences. We utilized this enormous collection of 106 meta-analyses and 386 individual meta-analytic effects to reevaluate the gender similarities hypothesis. Furthermore, we employed a novel data-analytic approach called metasynthesis (Zell & Krizan, 2014) to estimate the average difference between males and females and to explore moderators of gender differences. The average, absolute difference between males and females across domains was relatively small (d = 0.21, SD = 0.14), with the majority of effects being either small (46%) or very small (39%). Magnitude of differences fluctuated somewhat as a function of the psychological domain (e.g., cognitive variables, social and personality variables, well-being), but remained largely constant across age, culture, and generations. These findings provide compelling support for the gender similarities hypothesis, but also underscore conditions under which gender differences are most pronounced. PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2015 APA, all rights reserved.

From Child Maltreatment to Violent Offending: An Examination of Mixed-Gender and Gender-Specific Models

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Topitzes, James; Mersky, Joshua P.; Reynolds, Arthur J.

2012-01-01

Research suggests that child maltreatment predicts juvenile violence, but it is uncertain whether the effects of victimization persist into adulthood or differ across gender. Furthermore, we know little about the mechanisms underlying the victim-perpetrator cycle for males and females. Consequently, this study analyzed associations between child…

Gender Divergence in Academics' Representation and Research Productivity: A Nigerian Case Study

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Opesade, Adeola Omobola; Famurewa, Kofoworola Folakemi; Igwe, Ebelechukwu Gloria

2017-01-01

Gender equity is increasingly seen as an indicator of development and global acceptance in networks of higher education. Despite this, gender divergence in research productivity of academics coupled with under-representation of women in science has been reported to beset female's scholarly activities. Previous studies provide differing results,…

Discriminating male and female voices: differentiating pitch and gender.

PubMed

Latinus, Marianne; Taylor, Margot J

2012-04-01

Gender is salient, socially critical information obtained from faces and voices, yet the brain processes underlying gender discrimination have not been well studied. We investigated neural correlates of gender processing of voices in two ERP studies. In the first, ERP differences were seen between female and male voices starting at 87 ms, in both spatial-temporal and peak analyses, particularly the fronto-central N1 and P2. As pitch differences may drive gender differences, the second study used normal, high- and low-pitch voices. The results of these studies suggested that differences in pitch produced early effects (27-63 ms). Gender effects were seen on N1 (120 ms) with implicit pitch processing (study 1), but were not seen with manipulations of pitch (study 2), demonstrating that N1 was modulated by attention. P2 (between 170 and 230 ms) discriminated male from female voices, independent of pitch. Thus, these data show that there are two stages in voice gender processing; a very early pitch or frequency discrimination and a later more accurate determination of gender at the P2 latency.

Leaks in the pipeline: separating demographic inertia from ongoing gender differences in academia.

PubMed

Shaw, Allison K; Stanton, Daniel E

2012-09-22

Identification of the causes underlying the under-representation of women and minorities in academia is a source of ongoing concern and controversy. This is a critical issue in ensuring the openness and diversity of academia; yet differences in personal experiences and interpretations have mired it in controversy. We construct a simple model of the academic career that can be used to identify general trends, and separate the demographic effects of historical differences from ongoing biological or cultural gender differences. We apply the model to data on academics collected by the National Science Foundation (USA) over the past three decades, across all of science and engineering, and within six disciplines (agricultural and biological sciences, engineering, mathematics and computer sciences, physical sciences, psychology, and social sciences). We show that the hiring and retention of women in academia have been affected by both demographic inertia and gender differences, but that the relative influence of gender differences appears to be dwindling for most disciplines and career transitions. Our model enables us to identify the two key non-structural bottlenecks restricting female participation in academia: choice of undergraduate major and application to faculty positions. These transitions are those in greatest need of detailed study and policy development.

Sixty Successful Dyslexics: Gender Differences and Literacy Development.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Fink, Rosalie P.

A study examined how, when, and under what conditions severe dyslexics developed high literacy skills, as well as the role of gender differences in literacy development and professional success. Subjects were 60 highly successful dyslexic adults (30 men and 30 women) and 10 nondyslexic male and female normative controls. Results indicated that…

Investigating Gender Differences under Time Pressure in Financial Risk Taking.

PubMed

Xie, Zhixin; Page, Lionel; Hardy, Ben

2017-01-01

There is a significant gender imbalance on financial trading floors. This motivated us to investigate gender differences in financial risk taking under pressure. We used a well-established approach from behavior economics to analyze a series of risky monetary choices by male and female participants with and without time pressure. We also used second to fourth digit ratio (2D:4D) and face width-to-height ratio (fWHR) as correlates of pre-natal exposure to testosterone. We constructed a structural model and estimated the participants' risk attitudes and probability perceptions via maximum likelihood estimation under both expected utility (EU) and rank-dependent utility (RDU) models. In line with existing research, we found that male participants are less risk averse and that the gender gap in risk attitudes increases under moderate time pressure. We found that female participants with lower 2D:4D ratios and higher fWHR are less risk averse in RDU estimates. Males with lower 2D:4D ratios were less risk averse in EU estimations, but more risk averse using RDU estimates. We also observe that men whose ratios indicate a greater prenatal exposure to testosterone exhibit a greater optimism and overestimation of small probabilities of success.

Gender Differences in Posttraumatic Stress Symptoms after a Terrorist Attack: A Network Approach.

PubMed

Birkeland, Marianne S; Blix, Ines; Solberg, Øivind; Heir, Trond

2017-01-01

Background: Posttraumatic stress symptoms are more prevalent in women than in men. To improve our understanding of gender differences in PTSD, detailed knowledge about the underlying symptom networks and gender specific symptom profiles is needed. Objective: We aimed to describe the gender differences in levels of individual posttraumatic stress symptoms after a terrorist attack, as well as identify possible gender differences in associations between posttraumatic stress symptoms. Method: This study used survey data from ministerial employees directly ( n = 190) and indirectly ( n = 1,615) exposed to the 2011 Oslo bombing. Data was collected approximately 10 months after the event. In order to investigate gender differences in levels of symptoms, we used bootstrapped means and standard deviations. Network analyses were conducted to identify gender differences in the associations between posttraumatic stress symptoms. Results: Women reported higher levels of all symptoms, and the strongest effect sizes were found for symptoms of re-experiencing, and anxious and dysphoric arousal. Among individuals with considerable levels of posttraumatic stress symptoms, women reported higher levels of physiological cue activity and exaggerated startle response. No significant gender differences in the networks of posttraumatic stress were found. Conclusions: The present results find no indication that the gender difference in prevalence of PTSD can be explained by differences in associations between symptoms. In order to determine if this finding can be applied to other participants and circumstances, future studies should seek to replicate this study in both community and clinical samples.

Gender Differences in Posttraumatic Stress Symptoms after a Terrorist Attack: A Network Approach

PubMed Central

Birkeland, Marianne S.; Blix, Ines; Solberg, Øivind; Heir, Trond

2017-01-01

Background: Posttraumatic stress symptoms are more prevalent in women than in men. To improve our understanding of gender differences in PTSD, detailed knowledge about the underlying symptom networks and gender specific symptom profiles is needed. Objective: We aimed to describe the gender differences in levels of individual posttraumatic stress symptoms after a terrorist attack, as well as identify possible gender differences in associations between posttraumatic stress symptoms. Method: This study used survey data from ministerial employees directly (n = 190) and indirectly (n = 1,615) exposed to the 2011 Oslo bombing. Data was collected approximately 10 months after the event. In order to investigate gender differences in levels of symptoms, we used bootstrapped means and standard deviations. Network analyses were conducted to identify gender differences in the associations between posttraumatic stress symptoms. Results: Women reported higher levels of all symptoms, and the strongest effect sizes were found for symptoms of re-experiencing, and anxious and dysphoric arousal. Among individuals with considerable levels of posttraumatic stress symptoms, women reported higher levels of physiological cue activity and exaggerated startle response. No significant gender differences in the networks of posttraumatic stress were found. Conclusions: The present results find no indication that the gender difference in prevalence of PTSD can be explained by differences in associations between symptoms. In order to determine if this finding can be applied to other participants and circumstances, future studies should seek to replicate this study in both community and clinical samples. PMID:29250014

Engendering the bureaucracy? Challenges and opportunities for mainstreaming gender in Ministries of Health under sector-wide approaches.

PubMed

Theobald, Sally; Tolhurst, Rachel; Elsey, Helen; Standing, Hilary; Standing, Helen

2005-05-01

The increasing ascendancy of 'gender mainstreaming' as the central approach to improving gender equity has largely determined strategies to integrate a gender focus in sector-wide approaches (SWAps). This paper explores the impetus for and process of gender mainstreaming in SWAps in the Ministries of Health in Uganda, Ghana, Malawi and Mozambique, and outlines some achievements and challenges. The shifting and contested relationships between the Ministry of Health, donors and other government ministries (such as Ministries of Finance and Ministries of Women's Affairs/Gender) are important in shaping the opportunities and constraints faced in gender mainstreaming. The refocusing of resource allocation to different sectors has led to changes in the balance of power between the various actors at the national level, with diverse implications for promoting gender equity in health. Some of the achievements to date and ongoing challenges are explored through concrete examples from different countries. These include: the development of structures for mainstreaming, including the dilemmas of the 'focal points' approach and the role of national gender mainstreaming machinery; the need for training and building capacity to identify and address gender issues, which involves engaging with new languages and concepts, and developing new skills; building alliances, consensus and momentum; integrating gender concerns into policy and planning documents; and promoting gender equity in human resources in the health sector. Cross-cutting themes underlying these challenges are the need for gender-specific information and ways to finance mainstreaming strategies. Implications are drawn for ways forward, without losing sight of the challenge of translating discourses of gender mainstreaming, and its central ideal of social transformation, into pragmatic strategies in the bureaucratic environment.

Gender differences in self-conscious emotional experience: a meta-analysis.

PubMed

Else-Quest, Nicole M; Higgins, Ashley; Allison, Carlie; Morton, Lindsay C

2012-09-01

The self-conscious emotions (SCE) of guilt, shame, pride, and embarrassment are moral emotions, which motivate adherence to social norms and personal standards and emerge in early childhood following the development of self-awareness. Gender stereotypes of emotion maintain that women experience more guilt, shame, and embarrassment but that men experience more pride. To estimate the magnitude of gender differences in SCE experience and to determine the circumstances under which these gender differences vary, we meta-analyzed 697 effect sizes representing 236,304 individual ratings of SCE states and traits from 382 journal articles, dissertations, and unpublished data sets. Guilt (d = -0.27) and shame (d = -0.29) displayed small gender differences, whereas embarrassment (d = -0.08), authentic pride (d = -0.01), and hubristic pride (d = 0.09) showed gender similarities. Similar to previous findings of ethnic variations in gender differences in other psychological variables, gender differences in shame and guilt were significant only for White samples or samples with unspecified ethnicity. We found larger gender gaps in shame with trait (vs. state) scales, and in guilt and shame with situation- and scenario-based (vs. adjective- and statement-based) items, consistent with predictions that such scales and items tend to tap into global, nonspecific assessments of the self and thus reflect self-stereotyping and gender role assimilative effects. Gender differences in SCE about domains such as the body, sex, and food or eating tended to be larger than gender differences in SCE about other domains. These findings contribute to the literature demonstrating that blanket stereotypes about women's greater emotionality are inaccurate. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved).

Testing Gender Effects on the Mechanisms Explaining the Association between Post-Traumatic Stress Symptoms and Substance Use Frequency

PubMed Central

Bornovalova, Marina A.; Ouimette, Paige; Crawford, Aaron V.; Levy, Roy

2009-01-01

The present study examines gender differences in the mechanisms that explain the association between PTSD symptoms and substance use frequency in a sample of 182 urban substance users. Specifically, the current study examined gender differences in the role of two potential explanatory variables, namely, difficulties controlling impulsive behavior when distressed (IMP), and a lack of emotional awareness and clarity (AW/CLAR). Multiple-group path modeling (across males and females) was used to examine gender differences in the path coefficients from PTSD symptoms to IMP and AW/CLAR, and from these latter variables to drug use frequency. Results indicated that PTSD symptoms were associated with IMP and AW/CLAR, and these path coefficients did not vary by gender. However, gender differences emerged when considering the path coefficients from AW/CLAR and IMP to substance use frequency. Specifically, for women, the association between PTSD and substance use was partially explained by IMP, whereas for men, the association between PTSD and substance use was partially explained by AW/CLAR. The current study is the first to examine gender differences in mechanisms accounting for the association between PTSD and substance use frequency, and these results also support the value and importance of examining gender differences in mechanisms underlying PTSD-SUD comorbidity. PMID:19423233

Pattern of money allocation in experimental games supports the stress hypothesis of gender differences in Toxoplasma gondii-induced behavioural changes.

PubMed

Lindová, Jitka; Kubena, Ales A; Sturcová, Hana; Krivohlavá, Romana; Novotná, Martina; Rubesová, Anna; Havlícek, Jan; Kodym, Petr; Flegr, Jaroslav

2010-06-01

Latent toxoplasmosis has been previously found to cause behavioural and personality changes in humans, which are specific for each gender. Here we tested the stress hypothesis of these gender differences based on the assumption that latent toxoplasmosis causes long-term subliminal stress. In line with this hypothesis, the gender difference will appear specifically in situations with interpersonal context because in contrast to the typical individualistic coping style of men, women have a tendency to express elevated prosocial behaviour under stress. Altogether 295 biology students (29/191 females and 27/104 males infected by T. gondii) played a modified version of the Dictator Game and the Trust Game. As predicted, a gender difference in the effect of latent toxoplasmosis was found for the measure of reciprocal altruism in the Trust Game (p = 0.016), but both genders appeared less generous when infected in the Dictator Game modified to minimize social connotation (p = 0.048).

Influence of gender, age and motives underlying food choice on perceived healthiness and willingness to try functional foods.

PubMed

Ares, Gastón; Gámbaro, Adriana

2007-07-01

The aims of the present study were to study the effect of different carriers and enrichments on the perceived healthiness and willingness to try functional foods; and to evaluate the effect of age, gender and motives underlying food choice. Participants had to evaluate different functional food concepts and had to answer a food choice questionnaire. Results showed that carrier products had the largest effect on consumers' perception of healthiness and willingness to try of the evaluated functional foods concepts. The highest positive relative utilities were achieved when the enrichment was a functional ingredient inherent in the product. Furthermore, gender, age and motives underlying food choice affected the preference patterns for the evaluated functional foods concepts, but it depended on the carrier and enrichment considered, suggesting that functional foods might not be accepted by all the consumers and that they could be tailored for certain groups.

Gender Differences in Memory for Objects and Their Locations: A Study on Automatic versus Controlled Encoding and Retrieval Contexts

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

De Goede, Maartje; Postma, Albert

2008-01-01

Object-location memory is the only spatial task where female subjects have been shown to outperform males. This result is not consistent across all studies, and may be due to the combination of the multi-component structure of object location memory with the conditions under which different studies were done. Possible gender differences in object…

The Role of Anxiety and Working Memory in Gender Differences in Mathematics

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ganley, Colleen M.; Vasilyeva, Marina

2014-01-01

This research examined a potential mechanism underlying gender differences in math performance by testing a mediation model in which women's higher anxiety taxes their working memory resources, leading to underperformance on a mathematics test. Participants for the 2 studies were college students (N = 87, N = 118) who completed an anxiety measure,…

Why do women have back pain more than men? A representative prevalence study in the federal republic of Germany.

PubMed

Schneider, Sven; Randoll, Dorothee; Buchner, Matthias

2006-10-01

In comparison with men, women have a healthier lifestyle, are more rarely overweight, have less stressful occupations, or are not employed outside the home. The "gender pain bias" is the fact that women nevertheless have a higher prevalence of back pain. This paper looks at the possible underlying reasons for this as yet unexplained gender difference, using Stokols' socioecological health model as a basis. The first National Health Survey for the Federal Republic of Germany was carried out from October 1997 to March 1999. It comprised a representative total sample of 5315 persons between the ages of 20 and 64. The participants took part in a medical examination and answered a self-report form. chi test and logistic regression analyses were used to investigate correlations between self-reported low back pain and gender-specific biopsychobehavioral and sociophysical environmental factors. Seven-day back pain prevalence in the Federal Republic of Germany is 32% for men and 40% for women. Prevalences are significantly higher for overweight subjects, persons with a marked somatization tendency or a low level of social support, physically inactive individuals, smokers, elderly subjects, the nonemployed, "blue collar workers" and lower socioeconomic groups. From a multivariate perspective, however, none of these factors reduces (and hence sufficiently explains) the gender difference. Factoring in the gender-specific somatization tendency reduces the odds ratios of women versus men from 1.42 to 1.23. In view of the gender difference in pain prevalence, which remains stable despite a multivariate perspective, there is clearly a need for more research into the reasons underlying the gender difference. We believe that future studies should look at rarely investigated constructs such as "sex role expectancies," "anxiety," "ethnicity," and "family history" and take anatomic differences in muscle strength into account.

Lack of gender effects on gray matter volumes in adolescent generalized anxiety disorder.

PubMed

Liao, Mei; Yang, Fan; Zhang, Yan; He, Zhong; Su, Linyan; Li, Lingjiang

2014-02-01

Previous epidemiological and clinical studies have reported gender differences in prevalence and clinical features of generalized anxiety disorder (GAD). Such gender differences in clinical phenomenology suggest that the underlying neural circuitry of GAD could also be different in males and females. This study aimed to explore the possible gender effect on gray matter volumes in adolescents with GAD. Twenty-six adolescent GAD patients and 25 healthy controls participated and underwent high-resolution structural magnetic resonance scans. Voxel-based morphometry (VBM) was used to investigate gray matter alterations. Our study revealed a significant diagnosis main effect in the right putamen, with larger gray matter volumes in GAD patients compared to healthy controls, and a significant gender main effect in the left precuneus/posterior cingulate cortex, with larger gray matter volumes in males compared to females. No gender-by-diagnosis interaction effect was found in this study. The relatively small sample size in this study might result in a lack of power to demonstrate gender effects on brain structure in GAD. The results suggested that there are differences in gray matter volumes between males and females, but gray matter volumes in GAD are not influenced by gender. © 2013 Published by Elsevier B.V.

[The foundation of "feminine" and "masculine". Useful theories for the training of future physicians concerning the importance of gender].

PubMed

Risberg, G

2000-11-15

A gender perspective on health and consultation is part of medical education today. Teaching about gender must not focus on differences between men and women as essential, biological, and unchangeable. The meaning of "feminine" and "masculine" is largely a social construction, i.e. the behavior and character of an individual are seldom determined by sex. Furthermore, women and men live under different conditions and have different positions in society. Medical students need to be aware of this and reflect upon the influence it may have on their professional role and practice. To achieve this awareness, knowledge about the construction of gender is needed. This article reviews relevant research in this field. The gender of the physician is used as a basis and illustration of this.

Exploring sex and gender differences in sleep health: a Society for Women's Health Research Report.

PubMed

Mallampalli, Monica P; Carter, Christine L

2014-07-01

Previous attempts have been made to address sleep disorders in women; however, significant knowledge gaps in research and a lack of awareness among the research community continue to exist. There is a great need for scientists and clinicians to consider sex and gender differences in their sleep research to account for the unique biology of women. To understand the role of sex differences in sleep and the state of women's sleep health research, the Society for Women's Health Research convened an interdisciplinary expert panel of well-established sleep researchers and clinicians for a roundtable meeting. Focused discussions on basic and clinical research along with a focus on specific challenges facing women with sleep-related problems and effective therapies led to the identification of knowledge gaps and the development of research-related recommendations. Additionally, sex differences in sleep disorders were noted and discussed in the context of underlying hormonal differences. Differences in sleep behavior and sleep disorders may not only be driven by biological factors but also by gender differences in the way women and men report symptoms. Progress has been made in identifying sex and gender differences in many areas of sleep, but major research gaps in the areas of epidemiology, sleep regulation, sleep quality, diagnosis, and treatment need to be addressed. Identifying the underlying nature of sex and gender differences in sleep research has potential to accelerate improved care for both men and women facilitating better diagnosis, treatment, and ultimately prevention of sleep disorders and related comorbid conditions.

Exploring Sex and Gender Differences in Sleep Health: A Society for Women's Health Research Report

PubMed Central

Mallampalli, Monica P.

2014-01-01

Abstract Previous attempts have been made to address sleep disorders in women; however, significant knowledge gaps in research and a lack of awareness among the research community continue to exist. There is a great need for scientists and clinicians to consider sex and gender differences in their sleep research to account for the unique biology of women. To understand the role of sex differences in sleep and the state of women's sleep health research, the Society for Women's Health Research convened an interdisciplinary expert panel of well-established sleep researchers and clinicians for a roundtable meeting. Focused discussions on basic and clinical research along with a focus on specific challenges facing women with sleep-related problems and effective therapies led to the identification of knowledge gaps and the development of research-related recommendations. Additionally, sex differences in sleep disorders were noted and discussed in the context of underlying hormonal differences. Differences in sleep behavior and sleep disorders may not only be driven by biological factors but also by gender differences in the way women and men report symptoms. Progress has been made in identifying sex and gender differences in many areas of sleep, but major research gaps in the areas of epidemiology, sleep regulation, sleep quality, diagnosis, and treatment need to be addressed. Identifying the underlying nature of sex and gender differences in sleep research has potential to accelerate improved care for both men and women facilitating better diagnosis, treatment, and ultimately prevention of sleep disorders and related comorbid conditions. PMID:24956068

Gender equity in health: A secondary analysis of data in Iran.

PubMed

Hosseini, Masoumeh; Olyaeemanesh, Alireza; Ahmadi, Batoul; Nedjat, Saharnaz; Farzadi, Faranak; Arab, Mohammad; Rashidian, Arash

2016-01-01

Gender inequality harms the health of millions of women and girls in all over the world. This study aimed to identify the state of gender equity in the health sector of the Islamic Republic of Iran. This study was based on the secondary analysis of the available data in four provinces. The research team held three sessions to select the appropriate indicators for measuring gender equity in Iran. Moreover, using the data of different sources, the indexes were evaluated by applying the brain storming method. To demonstrate the difference between females and males, the ratio of females to males was measured in each indicator. The confidence intervals were used to show significant differences in the gap between men and women. Educational indicators were analyzed using the appraisal framework of UNESCO and International Institute for Education Planning. Findings revealed gender equality in the indicators of education and under-five underweight in all the provinces. However, the indicator of information on the mild psychological diseases showed inequality in favor of males. Infants' mortality, under-five mortality, crude death, drug abuse and smoking showed inequality in favor of females in all the four provinces. The incidence of tuberculosis, severe psychological diseases, and basic and supplementary insurance coverage was equal in all provinces except Tehran. This study revealed gender inequality in many indicators among the provinces. Therefore, improving this condition requires policymaking, planning, and conducting appropriate strategies with proper gender approaches.

Factors affecting cognitive function according to gender in community-dwelling elderly individuals.

PubMed

Kim, Miwon; Park, Jeong-Mo

2017-01-01

This study aimed to identify the factors affecting the cognitive function of elderly people in a community by gender. We obtained 4,878 secondary data of people aged ≥65 years in 2016 at a dementia prevention center in Gyeyang-gu, Incheon. Data were obtained through Mini-Mental Status Examination optimized for screening dementia and a questionnaire. The data were statistically analyzed using analysis of variance, analysis of covariance, and hierarchical regression. There were significant differences in cognitive function according to gender, and the differences were significant even when age was controlled, but gender differences disappeared when education was controlled. Age, education, social activities, number of comorbid diseases, and alcohol drinking affected cognitive function through interaction with gender, but interaction with gender disappeared when education was controlled. Regression analysis showed that depression, cohabitant, social activities etc., had a significant impact on both men and women under controlled education and age. In men, the effect of social activities was greater than that of women, and hyperlipidemia had the effect only in women. The differences in gender-related cognitive functions were due to differences in gender education period. The period of education is considered to have a great influence on cognitive function in relation to the economic level, occupation, and social activity.

Factors affecting cognitive function according to gender in community-dwelling elderly individuals

PubMed Central

2017-01-01

OBJECTIVES This study aimed to identify the factors affecting the cognitive function of elderly people in a community by gender. METHODS We obtained 4,878 secondary data of people aged ≥65 years in 2016 at a dementia prevention center in Gyeyang-gu, Incheon. Data were obtained through Mini-Mental Status Examination optimized for screening dementia and a questionnaire. The data were statistically analyzed using analysis of variance, analysis of covariance, and hierarchical regression. RESULTS There were significant differences in cognitive function according to gender, and the differences were significant even when age was controlled, but gender differences disappeared when education was controlled. Age, education, social activities, number of comorbid diseases, and alcohol drinking affected cognitive function through interaction with gender, but interaction with gender disappeared when education was controlled. Regression analysis showed that depression, cohabitant, social activities etc., had a significant impact on both men and women under controlled education and age. In men, the effect of social activities was greater than that of women, and hyperlipidemia had the effect only in women. CONCLUSIONS The differences in gender-related cognitive functions were due to differences in gender education period. The period of education is considered to have a great influence on cognitive function in relation to the economic level, occupation, and social activity. PMID:29141399

Communication skills of medical students during the OSCE: Gender-specific differences in a longitudinal trend study.

PubMed

Graf, Joachim; Smolka, Robert; Simoes, Elisabeth; Zipfel, Stephan; Junne, Florian; Holderried, Friederike; Wosnik, Annette; Doherty, Anne M; Menzel, Karina; Herrmann-Werner, Anne

2017-05-02

Communication skills are essential in a patient-centred health service and therefore in medical teaching. Although significant differences in communication behaviour of male and female students are known, gender differences in the performance of students are still under-reported. The aim of this study was to analyse gender differences in communication skills of medical students in the context of an OSCE exam (OSCE = Objective Structured Clinical Examination). In a longitudinal trend study based on seven semester-cohorts, it was analysed if there are gender differences in medical students' communication skills. The students (self-perception) and standardized patients (SP) (external perception) were asked to rate the communication skills using uniform questionnaires. Statistical analysis was performed by using frequency analyses and t-tests in SPSS 21. Across all ratings in the self- and the external perception, there was a significant gender difference in favour of female students performing better in the dimensions of empathy, structure, verbal expression and non-verbal expression. The results of male students deteriorated across all dimensions in the external perception between 2011 and 2014. It is important to consider if gender-specific teaching should be developed, considering the reported differences between female and male students.

Gender differences in working memory networks: A BrainMap meta-analysis

PubMed Central

Hill, Ashley C.; Laird, Angela R.; Robinson, Jennifer L.

2014-01-01

Gender differences in psychological processes have been of great interest in a variety of fields. While the majority of research in this area has focused on specific differences in relation to test performance, this study sought to determine the underlying neurofunctional differences observed during working memory, a pivotal cognitive process shown to be predictive of academic achievement and intelligence. Using the BrainMap database, we performed a meta-analysis and applied activation likelihood estimation to our search set. Our results demonstrate consistent working memory networks across genders, but also provide evidence for gender-specific networks whereby females consistently activate more limbic (e.g., amygdala and hippocampus) and prefrontal structures (e.g., right inferior frontal gyrus), and males activate a distributed network inclusive of more parietal regions. These data provide a framework for future investigation using functional or effective connectivity methods to elucidate the underpinnings of gender differences in neural network recruitment during working memory tasks. PMID:25042764

Gender differences in working memory networks: a BrainMap meta-analysis.

PubMed

Hill, Ashley C; Laird, Angela R; Robinson, Jennifer L

2014-10-01

Gender differences in psychological processes have been of great interest in a variety of fields. While the majority of research in this area has focused on specific differences in relation to test performance, this study sought to determine the underlying neurofunctional differences observed during working memory, a pivotal cognitive process shown to be predictive of academic achievement and intelligence. Using the BrainMap database, we performed a meta-analysis and applied activation likelihood estimation to our search set. Our results demonstrate consistent working memory networks across genders, but also provide evidence for gender-specific networks whereby females consistently activate more limbic (e.g., amygdala and hippocampus) and prefrontal structures (e.g., right inferior frontal gyrus), and males activate a distributed network inclusive of more parietal regions. These data provide a framework for future investigations using functional or effective connectivity methods to elucidate the underpinnings of gender differences in neural network recruitment during working memory tasks. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

An elusive goal? Gender equity and gender equality in health policy.

PubMed

Payne, S

2012-04-01

Variations in the health of men and women are well known: men have poorer life expectancy than women in virtually every country, and there are differences between women and men in patterns of morbidity across the life course. These variations reflect both biology and gender, and health systems play a part through the services they offer. In recent years a number of national governments and international bodies have paid increasing attention to gender inequalities, and gender mainstreaming has been adopted by as a key policy objective at various levels of governance. While gender mainstreaming has resulted in some successes, analysis of the depth of change suggests a less optimistic view, reflecting the persistence of barriers to gender mainstreaming in health, which include a lack of resources, uncertainty over the goals of gender mainstreaming, and notional rather than genuine adoption of gender mainstreaming principles. Underlying these barriers however, is the use of bureaucratic and systems-based approaches to gender mainstreaming. The failure to challenge underlying gender relations of power allows gender strategies to become technocratic exercises which achieve results in terms of the boxes ticked, but not in relation to what matters: the health and health opportunities of both women and men. © Georg Thieme Verlag KG Stuttgart · New York.

Leaks in the pipeline: separating demographic inertia from ongoing gender differences in academia

PubMed Central

Shaw, Allison K.; Stanton, Daniel E.

2012-01-01

Identification of the causes underlying the under-representation of women and minorities in academia is a source of ongoing concern and controversy. This is a critical issue in ensuring the openness and diversity of academia; yet differences in personal experiences and interpretations have mired it in controversy. We construct a simple model of the academic career that can be used to identify general trends, and separate the demographic effects of historical differences from ongoing biological or cultural gender differences. We apply the model to data on academics collected by the National Science Foundation (USA) over the past three decades, across all of science and engineering, and within six disciplines (agricultural and biological sciences, engineering, mathematics and computer sciences, physical sciences, psychology, and social sciences). We show that the hiring and retention of women in academia have been affected by both demographic inertia and gender differences, but that the relative influence of gender differences appears to be dwindling for most disciplines and career transitions. Our model enables us to identify the two key non-structural bottlenecks restricting female participation in academia: choice of undergraduate major and application to faculty positions. These transitions are those in greatest need of detailed study and policy development. PMID:22719028

Sex differences and gender-invariance of mother-reported childhood problem behavior.

PubMed

van der Sluis, Sophie; Polderman, Tinca J C; Neale, Michael C; Verhulst, Frank C; Posthuma, Danielle; Dieleman, Gwen C

2017-09-01

Prevalence and severity of childhood behavioral problems differ between boys and girls, and in psychiatry, testing for gender differences is common practice. Population-based studies show that many psychopathology scales are (partially) Measurement Invariance (MI) with respect to gender, i.e. are unbiased. It is, however, unclear whether these studies generalize towards clinical samples. In a psychiatric outpatient sample, we tested whether the Child Behavior Checklist 6-18 (CBCL) is unbiased with respect to gender. We compared mean scores across gender of all syndrome scales of the CBCL in 3271 patients (63.3% boys) aged 6-18. Second, we tested for MI on both the syndrome scale and the item-level using a stepwise modeling procedure. Six of the eight CBCL syndrome scales included one or more gender-biased items (12.6% of all items), resulting in slight over- or under-estimation of the absolute gender difference in mean scores. Two scales, Somatic Complaints and Rule-breaking Behavior, contained no biased items. The CBCL is a valid instrument to measure gender differences in problem behavior in children and adolescents from a clinical sample; while various gender-biased items were identified, the resulting bias was generally clinically irrelevant, and sufficient items per subscale remained after exclusion of biased items. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Investigating Gender Differences under Time Pressure in Financial Risk Taking

PubMed Central

Xie, Zhixin; Page, Lionel; Hardy, Ben

2017-01-01

There is a significant gender imbalance on financial trading floors. This motivated us to investigate gender differences in financial risk taking under pressure. We used a well-established approach from behavior economics to analyze a series of risky monetary choices by male and female participants with and without time pressure. We also used second to fourth digit ratio (2D:4D) and face width-to-height ratio (fWHR) as correlates of pre-natal exposure to testosterone. We constructed a structural model and estimated the participants' risk attitudes and probability perceptions via maximum likelihood estimation under both expected utility (EU) and rank-dependent utility (RDU) models. In line with existing research, we found that male participants are less risk averse and that the gender gap in risk attitudes increases under moderate time pressure. We found that female participants with lower 2D:4D ratios and higher fWHR are less risk averse in RDU estimates. Males with lower 2D:4D ratios were less risk averse in EU estimations, but more risk averse using RDU estimates. We also observe that men whose ratios indicate a greater prenatal exposure to testosterone exhibit a greater optimism and overestimation of small probabilities of success. PMID:29326566

Hong Kong Secondary School Students' Attitudes towards Science: A Study of Structural Models and Gender Differences

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wan, Zhi Hong; Lee, John Chi Kin

2017-01-01

This study explored two under-researched areas on students' attitudes towards science, that is, the structural models representing these attitudes and the role played by school bands in moderating the gender differences in such attitudes. The participants were 360 ninth graders in Hong Kong from 3 school bands. The structural equation modelling…

Gender Differences in Children's Nurturant Interactions with Their Infant Siblings.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Blakemore, Judith E. Owen

The research focused on the exploration of gender differences in interaction with infant siblings in the home and the maternal socialization of baby care in girls as opposed to boys. Observations were made of 20 families, each with 2 parents, an infant under the age of 12 months, and an older child between the ages of 46 and 102 months. Five…

Evolution of division of labor: emergence of different activities among group members.

PubMed

Nakahashi, Wataru; Feldman, Marcus W

2014-05-07

The division of labor is an important component of the organization of human society. However, why this division evolved in hominids requires further investigation. Archeological evidence suggests that it appeared after the emergence of Homo sapiens and contributed to the great success of our species. We develop a mathematical model to investigate under what conditions division of labor should evolve. We assume two types of resources the acquisition of which demands different skills, and study the evolution of the strategy that an individual should use to divide its lifetime into learning and using each skill. We show that division of labor likely evolves when group size is large, skill learning is important for acquiring resources, and there is food sharing within a group. We also investigate division of labor by gender under the assumption that the genders have different efficiencies in acquiring each resource. We show that division of labor by gender likely evolves when skill learning is important and the difference in efficiencies between genders in acquiring resources is large. We discuss how the results of our analysis might apply to the evolution of division of labor in hominids. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Realizing Gender Equality in Higher Education: The Need To Integrate Work/Family Issues. 1991 ASHE-ERIC Higher Education Report 2.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hensel, Nancy

This monograph examines gender differences and related issues in higher education faculty and proposes steps to change the current climate to resolve gender inequalities, solve the impending shortage of faculty, and improve diversity among faculty. A look at the status of women in academia finds that women are an under-represented group in tenured…

Preferences for "Gender-Typed" Toys in Boys and Girls Aged 9 to 32 Months

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Todd, Brenda K.; Barry, John A.; Thommessen, Sara A. O.

2017-01-01

Many studies have found that a majority of boys and girls prefer to play with toys that are typed to their own gender but there is still uncertainty about the age at which such sex differences first appear, and under what conditions. Applying a standardized research protocol and using a selection of gender-typed toys, we observed the toy…

Gender and competitive preferences: The role of competition size.

PubMed

Hanek, Kathrin J; Garcia, Stephen M; Tor, Avishalom

2016-08-01

In a series of 8 studies, we examine whether gender differences in competition entry preferences are moderated by the size of the competition. Drawing on theories of gender roles and stereotypes, we show that women, relative to men, prefer to enter smaller compared with larger competitions. Studies 1a and 1b demonstrate this effect in observational data on preferences for working in differently sized firms and applying to differently sized colleges. Studies 2a and 2b replicate the effect with real behavioral decisions in different domains. We also find empirical evidence that prescriptive gender norms and stereotypes underlie this effect. In Study 3, we find experimental evidence that women and men differ in their preferences for differently sized groups under competition, but not in noncompetitive settings. Three additional experimental studies (Studies 4, 5a, and 5b) show that perceptions of comfort in small versus larger competitions underlie women's preferences. These findings suggest that women's preferences for smaller competitions may be driven by an adherence to prescriptive gender norms. We discuss the implications of the current findings for gender inequalities in organizations. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved).

Neural Correlates of Sex/Gender Differences in Humor Processing for Different Joke Types.

PubMed

Chan, Yu-Chen

2016-01-01

Humor operates through a variety of techniques, which first generate surprise and then amusement and laughter once the unexpected incongruity is resolved. As different types of jokes use different techniques, the corresponding humor processes also differ. The present study builds on the framework of the 'tri-component theory of humor,' which details the mechanisms involved in cognition (comprehension), affect (appreciation), and laughter (expression). This study seeks to identify differences among joke types and between sexes/genders in the neural mechanisms underlying humor processing. Three types of verbal jokes, bridging-inference jokes (BJs), exaggeration jokes (EJs), and ambiguity jokes (AJs), were used as stimuli. The findings revealed differences in brain activity for an interaction between sex/gender and joke type. For BJs, women displayed greater activation in the temporoparietal-mesocortical-motor network than men, demonstrating the importance of the temporoparietal junction (TPJ) presumably for 'theory of mind' processing, the orbitofrontal cortex for motivational functions and reward coding, and the supplementary motor area for laughter. Women also showed greater activation than men in the frontal-mesolimbic network associated with EJs, including the anterior (frontopolar) prefrontal cortex (aPFC, BA 10) for executive control processes, and the amygdala and midbrain for reward anticipation and salience processes. Conversely, AJs elicited greater activation in men than women in the frontal-paralimbic network, including the dorsal prefrontal cortex (dPFC) and parahippocampal gyrus. All joke types elicited greater activation in the aPFC of women than of men, whereas men showed greater activation than women in the dPFC. To confirm the findings related to sex/gender differences, random group analysis and within group variance analysis were also performed. These findings help further establish the mechanisms underlying the processing of different joke types for the sexes/genders and provide a neural foundation for a theory of sex/gender differences in humor.

Neural Correlates of Sex/Gender Differences in Humor Processing for Different Joke Types

PubMed Central

Chan, Yu-Chen

2016-01-01

Humor operates through a variety of techniques, which first generate surprise and then amusement and laughter once the unexpected incongruity is resolved. As different types of jokes use different techniques, the corresponding humor processes also differ. The present study builds on the framework of the ‘tri-component theory of humor,’ which details the mechanisms involved in cognition (comprehension), affect (appreciation), and laughter (expression). This study seeks to identify differences among joke types and between sexes/genders in the neural mechanisms underlying humor processing. Three types of verbal jokes, bridging-inference jokes (BJs), exaggeration jokes (EJs), and ambiguity jokes (AJs), were used as stimuli. The findings revealed differences in brain activity for an interaction between sex/gender and joke type. For BJs, women displayed greater activation in the temporoparietal–mesocortical-motor network than men, demonstrating the importance of the temporoparietal junction (TPJ) presumably for ‘theory of mind’ processing, the orbitofrontal cortex for motivational functions and reward coding, and the supplementary motor area for laughter. Women also showed greater activation than men in the frontal-mesolimbic network associated with EJs, including the anterior (frontopolar) prefrontal cortex (aPFC, BA 10) for executive control processes, and the amygdala and midbrain for reward anticipation and salience processes. Conversely, AJs elicited greater activation in men than women in the frontal-paralimbic network, including the dorsal prefrontal cortex (dPFC) and parahippocampal gyrus. All joke types elicited greater activation in the aPFC of women than of men, whereas men showed greater activation than women in the dPFC. To confirm the findings related to sex/gender differences, random group analysis and within group variance analysis were also performed. These findings help further establish the mechanisms underlying the processing of different joke types for the sexes/genders and provide a neural foundation for a theory of sex/gender differences in humor. PMID:27199791

Sex differences in addictive disorders.

PubMed

Fattore, Liana; Melis, Miriam; Fadda, Paola; Fratta, Walter

2014-08-01

Gender-dependent differences in the rate of initiation and frequency of misuse of addicting drugs have been widely described. Yet, men and women also differ in their propensity to become addicted to other rewarding stimuli (e.g., sex, food) or activities (e.g., gambling, exercising). The goal of the present review is to summarize current evidence for gender differences not only in drug addiction, but also in other forms of addictive behaviours. Thus, we first reviewed studies showing gender-dependent differences in drug addiction, food addiction, compulsive sexual activity, pathological gambling, Internet addiction and physical exercise addiction. Potential risk factors and underlying brain mechanisms are also examined, with particular emphasis given to the role of sex hormones in modulating addictive behaviours. Investigations on factors allowing the pursuit of non-drug rewards to become pathological in men and women are crucial for designing gender-appropriate treatments of both substance and non-substance addictions. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Gender comparisons in children with ASD entering early intervention.

PubMed

Fulton, Alexandra M; Paynter, Jessica M; Trembath, David

2017-09-01

Males are diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) approximately four times as often as females. This has led to interest in recent years of potential under-diagnosis of females, as well as negative consequences for females with ASD due to under-identification. A number of potential explanations for gender bias in diagnosis are discussed including that females and males may present differently despite showing the same core symptoms. Previous research has shown inconsistent findings in comparisons between genders in young children with ASD for whom early intervention is vital. Thus, the aim of the present study was to investigate the social, communication, and cognitive functioning, as well as level of ASD symptoms, in a cohort of children who presented for early intervention to inform understanding of gender differences in this population, as well as to inform understanding of the mechanisms by which gender bias may occur. Participants included 254 children (42 females) aged 29-74 months who completed measures of cognition, communication skills, adaptive behaviour, and ASD symptoms on entry to early intervention. Consistent with hypotheses, no significant gender differences were found both overall, and when split by functioning level. However, a similar ratio of males and females was found in both high- and low-functioning groups contrary to predictions. These results are consistent with some of the previous research that suggests gender differences may not be apparent in clinical samples at this young age. We highlight a need for further research that may use universal screening or longitudinal methods to understand the trajectory of development for females with ASD specifically. Such research could better inform timely and tailored intervention from the preschool years onwards. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Koedukation oder Geschlechtertrennung = Coeducation or Gender Segregation.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Baumert, Jurgen

1992-01-01

Presents study results examining recruitment practice differences between coeducational and gender segregated secondary schools in Germany. Discusses the impact of organizational form on teacher judgments, achievement in specific subjects, school subject-related interests, and school commitment. Reports that under conditions of free school choice,…

Men and women are from Earth: examining the latent structure of gender.

PubMed

Carothers, Bobbi J; Reis, Harry T

2013-02-01

Taxometric methods enable determination of whether the latent structure of a construct is dimensional or taxonic (nonarbitrary categories). Although sex as a biological category is taxonic, psychological gender differences have not been examined in this way. The taxometric methods of mean above minus below a cut, maximum eigenvalue, and latent mode were used to investigate whether gender is taxonic or dimensional. Behavioral measures of stereotyped hobbies and physiological characteristics (physical strength, anthropometric measurements) were examined for validation purposes, and were taxonic by sex. Psychological indicators included sexuality and mating (sexual attitudes and behaviors, mate selectivity, sociosexual orientation), interpersonal orientation (empathy, relational-interdependent self-construal), gender-related dispositions (masculinity, femininity, care orientation, unmitigated communion, fear of success, science inclination, Big Five personality), and intimacy (intimacy prototypes and stages, social provisions, intimacy with best friend). Constructs were with few exceptions dimensional, speaking to Spence's (1993) gender identity theory. Average differences between men and women are not under dispute, but the dimensionality of gender indicates that these differences are inappropriate for diagnosing gender-typical psychological variables on the basis of sex. (c) 2013 APA, all rights reserved.

Same-gender distractors are not so easy to reject: ERP evidence of gender categorization.

PubMed

Rakić, Tamara; Steffens, Melanie C; Wiese, Holger

2018-05-07

Social categorization appears to be an automatic process that occurs during person perception. Understanding social categorization better is important because mere categorization can lead to stereotype activation and, in turn, to discrimination. In the present study we used a novel approach to examine event-related potentials (ERPs) of gender categorization in the "Who said what?" memory paradigm, thus allowing for a more in-depth understanding of the specific mechanisms underlying identity versus categorization processing. After observing video clips showing a "discussion" among female and male targets, participants were shown individual statements, each accompanied by one of the discussants' faces. While we measured ERPs, participants had to decide whether or not a given statement had previously been made by the person with the accompanying face. In same-person trials, statements were paired with the correct person, whereas in the distractor trials, either a same-gender or a different-gender distractor was shown. As expected, participants were able to reject different-gender distractors faster than same-gender distractors, and they were more likely to falsely choose yes for a same-gender than for a different-gender distractor. Both findings indicate gender-based categorization. ERPs, analyzed in a 300- to 400-ms time window at occipito-temporal channels, indicated more negative amplitudes for yes responses both for the same person and for same-gender distractors, relative to different-gender distractors. Overall, these results show gender-based categorization even when the task was to assess the identifying information in a gender-neutral context. These findings are interpreted as showing that gender categorization occurs automatically during person perception, but later than race- or age-based categorization.

Gender differences in offaxis neuromuscular control during stepping under a slippery condition.

PubMed

Lee, Song Joo; Ren, Yupeng; Geiger, François; Zhang, Li-Qun

2013-11-01

Females are at greater risks of musculoskeletal injuries than are males, which may be related to decreased neuromuscular control in axial and/or frontal planes, offaxis neuromuscular control. The objective of this study was to investigate gender differences in offaxis neuromuscular control during stepping under a slippery condition. Forty-three healthy subjects (21 males and 22 females) performed different stepping tasks under a slippery condition, namely, free pivoting task (FPT) to control axial plane pivoting, free sliding task (FST) to control frontal plane sliding, and free pivoting and sliding task (FPST) to control axial pivoting, and frontal sliding on a custom-made offaxis elliptical trainer. Compared to males, females showed significantly higher pivoting instability, higher max internal and external pivoting angles, higher mean max medial and lateral sliding distance, and higher entropy of time to peak EMG in the medial and lateral gastrocnemius muscles during the FPST and higher entropy of time to peak EMG in the lateral gastrocnemius muscle during the FPT and FST. The findings may help us understand potential injury risk factors associated with gender differences, and provide a basis for developing targeted neuromuscular training to improve offaxis neuromuscular control, and reduce musculoskeletal injuries associated with excessive offaxis loadings.

Gender difference in the effect of progesterone on neonatal hypoxic/ischemic brain injury in mouse.

PubMed

Dong, Shuyu; Zhang, Qian; Kong, Delian; Zhou, Chao; Zhou, Jie; Han, Jingjing; Zhou, Yan; Jin, Guoliang; Hua, Xiaodong; Wang, Jun; Hua, Fang

2018-08-01

This study investigated the effects of progesterone (PROG) on neonatal hypoxic/ischemic (NHI) brain injury, the differences in effects between genders, and the underlying mechanisms. NHI brain injury was established in both male and female neonatal mice induced by occlusion of the left common carotid artery followed by hypoxia. The mice were treated with PROG or vehicle. Fluoro-Jade B staining (F-JB), long term behavior testing, and brain magnetic resonance image (MRI) were applied to evaluate neuronal death, neurological function, and brain damage. The underlying molecular mechanisms were also investigated by Western blots. The results showed that, in the male mice, administration of PROG significantly reduced neuronal death, improved the learning and memory function impaired by cerebral HI, decreased infarct size, and maintained the thickness of the cortex after cerebral HI. PROG treatment, however, did not show significant neuroprotective effects on female mice subjected to HI. In addition, the data demonstrated a gender difference in the expression of tumor necrosis factor receptor 1 (TNFR1), TNF receptor associated factor 6 (TRAF6), Fas associated protein with death domain (FADD), and TIR-domain-containing adapter-inducing interferon-β (TRIF) between males and females. Our results indicated that treatment with PROG had beneficial effects on NHI injured brain in acute stage and improved the long term cognitive function impaired by cerebral HI in male mice. In addition, the activation of TNF and TRIF mediated signaling in response to cerebral HI and the treatment of PROG varied between genders, which highly suggested that gender differences should be emphasized in evaluating neonatal HI brain injury and PROG effects, as well as the underlying mechanisms. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Why sex and gender matter in implementation research.

PubMed

Tannenbaum, Cara; Greaves, Lorraine; Graham, Ian D

2016-10-27

There has been a recent swell in activity by health research funding organizations and science journal editors to increase uptake of sex and gender considerations in study design, conduct and reporting in order to ensure that research results apply to everyone. However, examination of the implementation research literature reveals that attention to sex and gender has not yet infiltrated research methods in this field. The rationale for routinely considering sex and gender in implementation research is multifold. Sex and gender are important in decision-making, communication, stakeholder engagement and preferences for the uptake of interventions. Gender roles, gender identity, gender relations, and institutionalized gender influence the way in which an implementation strategy works, for whom, under what circumstances and why. There is emerging evidence that programme theories may operate differently within and across sexes, genders and other intersectional characteristics under various circumstances. Furthermore, without proper study, implementation strategies may inadvertently exploit or ignore, rather than transform thinking about sex and gender-related factors. Techniques are described for measuring and analyzing sex and gender in implementation research using both quantitative and qualitative methods. The present paper describes the application of methods for integrating sex and gender in implementation research. Consistently asking critical questions about sex and gender will likely lead to the discovery of positive outcomes, as well as unintended consequences. The result has potential to strengthen both the practice and science of implementation, improve health outcomes and reduce gender inequities.

Gender Differences in the Appetite Response to a Satiating Diet

PubMed Central

Bédard, Alexandra; Hudon, Anne-Marie; Drapeau, Vicky; Corneau, Louise; Dodin, Sylvie; Lemieux, Simone

2015-01-01

We examined gender differences in appetite sensations when exposed to Mediterranean diet (MedDiet) meals and determined whether there are gender differences in the change in the satiating properties of the MedDiet over time. Thirty-eight men and 32 premenopausal women consumed a 4-week isoenergetic MedDiet under controlled conditions. Visual analogue scales were used to measure perceived appetite sensations before and immediately after each meal consumed over the course of one day (Wednesday) of the first and the fourth week of intervention. Women reported greater decreases for desire to eat, hunger, and appetite score than men in response to the consumption of the MedDiet meals (gender-by-meal interactions, resp., P = 0.04, P = 0.048, and P = 0.03). Fullness and prospective food consumption responses did not significantly differ between men and women. Between the first and the fourth week of intervention, premeal prospective food consumption increased with time in men (P = 0.0007) but not in women (P = 0.84; P for gender-by-time interaction = 0.04). These results indicate gender differences in appetite sensations when exposed to the MedDiet. These results may be useful in order to have a better understanding of gender issues for body weight management. PMID:26442158

Gender differences in judgments of multiple emotions from facial expressions.

PubMed

Hall, Judith A; Matsumoto, David

2004-06-01

The authors tested gender differences in emotion judgments by utilizing a new judgment task (Studies 1 and 2) and presenting stimuli at the edge of conscious awareness (Study 2). Women were more accurate than men even under conditions of minimal stimulus information. Women's ratings were more variable across scales, and they rated correct target emotions higher than did men. Copyright 2004 American Psychological Association

Vulnerability to unhealthy behaviours across different age groups in Swedish Adolescents: a cross-sectional study

PubMed Central

Paulsson Do, Ulrica; Edlund, Birgitta; Stenhammar, Christina; Westerling, Ragnar

2014-01-01

Purpose: There is lack of evidence on the effects of health-promoting programmes among adolescents. Health behaviour models and studies seldom compare the underlying factors of unhealthy behaviours between different adolescent age groups. The main objective of this study was to investigate factors including sociodemographic parameters that were associated with vulnerability to health-damaging behaviours and non-adoption of health-enhancing behaviours in different adolescent age groups. Methods: A survey was conducted among 10,590 pupils in the age groups of 13–14, 15–16 and 17–18 years. Structural equation modelling was performed to determine whether health-damaging behaviours (smoking and alcohol consumption) and non-adoption of health-enhancing behaviours (regular meal habits and physical activity) shared an underlying vulnerability. This method was also used to determine whether gender and socio-economic status were associated with an underlying vulnerability to unhealthy behaviours. Results: The findings gave rise to three models, which may reflect the underlying vulnerability to health-damaging behaviours and non-adoption of health-enhancing behaviours at different ages during adolescence. The four behaviours shared what was interpreted as an underlying vulnerability in the 15–16-year-old age group. In the youngest group, all behaviours except for non-participation in physical activity shared an underlying vulnerability. Similarly, alcohol consumption did not form part of the underlying vulnerability in the oldest group. Lower socio-economic status was associated with an underlying vulnerability in all the age groups; female gender was associated with vulnerability in the youngest adolescents and male gender among the oldest adolescents. Conclusions: These results suggest that intervention studies should investigate the benefits of health-promoting programmes designed to prevent health-damaging behaviours and promote health-enhancing behaviours in adolescents of different ages. Future studies should examine other factors that may contribute to the underlying vulnerability in different age groups. PMID:25750783

Age and gender as independent predictors of violence under the influence of alcohol in Zurich, Switzerland.

PubMed

Mica, Ladislav; Oesterle, Linda; Werner, Clément M L; Simmen, Hans-Peter

2015-04-08

Violent behaviour associated with alcohol consumption is frequently reported by different media. Clinical data analysing the correlation between alcohol intoxication, age, gender and violence are scarce. The aim of this study was to evaluate the influence of age, gender and blood alcohol content on violent behaviour under the influence of alcohol under central European conditions. Three hundred patients admitted to the emergency department were included into this study in the time period from January 01. to December 31. 2009. The inclusion criteria were a blood alcohol content (BAC) of ≥10 mmol/l, any traumatic injury and an age ≥16 years. Violence was defined as an evitable act committed by others leading to patient's hospitalisation. The data were compared with Wilcoxon and χ2-test for proportions. The data were considered as significant if p<0,05. Predictive quality was evaluated by using receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve. Independent predictors were analyzed by logistic regression analysis. The average age was 36,9±16,9 years (range: 16-84 years), 259 (86%) males and 41 (24%) females. There was a significant difference in gender (odds ratio for gender male 2,88; CI 95%: 1,24-6,67; p<0,001) and age dependent (odds ratio for each year of age 0,94; CI 95%: 0,93-0,96; p<0,0001) violence with no correlation to blood alcohol content found. Logistic regression analysis revealed male gender and young age as an independent predictor for violence. These results clarify the relationship between alcohol, age, gender and violence and have important implications for municipal-level alcohol policies.

Discrimination of face gender and expression under dual-task conditions.

PubMed

García-Gutiérrez, Ana; Aguado, Luis; Romero-Ferreiro, Verónica; Pérez-Moreno, Elisa

2017-02-01

In order to test whether expression and gender can be attended to simultaneously without a cost in accuracy four experiments were carried out using a dual gender-expression task with male and female faces showing different emotional expressions that were backward masked by emotionally neutral faces. In the dual-facial condition the participants had to report both the gender and the expression of the targets. In two control conditions the participant reported either the gender or the expression of the face and indicated whether a surrounding frame was continuous or discontinuous. In Experiments 1-3, with angry and happy targets, asymmetric interference was observed. Gender discrimination, but no expression discrimination, was impaired in the dual-facial condition compared to the corresponding control. This effect was obtained with a between-subjects design in Experiment 1, with a within-subjects design in Experiment 2, and with androgynous face masks in Experiment 3. In Experiments 4a and 4b different target combinations were tested. No decrement of performance in the dual-facial task was observed for either gender or expression discrimination with fearful-disgusted (Experiment 4a) or fearful-happy faces (Experiment 4b). We conclude that the ability to attend simultaneously to gender and expression cues without a decrement in performance depends on the specific combination of expressions to be differentiated between. Happy and angry expressions are usually directed at the perceiver and command preferential attention. Under conditions of restricted viewing such as those of the present study, discrimination of these expressions is prioritized leading to impaired discrimination of other facial properties such as gender.

Gender differences in regional cerebral activity during the perception of emotion: a functional MRI study.

PubMed

Hofer, Alex; Siedentopf, Christian M; Ischebeck, Anja; Rettenbacher, Maria A; Verius, Michael; Felber, Stephan; Fleischhacker, W Wolfgang

2006-08-15

Whether men activate different brain regions during various emotions compared to women or whether gender differences exist in transient emotional states has been the subject of only few studies. We used event-related functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to investigate gender differences during the perception of positive or negative emotions. The experiment comprised two emotional conditions (pleasant/unpleasant visual stimuli) during which fMRI data were acquired. Altogether, 38 healthy volunteers (19 males, 19 females) were investigated. When subtracting the activation values of men from those of women, suprathreshold positive signal changes were detected in the right posterior cingulate, the left putamen and the left cerebellum during positive mood induction, and in bilateral superior temporal gyri and cerebellar vermis during negative mood induction. The subtraction of activation values of women from those of men yielded no significant differences. Our findings suggest gender-related neural responses to emotional stimuli and could contribute to the understanding of mechanisms underlying gender-related vulnerability of the prevalence and severity of neuropsychiatric disorders.

Technology Acceptance among Pre-Service Teachers: Does Gender Matter?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Teo, Timothy; Fan, Xitao; Du, Jianxia

2015-01-01

This study examined possible gender differences in pre-service teachers' perceived acceptance of technology in their professional work under the framework of the technology acceptance model (TAM). Based on a sample of pre-service teachers, a series of progressively more stringent measurement invariance tests (configural, metric, and scalar…

Understanding the Gender and Ethnicity Attainment Gap in UK Higher Education

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Cotton, D. R. E.; Joyner, M.; George, R.; Cotton, P. A.

2016-01-01

In recent years, the success rates of different groups of students in higher education have come under considerable scrutiny, with gender and ethnicity identified as key attributes predicting differential achievement of "good degrees". A review of previous studies highlights the need for research which looks beyond "the deficit…

The model of children's social adjustment under the gender-roles absence in single-parent families.

PubMed

Chen, I-Jun; Zhang, Hailun; Wei, Bingsi; Guo, Zeyao

2018-01-14

This study aimed to evaluate the effects of the gender-role types and child-rearing gender-role attitude of the single-parents, as well as their children's gender role traits and family socio-economic status, on social adjustment. We recruited 458 pairs of single parents and their children aged 8-18 by purposive sampling. The research tools included the Family Socio-economic Status Questionnaire, Sex Role Scales, Parental Child-rearing Gender-role Attitude Scale and Social Adjustment Scale. The results indicated: (a) single mothers' and their daughters' feminine traits were both higher than their masculine traits, and sons' masculine traits were higher than their feminine traits; the majority gender-role type of single parents and their children was androgyny; significant differences were found between children's gender-role types depending on different raiser, the proportion of girls' masculine traits raised by single fathers was significantly higher than those who were raised by single mothers; (b) family socio-economic status and single parents' gender-role types positively influenced parental child-rearing gender-role attitude, which in turn, influenced the children's gender traits, and further affected children's social adjustment. © 2018 International Union of Psychological Science.

College major, gender and heterosexism reconsidered under more controlled conditions.

PubMed

Fisher, Leslie E; Banik, Swagata

2007-01-01

To test the hypothesis that under controlled conditions respondent's gender and college major are related to heterosexism, four groups (n = 40 each)-male psychology majors, female psychology majors, male non-psychology majors, and female non-psychology majors-were formed from an initial sample of convenience (N = 1,947) of urban university students. Respondents were matched for age, race, college level, closeness of relationships to lesbian and gay men, religious affiliation, and religious attendance. Each student was requested to complete the Herek Attitude Scale towards Lesbians and Gay Men and these scores were subjected to a three factor (2x2x2) mixed analysis of variance. The three factors were respondent's gender, respondent's college major, and target's gender with repeated measures on target's gender. A significant respondent's gender by target's gender F(1/156) = 50.59, p < .001 interaction was observed. Male respondent's attitude toward gay males was significantly more negative than that of the other groups which did not differ significantly from one another. Significant main effects due to respondent's gender F(1/156) = 11.9, p < .001 and target's gender F(1/156) = 43.1, p < .001 were also observed. No significant college major effect F(1/156) = 1.60, p >.05 or interaction was found.

Gendered education in a gendered world: looking beyond cosmetic solutions to the gender gap in science

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sinnes, Astrid T.; Løken, Marianne

2014-06-01

Young people in countries considered to be at the forefront of gender equity still tend to choose very traditional science subjects and careers. This is particularly the case in science, technology, engineering and mathematics subjects (STEM), which are largely male dominated. This article uses feminist critiques of science and science education to explore the underlying gendered assumptions of a research project aiming to contribute to improving recruitment, retention and gender equity patterns in STEM educations and careers. Much research has been carried out to understand this gender gap phenomenon as well as to suggest measures to reduce its occurrence. A significant portion of this research has focused on detecting the typical "female" and "male" interest in science and has consequently suggested that adjustments be made to science education to cater for these interests. This article argues that adjusting science subjects to match perceived typical girls' and boys' interests risks being ineffective, as it contributes to the imposition of stereotyped gender identity formation thereby also imposing the gender differences that these adjustments were intended to overcome. This article also argues that different ways of addressing gender issues in science education themselves reflects different notions of gender and science. Thus in order to reduce gender inequities in science these implicit notions of gender and science have to be made explicit. The article begins with an overview of the current situation regarding gender equity in some so- called gender equal countries. We then present three perspectives from feminist critiques of science on how gender can be seen to impact on science and science education. Thereafter we analyze recommendations from a contemporary research project to explore which of these perspectives is most prevalent.

Identifying gender differences in reported occupational information from three US population-based case-control studies.

PubMed

Locke, Sarah J; Colt, Joanne S; Stewart, Patricia A; Armenti, Karla R; Baris, Dalsu; Blair, Aaron; Cerhan, James R; Chow, Wong-Ho; Cozen, Wendy; Davis, Faith; De Roos, Anneclaire J; Hartge, Patricia; Karagas, Margaret R; Johnson, Alison; Purdue, Mark P; Rothman, Nathaniel; Schwartz, Kendra; Schwenn, Molly; Severson, Richard; Silverman, Debra T; Friesen, Melissa C

2014-12-01

Growing evidence suggests that gender-blind assessment of exposure may introduce exposure misclassification, but few studies have characterised gender differences across occupations and industries. We pooled control responses to job-specific, industry-specific and exposure-specific questionnaires (modules) that asked detailed questions about work activities from three US population-based case-control studies to examine gender differences in work tasks and their frequencies. We calculated the ratio of female-to-male controls that completed each module. For four job modules (assembly worker, machinist, health professional, janitor/cleaner) and for subgroups of jobs that completed those modules, we evaluated gender differences in task prevalence and frequency using χ(2) and Mann-Whitney U tests, respectively. The 1360 female and 2245 male controls reported 6033 and 12 083 jobs, respectively. Gender differences in female:male module completion ratios were observed for 39 of 45 modules completed by ≥20 controls. Gender differences in task prevalence varied in direction and magnitude. For example, female janitors were significantly more likely to polish furniture (79% vs 44%), while male janitors were more likely to strip floors (73% vs 50%). Women usually reported more time spent on tasks than men. For example, the median hours per week spent degreasing for production workers in product manufacturing industries was 6.3 for women and 3.0 for men. Observed gender differences may reflect actual differences in tasks performed or differences in recall, reporting or perception, all of which contribute to exposure misclassification and impact relative risk estimates. Our findings reinforce the need to capture subject-specific information on work tasks. Published by the BMJ Publishing Group Limited. For permission to use (where not already granted under a licence) please go to http://group.bmj.com/group/rights-licensing/permissions.

Gender differences in multiple underlying dimensions of health-related quality of life are associated with sociodemographic and socioeconomic status.

PubMed

Cherepanov, Dasha; Palta, Mari; Fryback, Dennis G; Robert, Stephanie A; Hays, Ron D; Kaplan, Robert M

2011-11-01

The purpose of the study was to examine whether gender differences in summary health-related quality of life (HRQoL) are due to differences in specific dimensions of health, and whether they are explained by sociodemographic and socioeconomic (SES) variation. The National Health Measurement Study collected cross-sectional data on a national sample of 3648 black and white noninstitutionalized adults ages 35 to 89 years. Data included the Short Form 36-Item survey, which yielded separate Mental and Physical Component Summary scores (MCS and PCS, respectively), and five HRQoL indexes: Short Form 6 dimension, EuroQol 5 dimension, the Health Utilities Indexes Mark 2 and 3, and the Quality of Well-Being Scale Self-Administered form. Structural equation models were used to explore gender differences in physical, psychosocial, and pain latent dimensions of the 5 indexes, adjusting for sociodemographic and SES indicators. Observed MCS and PCS scores were examined in regression models to judge robustness of latent results. Men had better estimated physical and psychosocial health and less pain than women with similar trends on the MCS and PCS scores. Adjustments for marital status or income reduced gender differences more than did other indicators. Adjusting results for partial factorial invariance of HRQoL attributes supported the presence of gender differentials, but also indicated that these differences are impacted by dimensions being related to some HRQoL attributes differently by gender. Men have better estimated health on 3 latent dimensions of HRQoL-physical, psychosocial, and pain-comparable to gender differences on the observed MCS and PCS scores. Gender differences are partly explained by sociodemographic and SES factors, highlighting the role of socioeconomic inequalities in perpetuating gender differences in health outcomes across multiple domains. These results also emphasize the importance of accounting for measurement invariance for meaningful comparison of group differences in estimated means of self-reported measures of health.

Adolescent trust and trustworthiness: role of gender and social value orientation.

PubMed

Derks, Jeffrey; Lee, Nikki C; Krabbendam, Lydia

2014-12-01

Trusting others is an essential feature of adolescent development. The aim of this study was to investigate gender differences in trusting behavior using an experimental game and relate these to the underlying social preferences. 206 adolescents (Mage = 15.1 years, 51% girls) performed a series of one-shot Trust Games to measure their levels of trust and trustworthiness. Social value orientation, or the preference to maximize one's own outcomes (proself) or both the outcomes of self and other (prosocial) was assessed using the Triple Dominance Measure. Boys were more trusting than girls, but no gender differences on trustworthiness were found. Prosocials were more trusting and trustworthy than proselfs. In addition, gender and social value orientation were independent predictors of trust (but not trustworthiness). These findings show that the higher levels of trust in boys are not the result of a gender difference in prosocial orientation. Copyright © 2014 The Foundation for Professionals in Services for Adolescents. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Nurture affects gender differences in spatial abilities.

PubMed

Hoffman, Moshe; Gneezy, Uri; List, John A

2011-09-06

Women remain significantly underrepresented in the science, engineering, and technology workforce. Some have argued that spatial ability differences, which represent the most persistent gender differences in the cognitive literature, are partly responsible for this gap(.) The underlying forces at work shaping the observed spatial ability differences revolve naturally around the relative roles of nature and nurture. Although these forces remain among the most hotly debated in all of the sciences, the evidence for nurture is tenuous, because it is difficult to compare gender differences among biologically similar groups with distinct nurture. In this study, we use a large-scale incentivized experiment with nearly 1,300 participants to show that the gender gap in spatial abilities, measured by time to solve a puzzle, disappears when we move from a patrilineal society to an adjoining matrilineal society. We also show that about one-third of the effect can be explained by differences in education. Given that none of our participants have experience with puzzle solving and that villagers from both societies have the same means of subsistence and shared genetic background, we argue that these results show the role of nurture in the gender gap in cognitive abilities.

Nurture affects gender differences in spatial abilities

PubMed Central

Hoffman, Moshe; Gneezy, Uri; List, John A.

2011-01-01

Women remain significantly underrepresented in the science, engineering, and technology workforce. Some have argued that spatial ability differences, which represent the most persistent gender differences in the cognitive literature, are partly responsible for this gap. The underlying forces at work shaping the observed spatial ability differences revolve naturally around the relative roles of nature and nurture. Although these forces remain among the most hotly debated in all of the sciences, the evidence for nurture is tenuous, because it is difficult to compare gender differences among biologically similar groups with distinct nurture. In this study, we use a large-scale incentivized experiment with nearly 1,300 participants to show that the gender gap in spatial abilities, measured by time to solve a puzzle, disappears when we move from a patrilineal society to an adjoining matrilineal society. We also show that about one-third of the effect can be explained by differences in education. Given that none of our participants have experience with puzzle solving and that villagers from both societies have the same means of subsistence and shared genetic background, we argue that these results show the role of nurture in the gender gap in cognitive abilities. PMID:21876159

The female-male disparity in obesity prevalence among black American young adults: contributions of sociodemographic characteristics of the childhood family.

PubMed

Robinson, Whitney R; Gordon-Larsen, Penny; Kaufman, Jay S; Suchindran, Chirayath M; Stevens, June

2009-04-01

In the United States, black women are at much greater risk of obesity than are black men. Little is known about the factors underlying this disparity. We explored whether childhood sociodemographic factors (parental education, single-mother household, number of siblings, number of minors in household, birth order, and female caregiver's age) were associated with the gender disparity in obesity prevalence in young black adults in the United States. An analytic data set (n = 7747) was constructed from the nationally representative National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health. Childhood sociodemographic factors were assessed in 1994-1995 in nonimmigrant black and white youths aged 11-19 y. Obesity was assessed in 2001-2002. For each childhood sociodemographic factor, we evaluated whether the prevalence difference (female obesity minus male obesity) was modified by the factor. We described the contribution of each variable category to the overall prevalence difference. In unadjusted and multivariable-adjusted models, parental education consistently modified gender disparity in blacks (P = 0.01). The gender gap was largest with low parental education (16.7% of men compared with 45.4% of women were obese) and smallest with high parental education (28.5% of men compared with 31.4% of women were obese). In whites, there was little overall gender difference in obesity prevalence. To our knowledge, this was the first study to document that the gender disparity in obesity prevalence in young black adults is concentrated in families with low parental education. In these low-socioeconomic-status families, obesity development is either under the control of distinct mechanisms in each gender, or men and women from these households adopt different obesity-related behaviors.

The female-male disparity in obesity prevalence among black American young adults: contributions of sociodemographic characteristics of the childhood family1234

PubMed Central

Robinson, Whitney R; Gordon-Larsen, Penny; Kaufman, Jay S; Suchindran, Chirayath M; Stevens, June

2009-01-01

Background: In the United States, black women are at much greater risk of obesity than are black men. Little is known about the factors underlying this disparity. Objective: We explored whether childhood sociodemographic factors (parental education, single-mother household, number of siblings, number of minors in household, birth order, and female caregiver's age) were associated with the gender disparity in obesity prevalence in young black adults in the United States. Design: An analytic data set (n = 7747) was constructed from the nationally representative National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health. Childhood sociodemographic factors were assessed in 1994–1995 in nonimmigrant black and white youths aged 11–19 y. Obesity was assessed in 2001–2002. For each childhood sociodemographic factor, we evaluated whether the prevalence difference (female obesity minus male obesity) was modified by the factor. We described the contribution of each variable category to the overall prevalence difference. Results: In unadjusted and multivariable-adjusted models, parental education consistently modified gender disparity in blacks (P = 0.01). The gender gap was largest with low parental education (16.7% of men compared with 45.4% of women were obese) and smallest with high parental education (28.5% of men compared with 31.4% of women were obese). In whites, there was little overall gender difference in obesity prevalence. Conclusions: To our knowledge, this was the first study to document that the gender disparity in obesity prevalence in young black adults is concentrated in families with low parental education. In these low-socioeconomic-status families, obesity development is either under the control of distinct mechanisms in each gender, or men and women from these households adopt different obesity-related behaviors. PMID:19190069

Impact energy absorption by specimens from the upper end of the human femur.

PubMed

Panagiotopoulos, E; Kostopoulos, V; Tsantzalis, S; Fortis, A P; Doulalas, A

2005-05-01

A cadaveric biomechanical study was performed to investigate the fracture energy absorbed by strips of bone from the proximal femur in relation to age and gender, under impact loading conditions. Four groups (young male, young female, old male, old female) of four cadaveric proximal femurs were used in each case. Four bone strips were taken from the neck and four from the subtrochanteric area and these were tested under dynamic-impact conditions using the Charpy impact test. The fracture energy was calculated as the energy needed to achieve fracture per unit area, and expressed in J/m2. Bone specimens from young males are significantly tougher under impact conditions to those of females (p = 0.001), whereas between the old male and female groups, fracture energy does not significantly differ (p = 0.165). There was also significant difference (p < 0.0005) between the young and the old groups in both genders. The fracture energy absorption of the subtrochanteric area compared to that of the femoral neck for the same group of age and gender is in general slightly higher for all groups. In conclusion, gender in the young age group played a significant role in bone resistance in breaking whereas in the older age group it played a less important role.

Shame and Gender Differences in Paths to Youth Suicide: Parents' Perspective.

PubMed

Werbart Törnblom, Annelie; Werbart, Andrzej; Rydelius, Per-Anders

2015-08-01

Risk factors, suicidal behavior, and help-seeking patterns differ between young women and men. We constructed a generic conceptual model of the processes underlying youth suicide, grounded in 78 interviews with parents in 52 consecutive cases of suicide (19 women, 33 men) identified at forensic medical autopsy and compared by sex. We found different forms of shame hidden behind gender-specific masks, as well as gender differences in their paths to suicide. Several interacting factors formed negative feedback loops. Finding no way out, the young persons looked for an "emergency exit." Signs and preparations could be observed at different times but recognized only in retrospect. Typically, the young persons and their parents asked for professional help but did not receive the help they needed. We discuss parents' experiences from the theoretical perspective on gender identity and developmental breakdown. Giving voice to the parents' tacit knowledge can contribute to better prevention and treatment. © The Author(s) 2015.

Male Rape Myths: The Role of Gender, Violence, and Sexism

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Chapleau, Kristine M.; Oswald, Debra L.; Russell, Brenda L.

2008-01-01

This study investigates the structure of Struckman-Johnson and Struckman-Johnson's Male Rape Myth Scale, examines gender differences in rape myth acceptance, and explores the underlying ideologies that facilitate male rape myth acceptance. A three-factor model, with rape myths regarding Trauma, Blame, and Denial as separate subscales, is the best…

Early Acquisition of Gender Agreement in the Spanish Noun Phrase: Starting Small

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Mariscal, Sonia

2009-01-01

Nativist and constructivist accounts differ in their characterization of children's knowledge of grammatical categories. In this paper we present research on the process of acquisition of a particular grammatical system, gender agreement in the Spanish noun phrase, in children under three years of age. The design of the longitudinal study employed…

Beijing fifteen years on: the persistence of barriers to gender mainstreaming in health policy.

PubMed

Payne, Sarah

2011-01-01

In 2010, fifteen years after the Beijing declaration on women's rights, the UN Commission on the Status of Women met to review progress in gender mainstreaming. Reports on gender equality by member states revealed differences in the degree of change achieved in this period, while highlighting common barriers to gender mainstreaming. The same barriers have long been identified by academics and activists, but prove remarkably resistant to strategies to address gender inequalities. This paper reviews approaches to gender mainstreaming in the context of health policy, and suggests that a model of the obstacles to gender mainstreaming, which identifies barriers as essentially pragmatic, conceptual, or political in origin, might enable a more explicit discussion of the factors underlying this resistance and the ways in which they might be challenged.

Quantitative evaluation of gender bias in astronomical publications from citation counts

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Caplar, Neven; Tacchella, Sandro; Birrer, Simon

2017-06-01

Numerous studies across different research fields have shown that both male and female referees consistently give higher scores to work done by men than to identical work done by women 1,2,3 . In addition, women are under-represented in prestigious publications and authorship positions 4,5 and women receive ~10% fewer citations 6,7 . In astronomy, similar biases have been measured in conference participation 8,9 and success rates for telescope proposals 10,11 . Even though the number of doctorate degrees awarded to women is constantly increasing, women still tend to be under-represented in faculty positions 12 . Spurred by these findings, we measure the role of gender in the number of citations that papers receive in astronomy. To account for the fact that the properties of papers written by men and women differ intrinsically, we use a random forest algorithm to control for the non-gender-specific properties of these papers. Here we show that papers authored by women receive 10.4 ± 0.9% fewer citations than would be expected if the papers with the same non-gender-specific properties were written by men.

Sex and gender differences in chronic kidney disease: progression to end-stage renal disease and haemodialysis.

PubMed

Cobo, Gabriela; Hecking, Manfred; Port, Friedrich K; Exner, Isabella; Lindholm, Bengt; Stenvinkel, Peter; Carrero, Juan Jesús

2016-07-01

Sex and gender differences are of fundamental importance in most diseases, including chronic kidney disease (CKD). Men and women with CKD differ with regard to the underlying pathophysiology of the disease and its complications, present different symptoms and signs, respond differently to therapy and tolerate/cope with the disease differently. Yet an approach using gender in the prevention and treatment of CKD, implementation of clinical practice guidelines and in research has been largely neglected. The present review highlights some sex- and gender-specific evidence in the field of CKD, starting with a critical appraisal of the lack of inclusion of women in randomized clinical trials in nephrology, and thereafter revisits sex/gender differences in kidney pathophysiology, kidney disease progression, outcomes and management of haemodialysis care. In each case we critically consider whether apparent discrepancies are likely to be explained by biological or psycho-socioeconomic factors. In some cases (a few), these findings have resulted in the discovery of disease pathways and/or therapeutic opportunities for improvement. In most cases, they have been reported as merely anecdotal findings. The aim of the present review is to expose some of the stimulating hypotheses arising from these observations as a preamble for stricter approaches using gender for the prevention and treatment of CKD and its complications. © 2016 The Author(s). Published by Portland Press Limited on behalf of the Biochemical Society.

The effect of grammatical gender on object categorization.

PubMed

Cubelli, Roberto; Paolieri, Daniela; Lotto, Lorella; Job, Remo

2011-03-01

In 3 experiments, we investigated the effect of grammatical gender on object categorization. Participants were asked to judge whether 2 objects, whose names did or did not share grammatical gender, belonged to the same semantic category by pressing a key. Monolingual speakers of English (Experiment 1), Italian (Experiments 1 and 2), and Spanish (Experiments 2 and 3) were tested in their native language. Italian and Spanish participants responded faster to pairs of stimuli sharing the same gender, whereas no difference was observed for English participants. In Experiment 2, the pictures were chosen in such a way that the grammatical gender of the names was opposite in Italian and Spanish. Therefore, the same pair of stimuli gave rise to different patterns depending on the gender congruency of the names in the languages. In Experiment 3, Spanish speakers performed the same task under an articulatory suppression condition, showing no grammatical gender effect. The locus where meaning and gender interact can be located at the level of the lexical representation that specifies syntactic information: Nouns sharing the same grammatical gender activate each other, thus facilitating their processing and speeding up responses, either to semantically related pairs or to semantically unrelated pairs. 2011 APA, all rights reserved

Conceptual Representation Changes in Indonesian-English Bilinguals.

PubMed

Hartanto, Andree; Suárez, Lidia

2016-10-01

This study investigated conceptual representations changes in bilinguals. Participants were Indonesian-English bilinguals (dominant in Indonesian, with different levels of English proficiency) and a control group composed of English-dominant bilinguals. All completed a gender decision task, in which participants decided whether English words referred to a male or female person or animal. In order to explore conceptual representations, we divided the words into gender-specific and gender-ambiguous words. Gender-specific words were words in which conceptual representations contained gender as a defining feature, in both English and Indonesian (e.g., uncle). In contrast, gender-ambiguous words were words in which gender was a defining feature in English but not a necessary feature in Indonesian (e.g., nephew and niece are both subsumed under the same word, keponakan, in Indonesian). The experiment was conducted exclusively in English. Indonesian-English bilinguals responded faster to gender-specific words than gender-ambiguous words, but the difference was smaller for the most proficient bilinguals. As expected, English-dominant speakers' response latencies were similar across these two types of words. The results suggest that English concepts are dynamic and that proficiency leads to native-like conceptual representations.

Gender dysphoria and autism spectrum disorder: A narrative review.

PubMed

Van Der Miesen, Anna I R; Hurley, Hannah; De Vries, Annelou L C

2016-01-01

The current literature shows growing evidence of a link between gender dysphoria (GD) and autism spectrum disorder (ASD). This study reviews the available clinical and empirical data. A systematic search of the literature was conducted using the following databases: PubMed, Web of Science, PsycINFO and Scopus; utilizing different combinations of the following search terms: autism, autism spectrum disorder (ASD), Asperger's disorder (AD), co-morbidity, gender dysphoria (GD), gender identity disorder (GID), transgenderism and transsexualism. In total, 25 articles and reports were selected and discussed. Information was grouped by found co-occurrence rates, underlying hypotheses and implications for diagnosis and treatment. GD and ASD were found to co-occur frequently - sometimes characterized by atypical presentation of GD, which makes a correct diagnosis and determination of treatment options for GD difficult. Despite these challenges there are several case reports describing gender affirming treatment of co-occurring GD in adolescents and adults with ASD. Various underlying hypotheses for the link between GD and ASD were suggested, but almost all of them lack evidence.

Exploring the Cause of English Pronoun Gender Errors by Chinese Learners of English: Evidence from the Self-paced Reading Paradigm.

PubMed

Dong, Yanping; Wen, Yun; Zeng, Xiaomeng; Ji, Yifei

2015-12-01

To locate the underlying cause of biological gender errors of oral English pronouns by proficient Chinese-English learners, two self-paced reading experiments were conducted to explore whether the reading time for each 'he' or 'she' that matched its antecedent was shorter than that in the corresponding mismatch situation, as with native speakers of English. The critical manipulation was to see whether highlighting the gender information of an antecedent with a human picture would make a difference. The results indicate that such manipulation did make a difference. Since oral Chinese does not distinguish 'he' and 'she', the findings suggest that Chinese speakers probably do not usually process biological gender for linguistic purposes and the mixed use of 'he' and 'she' is probably a result of deficient processing of gender information in the conceptualizer. Theoretical and pedagogical implications are discussed.

The gender gap in sport performance: equity influences equality.

PubMed

Capranica, Laura; Piacentini, Maria Francesca; Halson, Shona; Myburgh, Kathryn H; Ogasawara, Etsuko; Millard-Stafford, Mindy

2013-01-01

Sport is recognized as playing a relevant societal role to promote education, health, intercultural dialogue, and the individual development, regardless of an individual's gender, race, age, ability, religion, political affiliation, sexual orientation, and socioeconomic background. Yet, it was not until the 2012 Summer Olympic Games in London that every country's delegation included a female competitor. The gender gap in sport, although closing, remains, due to biological differences affecting performance, but it is also influenced by reduced opportunity and sociopolitical factors that influence full female participation across a range of sports around the world. Until the cultural environment is equitable, scientific discussion related to physiological differences using methods that examine progression in male and female world-record performances is limited. This commentary is intended to provide a forum to discuss issues underlying gender differences in sport performance from a global perspective and acknowledge the influence of cultural and sociopolitical factors that continue to ultimately affect female performance.

Gender-specific effects of emotional modulation on visual temporal order thresholds.

PubMed

Liang, Wei; Zhang, Jiyuan; Bao, Yan

2015-09-01

Emotions affect temporal information processing in the low-frequency time window of a few seconds, but little is known about their effect in the high-frequency domain of some tens of milliseconds. The present study aims to investigate whether negative and positive emotional states influence the ability to discriminate the temporal order of visual stimuli, and whether gender plays a role in temporal processing. Due to the hemispheric lateralization of emotion, a hemispheric asymmetry between the left and the right visual field might be expected. Using a block design, subjects were primed with neutral, negative and positive emotional pictures before performing temporal order judgment tasks. Results showed that male subjects exhibited similarly reduced order thresholds under negative and positive emotional states, while female subjects demonstrated increased threshold under positive emotional state and reduced threshold under negative emotional state. Besides, emotions influenced female subjects more intensely than male subjects, and no hemispheric lateralization was observed. These observations indicate an influence of emotional states on temporal order processing of visual stimuli, and they suggest a gender difference, which is possibly associated with a different emotional stability.

Elite Athletes’ In-event Competitive Anxiety Responses and Psychological Skills Usage under Differing Conditions

PubMed Central

Hagan, John E.; Pollmann, Dietmar; Schack, Thomas

2017-01-01

Background and Purpose: Even though the assessment of competitive anxiety responses (intensity, interpretation, and frequency) using the time-to-event paradigm has gained much attention, literature on the account of these same experiences in-event and their corresponding psychological skills adopted under differing conditions is limited. This is a follow up investigation to establish the extent to which associated anxiety responses are stable or dynamic and whether this pattern could be related to reported psychological skills under low or high stressful conditions across gender. Methods: Twenty-three high level (N = 13 males and 10 females) Ghanaian Table Tennis players provided data through completion of modified versions of Competitive State Anxiety Inventory-2, incorporated with directional and frequency of intrusion scales and the Test of Performance Strategies inventory during breaks within competitive fixtures. Results: MANCOVAs (gender × stress condition) with follow-up analyses revealed no significant interactions and no main effect for gender but significant main effects were realized for all anxiety dimensions and psychological skills for only the second factor. Specifically, the intensity and frequency of cognitive and somatic state anxiety symptoms increased and were interpreted as debilitative under the high stress condition, although self-confidence and other array of psychological skills were highly displayed under the same stressful condition. Conclusion: Findings highlight the dynamic characteristics of in-event associated anxiety responses and ineffectiveness of deployed psychological skills regardless of gender. These perhaps show the exceptionality of affective experiences in an African setting, suggesting a culturally diversified approach to psychological skills application, if desirable effects are to be attained. PMID:29312103

Gender and parents' reactions to children's emotion during the preschool years.

PubMed

Root, Amy Kennedy; Rubin, Kenneth H

2010-01-01

In this chapter, the authors examine the differences between mothers and fathers in the socialization of specific emotions in preschool-aged boys and girls. They argue that mothers and fathers play both distinct and complementary roles in the development of children's emotional competence; these roles are influenced both by parents' own gender, as well as the child's gender and the type of emotion being socialized. Through analyses of descriptive data, it appears that mothers and fathers respond to their children's emotions differently. The authors provide a discussion of the potential underlying reasons and potential implications for distinct emotion socialization by mothers and fathers. (c) Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Gender differences in negative affect during acute tobacco abstinence differ between African American and White adult cigarette smokers.

PubMed

Pang, Raina D; Bello, Mariel S; Liautaud, Madalyn M; Weinberger, Andrea H; Leventhal, Adam M

2018-06-15

Prior studies have found heightened negative affect following tobacco abstinence in women compared to men. However, experimental work addressing whether these findings generalize across racial groups is scarce. The current study investigated whether race (Non-Hispanic White vs. Non-Hispanic African American) moderated gender differences in abstinence-induced negative affect and smoking behavior. Data were collected from 2010 to 2017 from two separate laboratory studies investigating experimentally manipulated tobacco abstinence. Following a baseline session, adult daily smokers (10 cigarettes per day; women: n=297, 83.8% Non-Hispanic African American; men: n=492, 86.2% Non-Hispanic African American) attended two counterbalanced lab sessions (16 hours abstinent vs. non-abstinent) and completed self-report measures of negative affect followed by a laboratory analogue smoking reinstatement task. We found a gender race interaction for several negative affect states and composite negative affect (ßs=-.12 to -.16, ps<.05). Analyses stratified by race showed that Non-Hispanic White women compared to Non-Hispanic White men exhibited greater abstinence-induced increases in anger, anxiety, and composite negative affect (ßs=-.20 to -.29, ps<.05). No significant gender differences in abstinence-induced negative affect were found for Non-Hispanic African American smokers (ßs=.00 to -.04, ps>.05). These findings suggest that negative affect during acute tobacco abstinence may be a clinically important and intervenable factor that can inform cessation interventions specifically for Non-Hispanic White women smokers. Further empirical exploration of mechanisms underlying interactions of gender and race in tobacco addiction may benefit smoking cessation efforts in Non-Hispanic African American women smokers. The current study contributes to a scant body of research examining the intersectional influence of race and gender on abstinence-induced negative affect-a central, motivationally prepotent feature of tobacco withdrawal. Using a laboratory-based design to experimentally manipulate abstinence, we provide evidence of a gender race interaction on negative affect-related withdrawal. Our findings suggest that gender differences in abstinence-induced negative affect observed among Non-Hispanic White smokers may not generalize to Non-Hispanic African American smokers, highlighting the need for future work to address potential mechanisms underlying the racially discrepant impact of gender on affective tobacco withdrawal.

Gender dependent contribution of muscarinic receptors in memory retrieval under sub-chronic stress.

PubMed

Rashid, Habiba; Ahmed, Touqeer

2018-05-15

Stress induces retrograde amnesia in humans and rodents. Muscarinic antagonism under normal physiological conditions causes gender dependent impairment in episodic memory retrieval. We aimed to explore the gender dependent role of muscarinic receptors in memory retrieval under sub-chronic stress condition. Male and female mice were trained for Morris water maze test and contextual fear conditioning, followed by 3 h restraint stress per day for five days. Stress was either given alone or in combination with a daily subcutaneous injection of scopolamine (1 mg/kg) or donepezil (1 mg/kg). Control mice were given saline without any stress. Sub-chronic stress (induced for five days) impaired spatial memory retrieval in males (P < 0.005) but not in females (P > 0.05). Stress induced spatial memory recall deficit in male mice was independent of muscarinic receptor activity (P > 0.05). However, stress induced contextual fear memory recall impairment was reversed by donepezil treatment in male (P < 0.005) and female (P < 0.0001) mice. These findings suggest that differential role of muscarinic activity in retrieving different types of memories under stress depends on gender of subjects. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Gender, Ethnicity, and the Structure of Self-Esteem: An Attitude Theory Approach.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Tashakkori, Abbas

1993-01-01

Reports on a study of 305 African American and 338 white middle school students to determine whether self-beliefs underlying self-esteem are different across ethnic and gender boundaries. Finds that academic self-beliefs, as opposed to nonacademic self-beliefs were not strong predictors of self-esteem among any of the groups. (ACM)

Gender-Related Effects of Group Learning on Mathematics Achievement among the Rural Secondary Students

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hossain, Md. Anowar; Tarmizi, Rohani Ahmad

2012-01-01

Problem Statement: Gender differences in the effects of group learning play a contested role in mathematics education. Several researchers concluded that male students perform better on mathematics than female students. Whilst on the other hand, others reported that female students perform best under the group learning setting whereas the male…

Reproducing Gender Inequality: A Critical Discourse Analysis of a Turkish Adult Literacy Textbook. Research Brief #7

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Gungor, Ramazan; Prins, Esther

2011-01-01

Adult education curricula such as literacy textbooks present blueprints for living, including different ways of being and relating as men and women. However, educators and scholars seldom consider the underlying assumptions about gender in literacy workbooks, especially in international settings. This study used Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA)…

Gender classification under extended operating conditions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rude, Howard N.; Rizki, Mateen

2014-06-01

Gender classification is a critical component of a robust image security system. Many techniques exist to perform gender classification using facial features. In contrast, this paper explores gender classification using body features extracted from clothed subjects. Several of the most effective types of features for gender classification identified in literature were implemented and applied to the newly developed Seasonal Weather And Gender (SWAG) dataset. SWAG contains video clips of approximately 2000 samples of human subjects captured over a period of several months. The subjects are wearing casual business attire and outer garments appropriate for the specific weather conditions observed in the Midwest. The results from a series of experiments are presented that compare the classification accuracy of systems that incorporate various types and combinations of features applied to multiple looks at subjects at different image resolutions to determine a baseline performance for gender classification.

Beyond Pink and Blue: The Complexity of Early Androgen Effects on Gender Development.

PubMed

Berenbaum, Sheri A

2018-03-01

Why do girls and women differ from boys and men? Gender development is typically considered to result from socialization, but sex hormones present during sensitive periods of development, particularly prenatal androgens, play an important role. Data from natural experiments, especially from females with congenital adrenal hyperplasia, show the complexity of the effects of androgens on behavior: Prenatal androgens apparently have large effects on interests and engagement in gendered activities; moderate effects on spatial abilities; and relatively small or no effects on gender identity, gender cognitions, and gendered peer involvement. These differential effects provide an opportunity to move beyond identifying sources of variation in behavior to understanding developmental processes. These processes include links among gendered characteristics, psychological and neural mechanisms underlying development, and the joint effects of biological predispositions and social experiences.

Gender differences in co-occurrence of depressive and anger symptoms among adolescents in five Nordic countries.

PubMed

Asgeirsdottir, Bryndis Bjork; Sigfusdottir, Inga Dora

2015-03-01

The aim of this study was to carry out a comparative examination on gender differences in depressive and anger symptoms and their co-occurrence, using comparative self-report survey data from 16-19-year-old students in five Nordic countries. In total, 8038 adolescents participated in the study, 4183 females (52%) and 3855 males (48%) with an average age of 17.1 years. Analysis of Covariance (ANCOVA) was used to test for gender differences in symptoms for the sample as a whole and also for each country. Furthermore, partial bivariate correlation was carried out and followed up by ANCOVA to test for gender differences in the co-occurrence of depressive and anger symptoms in the five countries. The results indicated that, on average, adolescent females reported higher levels of depressive symptoms than males in all the countries under study and higher levels of anger symptoms in four out of five countries. The relationship between depressive and anger symptoms turned out to be stronger for females than males for all the countries under study, demonstrating higher co-occurrence of depressive and anger symptoms on average among females than males. The findings underline the need for attending to both depressive and anger symptoms among adolescents when designing mental health interventions and treatments as co-occurrence of both types of symptoms is common, particularly among females. © 2014 the Nordic Societies of Public Health.

Does Vocational Education Model fit to Fulfil Prisoners’ Needs Based on Gender?

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hayzaki, S. H.; Nurhaeni, I. D. A.

2018-02-01

Men and women have different needs, based on their gender or the socio-cultural construction. The government has issued a policy about accelerating the equivalence of gender since 2012 through responsive planning and budgeting. With the policy, every institution (including the institutions under the ministry of law and human rights) must integrate its gender perspective on planning and budgeting, then it can fulfill the different needs between men and women. One of the programs developed in prisons for prisoners is vocational education and technology for preparing the prisoners’ life after being released from the prison cells. This article was made for evaluating the vocational education and training given to the prisoners. Gender perspective is employed as the analyzing tool. The result was then used as the basis of formulating vocational education model integrating gender perspective. The research was conducted at the Prison of Demak Regency, Indonesia. The method used in the research is qualitative descriptive with data collection techniques using by in-depth interviews, observation and documentation. The data analysis uses statistic description of Harvard’s checklist category model and combined with Moser category model. The result shows that vocational education and training given have not considered the differences between men and women. As a result, the prisoners were still not able to understand their different needs which can cause gender injustice when they come into job market. It is suggested that gender perspective must be included as a teaching material in the vocational education and training.

Subjective anxiety and behavioral avoidance: Gender, gender role, and perceived confirmability of self-report.

PubMed

McLean, Carmen P; Hope, Debra A

2010-06-01

Commonly reported gender effects for differential vulnerability for anxiety may relate to gender socialization processes. The present study examined the relationship between gender role and fear under experimental conditions designed to elicit accurate fear reporting. Undergraduate students (N=119) completed several self-report measures and a behavioral avoidance task (BAT) with a tarantula while wearing a heart rate monitor. Gender roles were operationalized as instrumentality and expressiveness, as measured by the Personal Attributes Questionnaire (Spence, Helmreich, & Stapp, 1975). As expected, women reported greater subjective anxiety and were more avoidant of the tarantula than men. Regardless of gender, low levels of instrumentality were associated with greater avoidance of the tarantula. The hypothesis that men underreport fear compared to women and that gender role differences underlie this reporting bias was not supported. In spite of a ceiling effect on the BAT, results of this study confirm the relevance of gender role in understanding gender effects in fear and anxiety. Copyright 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Pathways of equality through education: impact of gender (in)equality and maternal education on exclusive breastfeeding among natives and migrants in Belgium.

PubMed

Vanderlinden, Karen; Van de Putte, Bart

2017-04-01

Even though breastfeeding is typically considered the preferred feeding method for infants worldwide, in Belgium, breastfeeding rates remain low across native and migrant groups while the underlying determinants are unclear. Furthermore, research examining contextual effects, especially regarding gender (in)equality and ideology, has not been conducted. We hypothesized that greater gender equality scores in the country of origin will result in higher breastfeeding chances. Because gender equality does not operate only at the contextual level but can be mediated through individual level resources, we hypothesized the following for maternal education: higher maternal education will be an important positive predictor for exclusive breastfeeding chances in Belgium, but its effects will differ over subsequent origin countries. Based on IKAROS data (GeÏntegreerd Kind Activiteiten en Regio Ondersteunings Systeem), we perform multilevel analyses on 27 936 newborns. Feeding method is indicated by exclusive breastfeeding 3 months after childbirth. We measure gender (in)equality using Global Gender Gap scores from the mother's origin country. Maternal education is a metric variable based on International Standard Classification of Education indicators. Results show that 3.6% of the variation in breastfeeding can be explained by differences between the migrant mother's country of origin. However, the effect of gender (in)equality appears to be non-significant. After adding maternal education, the effect for origin countries scoring low on gender equality turns significant. Maternal education on its own shows strong positive association with exclusive breastfeeding and, furthermore, has different effects for different origin countries. Possible explanations are discussed in-depth setting direction for further research regarding the different pathways gender (in)equality and maternal education affect breastfeeding. © 2016 John Wiley & Sons Ltd. © 2016 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Gender Differences Among Military Combatants: Does Social Support, Ostracism, and Pain Perception Influence Psychological Health?

PubMed

McGraw, Kate

2016-01-01

The literature on gender differences related to psychological health among in-theater service members who are deployed in a combatant role is limited. Much focuses on retrospective reports of service members who have returned from deployment. Potential key factors that contribute to gender differences in psychological health among combatants are found in literature across several topic areas, but integration of findings across disciplines is lacking. A growing body of literature on gender differences related to psychological health of postdeployment military populations suggests males and females respond differently to perceived levels of social support pre-and postdeployment. One study on service members who were deployed suggested no significant gender differences related to reported psychological health symptoms, but did appear to find significant gender differences related to reported perception of unit morale. In another related area, research explores how ostracism impacts physical and psychological health of individuals and organizations, and can result in perceptions of physical pain, although research on gender differences related to the impact of ostracism is scarce. Research has also begun to focus on sex differences in pain responses, and has identified multiple biopsychosocial, genetic, and hormonal factors that may contribute as potential underlying mechanisms. In this brief review, we focus on and begin to integrate relevant findings related to the psychological health of females in combat roles, gender differences in the impact of perception of social support on psychological health, the psychological and physical impact of ostracism on individuals and organizations, and the current literature on sex differences in pain perception. We conclude with a synthesis and discussion of research gaps identified through this review, implications for clinical practice, and potential future research directions. In conclusion, there appear to be gender differences related to the presence or absence of social support, the impact of ostracism, and the perception of pain. These differences may play a critical role in the psychological health of female combatants. More research on this topic is needed. Reprint & Copyright © 2016 Association of Military Surgeons of the U.S.

Gender differences in the impact of population-level alcohol policy interventions: evidence synthesis of systematic reviews.

PubMed

Fitzgerald, Niamh; Angus, Kathryn; Emslie, Carol; Shipton, Deborah; Bauld, Linda

2016-10-01

Consistent review-level evidence supports the effectiveness of population-level alcohol policies in reducing alcohol-related harms. Such policies interact with well-established social, cultural and biological differences in how men and women perceive, relate to and use alcohol, and with wider inequalities, in ways which may give rise to gender differences in policy effectiveness. This paper aimed to examine the extent to which gender-specific data and analyses were considered in, and are available from, systematic reviews of population-level alcohol policy interventions, and where possible, to conduct a narrative synthesis of relevant data. A prior systematic 'review of reviews' of population level alcohol interventions 2002-2012 was updated to May 2014, all gender-relevant data extracted, and the level and quality of gender reporting assessed. A narrative synthesis of extracted findings was conducted. Sixty-three systematic reviews, covering ten policy areas, were included. Five reviews (8%) consistently provided information on baseline participation by gender for each individual study in the review and twenty-nine (46%) reported some gender-specific information on the impact of the policies under consideration. Specific findings include evidence of possible gender differences in the impact of and exposure to alcohol marketing, and a failure to consider potential unintended consequences and harm to others in most reviews. Gender is poorly reported in systematic reviews of population-level interventions to reduce alcohol-related harm, hindering assessment of the intended and unintended effects of such policies on women and men. © 2016 Society for the Study of Addiction.

The neuroendocrine basis of sex differences in epilepsy.

PubMed

Reddy, Doodipala Samba

2017-01-01

Epilepsy affects people of all ages and both genders. Sex differences are well known in epilepsy. Seizure susceptibility and the incidence of epilepsy are generally higher in men than women. In addition, there are gender-specific epilepsies such as catamenial epilepsy, a neuroendocrine condition in which seizures are most often clustered around the perimenstrual or periovulatory period in adult women with epilepsy. Changes in seizure sensitivity are also evident at puberty, pregnancy, and menopause. Sex differences in seizure susceptibility and resistance to antiseizure drugs can be studied in experimental models. An improved understanding of the neuroendocrine basis of sex differences or resistance to protective drugs is essential to develop targeted therapies for sex-specific seizure conditions. This article provides a brief overview of the current status of sex differences in seizure susceptibility and the potential mechanisms underlying the gender differences in seizure sensitivity. Copyright © 2016. Published by Elsevier Inc.

How Early Hormones Shape Gender Development

PubMed Central

Berenbaum, Sheri A.; Beltz, Adriene M.

2015-01-01

Many important psychological characteristics show sex differences, and are influenced by sex hormones at different developmental periods. We focus on the role of sex hormones in early development, particularly the differential effects of prenatal androgens on aspects of gender development. Increasing evidence confirms that prenatal androgens have facilitative effects on male-typed activity interests and engagement (including child toy preferences and adult careers), and spatial abilities, but relatively minimal effects on gender identity. Recent emphasis has been directed to the psychological mechanisms underlying these effects (including sex differences in propulsive movement, and androgen effects on interest in people versus things), and neural substrates of androgen effects (including regional brain volumes, and neural responses to mental rotation, sexually arousing stimuli, emotion, and reward). Ongoing and planned work is focused on understanding the ways in which hormones act jointly with the social environment across time to produce varying trajectories of gender development, and clarifying mechanisms by which androgens affect behaviors. Such work will be facilitated by applying lessons from other species, and by expanding methodology. Understanding hormonal influences on gender development enhances knowledge of psychological development generally, and has important implications for basic and applied questions, including sex differences in psychopathology, women’s underrepresentation in science and math, and clinical care of individuals with variations in gender expression. PMID:26688827

Integrating gender and number information in Spanish word pairs: an ERP study.

PubMed

Barber, Horacio; Carreiras, Manuel

2003-06-01

The aim of the current study was to explore the integration processes of gender and number morphological features, since it has been proposed that grammatical gender and number features might be associated with different strength with the word stem in lexical representation. Event related potentials (ERPs) were recorded using a 128-channel sensor net while twenty-four volunteers read Spanish word pairs and performed a syntactic judgment task. The word pairs which could agree or disagree in gender or number or in gender and number at the same time, were formed by a noun and an adjective (e.g. faro-alto [lighthouse-high]). A negativity around 400 msec with posterior distribution, which has been related to lexical integration processes, was found in response to both gender and number violations. No differences were found between gender disagreement, number disagreement and the double disagreement. Therefore, ERPs suggest that integration of gender and number features may not be different, and that the detection of disagreement may work under a binary state, since the double disagreement condition did not differ from the others. In addition, a subsequent component (identified as P3) showed delayed latencies in the gender disagreement condition as compared to the number disagreement condition, while the double disagreement conditions showed a shorter peak latency than the other two disagreement conditions and similar to the agreement condition. The variations in the latency of the P3 component, which has been related to categorization processes, suggest that these processes are quickly triggered by the accumulation of two incongruent as compared to one disagreement features, and that reanalysis is costlier in the case of gender disagreement as compared to the number disagreement.

Cardiovascular Control in Men and Women

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fu, Qi

Women, primarily young women, have a greater incidence of orthostatic intolerance than agematched men. This difference is especially dramatic in the Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome (POTS, also called Chronic Orthostatic Intolerance, in which patients are unable to stand or remain upright for prolonged periods of time due to intolerable light headedness, weakness, and near-syncope). However, the mechanisms underlying this gender difference are still not completely understood. It is likely that certain gender-specific factors such as the normal menstrual cycle, differences in some hormonal levels which may affect the neurohumoral regulation of blood pressure, or physical characteristics such as a smaller and less "distensible" heart may influence orthostatic blood pressure control. The authors review what has been done on the effects of gender and the menstrual cycle on sympathetic neural control of hemodynamics during shortand long-term orthostasis in healthy young individuals and in female patients with POTS. In addition, the role of cardiac size and function, a non-neural mechanism, in gender differences in orthostatic tolerance is also reviewed. It is suggested that sympathetic neural control and vasoconstrictor responses during orthostasis are comparable between healthy men and women, and are enhanced but not impaired in POTS patients. There is a gender-specific difference in cardiac size even in the healthy population, while this difference is exaggerated in female patients with POTS.

Gender Differences in Depressive Symptom Profile: Results from Nationwide General Population Surveys in Korea.

PubMed

Kim, Ji-Hyun; Cho, Maeng Je; Hong, Jin Pyo; Bae, Jae Nam; Cho, Seong-Jin; Hahm, Bong-Jin; Lee, Dong-Woo; Park, Jong-Ik; Lee, Jun-Young; Jeon, Hong Jin; Chang, Sung Man

2015-11-01

This study investigated gender differences in symptom profiles of major depressive disorder (MDD) in the Korean general population. Data were pooled from the series of nationwide Korean Epidemiologic Catchment Area surveys conducted in 2001, 2006 and 2011, respectively. Of the 18,807 participants, 507 (397 women and 110 men) were diagnosed with MDD within the prior 12 months. In agreement with previous studies, women with MDD appeared to be more vulnerable to experiencing atypical depressive episodes defined as depression with two or more symptoms of fatigue, increased appetite and hypersomnia (P < 0.001). In terms of individual symptoms, female gender was significantly related with higher prevalence of fatigue (P = 0.008), hypersomnia (P = 0.001), noticeable psychomotor retardation (P = 0.029) and suicidal attempts (P = 0.016) with adjustment for birth cohort effect, partner status, and employment status. In the same analysis, men with MDD appeared more vulnerable to decreased libido than women (P = 0.009). This is the first report to demonstrate gender differences in symptomatology of MDD in the general Korean population, and the results are comparable to previous investigations from western societies. Assumingly, the intercultural similarity in female preponderance to atypical depression might reflect the common biological construct underlying the gender difference in mechanism of MDD. In clinical settings, gender differences of MDD should be carefully considered, because these features could be related with treatment response and drug side effects.

Brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) Val66Met polymorphism interacts with gender to influence cortisol responses to mental stress.

PubMed

Jiang, Rong; Babyak, Michael A; Brummett, Beverly H; Siegler, Ilene C; Kuhn, Cynthia M; Williams, Redford B

2017-05-01

Brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) Val66Met polymorphism has been associated with cortisol responses to stress with gender differences reported, although the findings are not entirely consistent. To evaluate the role of Val66Met genotype and gender on cortisol responses to stress, we conducted a 45-min mental stress protocol including four tasks and four rest periods. Blood cortisol was collected for assay immediately before and after each task and rest period. A significant two-way interaction of Val66Met genotype×gender (P=0.022) was observed on the total area under the curve (AUC), a total cortisol response over time, such that the Val/Val genotype was associated with a larger cortisol response to stress as compared to the Met group in women but not in men. Further contrast analyses between the Val/Val and Met group for each stress task showed a similar increased cortisol pattern among women Val/Val genotype but not among men. The present findings indicate the gender differences in the effect of Val66Met genotype on the cortisol responses to stress protocol, and extend the evidence for the importance of gender and the role of Val66Met in the modulation of stress reactivity and subsequent depression prevalence. Further studies and the underlying mechanism need to be investigated, which may provide an insight for prevention, intervention, and treatment strategies that target those at high risk. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Gender bias in under-five mortality in low/middle-income countries.

PubMed

Costa, Janaína Calu; da Silva, Inacio Crochemore Mohnsam; Victora, Cesar Gomes

2017-01-01

Due to biological reasons, boys are more likely to die than girls. The detection of gender bias requires knowing the expected relation between male and female mortality rates at different levels of overall mortality, in the absence of discrimination. Our objective was to compare two approaches aimed at assessing excess female under-five mortality rate (U5MR) in low/middle-income countries. We compared the two approaches using data from 60 Demographic and Health Surveys (2005-2014). The prescriptive approach compares observed mortality rates with historical patterns in Western societies where gender discrimination was assumed to be low or absent. The descriptive approach is derived from global estimates of all countries with available data, including those affected by gender bias. The prescriptive approach showed significant excess female U5MR in 20 countries, compared with only one country according to the descriptive approach. Nevertheless, both models showed similar country rankings. The 13 countries with the highest and the 10 countries with the lowest rankings were the same according to both approaches. Differences in excess female mortality among world regions were significant, but not among country income groups. Both methods are useful for monitoring time trends, detecting gender-based inequalities and identifying and addressing its causes. The prescriptive approach seems to be more sensitive in the identification of gender bias, but needs to be updated using data from populations with current-day structures of causes of death.

Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor (BDNF) Val66Met Polymorphism Interacts with Gender to Influence Cortisol Responses to Mental Stress

PubMed Central

Jiang, Rong; Babyak, Michael A.; Brummett, Beverly H.; Siegler, Ilene C.; Kuhn, Cynthia M.; Williams, Redford B.

2017-01-01

Brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) Val66Met polymorphism has been associated with cortisol responses to stress with gender differences reported, although the findings are not entirely consistent. To evaluate the role of Val66Met genotype and gender on cortisol responses to stress, we conducted a 45-min mental stress protocol including four tasks and four rest periods. Blood cortisol was collected for assay immediately before and after each task and rest period. A significant two-way interaction of Val66Met genotype × gender (P = 0.022) was observed on the total area under the curve (AUC), a total cortisol response over time, such that the Val/Val genotype was associated with a larger cortisol response to stress as compared to the Met group in women but not in men. Further contrast analyses between the Val/Val and Met group for each stress task showed a similar increased cortisol pattern among women Val/Val genotype but not among men. The present findings indicate the gender differences in the effect of Val66Met genotype on the cortisol responses to stress protocol, and extend the evidence for the importance of gender and the role of Val66Met in the modulation of stress reactivity and subsequent depression prevalence. Further studies and the underlying mechanism need to be investigated, which may provide an insight for prevention, intervention, and treatment strategies that target those at high risk. PMID:28249185

Frequency of employer changes and their financial return: gender differences amongst German university graduates.

PubMed

Wieschke, Johannes

2018-01-01

Gender differences in the frequency of employer changes and their financial return were examined in a sample of Bavarian university graduates. The search and matching theories were used to develop hypotheses which were then tested against each other. The results show that in the first few years after graduation women change employer more frequently than men. In large part this can be explained by gender differences in labor market structures, in particular the fact that a woman's first job is less likely to be in a large company, in an executive position or on a permanent contract and women tend to be less satisfied with their first job. After controlling for variance in these factors the coefficient changes sign, indicating that under similar circumstances men change employer more often. Furthermore, both men and women benefit financially from changing employer. The absolute return is higher for men, but as men tend to have a higher starting salary there is no gender difference in the relative return and hence no effect on the gender gap. The results are also discussed in the light of the specifics of the structure of the German labor market.

The Role of Gender in Uveitis and Ocular Inflammation

PubMed Central

Yeung, Ian YL; Popp, Nicholas A; Chan, Chi-Chao

2015-01-01

Uveitides can be due to non-infectious and infectious etiologies. It has been observed that there is a gender difference with a greater preponderance of non-infectious uveitis in women than in men. This review will describe both non-infectious and infectious uveitides and describes some of the current autoimmune mechanisms thought to be underlying the gender difference. It will specifically look at non-infectious uveitides with systemic involvement including juvenile idiopathic arthritis, spondyloarthopathies, sarcoidosis, Behçet’s disease, and Vogt-Koyanagi-Harada disease and at uveitides without systemic involvement including sympathetic ophthalmia, birdshot chorioretinitis, and the white dot syndromes. Infectious uveitides like acute retinal necrosis, progressive outer retinal necrosis, and cytomegalovirus mediated uveitis will be mentioned. Different uveitides with female- or male- predominance are presented and discussed. PMID:26035764

Coming home upset: Gender, marital satisfaction, and the daily spillover of workday experience into couple interactions.

PubMed

Schulz, Marc S; Cowan, Philip A; Cowan, Carolyn Pape; Brennan, Richard T

2004-03-01

This study explored how daily changes in workday pace and end-of-the-workday mood were related to nightly variations in withdrawn and angry marital behavior. For 3 days, 82 husbands and wives from 42 couples completed questionnaires at the end of the workday and at bedtime. More negatively arousing workdays were linked with angrier marital behavior for women and less angry and more withdrawn behavior for men. Daily changes in workday pace predicted fluctuations in women's, but not men's, marital behavior. Several of these workday-marital behavior connections varied by level of marital satisfaction. In contrast to the gender differences in responses to workday stress, no differences were found in typical marital behaviors. These findings suggest that gender differences are enhanced under stress.

Choking under the pressure of a positive stereotype: gender identification and self-consciousness moderate men's math test performance.

PubMed

Tagler, Michael J

2012-01-01

Choking under pressure occurs when an individual underperforms due to situational pressure. The present study examined whether being the target of a positive social stereotype regarding math ability causes choking among men. Gender identification and self-consciousness were hypothesized to moderate the effect of math-gender stereotypes on men's math test performance. Men high in self-consciousness but low in gender identification significantly underperformed when exposed to gender-relevant test instructions. No significant effects were found under a gender-irrelevant condition. These findings are discussed in the contexts of research on stereotype threat, stereotype lift, and choking under pressure.

Who does she think she is? Women, leadership and the 'B'(ias) word.

PubMed

Kubu, Cynthia S

2018-02-01

Despite the increasing number of women in professional fields, women are under-represented in leadership roles. The goal of this paper is to identify potential explanations for the gender gap in leadership. The academic literature with respect to gender roles, leadership, and organizational expectations; gender differences in leadership; and the potential role of second generation bias was reviewed. Women are as effective as male leaders in a variety of organizational settings. The role congruity theory suggests that women are placed in a double bind: maintenance of their gender role may result in a failure to meet the requirements of a leader role whereas conforming to a leader role may result in the failure to conform to their gender role. Second generation, or implicit, bias also influences women's leadership opportunities. This is further complicated by expectations that women will engage in more altruistic organizational citizenship behaviors or be penalized. Differences in ability do not account for the gender gap in leadership. Cultural factors, including gender role and leadership expectations, organizational demands, and second-generation bias impact women's ability to lead. Pragmatic recommendations to increase women's influence and representation in leadership are provided.

Gender-dimorphic effects of adipose-derived stromal vascular fractions on HUVECs exposed to oxidative stress.

PubMed

Lim, Soyeon; Kim, Il-Kwon; Choi, Jung-Won; Seo, Hyang-Hee; Lim, Kyu Hee; Lee, Seahyoung; Lee, Hoon-Bum; Kim, Sang Woo; Hwang, Ki-Chul

2017-01-01

Stromal vascular fractions (SVFs) are a heterogeneous collection of cells within adipose tissue that are being studied for various clinical indications. In this study, we aimed to determine whether SVF transplantation into impaired tissues has differential effects on inflammatory and angiogenetic properties with regard to gender. As reactive oxygen species have been implicated in cardiovascular disease development, we investigated differences in gene and protein expression related to inflammation and angiogenesis in HUVECs co-cultured with adipose-derived SVFs from male (M group) and female (F group) individuals under oxidative stress conditions. The expression of several inflammatory (interleukin (IL)-33) and angiogenetic (platelet-derived growth factor (PDGF)) factors differed dramatically between male and female donors. Anti-inflammatory and pro-angiogenetic responses were observed in HUVECs co-cultured with SVFs under oxidative stress conditions, and these characteristics may exhibit partially differential effects according to gender. Using network analysis, we showed that co-culturing HUVECs with SVFs ameliorated pyroptosis/apoptosis via an increase in oxidative stress. Activation of caspase-1 and IL-1B was significantly altered in HUVECs co-cultured with SVFs from female donors. These findings regarding gender-dimorphic regulation of adipose-derived SVFs provide valuable information that can be used for evidence-based gender-specific clinical treatment of SVF transplantation for understanding of cardiovascular disease, allowing for the development of additional treatment.

Gender identity and recalled gender related childhood play-behaviour in adult individuals with different forms of intersexuality.

PubMed

Richter-Appelt, Hertha; Discher, Christine; Gedrose, Benjamin

2005-09-01

The concept of intersexuality subsumes a wide variety of phenomena with very specific underlying causes. In all these cases, an untypical development takes place during the prenatal sex differentiation process becoming clinically manifest, either at, or soon after birth or at the time of puberty. It subsumes conditions in which biological sexual characteristics (e.g. chromosomal sex, gonadal sex, hormonal sex, morphological sex) differ from each other and one person cannot easily be assigned to one sex. One of the main goals of medical treatment of persons with intersex-syndroms is the development of a stable gender identity. Over the last few years, sex (and gender) assignment of persons with different forms of intersexuality has become a much discussed topic. An interesting--and very obviously observable--variable that was brought in connection with sex assignment is gender related childhood play behaviour. The purpose of the presented study is to examine 37 persons with different forms of intersexuality (disturbances of androgen biosynthesis, partial and complete androgen insensitivity, gonadal dysgenesis with 46,XY and congenital adrenal hyperplasia with 46,XX) with regard to gender identity and gender role behaviour in childhood. Not all subjects in the study group had developed a clear female or male gender identity. In contrast to previous studies, some persons with CAIS did not recall distinguished female childhood play behaviour and these persons did not show a clear female gender identity. In contrast to results from other studies, the CAH-affected girls in this study did not seem to recall masculinized behaviour. Further research is needed to guarantee better psychosexual development with good quality of life in individuals with intersexuality.

Gender differences in brain activity and the relationship between brain activity and differences in prevalence rates between male and female major depressive disorder patients: a resting-state fMRI study.

PubMed

Yao, Zhijian; Yan, Rui; Wei, Maobin; Tang, Hao; Qin, Jiaolong; Lu, Qing

2014-11-01

We examined the gender-difference effect on abnormal spontaneous neuronal activity of male and female major depressive disorder (MDD) patients using the amplitude of low-frequency fluctuation (ALFF) and the further clarified the relationship between the abnormal ALFF and differences in MDD prevalence rates between male and female patients. Fourteen male MDD patients, 13 female MDD patients and 15 male and 15 female well matched healthy controls (HCs) completed this study. The ALFF approach was used, and Pearson correlation was conducted to observe a possible clinical relevance. There were widespread differences in ALFF values between female and male MDD patients, including some important parts of the frontoparietal network, auditory network, attention network and cerebellum network. In female MDD patients, there was a positive correlation between average ALFF values of the left postcentral gyrus and the severity of weight loss symptom. The gender-difference effect leading to abnormal brain activity is an important underlying pathomechanism for different somatic symptoms in MDD patients of different genders and is likely suggestive of higher MDD prevalence rates in females. The abnormal ALFF resulting from the gender-difference effect might improve our understanding of the differences in prevalence rates between male and female MDD patients from another perspective. Copyright © 2014 International Federation of Clinical Neurophysiology. Published by Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Gender differences in physical disability among older adults in underprivileged communities in Lebanon.

PubMed

Zeki Al Hazzouri, Adina; Mehio Sibai, Abla; Chaaya, Monique; Mahfoud, Ziyad; Yount, Kathryn M

2011-03-01

To examine the role of health conditions, socioeconomic, and socioenvironmental factors in explaining gender differences in physical disability among older adults. We compared 412 women and 328 men residing in underprivileged communities in Lebanon on their activities of daily living (ADL), instrumental activities of daily living (IADL), and physical tasks (PT). Binary logistic regression analyses adjusting for possible explanatory covariates were conducted sequentially. Women showed higher prevalence rates of ADL, IADL, and PT compared to men. Gender disparities in ADL disability were explained by chronic-disease risk factors and health conditions (OR = 1.46; 95% CI = 0.94-2.25). The odds of disability in IADL and PT remained significantly higher for women compared to men after accounting for all available covariates. These results suggest underlying differences in functional status between women and men, yet, may have been influenced by the sensitivity of the measures to the social context and gendered environment surrounding daily activities.

[Gender differences of psychological, nutritional, and physical fitness variables influencing obesity/overweight in Austrian children and adolescents].

PubMed

Ardelt-Gattinger, Elisabeth; Ring-Dimitriou, Susanne; Hofmann, Johannes; Paulmichl, Katharina; Zsoldos, Fanni; Weghuber, Daniel

2016-03-01

Eating behavior and physical activity behavior are under the control of certain cognitive patterns. 6600 adults and 4400 children/adolescents (8-18 years) were tested with the Obesity Diagnostics and Evaluation System (AD-EVA). Potentially significant gender differences will be detailed for the entire juvenile cohort, the subgroup of obese children/adolescents as compared to the adult cohort in this article.Among all the subscales tested, obese girls primarily showed significantly higher values of (preclinical) eating disorders than boys. These data are relevant for both prevention and health promotion.No significant differences were found in regard to sports motivation. This warrants facilitation of physical activity for both genders. Further, a male predilection for "Snacks" and "High-fat food" that could be found in the total representative study group, could not be verified in the subgroup of obese girls and boys, thus suggesting a similarily unhealthy eating behavior in both genders of juvenility.

Testing the Invariance of the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey's Sexual Behavior Questionnaire Across Gender, Ethnicity/Race, and Generation.

PubMed

Zhou, Anne Q; Hsueh, Loretta; Roesch, Scott C; Vaughn, Allison A; Sotelo, Frank L; Lindsay, Suzanne; Klonoff, Elizabeth A

2016-02-01

Federal and state policies are based on data from surveys that examine sexual-related cognitions and behaviors through self-reports of attitudes and actions. No study has yet examined their factorial invariance--specifically, whether the relationship between items assessing sexual behavior and their underlying construct differ depending on gender, ethnicity/race, or age. This study examined the factor structure of four items from the sexual behavior questionnaire part of the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES). As NHANES provided different versions of the survey per gender, invariance was tested across gender to determine whether subsequent tests across ethnicity/race and generation could be done across gender. Items were not invariant across gender groups so data files for women and men were not collapsed. Across ethnicity/race for both genders, and across generation for women, items were configurally invariant, and exhibited metric invariance across Latino/Latina and Black participants for both genders. Across generation for men, the configural invariance model could not be identified so the baseline models were examined. The four item one factor model fit well for the Millennial and GenerationX groups but was a poor fit for the baby boomer and silent generation groups, suggesting that gender moderated the invariance across generation. Thus, comparisons between ethnic/racial and generational groups should not be made between the genders or even within gender. Findings highlight the need for programs and interventions that promote a more inclusive definition of "having had sex."

Neither Single nor a Combination of Routine Laboratory Parameters can Discriminate between Gram-positive and Gram-negative Bacteremia

PubMed Central

Ratzinger, Franz; Dedeyan, Michel; Rammerstorfer, Matthias; Perkmann, Thomas; Burgmann, Heinz; Makristathis, Athanasios; Dorffner, Georg; Loetsch, Felix; Blacky, Alexander; Ramharter, Michael

2015-01-01

Adequate early empiric antibiotic therapy is pivotal for the outcome of patients with bloodstream infections. In clinical practice the use of surrogate laboratory parameters is frequently proposed to predict underlying bacterial pathogens; however there is no clear evidence for this assumption. In this study, we investigated the discriminatory capacity of predictive models consisting of routinely available laboratory parameters to predict the presence of Gram-positive or Gram-negative bacteremia. Major machine learning algorithms were screened for their capacity to maximize the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (ROC-AUC) for discriminating between Gram-positive and Gram-negative cases. Data from 23,765 patients with clinically suspected bacteremia were screened and 1,180 bacteremic patients were included in the study. A relative predominance of Gram-negative bacteremia (54.0%), which was more pronounced in females (59.1%), was observed. The final model achieved 0.675 ROC-AUC resulting in 44.57% sensitivity and 79.75% specificity. Various parameters presented a significant difference between both genders. In gender-specific models, the discriminatory potency was slightly improved. The results of this study do not support the use of surrogate laboratory parameters for predicting classes of causative pathogens. In this patient cohort, gender-specific differences in various laboratory parameters were observed, indicating differences in the host response between genders. PMID:26522966

Gender differences in leadership amongst first-year medical students in the small-group setting.

PubMed

Wayne, Nancy L; Vermillion, Michelle; Uijtdehaage, Sebastian

2010-08-01

To investigate the extent of gender bias in the volunteerism of small-group leaders amongst first-year medical students, and whether bias could be eliminated with special instructions to the students. The gender of leaders in small-group sessions in a real academic setting was monitored under two conditions: control conditions, in which basic instructions were provided to participants, and intervention conditions, in which the same basic instructions were provided plus a brief "pep talk" on the importance of experiencing a leadership role in a safe environment. During the small-group sessions, an observer noted the gender and names of group leaders for later analysis. After a class debriefing, a subset of leaders and nonleaders from both the control and intervention groups were invited to be interviewed about their perceptions of the small-group experience. Interviews were tape recorded and transcribed for analysis. In 2007-2008 and 2008-2009, disproportionately fewer women than men volunteered to become small-group leaders under control conditions. This gender bias was eliminated under intervention conditions. The interviews illustrated how a subtle change in instructions helped some female students take on a leadership role. Gender bias in leadership in the small-group setting amongst medical students-even when women make up half of the class-may persist without targeted intervention. The authors suggest that frequent and consistent intervention during medical school could be an important factor in encouraging women to identify themselves as leaders, promoting confidence to consider leadership roles in medicine.

Reasoning strategies modulate gender differences in emotion processing.

PubMed

Markovits, Henry; Trémolière, Bastien; Blanchette, Isabelle

2018-01-01

The dual strategy model of reasoning has proposed that people's reasoning can be understood asa combination of two different ways of processing information related to problem premises: a counterexample strategy that examines information for explicit potential counterexamples and a statistical strategy that uses associative access to generate a likelihood estimate of putative conclusions. Previous studies have examined this model in the context of basic conditional reasoning tasks. However, the information processing distinction that underlies the dual strategy model can be seen asa basic description of differences in reasoning (similar to that described by many general dual process models of reasoning). In two studies, we examine how these differences in reasoning strategy may relate to processing very different information, specifically we focus on previously observed gender differences in processing negative emotions. Study 1 examined the intensity of emotional reactions to a film clip inducing primarily negative emotions. Study 2 examined the speed at which participants determine the emotional valence of sequences of negative images. In both studies, no gender differences were observed among participants using a counterexample strategy. Among participants using a statistical strategy, females produce significantly stronger emotional reactions than males (in Study 1) and were faster to recognize the valence of negative images than were males (in Study 2). Results show that the processing distinction underlying the dual strategy model of reasoning generalizes to the processing of emotions. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Reducing gender differences in performance in introductory college physics through values affirmation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kost-Smith, Lauren

2011-04-01

Despite males and females being equally represented at the college level in several STEM disciplines (including biology, chemistry and mathematics), females continue to be under-represented in physics. Our research documents and addresses this participation gender gap in the introductory, calculus-based physics courses at the University of Colorado. We characterize gender differences in performance, psychological factors (including attitudes and beliefs) and retention that exist in Physics 1 and 2 [L. E. Kost, et al., Phys. Rev. ST Phys. Educ. Res. 5, 010101 (2009); L. E. Kost-Smith, et al., Phys. Rev. ST Phys. Educ. Res. 6, 020112 (2010)]. We find that the gender differences in performance can largely be accounted for by measurable differences in the physics and mathematics backgrounds and incoming attitudes and beliefs of males and females. But these background factors do not completely account for the gender gaps. We hypothesize, based on gender differences in responses to survey questions about students' sense of physics identity and confidence levels, that identity threat (the fear of confirming a negative characterization about one's identity) is playing a role in our courses. Working with researchers in psychology, we implemented an intervention where students either wrote about their most important values or not, twice at the beginning of the course [A. Miyake, et al., Science, 330, 1234 (2010)]. This ``values affirmation'' activity reduced the male-female performance difference substantially and elevated women's modal grades from the C to B range. Benefits were strongest for women who tended to endorse the stereotype that men do better than women in physics. This brief psychological intervention may be a promising way to address the gender gap in science performance.

Gender in Marriage and Life Satisfaction Under Gender Imbalance in China: The Role of Intergenerational Support and SES

PubMed Central

Liu, Huijun; Li, Shuzhuo; Feldman, Marc. W.

2015-01-01

This study examined gender differences in the influence of marital status and marital quality on life satisfaction. The roles of intergenerational support and perceived socioeconomic status in the relationship between marriage and life satisfaction were also explored. The analysis was conducted with data from the Chinese General Social Survey (CGSS) in 2006, representing 1,317 women and 1,152 men at least 25 years old. Chi-squared tests and logistic regression models were used in this process. Marriage, including marital status and relationship quality, has a protective function for life satisfaction. Marital status is more important for males, but marital quality is more important for females. The moderating roles of intergenerational support and perceived socioeconomic status are gender specific, perhaps due to norms that ascribe different roles to men and women in marriage. PMID:26640317

Specific Learning Disorder: Prevalence and Gender Differences

PubMed Central

Moll, Kristina; Kunze, Sarah; Neuhoff, Nina; Bruder, Jennifer; Schulte-Körne, Gerd

2014-01-01

Comprehensive models of learning disorders have to consider both isolated learning disorders that affect one learning domain only, as well as comorbidity between learning disorders. However, empirical evidence on comorbidity rates including all three learning disorders as defined by DSM-5 (deficits in reading, writing, and mathematics) is scarce. The current study assessed prevalence rates and gender ratios for isolated as well as comorbid learning disorders in a representative sample of 1633 German speaking children in 3rd and 4th Grade. Prevalence rates were analysed for isolated as well as combined learning disorders and for different deficit criteria, including a criterion for normal performance. Comorbid learning disorders occurred as frequently as isolated learning disorders, even when stricter cutoff criteria were applied. The relative proportion of isolated and combined disorders did not change when including a criterion for normal performance. Reading and spelling deficits differed with respect to their association with arithmetic problems: Deficits in arithmetic co-occurred more often with deficits in spelling than with deficits in reading. In addition, comorbidity rates for arithmetic and reading decreased when applying stricter deficit criteria, but stayed high for arithmetic and spelling irrespective of the chosen deficit criterion. These findings suggest that the processes underlying the relationship between arithmetic and reading might differ from those underlying the relationship between arithmetic and spelling. With respect to gender ratios, more boys than girls showed spelling deficits, while more girls were impaired in arithmetic. No gender differences were observed for isolated reading problems and for the combination of all three learning disorders. Implications of these findings for assessment and intervention of learning disorders are discussed. PMID:25072465

Specific learning disorder: prevalence and gender differences.

PubMed

Moll, Kristina; Kunze, Sarah; Neuhoff, Nina; Bruder, Jennifer; Schulte-Körne, Gerd

2014-01-01

Comprehensive models of learning disorders have to consider both isolated learning disorders that affect one learning domain only, as well as comorbidity between learning disorders. However, empirical evidence on comorbidity rates including all three learning disorders as defined by DSM-5 (deficits in reading, writing, and mathematics) is scarce. The current study assessed prevalence rates and gender ratios for isolated as well as comorbid learning disorders in a representative sample of 1633 German speaking children in 3rd and 4th Grade. Prevalence rates were analysed for isolated as well as combined learning disorders and for different deficit criteria, including a criterion for normal performance. Comorbid learning disorders occurred as frequently as isolated learning disorders, even when stricter cutoff criteria were applied. The relative proportion of isolated and combined disorders did not change when including a criterion for normal performance. Reading and spelling deficits differed with respect to their association with arithmetic problems: Deficits in arithmetic co-occurred more often with deficits in spelling than with deficits in reading. In addition, comorbidity rates for arithmetic and reading decreased when applying stricter deficit criteria, but stayed high for arithmetic and spelling irrespective of the chosen deficit criterion. These findings suggest that the processes underlying the relationship between arithmetic and reading might differ from those underlying the relationship between arithmetic and spelling. With respect to gender ratios, more boys than girls showed spelling deficits, while more girls were impaired in arithmetic. No gender differences were observed for isolated reading problems and for the combination of all three learning disorders. Implications of these findings for assessment and intervention of learning disorders are discussed.

Gender Differences in Depressive Symptom Profile: Results from Nationwide General Population Surveys in Korea

PubMed Central

Kim, Ji-Hyun; Cho, Maeng Je; Hong, Jin Pyo; Bae, Jae Nam; Cho, Seong-Jin; Hahm, Bong-Jin; Lee, Dong-Woo; Park, Jong-Ik; Lee, Jun-Young; Jeon, Hong Jin

2015-01-01

This study investigated gender differences in symptom profiles of major depressive disorder (MDD) in the Korean general population. Data were pooled from the series of nationwide Korean Epidemiologic Catchment Area surveys conducted in 2001, 2006 and 2011, respectively. Of the 18,807 participants, 507 (397 women and 110 men) were diagnosed with MDD within the prior 12 months. In agreement with previous studies, women with MDD appeared to be more vulnerable to experiencing atypical depressive episodes defined as depression with two or more symptoms of fatigue, increased appetite and hypersomnia (P < 0.001). In terms of individual symptoms, female gender was significantly related with higher prevalence of fatigue (P = 0.008), hypersomnia (P = 0.001), noticeable psychomotor retardation (P = 0.029) and suicidal attempts (P = 0.016) with adjustment for birth cohort effect, partner status, and employment status. In the same analysis, men with MDD appeared more vulnerable to decreased libido than women (P = 0.009). This is the first report to demonstrate gender differences in symptomatology of MDD in the general Korean population, and the results are comparable to previous investigations from western societies. Assumingly, the intercultural similarity in female preponderance to atypical depression might reflect the common biological construct underlying the gender difference in mechanism of MDD. In clinical settings, gender differences of MDD should be carefully considered, because these features could be related with treatment response and drug side effects. PMID:26539012

Subjective health complaints and psychosocial work environment among university personnel.

PubMed

Moen, B E; Wieslander, G; Bakke, J V; Norbäck, D

2013-01-01

Questionnaires are often used to study health problems in working populations. An association between self-reported symptoms and psychosocial strain has been suggested, but results from such studies are difficult to interpret, as a gender difference might be present. The knowledge in this area is not clear. To compare the prevalence of subjective health symptoms and their relation to psychosocial work strain among men and women in different age groups, all working as university staff. A cross-sectional survey was carried out among university personnel. The questionnaire included a subjective health complaint inventory consisting of 29 items about subjective somatic and psychological symptoms experienced during the last 30 days and psychosocial work factors. Regression analyses were performed. In total, 172 (86%) of 201 eligible employees participated. Women had a higher prevalence of musculoskeletal symptoms than men. Significant differences were found between the genders for headaches, neck pain and arm pain. There was a significant relationship between musculoskeletal symptoms and work strain for both genders. This was found for both men and women below 40 years and among men above the age of 40. No significant difference was found between genders regarding pseudoneurological, gastrointestinal, allergic and flu-like symptoms. More female than male university personnel reported musculoskeletal symptoms. The musculoskeletal symptoms were associated with high work strain in both genders, but, for women, this was limited to employees under the age of 40. The cause of this gender difference is unknown.

Work, family, and personal characteristics explain occupational and gender differences in work-family conflict among Japanese civil servants.

PubMed

Koura, U; Sekine, M; Yamada, M; Tatsuse, T

2017-12-01

A high level of work-family conflict (WFC) is an important risk factor for physical and mental health problems. Although individual work-related factors for WFC have been extensively studied, relatively little is known about whether occupation and gender affect WFC and how such effects might be generated. Cross-sectional study. This study surveyed 3053 civil servants aged 20-65 years working in a local government in the west coast of Japan in 2003. Logistic regression analyses were used to examine whether there are occupational and gender differences in WFC and to clarify the factors underlying these differences. WFC was higher in professional and technical workers compared with other occupations for both men and women, with age-adjusted odds ratios (ORs) for these workers of 1.29 in men and 2.58 in women. In men, occupational differences in WFC disappeared after adjusting for work and family characteristics (OR = 1.15). In women, significant occupational differences remained in the final model, but after adjusting for work characteristics the adjusted OR for professional and technical workers was reduced to 1.69. Women were more likely than men to experience high WFC (OR = 2.52). After controlling for work characteristics, the gender difference was considerably reduced (OR = 1.68). Work characteristics play a fundamental role in the difference in WFC between not only occupational but also gender differences. Stressful work characteristics among professional and technical workers and among women in all work roles should be addressed to reduce occupational and gender differences in WFC in Japan. Copyright © 2017 The Royal Society for Public Health. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Gender Differences in Job Satisfaction, Satisfaction with Society and Satisfaction from their Salary in Greek Civil Servants who are working under conditions of Labour—Intensive

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Antonakas, Nikolaos; Mironaki, Amalia

2009-08-01

The objective of this study is to determine empirically the existence of differences in three dimensions of satisfaction in Greek civil servants' gender, when they work under conditions of stress and tension. The three dimensions of satisfaction selected to be considered were job satisfaction, satisfaction with society and satisfaction from their salary. For this a two parts questionnaire was used. The first part included, besides sex and socially demographic characteristics of employees and the second part consisted of the above aspects of satisfaction. Used a sample of 290 employees and a factor analysis was conducted on the results of the questionnaire. The central question of this paper was whether the strength of the force of better wage, compared with the average civil servant, affects a different way to meet women and men's satisfaction who work under working conditions—intensity. The main finding of this study was the existence differences between women and men in the dimension of satisfaction from the salary.

Spectral imaging analysis for silkworm gender classification

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sumriddetchkajorn, Sarun; Kamtongdee, Chakkrit; Sa-Ngiamsak, Chiranut

2013-05-01

We examine the effect of different wavelength spectra in the performance of our optical penetration-based silkworm pupa sex identification system. With available low-cost light emitting diodes (LEDs), each emitting different wavelength spectra at 468 nm, 565 nm, 639 nm, 940 nm, and broad white light, we find that the body of the silkworm pupa can block blue and near infrared light while allowing green and red light pass through. In particular, the red light can clearly highlight an important organ called "chitin gland" of the female, leading to high accuracy of silkworm gender identification. In our experiment with 120 silkworm pupae, measured high average 92.8% and lower average 87.5% accuracies in identifying silkworm gender are obtained under red and white light LEDs, respectively.

The challenges in diagnosis and gender assignment in disorders of sex development presenting to a pediatric surgical unit in a developing country: the role of laparoscopy and simple tests for gender identity.

PubMed

Chowdhury, Tanvir K; Kabir, Mahfuzul; Chowdhury, Md Zonaid; Hutson, John M; Banu, Tahmina

2014-12-01

We aimed to assess how the diagnosis and determination of gender identity of disorders of sex development (DSD) is different in a developing country from Western medicine, and whether a pediatric surgery department can determine the underlying diagnosis and use simple tools to determine the likely gender identity (GI). We reviewed the records of DSD patients admitted to the Department of Pediatric Surgery, Chittagong Medical College & Hospital (CMCH), Chittagong, Bangladesh, from January 2006 to December 2012 and performed a cross-sectional study on GI and gender-related behavior in these patients during the year 2012. DSD boys and girls answered a GI interview and had their gender role behavior assessed by observations of structural toy play and analyzed for differences in scores. This cohort of DSD patients presented in mid-childhood (6 months-16 years, mean 6.9 years) rather than infancy, and 30% came from consanguineous unions. Congenital adrenal hyperplasia (CAH) constituted only 11 of 50 (22%) of the DSD cohort, and not all families had access to steroid hormone replacement. A simple assessment of GI and gender-related behavior allowed effective gender assignment, as there was significant difference between DSD boys and girls in GI and gender-related behavior score. DSD management in Bangladesh provides some unique challenges because of limited resources. A national reference laboratory for biochemical and genetic testing and development of a quaternary referral center for DSD patients will be helpful. Continued use of the GI interview and gender-related behavior study will enable effective interim decisions about diagnosis and management. Copyright © 2014 Journal of Pediatric Urology Company. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Gender equality and smoking: a theory-driven approach to smoking gender differences in Spain.

PubMed

Bilal, Usama; Beltrán, Paula; Fernández, Esteve; Navas-Acien, Ana; Bolumar, Francisco; Franco, Manuel

2016-05-01

The intersection between gender and class can aid in understanding gender differences in smoking. To analyse how changes in gender inequality relate to differences in smoking prevalence by gender, education and birth cohort in Spain over the past five decades (1960-2010). The Gender Inequality Index (GII) was calculated in 5-year intervals from 1960 to 2010. GII ranges from 0 to 1 (1=highest inequality) and encompasses three dimensions: reproductive health, empowerment and labour market. Estimates of female and male smoking prevalence were reconstructed from representative National Health Surveys and stratified by birth cohort and level of education. We calculated female-to-male smoking ratios from 1960 to 2010 stratified by education and birth cohort. Gender inequality in Spain decreased from 0.65 to 0.09 over the past 50 years. This rapid decline was inversely correlated (r=-0.99) to a rising female-to-male smoking ratio. The youngest birth cohort of the study (born 1980-1990) and women with high education levels had similar smoking prevalences compared with men. Women with high levels of education were also the first to show a reduction in smoking prevalence, compared with less educated women. Gender inequality fell significantly in Spain over the past 50 years. This process was accompanied by converging trends in smoking prevalence for men and women. Smoking prevalence patterns varied greatly by birth cohort and education levels. Countries in earlier stages of the tobacco epidemic should consider gender-sensitive tobacco control measures and policies. Published by the BMJ Publishing Group Limited. For permission to use (where not already granted under a licence) please go to http://www.bmj.com/company/products-services/rights-and-licensing/

Gender Differences of Brain Activity in the Conflicts Based on Implicit Self-Esteem

PubMed Central

Miyamoto, Reiko; Kikuchi, Yoshiaki

2012-01-01

There are gender differences in global and domain-specific self-esteem and the incidence of some psychiatric disorders related to self-esteem, suggesting that there are gender differences in the neural basis underlying one's own self-esteem. We investigated gender differences in the brain activity while subjects (14 males and 12 females) performed an implicit self-esteem task, using fMRI. While ventromedial prefrontal cortex (vmPFC) was significantly activated in females, medial and dorsomedial PFC (dmPFC) were activated in males in the incongruent condition (self = negative) compared with the congruent condition (self = positive). Additionally, scores on the explicit self-esteem test were negatively correlated with vmPFC activity in females and positively correlated with dmPFC activity in males. Furthermore, the functional relationships among the regions found by direct gender comparisons were discussed based on the somatic-marker model. These showed that, compared to males, females more firmly store even the incongruent associations as part of their schematic self-knowledge, and such associations automatically activate the neural networks for emotional response and control, in which vmPFC plays a central role. This may explain female cognitive/behavioral traits; females have more tendency to ruminate more often than males, which sometimes results in a prolonged negative affect. PMID:22666409

Reducing health inequalities among girls and adolescent women living in poverty: the success of Bangladesh.

PubMed

Rousham, Emily K; Khandakar, Ikhtiar Uddin

2016-01-01

Bangladesh has made dramatic improvements in the health of girls and women in the last 20 years. This paper examines whether gender inequalities in health are evident among older children and adolescents among extremely poor households and identifies future health challenges for improving the health of girls and women. Gender inequalities in health were examined using data from a school health survey of school children and adolescents (n = 900, 6.5-13.5 years). Anthropometric status, household possessions and number of siblings were measured. Under-nutrition was assessed as stunting (height-for-age z-score) and thinness (BMI-for-age z-score). The prevalence of under-nutrition was high (35.3% stunting; 42.4% thinness), but there were no significant differences according to gender or socio-economic indicators (via possession score). Girls had more younger siblings (p < 0.05), while boys had more older siblings (p < 0.05). These findings accord with the national picture of successful reductions in gender inequalities in health through low cost, community-based health programmes and education policies targeting the poorest sectors. The prevalence of under-nutrition, however, remains high. Reproductive behaviours may still be influenced by poverty and the gender of existing offspring. Future challenges lie in reducing the adverse health consequences to women and their infants associated with early age at marriage and childbirth.

Women live longer than men even during severe famines and epidemics

PubMed Central

Zarulli, Virginia; Barthold Jones, Julia A.; Oksuzyan, Anna; Lindahl-Jacobsen, Rune; Christensen, Kaare; Vaupel, James W.

2018-01-01

Women in almost all modern populations live longer than men. Research to date provides evidence for both biological and social factors influencing this gender gap. Conditions when both men and women experience extremely high levels of mortality risk are unexplored sources of information. We investigate the survival of both sexes in seven populations under extreme conditions from famines, epidemics, and slavery. Women survived better than men: In all populations, they had lower mortality across almost all ages, and, with the exception of one slave population, they lived longer on average than men. Gender differences in infant mortality contributed the most to the gender gap in life expectancy, indicating that newborn girls were able to survive extreme mortality hazards better than newborn boys. Our results confirm the ubiquity of a female survival advantage even when mortality is extraordinarily high. The hypothesis that the survival advantage of women has fundamental biological underpinnings is supported by the fact that under very harsh conditions females survive better than males even at infant ages when behavioral and social differences may be minimal or favor males. Our findings also indicate that the female advantage differs across environments and is modulated by social factors. PMID:29311321

Gender Difference in Health-Care Expenditure: Evidence from India Human Development Survey.

PubMed

Saikia, Nandita; Moradhvaj; Bora, Jayanta Kumar

2016-01-01

While the gender disparity in health and mortality in various stages of life in India is well documented, there is limited evidence on female disadvantage in health-care expenditure (HCE). Examine the gender difference in HCE in short-term and major morbidity in India, and understand the role of factors underlying the difference. Using two rounds of nationally representative panel data-the India Human Development Survey (IHDS) 2004-2005 and 2011-2012 (IHDS I & II)-we calculate morbidity prevalence rate and mean HCE by gender, and examine the adjusted effect of gender on major morbidity-related HCE by using a two-part regression model. Further, we performed Oaxaca-Blinder decomposition of the gender gap in HCE in major morbidity to understand the contribution of demographic and socio-economic factors. Health-care expenditure on females was systematically lower than on males across all demographic and socio-economic groups. Multivariate analysis confirms that female HCE is significantly lower than male HCE even after controlling demographic and socio-economic factors (β = -0.148, p = 0.000, CI:-0.206-0.091). For both short-term and major morbidity, a female disadvantage on HCE increased from IHDS I to IHDS II. For instance, the male-female gap in major morbidity related expenditure increased from INR 1298 to INR 4172. A decomposition analysis of gender gap in HCE demonstrates that about 48% of the gap is attributable to differences in demographic and socio-economic factors (endowment effect), whereas 50% of the gap is due to the differential effect of the determinants (coefficient effect). Indians spend less on female health care than on male health care. Most of the gender gap in HCE is not due to differential distribution of factors affecting HCE.

Spectrum of gross motor and cognitive functions in children with cerebral palsy: gender differences.

PubMed

Romeo, Domenico M M; Cioni, Matteo; Battaglia, Laura R; Palermo, Filippo; Mazzone, Domenico

2011-01-01

Multiple differences between males and females are reported both in physiological and pathophysiological conditions. To test the hypothesis that gender could influence the motor and cognitive development in children with cerebral palsy (CP). Prospective, cross-sectional. One hundred seventy one children with CP (98 males and 73 females) were evaluated for motor (Gross Motor Function Measure, Gross Motor Function Classification System) and cognitive (Bayley II, Wechsler Scales) functions. Eighty-four of them were assessed before and other eighty-seven children after 4 years of age. No gender-related differences were observed in children with diplegia or quadriplegia, both for motor and cognitive functions. On the contrary, females with hemiplegia scored significantly better (P < 0.01) in cognitive functions and in the dimension D (standing) of the Gross Motor Function Measure, under the age of 4 years. These differences were not observed after this age. In this study we point out that gender might influence differently the psycho-motor development of children with hemiplegia and of those with a more severe clinical involvement as diplegia and quadriplegia. © 2010 European Paediatric Neurology Society. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Gender differences in neural correlates of stress-induced anxiety.

PubMed

Seo, Dongju; Ahluwalia, Aneesha; Potenza, Marc N; Sinha, Rajita

2017-01-02

Although gender differences have been identified as a crucial factor for understanding stress-related anxiety and associated clinical disorders, the neural mechanisms underlying these differences remain unclear. To explore gender differences in the neural correlates of stress-induced anxiety, the current study used functional magnetic resonance imaging to examine brain responses in 96 healthy men and women with commensurable levels of trait anxiety as they engaged in a personalized guided imagery paradigm to provoke stress and neutral-relaxing experiences. During the task, a significant gender main effect emerged, with men displaying greater responses in the caudate, cingulate gyrus, midbrain, thalamus, and cerebellum. In contrast, women showed greater responses in the posterior insula, temporal gyrus, and occipital lobe. Additionally, a significant anxiety ratings × gender interaction from whole-brain regression analyses was observed in the dorsomedial prefrontal cortex, left inferior parietal lobe, left temporal gyrus, occipital gyrus, and cerebellum (P < 0.05, whole-brain family-wise error corrected), with positive associations between activity in these regions and stress-induced anxiety in women, but negative associations in men, indicating that men and women differentially use neural resources when experiencing stress-induced anxiety. The findings suggest that in response to stress, there is a greater use of the medial prefrontal-parietal cortices in experiencing subjective anxiety in women, while decreased use of this circuit was associated with increased subjective anxiety states in men. The current study has implications for understanding gender-specific differences in stress-induced anxiety and vulnerability to stress-related clinical disorders, and for developing more effective treatment strategies tailored to each gender. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

The influence of local effects on thermal sensation under non-uniform environmental conditions--gender differences in thermophysiology, thermal comfort and productivity during convective and radiant cooling.

PubMed

Schellen, L; Loomans, M G L C; de Wit, M H; Olesen, B W; van Marken Lichtenbelt, W D

2012-09-10

Applying high temperature cooling concepts, i.e. high temperature cooling (T(supply) is 16-20°C) HVAC systems, in the built environment allows the reduction in the use of (high quality) energy. However, application of high temperature cooling systems can result in whole body and local discomfort of the occupants. Non-uniform thermal conditions, which may occur due to application of high temperature cooling systems, can be responsible for discomfort. Contradictions in literature exist regarding the validity of the often used predicted mean vote (PMV) index for both genders, and the index is not intended for evaluating the discomfort due to non-uniform environmental conditions. In some cases, however, combinations of local and general discomfort factors, for example draught under warm conditions, may not be uncomfortable. The objective of this study was to investigate gender differences in thermophysiology, thermal comfort and productivity in response to thermal non-uniform environmental conditions. Twenty healthy subjects (10 males and 10 females, age 20-29 years) were exposed to two different experimental conditions: a convective cooling situation (CC) and a radiant cooling situation (RC). During the experiments physiological responses, thermal comfort and productivity were measured. The results show that under both experimental conditions the actual mean thermal sensation votes significantly differ from the PMV-index; the subjects are feeling colder than predicted. Furthermore, the females are more uncomfortable and dissatisfied compared to the males. For females, the local sensations and skin temperatures of the extremities have a significant influence on whole body thermal sensation and are therefore important to consider under non-uniform environmental conditions. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

[Geopolitical development inequalities in gender in Spain 1980-2005: a structural determinant of health].

PubMed

Carrasco-Portiño, Mercedes; Ruiz Cantero, María Teresa; Fernández Sáez, José; Clemente Gómez, Vicente; Roca Pérez, Victoria

2010-01-01

Gender is a structural health determinant. This study analyses the changes in gender development inequalities in Spain and its regions (1980-2005). Ecological study of the evolution of Gender Development Index and its components (Education, Income, Life Expectancy at Birth) by sex in Spain and its regions (1980-2005). Information Source: Gender Development Index (1980-2005) from the Human Capital Report, plus construction ad hoc of the Gender Development Index 2005 following the same methodology of Human Capital Report. National Statistics Institute, Active Population Survey, Municipal Register, Ministry of Education, Universities Council, EUROSTAT, and Wage Structure Survey. Spanish Gender Development Index 2005:0,903 and 1980:0,810. The range between regions under Spanish Gender Development Index was 3 times higher in 1980 (DifferenceC.Valenciana-Extremadura:0,068) than in 2005 (DifferenceAsturias-Extremadura:0,023). The regions above the Spanish Gender Development Index did not vary much. The three components (Education, Income, Life Expectancy at Birth) of the Gender Development Index improved from 1980 to 2005. The Spanish Education Index of men was higher than this value in women until 1985; later this index becomes higher in women than in men. The Spanish Income Index of women in 2005 (0,814) is inferior to that of men 25 years before (1980:0,867). Despite the improvement of the gender development happened in Spain between 1980 and 2005, the inter-regional inequalities between north-south persist. In 2005, women have more education level than men. However, the Spanish income media in women in 2005 are inferior to the media of the men in 1980.

Ambivalence in Adult Sibling Relationships.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bedford, Victoria H.

1989-01-01

Examined gender and developmental differences in awareness of underlying feelings about subjects' age-near, same-sex sibling in 60 child-rearing and empty nest subjects. Found that women seemed to be more aware of their underlying feelings toward sisters than were men toward brothers, but valence of feelings was life phase-specific. (TE)

Lower Pay for Women's Coaches: Refuting Some Common Justifications.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Williams, Joseph P.

1995-01-01

The two standard justifications for different salaries paid to male and female coaches under 1963 and 1964 civil rights/equal pay legislation must fail under Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972, which independently prohibits gender discrimination in employment and mandates equal athletic opportunity for female students. Some suggestions…

Gender Differences in Subjective and Physiological Responses to Caffeine and the Role of Steroid Hormones

PubMed Central

Ziegler, Amanda M.

2011-01-01

Background We have shown previously that male and female adolescents differ in their responses to caffeine, but to date, the mechanisms underlying these gender differences are unknown. Objective The purpose of this study was to test the hypothesis that differences in circulating steroid hormones mediate gender differences in response to caffeine. Methods Subjective and physiological responses to caffeine were tested in adolescents using a double-blind, placebo controlled, crossover design. Participants were tested every 2 weeks for 8 weeks and received placebo and caffeine (2 mg/kg) twice each. Females were tested with placebo and caffeine in each phase of their menstrual cycle. Salivary concentrations of testosterone, estradiol, and progesterone were also measured. Results Males showed greater positive subjective effects than females. In females, higher levels of estradiol were associated with little or no subjective responses to caffeine, but lower levels of estradiol were associated with negative subjective responses to caffeine relative to placebo. There were gender differences in cardiovascular responses to caffeine, with males showing greater decreases in heart rate after caffeine administration than females, but females showing greater increases in diastolic blood pressure than males after caffeine administration. These gender differences may be related to steroid hormone concentrations. Blood pressure responses to caffeine were lower in males when estradiol was high, but higher in females when estradiol was high. Conclusions When taken together, these findings suggest that males and females differ in their responses to caffeine and that these differences may be mediated by changes in circulating steroid hormones. PMID:24761262

Evidence for Gender Differences in Cognition, Emotion and Quality of Life in Parkinson’s Disease?

PubMed Central

Heller, Julia; Dogan, Imis; Schulz, Jörg B.; Reetz, Kathrin

2014-01-01

A number of gender differences have been documented in the incidence and symptomatology of the second most common age-related neurodegenerative disorder, idiopathic Parkinson’s disease (PD). Overall, previous reports suggest a less frequent incidence and a more benign phenotype in women mainly in Western populations, which is thought to be mediated by estrogens in particular in early stages of the disease. Not only motor symptoms seem to underlie gender effects, but also non-motor symptoms such as psychiatric and cognitive impairments, which can often precede motor manifestation. However, reliable results for gender differences in PD in particular of cognitive function and emotion processing, having a major impact on quality of life, are lacking. Moreover, studies investigating gender effects in PD in these areas have revealed highly heterogeneous results. The present review summarizes findings of currently available studies on gender effects on neuropsychological tests covering major cognitive domains, emotion processing as well as quality of life in patients with PD. Overall, the occurrence of cognitive impairment in PD seems to be associated with male gender, though inconsistent results were shown in cognitive screening tests. Regarding emotion recognition, men with PD were found to be less accurate than women with PD at identifying fearful expressions, whereas vice versa results appeared in healthy subjects. Lower quality of life and greater disability were reported by women compared to men with PD, which corresponds with the results in healthy subjects. Several disease-specific mediators as well as the question of a general gender and age-related effect as observed in healthy individuals are discussed. Increased knowledge on possible gender effects in PD would provide an enhanced insight in underlying pathological mechanisms, and has potential implications for the diagnosis and treatment of PD. PMID:24490118

Gender, power, and population change.

PubMed

Riley, N E

1997-05-01

This report describes fertility and mortality trends in developing countries and discusses how gender is defined and measured in some countries. The discussion relies on case studies and country statistics to reveal how gender shapes the lives of all people in all societies. Gender is defined as the different roles women and men play in society. Gender is manifested in institutional structures, power relations, and culturally determined behavior. In no society do women and men share equal roles. The effects of inequality for women are manifested differently between countries. The 1994 International Conference on Population and Development in Cairo established the goal of gender equality. Educational enrollment and illiteracy are two measures of gender inequality that affect opportunities in society for advancement, power, and status. Girls are less likely to be enrolled in school than boys and more likely to have higher absenteeism rates. In China, absenteeism of girls is actually increasing under reforms. Marriage practices may devalue the investment in girls' education. Women experience different working conditions: they work longer hours, are paid less or not at all, and hold lower-status jobs. The exceptions are found in the Philippines and Brazil, where women hold more professional jobs than men. Women carry multiple responsibilities that consume time and prevent greater involvement in public life. Dowry and brideprice can constrain family relations. Women generally have fewer inheritance rights. Few women hold high-level public office positions or parliamentary seats. The extent to which gender inequality is reflected in demographic processes depends upon the gap in power in education, employment, and income. The relationship between gender and demographic processes is a central topic currently being researched.

Men ask more questions than women at a scientific conference

PubMed Central

Sutherland, William J.; Johnston, Alison

2017-01-01

Gender inequity in science and academia, especially in senior positions, is a recognised problem. The reasons are poorly understood, but include the persistence of historical gender ratios, discrimination and other factors, including gender-based behavioural differences. We studied participation in a professional context by observing question-asking behaviour at a large international conference with a clear equality code of conduct that prohibited any form of discrimination. Accounting for audience gender ratio, male attendees asked 1.8 questions for each question asked by a female attendee. Amongst only younger researchers, male attendees also asked 1.8 questions per female question, suggesting the pattern cannot be attributed to the temporary problem of demographic inertia. We link our findings to the ‘chilly’ climate for women in STEM, including wider experiences of discrimination likely encountered by women throughout their education and careers. We call for a broader and coordinated approach to understanding and addressing the barriers to women and other under-represented groups. We encourage the scientific community to recognise the context in which these gender differences occur, and evaluate and develop methods to support full participation from all attendees. PMID:29036191

Men ask more questions than women at a scientific conference.

PubMed

Hinsley, Amy; Sutherland, William J; Johnston, Alison

2017-01-01

Gender inequity in science and academia, especially in senior positions, is a recognised problem. The reasons are poorly understood, but include the persistence of historical gender ratios, discrimination and other factors, including gender-based behavioural differences. We studied participation in a professional context by observing question-asking behaviour at a large international conference with a clear equality code of conduct that prohibited any form of discrimination. Accounting for audience gender ratio, male attendees asked 1.8 questions for each question asked by a female attendee. Amongst only younger researchers, male attendees also asked 1.8 questions per female question, suggesting the pattern cannot be attributed to the temporary problem of demographic inertia. We link our findings to the 'chilly' climate for women in STEM, including wider experiences of discrimination likely encountered by women throughout their education and careers. We call for a broader and coordinated approach to understanding and addressing the barriers to women and other under-represented groups. We encourage the scientific community to recognise the context in which these gender differences occur, and evaluate and develop methods to support full participation from all attendees.

Early acquisition of gender agreement in the Spanish noun phrase: starting small.

PubMed

Mariscal, Sonia

2009-01-01

Nativist and constructivist accounts differ in their characterization of children's knowledge of grammatical categories. In this paper we present research on the process of acquisition of a particular grammatical system, gender agreement in the Spanish noun phrase, in children under three years of age. The design of the longitudinal study employed presents some variations in relation to classical studies. The aim was to obtain a large corpus of NP data which would allow different types of analysis of the children's productions to be carried out. Intra-individual variability in early NP types was analyzed and measured, and an elicitation task for adjectives was used. Results show that the acquisition of NP and gender agreement is a complex process which advances as the children gradually integrate different pieces of evidence: phonological, distributional and functional. The reduction of variability as the grammatical process advances is a key feature for its explanation.

A statistical evaluation of the effects of gender differences in assessment of acute inhalation toxicity

PubMed Central

Price, Charlotte; Stallard, Nigel; Creton, Stuart; Indans, Ian; Guest, Robert; Griffiths, David; Edwards, Philippa

2010-01-01

Acute inhalation toxicity of chemicals has conventionally been assessed by the median lethal concentration (LC50) test (organisation for economic co-operation and development (OECD) TG 403). Two new methods, the recently adopted acute toxic class method (ATC; OECD TG 436) and a proposed fixed concentration procedure (FCP), have recently been considered, but statistical evaluations of these methods did not investigate the influence of differential sensitivity between male and female rats on the outcomes. This paper presents an analysis of data from the assessment of acute inhalation toxicity for 56 substances. Statistically significant differences between the LC50 for males and females were found for 16 substances, with greater than 10-fold differences in the LC50 for two substances. The paper also reports a statistical evaluation of the three test methods in the presence of unanticipated gender differences. With TG 403, a gender difference leads to a slightly greater chance of under-classification. This is also the case for the ATC method, but more pronounced than for TG 403, with misclassification of nearly all substances from Globally Harmonised System (GHS) class 3 into class 4. As the FCP uses females only, if females are more sensitive, the classification is unchanged. If males are more sensitive, the procedure may lead to under-classification. Additional research on modification of the FCP is thus proposed. PMID:20488841

Area, age and gender dependence of the nucleoside system in the brain: a review of current literature.

PubMed

Kovács, Zsolt; Juhász, Gábor; Palkovits, Miklós; Dobolyi, Arpád; Kékesi, Katalin A

2011-01-01

Nucleosides, such as uridine, inosine, guanosine and adenosine, may participate in the regulation of sleep, cognition, memory and nociception, the suppression of seizures, and have also been suggested to play a role in the pathophysiology of some neurodegenerative and neuropsychiatric diseases. Under pathological conditions, levels of nucleosides change extremely in the brain, indicating their participation in the pathophysiology of disorders like Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease and schizophrenia. These findings have resulted in an increasing attention to the roles of nucleosides in the central nervous system. The specific effects of nucleosides depend on the expression of their receptors and transporters in neuronal and glial cells, as well as their extracellular concentrations in the brain. A complex interlinked metabolic network and transporters of nucleosides may balance nucleoside levels in the brain tissue under normal conditions and enable the fine modulation of neuronal and glial processes via nucleoside receptor signaling mechanisms. Brain levels of nucleosides were found to vary when measured in a variety of different brain regions. In addition, nucleoside levels also depend on age and gender. Furthermore, distributions of nucleoside transporters and receptors as well as nucleoside metabolic enzyme activities demonstrate the area, age and gender dependence of the nucleoside system, suggesting different roles of nucleosides in functionally different brain areas. The aim of this review article is to summarize our present knowledge of the area-, age- and gender-dependent distribution of nucleoside levels, nucleoside metabolic enzyme activity, nucleoside receptors and nucleoside transporters in the brain.

Gender Dynamics in Mexican American Families: Connecting Mothers’, Fathers’, and Youths’ Experiences

PubMed Central

Lam, Chun Bun; McHale, Susan M.; Updegraff, Kimberly A.

2013-01-01

Study goals were to examine the conditions under which congruent and incongruent patterns of parents’ division of household labor and gender role attitudes emerged, and the implications of these patterns for youth gender development. Questionnaire and phone diary data were collected from mothers, fathers, and youths from 236 Mexican American families in the southwestern US. Preliminary cluster analysis identified three patterns: Traditional divisions of labor and traditional attitudes, egalitarian divisions of labor and egalitarian attitudes, and an incongruent pattern, with a traditional division of labor but egalitarian attitudes. MANOVAs, and follow-up, mixed- and between-group ANOVAs, revealed that these groups of families differed in parents’ time constraints, socioeconomic resources, and cultural orientations. Mothers in the congruent egalitarian group worked more hours and earned higher incomes as compared to mothers in the congruent traditional and incongruent groups, and the emergence of the incongruent group was grounded in within-family, inter-parental differences in work hours and incomes. Parents’ patterns of gendered practices and beliefs were linked to their youths’ housework participation, time with mothers versus fathers, and gender role attitudes. Youths in the congruent traditional group had more traditional gender role attitudes than those in the congruent egalitarian and incongruent groups, and gender atypical housework participation and time with parents were only observed in the congruent egalitarian group. Findings demonstrate the utility of a within-family design to understand complex gendered phenomena, and highlight the multidimensional nature of gender and the importance of contextualizing the study of ethnic minorities. PMID:23641122

Gender development and the human brain.

PubMed

Hines, Melissa

2011-01-01

Convincing evidence indicates that prenatal exposure to the gonadal hormone, testosterone, influences the development of children's sex-typical toy and activity interests. In addition, growing evidence shows that testosterone exposure contributes similarly to the development of other human behaviors that show sex differences, including sexual orientation, core gender identity, and some, though not all, sex-related cognitive and personality characteristics. In addition to these prenatal hormonal influences, early infancy and puberty may provide additional critical periods when hormones influence human neurobehavioral organization. Sex-linked genes could also contribute to human gender development, and most sex-related characteristics are influenced by socialization and other aspects of postnatal experience, as well. Neural mechanisms underlying the influences of gonadal hormones on human behavior are beginning to be identified. Although the neural mechanisms underlying experiential influences remain largely uninvestigated, they could involve the same neural circuitry as that affected by hormones.

Women's mental health research: the emergence of a biomedical field.

PubMed

Blehar, Mary C

2006-01-01

This review surveys the field of women's mental health, with particular emphasis on its evolution into a distinct area of biomedical research. The field employs a biomedical disease model but it also emphasizes social and cultural influences on health outcomes. In recent years, its scope has expanded beyond studies of disorders occurring in women at times of reproductive transitions and it now encompasses a broader study of sex and gender differences. Historical and conceptual influences on the field are discussed. The review also surveys gender differences in the prevalence and clinical manifestations of mental disorders. Epidemiological findings have provided a rich resource for theory development, but without research tools to test theories adequately, findings of gender differences have begged the question of their biological, social, and cultural origins. Clinical depression is used to exemplify the usefulness of a sex/gender perspective in understanding mental illness; and major theories proposed to account for gender differences are critically evaluated. The National Institutes of Health (NIH) is the primary federal funding source for biomedical women's mental health research. The review surveys areas of emphasis in women's mental health research at the NIH as well as some collaborative activities that represent efforts to translate research findings into the public health and services arenas. As new analytic methods become available, it is anticipated that a more fundamental understanding of the biological and behavioral mechanisms underlying sex and gender differences in mental illness will emerge. Nonetheless, it is also likely that integration of findings predicated on different conceptual models of the nature and causes of mental illness will remain a challenge. These issues are discussed with reference to their impact on the field of women's mental health research.

Genome-wide meta-analysis identifies novel gender specific loci associated with thyroid antibodies level in Croatians.

PubMed

Matana, Antonela; Popović, Marijana; Boutin, Thibaud; Torlak, Vesela; Brdar, Dubravka; Gunjača, Ivana; Kolčić, Ivana; Boraska Perica, Vesna; Punda, Ante; Polašek, Ozren; Hayward, Caroline; Barbalić, Maja; Zemunik, Tatijana

2018-04-18

Autoimmune thyroid diseases (AITD) are multifactorial endocrine diseases most frequently accompanied by Tg and TPO autoantibodies. Both antibodies have a higher prevalence in females and act under a strong genetic influence. To identify novel variants underlying thyroid antibody levels, we performed GWAS meta-analysis on the plasma levels of TgAb and TPOAb in three Croatian cohorts, as well as gender specific GWAS and a bivariate analysis. No significant association was detected with the level of TgAb and TPOAb in the meta-analysis of GWAS or bivariate results for all individuals. The bivariate analysis in females only revealed a genome-wide significant association for the locus near GRIN3A (rs4457391, P = 7.76 × 10 -9 ). The same locus had borderline association with TPOAb levels in females (rs1935377, P = 8.58 × 10 -8 ). In conclusion, we identified a novel gender specific locus associated with TgAb and TPOAb levels. Our findings provide a novel insight into genetic and gender differences associated with thyroid antibodies. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Health, Dietary Habits, and Achievement Motivation in College Students With Self-Reported ADHD Diagnosis.

PubMed

Merkt, Julia; Gawrilow, Caterina

2016-09-01

The present study aimed to investigate aspects of health and motivation in a subpopulation of college students with ADHD. Seventy-seven college students with self-reported ADHD (49 women; M age = 25.82, SD = 4.62) and 120 college students without ADHD (65 women; M age = 25.17, SD = 5.41) participated in an online survey assessing their health, dietary habits, and achievement motivation. College students with ADHD showed impairment in psychological functioning, impairment in their mental health, and reported more ambition and less self-control. Furthermore, we found gender differences: Women with ADHD reported worse psychological functioning, and the gender differences in obsessive-compulsive behavior and compensatory effort were mediated by the timing of diagnosis. College students, especially women, with ADHD struggle with health-related issues. Some of these gender differences might be due to under diagnosis of girls in childhood. Differences in achievement motivation might indicate compensatory mechanisms. © The Author(s) 2014.

Gender-based workplace assessment in gynecology and obstetrics in Germany: results from the iCEPT Study.

PubMed

Bauer, Jan; Groneberg, David A; Brueggmann, Doerthe

2016-08-01

In the field of gynecology and obstetrics, studies exploring the workplace situation are important. We conducted this study with the overall aim to assess the subjective perception of working conditions of OB/GYNs in German hospitals. Since gender ratios are changing among German physicians in general and among OB/GYNs in particular, a special focus was put on gender-based differences. This study uses data from the iCEPT Study (n = 7090). From this database, data from physicians working in the field of gynecology and obstetrics (n = 381) were analyzed. The iCEPT questionnaire was based upon established questionnaires. 92.1 % (95 % CI 89.2-95.3) of respondents stated to be often under time pressure and 89.8 % (95 % CI 87.6-93.3) stated frequent disturbances during work time. Women felt significantly more often under time pressure than men (OR = 2.73; 95 % CI 1.25-5.92; p = 0.009). Moreover, only about every third respondent stated to be in control of his or her work. Feedback about their work was received by 27.6 % (95 % CI 23.4-32.1) of respondents. However, male physicians got significantly more often feedback with an odds ratio of OR = 2.03 (95 % CI 1.21-3.41; p = 0.007). In regard to job satisfaction, about one in two (55.1 %; 95 % CI 50.4-60.2) stated to be satisfied with his or her job. However, men seemed more often satisfied than women with an OR = 1.98 (95 % CI 1.18-3.32; p = 0.009). No significant gender difference was seen in the analysis of the social climate and the social support. It is important to be aware of the documented gender differences regarding perception of working conditions. In order to sustain the gender diversity in the specialty of OB/GYNs these differences should be resolved. Special attention should be drawn to the improvement of job demands and control of employees.

Lumbar contribution to the trunk forward bending and backward return; age-related differences.

PubMed

Vazirian, Milad; Shojaei, Iman; Agarwal, Anuj; Bazrgari, Babak

2017-07-01

Age-related differences in lumbar contribution to the trunk motion in the sagittal plane were investigated. Sixty individuals between 20-70 years old in five gender-balanced age groups performed forward bending and backward return with slow and fast paces. Individuals older than 50 years old, irrespective of the gender or pace, had smaller lumbar contribution than those younger than this age. The lumbar contribution to trunk motion was also smaller in female participants than male participants, and under fast pace than under the slow pace. Age-related differences in lumbar contributions suggest the synergy between the active and passive lower back tissues is different between those above and under 50 years old, differences that are likely to affect the lower back mechanics. Therefore, detailed modelling should be conducted in future to find the age-related differences in the lower back mechanics for tasks involving large trunk motion. Practitioner Summary: Lumbar contribution to the sagittal trunk motion was observed to be smaller in individuals above 50 years old than those below this age. This could be an indication of a likely change in the synergy between the active and passive lower back tissues, which may disturb the lower back mechanics.

Gender differences in fatigue: biopsychosocial factors relating to fatigue in men and women.

PubMed

Bensing, J M; Hulsman, R L; Schreurs, K M

1999-10-01

Fatigue is a common problem, which is found more frequently among women than men. To date, neither the etiology of fatigue nor the factors that explain the gender difference in its incidence are still fully understood. In a sample of men (n = 4,681) and women (n = 4,698) (age range, 15-64 years) in the Dutch National Survey of Morbidity and Interventions in General Practice, the gender differences in the underlying biological, psychological, and social factors of fatigue were analyzed. Both general and gender-specific factors were recognized. Men and women who experience complaints of fatigue appeared to be younger and more highly educated. They had more acute health complaints and more psychosocial problems and also showed a lower level of perceived health. Among women, only gender-specific biological complaints and psychosocial problems were related to fatigue. In addition, relevant sociodemographic variables included taking care of young children and being employed. Among men, fatigue was particularly related to having handicaps and severe chronic complaints. Taking care of young children did not make a difference in the male sample. Fatigue can only be adequately understood in a multicausal model with biomedical and psychosocial factors. Complaints of fatigue are too often ignored in general practice. By adopting a patient-centered style of communication, physicians can acquire a more complete picture of the patients' fatigue.

Canadian trends in filicide by gender of the accused, 1961-2011.

PubMed

Dawson, Myrna

2015-09-01

This paper provides a comprehensive historical and contemporary picture of filicide in Canada for more than half a century. Focusing on 1,612 children under age 18 that were killed by their parents between 1961 and 2011, regional and temporal trends in the gender of accused are examined as well as differences in maternal and paternal filicides by the gender and age of the victim, the age and marital status of the accused, type of parental relationship, cause of death, motive, history of family violence, and clearance status. Results show that there are significant differences in filicides by mothers and fathers. Five possible emerging trends were identified: an increasing gender gap in accused, increasing presence of relationship breakdown, growing number of cases involving stepfathers and a prior history of family violence, and declines in accused who committed suicide. Implications of these trends for interventions and prevention are discussed and future research priorities highlighted. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Objectivity and realms of explanation in academic journal articles concerning sex/gender: a comparison of Gender studies and the other social sciences.

PubMed

Söderlund, Therese; Madison, Guy

2017-01-01

Gender studies (GS) has been challenged on epistemological grounds. Here, we compare samples of peer-reviewed academic journal publications written by GS authors and authors from closely related disciplines in the social sciences. The material consisted of 2805 statements from 36 peer-reviewed journal articles, sampled from the Swedish Gender Studies List, which covers >12,000 publications. Each statement was coded as expressing a lack of any of three aspects of objectivity: Bias, Normativity, or Political activism, or as considering any of four realms of explanation for the behaviours or phenomena under study: Biology/genetics, Individual/group differences, Environment/culture, or Societal institutions. Statements in GS publications did to a greater extent express bias and normativity, but not political activism. They did also to a greater extent consider cultural, environmental, social, and societal realms of explanation, and to a lesser extent biological and individual differences explanations.

Personality and the gender gap in self-employment: a multi-nation study.

PubMed

Obschonka, Martin; Schmitt-Rodermund, Eva; Terracciano, Antonio

2014-01-01

What role does personality play in the pervasive gender gap in entrepreneurship across the globe? This two-study analysis focuses on self-employment in the working population and underlying gender differences in personality characteristics, thereby considering both single trait dimensions as well as a holistic, configural personality approach. Applying the five-factor model of personality, Study 1, our main study, investigates mediation models in the prediction of self-employment status utilizing self-reported personality data from large-scaled longitudinal datasets collected in the U.S., Germany, the U.K., and Australia (total N = 28,762). Study 2 analyzes (observer-rated) Big Five data collected in 51 cultures (total N = 12,156) to take a more global perspective and to explore the pancultural universality of gender differences in entrepreneurial personality characteristics. Across the four countries investigated in Study 1, none of the major five dimension of personality turned out as a consistent and robust mediator. In contrast, the holistic, configural approach yielded consistent and robust mediation results. Across the four countries, males scored higher on an entrepreneurship-prone personality profile, which in turn predicted self-employment status. These results suggest that gender differences in the intra-individual configuration of personality traits contribute to the gender gap in entrepreneurship across the globe. With the restriction of limited representativeness, the data from Study 2 suggest that the gender difference in the entrepreneurship-prone personality profile (males score higher) is widespread across many cultures, but may not exist in all. The results are discussed with an emphasis on implications for research and practice, which a particular focus on the need for more complex models that incorporate the role of personality.

Personality and the Gender Gap in Self-Employment: A Multi-Nation Study

PubMed Central

Obschonka, Martin; Schmitt-Rodermund, Eva; Terracciano, Antonio

2014-01-01

What role does personality play in the pervasive gender gap in entrepreneurship across the globe? This two-study analysis focuses on self-employment in the working population and underlying gender differences in personality characteristics, thereby considering both single trait dimensions as well as a holistic, configural personality approach. Applying the five-factor model of personality, Study 1, our main study, investigates mediation models in the prediction of self-employment status utilizing self-reported personality data from large-scaled longitudinal datasets collected in the U.S., Germany, the U.K., and Australia (total N = 28,762). Study 2 analyzes (observer-rated) Big Five data collected in 51 cultures (total N = 12,156) to take a more global perspective and to explore the pancultural universality of gender differences in entrepreneurial personality characteristics. Across the four countries investigated in Study 1, none of the major five dimension of personality turned out as a consistent and robust mediator. In contrast, the holistic, configural approach yielded consistent and robust mediation results. Across the four countries, males scored higher on an entrepreneurship-prone personality profile, which in turn predicted self-employment status. These results suggest that gender differences in the intra-individual configuration of personality traits contribute to the gender gap in entrepreneurship across the globe. With the restriction of limited representativeness, the data from Study 2 suggest that the gender difference in the entrepreneurship-prone personality profile (males score higher) is widespread across many cultures, but may not exist in all. The results are discussed with an emphasis on implications for research and practice, which a particular focus on the need for more complex models that incorporate the role of personality. PMID:25089706

Gender Differences in Adolescent Premarital Sexual Permissiveness in Three Asian Cities: Effects of Gender-Role Attitudes

PubMed Central

Xiayun, Zuo; Chaohua, Lou; Ersheng, Gao; Yan, Cheng; Hongfeng, Niu; Zabin, Laurie S.

2014-01-01

Purpose Gender is an important factor in understanding premarital sexual attitudes and behaviors. Many studies indicate that males are more likely to initiate sexual intercourse and have more permissive perceptions about sex than females. Yet few studies have explored possible reasons for these gender differences. With samples of unmarried adolescents in three Asian cities influenced by Confucian cultures, this paper investigates the relationship between underlying gender norms and these differences in adolescents’ premarital sexual permissiveness. Methods 16,554 unmarried participants aged 15–24 were recruited in the Three-City Asian Study of Adolescents and Youth, a collaborative survey conducted in 2006–2007 in urban and rural areas of Hanoi, Shanghai and Taipei, with 6204, 6023 and 4327 from each city respectively. All of the adolescents were administered face-to-face interviews, coupled with Computer Assisted Self Interview (CASI) for sensitive questions. Scales on gender-role attitudes and on premarital sexual permissiveness for both male and female respondents were developed and applied to our analysis of the data. Multi-linear regression was used to analyze the relationship between gender-role attitudes and sexual permissiveness. Results Male respondents in each city held more permissive attitudes towards premarital sex than did females with both boys and girls expressing greater permissiveness to male premarital sexual behaviors. Boys also expressed more traditional attitudes to gender roles (condoning greater inequality) than did girls in each city. Adolescents’ gender-role attitudes and permissiveness to premarital sex varied considerably across the three cities, with the Vietnamese the most traditional, the Taiwanese the least traditional, and the adolescents in Shanghai in the middle. A negative association between traditional gender roles and premarital sexual permissiveness was only found among girls in Shanghai and Taipei. In Shanghai, female respondents who held more traditional gender role attitudes were more likely to exercise a double standard with respect to male as opposed to female premarital sex (OR=1.18). This relationship also applied to attitudes of both girls and boys in Taipei (OR=1.20 and OR=1.22, respectively). Conclusions Although with variation across sites, gender differences in premarital sexual permissiveness and attitudes to gender roles among adolescents were very significant in each of the three Asian cities influenced by Confucian-based values. Traditional gender norms may still be deeply rooted in the three cities, especially among females, while it is important to advocate gender equity in adolescent reproductive health programs, the pathway of traditional gender norms in influencing adolescent reproductive health outcomes must be understood, as must differences and similarities across regions. PMID:22340852

Gender differences in adolescent premarital sexual permissiveness in three Asian cities: effects of gender-role attitudes.

PubMed

Zuo, Xiayun; Lou, Chaohua; Gao, Ersheng; Cheng, Yan; Niu, Hongfeng; Zabin, Laurie S

2012-03-01

Gender is an important factor in understanding premarital sexual attitudes and behaviors. Many studies indicate that males are more likely to initiate sexual intercourse and have more permissive perceptions about sex than females. Yet few studies have explored possible reasons for these gender differences. With samples of unmarried adolescents in three Asian cities influenced by Confucian cultures, this article investigates the relationship between underlying gender norms and these differences in adolescents' premarital sexual permissiveness (PSP). In a collaborative survey conducted in 2006-2007 in urban and rural areas of Hanoi, Shanghai, and Taipei, 16,554 unmarried participants aged 15-24 years were recruited in the three-City Asian Study of Adolescents and Youth, with 6,204, 6,023, and 4,327 respondents from each city, respectively. All the adolescents were administered face-to-face interviews, coupled with computer-assisted self-interview for sensitive questions. Scales on gender-role attitudes and on PSP for both male and female respondents were developed and applied to our analysis of the data. Multilinear regression was used to analyze the relationship between gender-role attitudes and sexual permissiveness. Male respondents in each city held more permissive attitudes toward premarital sex than did females, with both boys and girls expressing greater permissiveness to male premarital sexual behaviors. Boys also expressed more traditional attitudes to gender roles (condoning greater inequality) than did girls in each city. Adolescents' gender-role attitudes and permissiveness to premarital sex varied considerably across the three cities, with the Vietnamese the most traditional, the Taiwanese the least traditional, and the adolescents in Shanghai in the middle. A negative association between traditional gender roles and PSP was only found among girls in Shanghai and Taipei. In Shanghai, female respondents who held more traditional gender-role attitudes were more likely to exercise a double standard with respect to male as opposed to female premarital sex (odds ratio [OR] = 1.18). This relationship also applied to attitudes of both girls and boys in Taipei (OR = 1.20 and OR = 1.22, respectively). Although with variation across sites, gender differences in PSP and attitudes to gender roles among adolescents were very significant in each of the three Asian cities influenced by Confucian-based values. Traditional gender norms may still be deeply rooted in the three cities, especially among females; while it is important to advocate gender equity in adolescent reproductive health programs, the pathway of traditional gender norms in influencing adolescent reproductive health outcomes must be understood, as must differences and similarities across regions. Copyright © 2012 Society for Adolescent Health and Medicine. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

When does incivility lead to counterproductive work behavior? Roles of job involvement, task interdependence, and gender.

PubMed

Welbourne, Jennifer L; Sariol, Ana M

2017-04-01

This research investigated the conditions under which exposure to incivility at work was associated with engaging in counterproductive work behavior (CWB). Drawing from stressor-strain and coping frameworks, we predicted that experienced incivility would be associated with engaging in production deviance and withdrawal behavior, and that these relationships would be strongest for employees who had high levels of job involvement and worked under task interdependent conditions. Gender differences in these effects were also investigated. A sample of 250 United States full-time employees from various occupations completed 2 waves (timed 6 weeks apart) of an online survey. Results indicate that employees with high job involvement were more likely to engage in production deviance and withdrawal behavior following exposure to incivility than were employees with low job involvement. The moderating effect of task interdependence varied by gender, such that the relationship between incivility and CWB was strengthened under high task interdependence for female employees, but weakened under high task interdependence for male employees. These findings highlight that certain work conditions can increase employees' susceptibility to the impacts of incivility, leading to harmful outcomes for organizations. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2017 APA, all rights reserved).

Being transgender: the experience of transgender identity development.

PubMed

Levitt, Heidi M; Ippolito, Maria R

2014-01-01

This article is based on a grounded theory analysis of interviews with transgender-identified people from different regions of the United States. Participants held a variety of gender identities under the transgender rubric (e.g., crossdresser, transman, transwoman, butch lesbian). Interviews explored the participants' experiences in arriving at their gender identity. This article presents three clusters of findings related to the common processes of transgender identity development. This process was made possible by accessibility of transgender narratives that injected hope into what was a childhood replete with criticism and scrutiny. Ultimately, participants came to their identities through balancing a desire for authenticity with demands of necessity--meaning that they weighed their internal gender experience with considerations about their available resources, coping skills, and the consequences of gender transitions. The implications of these findings are considered in terms of their contribution to gender theory, research, and clinical support for transgender clients.

WOMEN'S EMPOWERMENT AND GENDER INEQUALITY IN ADOLESCENT NUTRITIONAL STATUS: EVIDENCE FROM THE INDONESIAN FAMILY LIFE SURVEY.

PubMed

Kunto, Yohanes Sondang; Bras, Hilde

2017-11-23

In contrast to the extensive knowledge on the association between women's empowerment and the nutritional status of children under the age of five, relatively little is known about the influence of women's empowerment on adolescents' nutritional status. This study aimed to assess the association between women's empowerment and gender inequalities in adolescent nutritional status. Data were from the Indonesian Family Life Survey (IFLS) covering the period 1997 to 2015, and consisted of 16,683 observations from 13,396 adolescents between the ages of 10 and 19 years born in 6781 families. Three indicators of women's empowerment were used: mother's education, mother's bargaining power and mother's working status. Multivariate linear regression with robust standard errors was used to examine whether and how these indicators of women's empowerment influenced adolescent nutritional status. Interaction terms were added to analyse how the association between women's empowerment and adolescent nutritional status differed by gender. The results showed that mother's education and mother's working status were significantly associated with adolescent nutritional status, particularly with height-for-age. Adolescents of well-educated mothers had a higher height-for-age while those who were raised by mothers with a blue-collar job had a lower height-for-age. Although no gender differences were found for height-for-age, gender differences for BMI-for-age were obvious, with boys having a lower BMI-for-age than girls. Interactions between indicators of mother's empowerment and gender showed that the gender gap in BMI-for-age was smaller for adolescents of more educated mothers. However, further analyses of food consumption patterns showed that boys whose mothers were more educated consumed more fast food and had higher instant noodle consumption than girls, thus suggesting gender bias in new disguise.

Women live longer than men even during severe famines and epidemics.

PubMed

Zarulli, Virginia; Barthold Jones, Julia A; Oksuzyan, Anna; Lindahl-Jacobsen, Rune; Christensen, Kaare; Vaupel, James W

2018-01-23

Women in almost all modern populations live longer than men. Research to date provides evidence for both biological and social factors influencing this gender gap. Conditions when both men and women experience extremely high levels of mortality risk are unexplored sources of information. We investigate the survival of both sexes in seven populations under extreme conditions from famines, epidemics, and slavery. Women survived better than men: In all populations, they had lower mortality across almost all ages, and, with the exception of one slave population, they lived longer on average than men. Gender differences in infant mortality contributed the most to the gender gap in life expectancy, indicating that newborn girls were able to survive extreme mortality hazards better than newborn boys. Our results confirm the ubiquity of a female survival advantage even when mortality is extraordinarily high. The hypothesis that the survival advantage of women has fundamental biological underpinnings is supported by the fact that under very harsh conditions females survive better than males even at infant ages when behavioral and social differences may be minimal or favor males. Our findings also indicate that the female advantage differs across environments and is modulated by social factors. Copyright © 2018 the Author(s). Published by PNAS.

[Sociodemographic and Clinical Characteristics of Transsexual Individuals who Applied to a Psychiatry Clinic for Sex Reassignment Surgery].

PubMed

Turan, Şenol; Aksoy Poyraz, Cana; İnce, Ezgi; Sakallı Kani, Ayşe; Emül, Hacı Murat; Duran, Alaattin

2015-01-01

The aim of the study was to investigate sociodemographic and clinical characteristics of people with gender dysphoria and differences of sociodemographic and clinical characteristics between female-to-male (FtM) and male-to-female (MtF) transsexual individuals. This study examined retrospectively sociodemographic and clinical characteristics of 139 cases with the diagnosis of gender dysphoria who were willing to undergo sex reassignment surgery and were referred to the Cerrahpaşa Medical Faculty between 2007-2013. Among 139 patients with gender dysphoria 102 were MtF (73,4%), and 37 patients were FtM (26,6%). In MtFs, rates of working in jobs which do not require high education level, unemployment, being a sex worker (p < 0,001), drug use (p = 0,017), and not having the health insurance (p < 0,001) were found to be significantly higher than FtMs. Rates of receiving psychotherapy for gender dysphoria (p = 0,001) and starting hormone therapy under the supervision of a doctor (p < 0,001) were significantly higher in FtMs, however higher rates of taking hormone therapy (p < 0,001) and undergoing surgery for sex reassignment (p < 0,001) were observed in the MtFs. There are significant differences both in sociodemographic characteristics and clinical characteristics between MtFs and FtMs. However further studies would be needed to identify underlying causes.

Effects of aging and gender on micro-rheology of blood in 3 to 18 months old male and female Wistar (Crl:WI) rats.

PubMed

Somogyi, Viktoria; Peto, Katalin; Deak, Adam; Tanczos, Bence; Nemeth, Norbert

2018-01-01

Age- and gender-related alterations of hemorheological parameters have not been completely elucidated to date. Experiments on older animals may give valuable information on this issue. However, the majority of rheological studies have been performed in young rodents. We aimed to investigate the influence of aging and gender on hemorheological parameters in rats. Coeval male (n=10) and female (n=10) Wistar (Crl:WI) rats were followed-up over 15 months. Blood samples were obtained from the lateral tail vein at 3, 4, 5, 9, 12, 15 and 18 months of age. Hematological parameters, red blood cell deformability (elongation under shear), osmotic gradient deformability and erythrocyte aggregation were tested. Body weight and the estrus cycle (in females) were also examined. Erythrocyte aggregation showed age- and gender-related variations. Red blood cell deformability was greater in females and gradually decreased over the 15-month period in both genders. Erythrocyte aggregation was greater in male rats at most ages, but did not show consistent changes with age. The micro-rheological parameters showed age-related alterations with gender differences. The effect of the estrous cycle cannot be excluded in female rats. The results provide reference data for studies of aging in rats and of the mechanism related to age and gender differences in hemorheology.

Gender differences in emotionality and sociability in children with autism spectrum disorders

PubMed Central

2014-01-01

Background Four times as many males are diagnosed with high functioning autism compared to females. A growing body of research that focused on females with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) questions the assumption of gender invariance in ASD. Clinical observations suggest that females with ASD superficially demonstrate better social and emotional skills than males with ASD, which may camouflage other diagnostic features. This may explain the under-diagnosis of females with ASD. Methods We hypothesised that females with ASD would display better social skills than males with ASD on a test of friendship and social function. One hundred and one 10- to 16-year-olds (ASD females, n = 25; typically developing (TD) females, n = 25; ASD males, n = 25; TD males, n = 26) were interviewed (using the friendship questionnaire (FQ)) with high scores indicating the child has close, empathetic and supportive relationships. One parent of each child completed the FQ to assess whether there are differences in perception of friendships between parents and children. Results It was found that, independent of diagnosis, females demonstrated higher scores on the FQ than males. Further, regardless of gender, children with ASD demonstrated lower scores than TD children. Moreover, the effect of ASD was independent of gender. Interestingly, females with ASD and TD males displayed similar scores on the FQ. Conclusions This finding is supported by clinical reports that females with ASD have more developed social skills than males with ASD. Further research is now required to examine the underlying causes for this phenomenon in order to develop gender-appropriate diagnostic criteria and interventions for ASD. PMID:24576331

Academic disidentification in Black college students: The role of teacher trust and gender.

PubMed

McClain, Shannon; Cokley, Kevin

2017-01-01

Research has identified academic disidentification as a phenomenon that appears to uniquely impact Black male students. However, few empirical studies examine what underlies such gender differences. This study examined whether students' teacher trust is a factor underlying academic disidentification in Black college students and whether this is moderated by gender. Academic disidentification was investigated by examining the strength of the relation between a student's view of his or her academic abilities in comparison to peers (i.e., academic self-concept [ASC]) and the student's academic outcomes (i.e., grade point average [GPA]). Attribution theory was used as a lens to test a hypothesized multigroup path model that linked age to teacher trust and ASC, and ASC to GPA through teacher trust. Alternative models were also tested. Participants were 319 Black students (120 males and 199 females) recruited from a large, southwestern, predominantly White university. Results revealed the hypothesized model fit the data reasonably well, whereas the alternative models resulted in a poorer fit. The final model supported our hypothesis that the relation between ASC and GPA is partially mediated by teacher trust and this relation was moderated by gender, such that the indirect effect was significantly stronger for males than females. Several significant differences were also found across gender for direct paths. These findings suggest college students' trust of faculty may be particularly important for Black males and is likely a contributing factor to academic disidentification. Practical implications for university professionals' facilitation of Black college students' academic development are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2017 APA, all rights reserved).

Almeria spatial memory recognition test (ASMRT): Gender differences emerged in a new passive spatial task.

PubMed

Tascón, Laura; García-Moreno, Luis Miguel; Cimadevilla, Jose Manuel

2017-06-09

Many different human spatial memory tasks were developed in the last two decades. Virtual reality based tasks make possible developing different scenarios and situations to assess spatial orientation but sometimes these tasks are complex for specific populations like children and older-adults. A new spatial task with a very limited technological requirement was developed in this study. It demanded the use of spatial memory for an accurate solution. It also proved to be sensitive to gender differences, with men outperforming women under high specific difficulty levels. Thanks to its simplicity it could be applied as a screening test and is easy to combine with EEG and fMRI studies. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Following the time course of face gender and expression processing: a task-dependent ERP study.

PubMed

Valdés-Conroy, Berenice; Aguado, Luis; Fernández-Cahill, María; Romero-Ferreiro, Verónica; Diéguez-Risco, Teresa

2014-05-01

The effects of task demands and the interaction between gender and expression in face perception were studied using event-related potentials (ERPs). Participants performed three different tasks with male and female faces that were emotionally inexpressive or that showed happy or angry expressions. In two of the tasks (gender and expression categorization) facial properties were task-relevant while in a third task (symbol discrimination) facial information was irrelevant. Effects of expression were observed on the visual P100 component under all task conditions, suggesting the operation of an automatic process that is not influenced by task demands. The earliest interaction between expression and gender was observed later in the face-sensitive N170 component. This component showed differential modulations by specific combinations of gender and expression (e.g., angry male vs. angry female faces). Main effects of expression and task were observed in a later occipito-temporal component peaking around 230 ms post-stimulus onset (EPN or early posterior negativity). Less positive amplitudes in the presence of angry faces and during performance of the gender and expression tasks were observed. Finally, task demands also modulated a positive component peaking around 400 ms (LPC, or late positive complex) that showed enhanced amplitude for the gender task. The pattern of results obtained here adds new evidence about the sequence of operations involved in face processing and the interaction of facial properties (gender and expression) in response to different task demands. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Measurement invariance across educational levels and gender in 12-item Zarit Burden Interview (ZBI) on caregivers of people with dementia.

PubMed

Lin, Chung-Ying; Ku, Li-Jung Elizabeth; Pakpour, Amir H

2017-11-01

The Zarit Burden Interview (ZBI) is a commonly used self-report to assess caregiver burden. A 12-item short form of the ZBI has been developed; however, its measurement invariance has not been examined across some different demographics. It is unclear whether different genders and educational levels of a population interpret the ZBI items similarly. Therefore, this study aimed to examine the measurement invariance of the 12-item ZBI across gender and educational levels in a Taiwanese sample. Caregivers who had a family member with dementia (n = 270) completed the ZBI through telephone interviews. Three confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) models were conducted: Model 1 was the configural model, Model 2 constrained all factor loadings, Model 3 constrained all factor loadings and item intercepts. Multiple group CFAs and the differential item functioning (DIF) contrast under Rasch analyses were used to detect measurement invariance across males (n = 100) and females (n = 170) and across educational levels of junior high schools and below (n = 86) and senior high schools and above (n = 183). The fit index differences between models supported the measurement invariance across gender and across educational levels (∆ comparative fit index (CFI) = -0.010 and 0.003; ∆ root mean square error of approximation (RMSEA) = -0.006 to 0.004). No substantial DIF contrast was found across gender and educational levels (value = -0.36 to 0.29). The ZBI is appropriate for combined use and for comparisons in caregivers across gender and different educational levels in Taiwan.

MRI correlates of interaction between gender and expressive suppression among the Chinese population.

PubMed

Wang, Kangcheng; Huang, Hui; Chen, Li; Hou, Xin; Zhang, Yong; Yang, Junyi; Hao, Xin; Qiu, Jiang

2017-04-07

Expressive suppression is a kind of emotion regulation strategies by suppressing behaviors related to emotional responding. Despite the amount of behavioral research on expressive suppression, the structural and functional mechanisms underlying the interaction between gender and expressive suppression in Chinese healthy subjects have remained unknown. In the current study, we assessed the levels of expressive suppression and acquired the structural and functional imaging data from 273 Chinese individuals. A nearly automatic cortical processing technique was used to calculate cortical thickness for each subject. The results from cortical thickness analyses revealed a significant interaction between gender and expressive suppression in the superior frontal gyrus. Then, we conducted the whole-brain functional connectivity analysis with the seed of the superior frontal gyrus to explore the functionally related regions of brain. Subsequent analysis of the interaction between gender and expressive suppression indicated a significant functional connectivity between the superior frontal gyrus and default mode network (DMN) core regions, including the medial prefrontal cortex, precuneus and parahippocampal gyrus. Our results provided the robust empirical evidence illustrating the role of the superior frontal gyrus and DMN in gender difference of expressive suppression among the Chinese population. These findings might have implications for understanding gender difference in emotion processing and regulation. Copyright © 2017 IBRO. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

An integrated strategy for the quantitative analysis of endogenous proteins: A case of gender-dependent expression of P450 enzymes in rat liver microsome.

PubMed

Shao, Yuhao; Yin, Xiaoxi; Kang, Dian; Shen, Boyu; Zhu, Zhangpei; Li, Xinuo; Li, Haofeng; Xie, Lin; Wang, Guangji; Liang, Yan

2017-08-01

Liquid chromatography mass spectrometry based methods provide powerful tools for protein analysis. Cytochromes P450 (CYPs), the most important drug metabolic enzymes, always exhibit sex-dependent expression patterns and metabolic activities. To date, analysis of CYPs based on mass spectrometry is still facing critical technical challenges due to the complexity and diversity of CYP isoforms besides lack of corresponding standards. The aim of present work consisted in developing a label-free qualitative and quantitative strategy for endogenous proteins, and then applying to the gender-difference study for CYPs in rat liver microsomes (RLMs). Initially, trypsin digested RLM specimens were analyzed by the nanoLC-LTQ-Orbitrap MS/MS. Skyline, an open source and freely available software for targeted proteomics research, was then used to screen the main CYP isoforms in RLMs under a series of criteria automatically, and a total of 40 and 39 CYP isoforms were identified in male and female RLMs, respectively. More importantly, a robust quantitative method in a tandem mass spectrometry-multiple reaction mode (MS/MS-MRM) was built and optimized under the help of Skyline, and successfully applied into the CYP gender difference study in RLMs. In this process, a simple and accurate approach named 'Standard Curve Slope" (SCS) was established based on the difference of standard curve slopes of CYPs between female and male RLMs in order to assess the gender difference of CYPs in RLMs. This presently developed methodology and approach could be widely used in the protein regulation study during drug pharmacological mechanism research. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Role of gender in heart failure with normal left ventricular ejection fraction.

PubMed

Regitz-Zagrosek, Vera; Brokat, Sebastian; Tschope, Carsten

2007-01-01

Heart failure with normal ejection fraction (HF-NEF) is frequently believed to be more common in women than in men. However, the interaction of gender and age has rarely been analyzed in detail, and knowledge of the distinction between pre- and postmenopausal women is lacking. Some of the studies that have described a higher prevalence of HF-NEF in women relied on clinical diagnoses of HF together with normal systolic function and did not measure diastolic function. This applies to the analysis of patients hospitalized for HF and some epidemiological investigations that agree on the greater prevalence of HF-NEF in women. Population-based studies with echocardiographic determination of diastolic function have suggested equal or greater prevalence of diastolic dysfunction in men. Major risk factors for HF-NEF include hypertension, aging, obesity, diabetes, and ischemia. Hypertension is more frequent in women and can contribute to left ventricular and arterial stiffening in a gender-specific way. Aging, obesity, and diabetes affect myocardial and vascular stiffness differently and lead to different forms of myocardial hypertrophy in women and men. In contrast, ischemia may play a greater role in men. Gender differences in ventricular diastolic distensibility, in vascular stiffness and ventricular/vascular coupling, in skeletal muscle adaptation to HF, and in the perception of symptoms may contribute to a greater rate of HF-NEF in women. The underlying molecular mechanisms include gender differences in calcium handling, in the NO system, and in natriuretic peptides. Estrogen affects collagen synthesis and degradation and inhibits the renin-angiotensin system. Effects of estrogen may provide benefit to premenopausal women, and the loss of its protective mechanisms may render the heart of postmenopausal women more vulnerable. Thus, a number of molecular mechanisms can contribute to the gender differences in HF-NEF.

Gender inequalities in health among workers: the relation with family demands.

PubMed

Artazcoz, L; Borrell, C; Benach, J

2001-09-01

To analyse whether there are gender inequalities in health among male and female workers who are married or cohabiting and to assess whether there are gender differences in the relation between family demands and health. Additionally, for both objectives it will be examined whether these gender patterns are similar for manual and non-manual workers. The data have been taken from the 1994 Catalonian Health Survey (CHS), a cross sectional survey based on a representative sample of the non-institutionalised population of Catalonia, a region in the north east of Spain that has about 6 million inhabitants. The dependent variables were four ill health indicators (self perceived health status, limiting longstanding illness, having at least one chronic condition and mental health) and two health related behaviours closely related to having time for oneself (no leisure time physical activity and sleeping six hours or less a day). Family demands were measured with three variables: household size, living with children under 15 years and living with adults older than 65 years. The analysis was separated for gender and social class (manual and non-manual workers) and additionally adjusted for age. Gender differences for all dependent and independent variables were first tested at the bivariate level using the chi(2) test for categorical variables and the t test for age. Secondly, multivariate logistic regression models were fitted. Persons who were employed, married or cohabiting, aged 25 to 64 years (2148 men and 1185 women). A female excess for all the ill health indicators was found, while there were no gender differences in the health related behaviours analysed. Family demands had a greater impact on health and health related behaviours of female manual workers. In this group household size was positively related to four dependent variables. The adjusted odds ratios (ORs) to living in family units of more than four persons versus living only with the spouse were 2.74 (95%CI=1.22, 6.17) for poor self perceived health status, 3.16 (95%CI=0.98, 10.15) for limiting long standing illness, 3.28 (95%CI=1.45, 7.44) for having at least one chronic condition, and 2.60 (95%CI=1.12, 6.00) for sleeping six hours or less a day. Among female manual workers living with children under 15 years was positively associated with no leisure time physical activity (adjusted OR=2.37; 95% CI=1.43, 3.92) and with sleeping six hours or less a day (adjusted OR=1.91; 95% CI=1.13, 3.32). Living with adults older than 65 years had an unexpected negative relation with poor self perceived health status (adjusted OR=0.33; 95%CI=0.16, 0.66), and with chronic conditions (adjusted OR=0.45; 95%CI=0.24, 0.87) in female manual workers. Among male manual workers living with children under 15 years was positively associated with longstanding limiting illness (adjusted OR=2.44; 95%CI=1.36, 4.38). When gender differences in health are analysed, both the paid and the non-paid work should be considered as well as the interaction between these two dimensions, gender and social class. In Catalonia, as probably in Spain and in other countries, private changes such as sharing domestic responsibilities, as well as active public policies for facilitating family care are needed in order to reduce gender health inequalities attributable to the unequal distribution of family demands.

Differences in Gender Norms Between Countries: Are They Valid? The Issue of Measurement Invariance.

PubMed

Weziak-Bialowolska, Dorota

The values and attitudes towards gender roles are often investigated and compared from a cross-country perspective without the proper statistical treatment of the measurement invariance (MI) assessment. This implies that the conclusions based on composite scales of gender norms, gender role attitudes or gender egalitarianism, to name only a few, may be questionable. In this study, we address this lack by investigating the cross-country MI properties of the Gender Equality Scale (GES) based on World Value Survey data. We use multi-group confirmatory factor analysis with and without alignment to determine the configural, weak, strong and strict MI. The results show that the concept of gender equality is not comparable across all countries involved in the survey. In particular, it seems to differ between Western Europe and Central and Eastern Europe. We claim that only selected Central and Eastern European countries exhibit a configural MI but fail to show full weak MI and definitely fail to show full strong and full strict MI. However, under the aligned measurement framework, we succeeded in showing that for these countries, comparisons of the country rankings with respect to the GES are valid provided that a correction for non-invariance of certain factor loadings and/or intercepts is applied. Our study shows that the most egalitarian gender role attitudes measured by the GES are observed in the Czech Republic, Hungary, Lithuania and Croatia. They are significantly higher than the gender equality attitudes recorded in the lowest scoring countries Poland, Slovakia, Albania and Romania.

More than Just Two Sexes: The Neural Correlates of Voice Gender Perception in Gender Dysphoria

PubMed Central

Junger, Jessica; Habel, Ute; Bröhr, Sabine; Neulen, Josef; Neuschaefer-Rube, Christiane; Birkholz, Peter; Kohler, Christian; Schneider, Frank; Derntl, Birgit; Pauly, Katharina

2014-01-01

Gender dysphoria (also known as “transsexualism”) is characterized as a discrepancy between anatomical sex and gender identity. Research points towards neurobiological influences. Due to the sexually dimorphic characteristics of the human voice, voice gender perception provides a biologically relevant function, e.g. in the context of mating selection. There is evidence for a better recognition of voices of the opposite sex and a differentiation of the sexes in its underlying functional cerebral correlates, namely the prefrontal and middle temporal areas. This fMRI study investigated the neural correlates of voice gender perception in 32 male-to-female gender dysphoric individuals (MtFs) compared to 20 non-gender dysphoric men and 19 non-gender dysphoric women. Participants indicated the sex of 240 voice stimuli modified in semitone steps in the direction to the other gender. Compared to men and women, MtFs showed differences in a neural network including the medial prefrontal gyrus, the insula, and the precuneus when responding to male vs. female voices. With increased voice morphing men recruited more prefrontal areas compared to women and MtFs, while MtFs revealed a pattern more similar to women. On a behavioral and neuronal level, our results support the feeling of MtFs reporting they cannot identify with their assigned sex. PMID:25375171

Sex Differences in Adolescent Suicides in Norway, 1990-1992.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Groholt, Berit; Ekeberg, Oivind; Wichstrom, Lars; Haldorsen, Tor

1999-01-01

Suicides of persons under the age of 20 between 1990 and 1992 in Norway were examined for gender differences. Females more often attempted suicide, wrote farewell notes, and used less violent methods. The adjusted risk for suicide related to affective disorders and disruptive disorders differed little, as did the effect of frequent use of alcohol…

Gender and the experience of mental health expert witness testimony.

PubMed

Kaempf, Aimee C; Baxter, Prudence; Packer, Ira K; Pinals, Debra A

2015-03-01

Mental health expert witness testimony involves complex tasks, and the capacity to perform under pressure is a fundamental skill of a forensic professional. In this context, it is important to understand the nuances of the provision of expert witness testimony. There have been several efforts to examine gender bias across legal and medical systems. Despite these reviews, little is known about how men and women differ or are similar with regard to performing expert witness functions. The purpose of this pilot study was to examine whether the testimony experiences of psychiatry and psychology experts vary by gender. Differences across certain domains, such as the sense of never experiencing anxiety and the sense of one's impact on case outcome were seen across genders. Few other gender-based differences in the experience of providing expert witness testimony were seen. Although the findings of this study raise further questions, they highlight some of the important subtleties noted in forensic practice and the work of the expert witness. In future studies, researchers should continue to explore these findings on the influence of gender and expand to consider culture and race as additional factors in the experience of expert witness testimony. As forensic professional practice evolves, it is important to understand unique aspects of forensic practice, to improve training of forensic experts, and to assist forensic experts in anticipating what they may experience related to the provision of expert testimony. © 2015 American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law.

Gender Difference in Health-Care Expenditure: Evidence from India Human Development Survey

PubMed Central

Saikia, Nandita; Moradhvaj; Bora, Jayanta Kumar

2016-01-01

Background While the gender disparity in health and mortality in various stages of life in India is well documented, there is limited evidence on female disadvantage in health-care expenditure (HCE). Aims Examine the gender difference in HCE in short-term and major morbidity in India, and understand the role of factors underlying the difference. Data and Methods Using two rounds of nationally representative panel data—the India Human Development Survey (IHDS) 2004–2005 and 2011–2012 (IHDS I & II)—we calculate morbidity prevalence rate and mean HCE by gender, and examine the adjusted effect of gender on major morbidity-related HCE by using a two-part regression model. Further, we performed Oaxaca-Blinder decomposition of the gender gap in HCE in major morbidity to understand the contribution of demographic and socio-economic factors. Results Health-care expenditure on females was systematically lower than on males across all demographic and socio-economic groups. Multivariate analysis confirms that female HCE is significantly lower than male HCE even after controlling demographic and socio-economic factors (β = -0.148, p = 0.000, CI:-0.206–0.091). For both short-term and major morbidity, a female disadvantage on HCE increased from IHDS I to IHDS II. For instance, the male–female gap in major morbidity related expenditure increased from INR 1298 to INR 4172. A decomposition analysis of gender gap in HCE demonstrates that about 48% of the gap is attributable to differences in demographic and socio-economic factors (endowment effect), whereas 50% of the gap is due to the differential effect of the determinants (coefficient effect). Interpretation Indians spend less on female health care than on male health care. Most of the gender gap in HCE is not due to differential distribution of factors affecting HCE. PMID:27391322

Voice gender identification by cochlear implant users: The role of spectral and temporal resolution

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fu, Qian-Jie; Chinchilla, Sherol; Nogaki, Geraldine; Galvin, John J.

2005-09-01

The present study explored the relative contributions of spectral and temporal information to voice gender identification by cochlear implant users and normal-hearing subjects. Cochlear implant listeners were tested using their everyday speech processors, while normal-hearing subjects were tested under speech processing conditions that simulated various degrees of spectral resolution, temporal resolution, and spectral mismatch. Voice gender identification was tested for two talker sets. In Talker Set 1, the mean fundamental frequency values of the male and female talkers differed by 100 Hz while in Talker Set 2, the mean values differed by 10 Hz. Cochlear implant listeners achieved higher levels of performance with Talker Set 1, while performance was significantly reduced for Talker Set 2. For normal-hearing listeners, performance was significantly affected by the spectral resolution, for both Talker Sets. With matched speech, temporal cues contributed to voice gender identification only for Talker Set 1 while spectral mismatch significantly reduced performance for both Talker Sets. The performance of cochlear implant listeners was similar to that of normal-hearing subjects listening to 4-8 spectral channels. The results suggest that, because of the reduced spectral resolution, cochlear implant patients may attend strongly to periodicity cues to distinguish voice gender.

Why so few women enroll in computing? Gender and ethnic differences in students' perception

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Varma, Roli

2010-12-01

Women are seriously under-represented in computer science and computer engineering (CS/CE) education and, thus, in the information technology (IT) workforce in the USA. This is a grim situation for both the women whose potential remains unutilized and the US society which is dependent on IT. This article examines the reasons behind low enrollment of women in CS/CE education at institutions of higher education. It is based on 150 in-depth interviews of female and male undergraduate students majoring in CS/CE, members of five major ethnic groups (White, Afro-American, Hispanic, Asian American and Native American) from seven Minority-Serving Institutions in the USA. The article finds bias in early socialization and anxiety toward technology as two main factors responsible for the under-representation of women in CS/CE education. It further shows significant gender and ethnic differences in students' responses on why so few women enroll in CS/CE.

Aiming in adults: sex and laterality effects.

PubMed

Barral, Jérôme; Debû, Bettina

2004-07-01

The purpose of the study was to twofold: to investigate gender-related differences in the asymmetry of aiming with the preferred and non-preferred hand in right-handed adults, and to examine the effect of the spatial requirements of the task on these asymmetries. The hypothesis was that if cognitive functions are more asymmetrically localised in men than in women, one should observe greater left-right differences on some variables in men than in women. Eleven men and eleven women were required to aim fast and accurately at one of three possible targets under a choice reaction time protocol. Performance and kinematics data were analysed. Results revealed an effect of target location on the left hand advantage in reaction time, and gender-related effects on movement time, accuracy, and on the velocity profiles. Overall, women performed more slowly and accurately than men. This gender-related effect could not be accounted for by differential strategies with regard to speed or accuracy, lending support to the idea that differences exist in the neural mechanisms of movement control between the two genders. Finally, although the results show a hand effect on terminal accuracy in men only, they do not support the hypothesis of a greater asymmetry of movement control in men.

Sex differences in the emergence of leadership during competitions within and between groups.

PubMed

Van Vugt, Mark; Spisak, Brian R

2008-09-01

This experiment investigated potential gender biases in the emergence of leadership in groups. Teams played a public-goods game under conditions of intra- or intergroup competition. We predicted and found a strong preference for female leaders during intragroup competition and male leaders during intergroup competition. Furthermore, during intragroup competition, a female leader was more instrumental than a male leader in raising group investments, but this pattern was reversed during intergroup competition. These findings suggest that particular group threats elicit specific gender-biased leader prototypes. We speculate about the evolutionary and cultural origins of these sex differences in the emergence of leadership.

Hemisphere- and gender-related differences in small-world brain networks: a resting-state functional MRI study.

PubMed

Tian, Lixia; Wang, Jinhui; Yan, Chaogan; He, Yong

2011-01-01

We employed resting-state functional MRI (R-fMRI) to investigate hemisphere- and gender-related differences in the topological organization of human brain functional networks. Brain networks were first constructed by measuring inter-regional temporal correlations of R-fMRI data within each hemisphere in 86 young, healthy, right-handed adults (38 males and 48 females) followed by a graph-theory analysis. The hemispheric networks exhibit small-world attributes (high clustering and short paths) that are compatible with previous results in the whole-brain functional networks. Furthermore, we found that compared with females, males have a higher normalized clustering coefficient in the right hemispheric network but a lower clustering coefficient in the left hemispheric network, suggesting a gender-hemisphere interaction. Moreover, we observed significant hemisphere-related differences in the regional nodal characteristics in various brain regions, such as the frontal and occipital regions (leftward asymmetry) and the temporal regions (rightward asymmetry), findings that are consistent with previous studies of brain structural and functional asymmetries. Together, our results suggest that the topological organization of human brain functional networks is associated with gender and hemispheres, and they provide insights into the understanding of functional substrates underlying individual differences in behaviors and cognition. Copyright © 2010 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Gender differences in alpha-[(11)C]MTrp brain trapping, an index of serotonin synthesis, in medication-free individuals with major depressive disorder: a positron emission tomography study.

PubMed

Frey, Benicio N; Skelin, Ivan; Sakai, Yojiro; Nishikawa, Masami; Diksic, Mirko

2010-08-30

Women are at higher risk than men for developing major depressive disorder (MDD), but the mechanisms underlying this higher risk are unknown. Here, we report proportionally normalized alpha-[(11)C]methyl-L-tryptophan brain trapping constant (alpha-[(11)C]MTrp K*(N)), an index of serotonin synthesis, in 25 medication-free individuals with MDD and in 25 gender- and age-matched healthy subjects who were studied using positron emission tomography (PET). Comparisons of alpha-[(11)C]MTrp K*(N) values between the men and women were conducted at the voxel and cluster levels using Statistical Parametric Mapping 2 (SPM2) analysis. In addition, the alpha-[(11)C]MTrp K*(N) values on both sides of the brain were extracted and compared to identify the left to right differences, as well as the gender differences. Women with MDD displayed higher alpha-[(11)C]MTrp K*(N) than men in the inferior frontal gyrus, anterior cingulate cortex (ACC), parahippocampal gyrus, precuneus, superior parietal lobule, and occipital lingual gyrus. In a matched group of normal subjects the gender differences were opposite from those found in MDD patients. Significant hemispheric differences in fronto-limbic structures between men and women with MDD were also observed. The K*(N) extracted from the volumes identified in MDD patients and in male and female normal subjects suggested no significant differences between males and females. In conclusion, depressed women have higher serotonin synthesis in multiple regions of the prefrontal cortex and limbic system involved with mood regulation, as compared with depressed men. Gender differences in brain serotonin synthesis may be related to higher risk for MDD in women. Copyright 2010 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Gender differences in the factor structure of posttraumatic stress disorder symptoms in war-exposed adolescents.

PubMed

Armour, Cherie; Elhai, Jon D; Layne, Christopher M; Shevlin, Mark; Duraković-Belko, Elvira; Djapo, Nermin; Pynoos, Robert S

2011-05-01

DSM-IV's three-factor model of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is rarely empirically supported, whereas other four-factor models (King et al., 1998; Simms, Watson, & Doebbeling, 2002) have proven to be better representations of PTSD's latent structure. To date, a clear consensus as to which model provides the best representation of PTSD's underlying dimensions has yet to be reached. The current study investigated whether gender is associated with factor structure differences using the King et al. (1998) model of reexperiencing, avoidance, numbing, and hyperarousal PTSD symptoms. Participants were war-exposed Bosnian secondary/high school boys and girls (N=1572) assessed nearly two years after the 1992-1995 Bosnian conflict. Confirmatory factor analytic tests of measurement invariance across PTSD model parameters revealed many significant sex-linked differences. Implications regarding the potential role of gender as a moderator of the King et al. (1998) model's factor structure are discussed. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Achievement, motivation, and educational choices: A longitudinal study of expectancy and value using a multiplicative perspective.

PubMed

Guo, Jiesi; Parker, Philip D; Marsh, Herbert W; Morin, Alexandre J S

2015-08-01

Drawing on the expectancy-value model, the present study explored individual and gender differences in university entry and selection of educational pathway (e.g., science, technology, engineering, and mathematics [STEM] course selection). In particular, we examined the multiplicative effects of expectancy and task values on educational outcomes during the transition into early adulthood. Participants were from a nationally representative longitudinal sample of 15-year-old Australian youths (N = 10,370). The results suggest that (a) both math self-concept and intrinsic value interact in predicting advanced math course selection, matriculation results, entrance into university, and STEM fields of study; (b) prior reading achievement has negative effects on advanced math course selection and STEM fields through math motivational beliefs; and (c) gender differences in educational outcomes are mediated by gender differences in motivational beliefs and prior academic achievement, while the processes underlying choice of educational pathway were similar for males and females. (c) 2015 APA, all rights reserved).

Myocardial infarction in men and women under 65 years of age: no evidence of gender bias.

PubMed

Bannerman, A; Hamilton, K; Isles, C; Barrington, H; Donaldson, B; Lockhart, L; McMeeken, K; Mark, J; Norrie, J

2001-06-01

We examined short and long term outcomes of MI in a consecutive series of 169 men and 50 women who were followed for an average of 3.5 years. Similar percentages of men and women were admitted to medical intensive care, received in-patient cardiac rehabilitation, quit smoking at one year, were still smoking, were taking a lipid lowering drug or had returned to work at one year, underwent coronary angiography at 3.5 years or had died by 3.5 years. The lack of gender difference in outcome may reflect an absence of gender bias in the management of men and women with MI in southwest Scotland.

Talking about depression: an analogue study of physician gender and communication style on patient disclosures.

PubMed

Roter, Debra L; Erby, Lori H; Adams, Ann; Buckingham, Christopher D; Vail, Laura; Realpe, Alba; Larson, Susan; Hall, Judith A

2014-09-01

To disentangle the effects of physician gender and patient-centered communication style on patients' oral engagement in depression care. Physician gender, physician race and communication style (high patient-centered (HPC) and low patient-centered (LPC)) were manipulated and presented as videotaped actors within a computer simulated medical visit to assess effects on analogue patient (AP) verbal responsiveness and care ratings. 307 APs (56% female; 70% African American) were randomly assigned to conditions and instructed to verbally respond to depression-related questions and indicate willingness to continue care. Disclosures were coded using Roter Interaction Analysis System (RIAS). Both male and female APs talked more overall and conveyed more psychosocial and emotional talk to HPC gender discordant doctors (all p<.05). APs were more willing to continue treatment with gender-discordant HPC physicians (p<.05). No effects were evident in the LPC condition. Findings highlight a role for physician gender when considering active patient engagement in patient-centered depression care. This pattern suggests that there may be largely under-appreciated and consequential effects associated with patient expectations in regard to physician gender that these differ by patient gender. High patient-centeredness increases active patient engagement in depression care especially in gender discordant dyads. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Does gender contribute to heterogeneity in criteria for cannabis abuse and dependence? Results from the national epidemiological survey on alcohol and related conditions.

PubMed

Agrawal, Arpana; Lynskey, Michael T

2007-05-11

Previous research has noted that a unidimensional latent construct underlies criteria for cannabis abuse and dependence. However, no study to date has explored whether gender contributes to heterogeneity in the latent abuse and dependence construct and furthermore, whether after accounting for differences in the mean scores of abuse and dependence across genders, there is any evidence for heterogeneity in the individual abuse and dependence criteria. The present study utilizes data on criteria for cannabis abuse and dependence from a large, nationally representative sample (National Epidemiological Survey on Alcohol and Related Conditions) of 8172 lifetime cannabis users to investigate whether gender contributes to heterogeneity in the underlying construct of cannabis abuse and dependence, and in each individual criterion as well. Analyses, all of which were conducted in MPlus, included factor analysis, as well as MIMIC and multiple-group models for an examination of dimensionality and gender heterogeneity, respectively. Results favor a unidimensional construct for cannabis abuse/dependence, as seen in prior research. We also identify two abuse (legal and hazard) and two dependence (quit and problems) criteria, which show significant gender heterogeneity with the abuse criteria exhibiting higher thresholds in women and the dependence criteria in men. We conclude that the criteria that serve as indicators of DSM-IV cannabis abuse and dependence do not function identically in men and women and that certain criteria (e.g. hazardous use) require further refinement.

Unemployment scarring by gender: Human capital depreciation or stigmatization? Longitudinal evidence from the Netherlands, 1980-2000.

PubMed

Mooi-Reci, Irma; Ganzeboom, Harry B

2015-07-01

Using longitudinal data from the Dutch Labor Force Supply Panel (OSA), this article examines how unemployment scarring (i.e., wage setbacks following unemployment) and its underlying mechanisms operate across gender in the Netherlands over the period 1985-2000. A series of fixed effect panel models that correct for unobserved heterogeneity, reveal a notable disparity in unemployment scarring by gender. Interestingly, while unemployment scarring is short-lived and partly conditional upon human capital differences among women, it is strongly persistent among men and contingent upon old age, ethnicity, and tight economic conditions. Our findings provide new evidence regarding unemployment scarring by gender while they support the hypothesis that among women the effects of unemployment scarring are predominantly driven by human capital depreciation, while among men stigma effects dominate. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Gender differences in attitudes impeding colorectal cancer screening

PubMed Central

2013-01-01

Background Colorectal cancer screening (CRCS) is the only type of cancer screening where both genders reduce risks by similar proportions with identical procedures. It is an important context for examining gender differences in disease-prevention, as CRCS significantly reduces mortality via early detection and prevention. In efforts to increase screening adherence, there is increasing acknowledgment that obstructive attitudes prevent CRCS uptake. Precise identification of the gender differences in obstructive attitudes is necessary to improve uptake promotion. This study randomly sampled unscreened, screening - eligible individuals in Ontario, employing semi-structured interviews to elicit key differences in attitudinal obstructions towards colorectal cancer screening with the aim of deriving informative differences useful in planning promotions of screening uptake. Methods N = 81 participants (49 females, 32 males), 50 years and above, with no prior CRCS, were contacted via random-digit telephone dialing, and consented via phone-mail contact. Altogether, N = 4,459 calls were made to yield N = 85 participants (1.9% response rate) of which N = 4 participants did not complete interviews. All subjects were eligible for free-of-charge CRCS in Ontario, and each was classified, via standard interview by CRCS screening decision-stage. Telephone-based, semi-structured interviews (SSIs) were employed to investigate gender differences in CRCS attitudes, using questions focused on 5 attitudinal domains: 1) Screening experience at the time of interview; 2) Barriers to adherence; 3) Predictors of Adherence; 4) Pain-anxiety experiences related to CRCS; 5) Gender-specific experiences re: CRCS, addressing all three modalities accessible through Ontario’s program: a) fecal occult blood testing; b) flexible sigmoidoscopy; c) colonoscopy. Results Interview transcript analyses indicated divergent themes related to CRCS for each gender: 1) bodily intrusion, 2) perforation anxiety, and 3) embarrassment for females and; 1) avoidant procrastination with underlying fatalism, 2) unnecessary health care and 3) uncomfortable vulnerability for males. Respondents adopted similar attitudes towards fecal occult blood testing, flexible sigmoidoscopy and colonoscopy, and were comparable in decision stage across tests. Gender differences were neither closely tied to screening stage nor modality. Women had more consistent physician relationships, were more screening-knowledgeable and better able to articulate views on screening. Men reported less consistent physician relationships, were less knowledgeable and kept decision-making processes vague and emotionally distanced (i.e. at ‘arm’s length’). Conclusions Marked differences were observed in obstructive CRCS attitudes per gender. Females articulated reservations about CRCS-associated distress and males suppressed negative views while ambiguously procrastinating about the task of completing screening. Future interventions could seek to reduce CRCS-related stress (females) and address the need to overcome procrastination (males). PMID:23706029

Gender differences in attitudes impeding colorectal cancer screening.

PubMed

Ritvo, Paul; Myers, Ronald E; Paszat, Lawrence; Serenity, Mardie; Perez, Daniel F; Rabeneck, Linda

2013-05-24

Colorectal cancer screening (CRCS) is the only type of cancer screening where both genders reduce risks by similar proportions with identical procedures. It is an important context for examining gender differences in disease-prevention, as CRCS significantly reduces mortality via early detection and prevention. In efforts to increase screening adherence, there is increasing acknowledgment that obstructive attitudes prevent CRCS uptake. Precise identification of the gender differences in obstructive attitudes is necessary to improve uptake promotion. This study randomly sampled unscreened, screening - eligible individuals in Ontario, employing semi-structured interviews to elicit key differences in attitudinal obstructions towards colorectal cancer screening with the aim of deriving informative differences useful in planning promotions of screening uptake. N = 81 participants (49 females, 32 males), 50 years and above, with no prior CRCS, were contacted via random-digit telephone dialing, and consented via phone-mail contact. Altogether, N = 4,459 calls were made to yield N = 85 participants (1.9% response rate) of which N = 4 participants did not complete interviews. All subjects were eligible for free-of-charge CRCS in Ontario, and each was classified, via standard interview by CRCS screening decision-stage. Telephone-based, semi-structured interviews (SSIs) were employed to investigate gender differences in CRCS attitudes, using questions focused on 5 attitudinal domains: 1) Screening experience at the time of interview; 2) Barriers to adherence; 3) Predictors of Adherence; 4) Pain-anxiety experiences related to CRCS; 5) Gender-specific experiences re: CRCS, addressing all three modalities accessible through Ontario's program: a) fecal occult blood testing; b) flexible sigmoidoscopy; c) colonoscopy. Interview transcript analyses indicated divergent themes related to CRCS for each gender: 1) bodily intrusion, 2) perforation anxiety, and 3) embarrassment for females and; 1) avoidant procrastination with underlying fatalism, 2) unnecessary health care and 3) uncomfortable vulnerability for males. Respondents adopted similar attitudes towards fecal occult blood testing, flexible sigmoidoscopy and colonoscopy, and were comparable in decision stage across tests. Gender differences were neither closely tied to screening stage nor modality. Women had more consistent physician relationships, were more screening-knowledgeable and better able to articulate views on screening. Men reported less consistent physician relationships, were less knowledgeable and kept decision-making processes vague and emotionally distanced (i.e. at 'arm's length'). Marked differences were observed in obstructive CRCS attitudes per gender. Females articulated reservations about CRCS-associated distress and males suppressed negative views while ambiguously procrastinating about the task of completing screening. Future interventions could seek to reduce CRCS-related stress (females) and address the need to overcome procrastination (males).

Uncovering the Structure of and Gender and Developmental Differences in Cyber Bullying

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Griezel, Lucy; Finger, Linda R.; Bodkin-Andrews, Gawaian H.; Craven, Rhonda G.; Yeung, Alexander Seeshing

2012-01-01

Although literature on traditional bullying is abundant, a limited body of sound empirical research exists regarding its newest form: cyber bullying. The sample comprised Australian secondary students (N = 803) and aimed to identify the underlying structure of cyber bullying, and differences in traditional and cyber bullying behaviors across…

Contested identities: gendered politics, gendered religion in Pakistan.

PubMed

Shaheed, Farida

2010-01-01

In Pakistan, the self-serving use of Islam by more secular elements alongside politico-religious ones facilitated the latter's increasing influence and the conflation and intricate interweaving of Islam and Pakistani nationhood. A paradigm shift under Zia's martial law revamped society as much as state laws, producing both religiously defined militias and aligned civil society groups. Examining the impact on women of fusing religion and politics, this paper argues that women become symbolic markers of appropriated territory in the pursuit of state power, and that the impact of such fusing, different for differently situated women, needs to be gauged in societal terms as well as in terms of state dynamics. Questioning the positing of civil society as a self-evident progressive desideratum, the paper concludes that gender equality projects seeking reconfigurations of power cannot be effective without vigorously competing in the creation of knowledge, culture and identity.

The roots of gender inequity in technical areas

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Campbell, James Reed

This article describes a study of the academic self-concepts, attributions and achievements of male and female Asian American and Caucasian students who won Westinghouse Awards in 1984 and 1985. The results of the study showed that fewer Caucasian female recipients anticipated college majors in the technical areas. Furthermore, this group of females scored lower on both parts of the SAT, scored lower on all of the self-concept scales, and also scored lower on both attribution scales. In contrast, the Asian females optimized courses for the gifted and specialized research courses to distance themselves from the American females in almost all areas. The author linked these ethnic, gender differences to underlying psychological and sociological forces that are responsible for the self-concept and attribution differences. It is these forces that must be altered for Caucasian females to rectify the gender inequalities that exist in the technical areas.

The impact of social roles on trait judgments: a critical reexamination.

PubMed

Bosak, Janine; Sczesny, Sabine; Eagly, Alice H

2012-04-01

Consistent with social role theory's assumption that the role behavior of men and women shapes gender stereotypes, earlier experiments have found that men's and women's occupancy of the same role eliminated gender-stereotypical judgments of greater agency and lower communion in men than women. The shifting standards model raises the question of whether a shift to within-sex standards in judgments of men and women in roles could have masked underlying gender stereotypes. To examine this possibility, two experiments obtained judgments of men and women using measures that do or do not restrain shifts to within-sex standards. This measure variation did not affect the social role pattern of smaller perceived sex differences in the presence of role information. These findings thus support the social role theory claim that designations of identical roles for subgroups of men and women eliminate or reduce perceived sex differences.

[Perception of emotional intonation of noisy speech signal with different acoustic parameters by adults of different age and gender].

PubMed

Dmitrieva, E S; Gel'man, V Ia

2011-01-01

The listener-distinctive features of recognition of different emotional intonations (positive, negative and neutral) of male and female speakers in the presence or absence of background noise were studied in 49 adults aged 20-79 years. In all the listeners noise produced the most pronounced decrease in recognition accuracy for positive emotional intonation ("joy") as compared to other intonations, whereas it did not influence the recognition accuracy of "anger" in 65-79-year-old listeners. The higher emotion recognition rates of a noisy signal were observed for speech emotional intonations expressed by female speakers. Acoustic characteristics of noisy and clear speech signals underlying perception of speech emotional prosody were found for adult listeners of different age and gender.

Verbal memory declines more in female patients with Parkinson's disease: the importance of gender-corrected normative data.

PubMed

Fengler, S; Roeske, S; Heber, I; Reetz, K; Schulz, J B; Riedel, O; Wittchen, H U; Storch, A; Linse, K; Baudrexel, S; Hilker, R; Mollenhauer, B; Witt, K; Schmidt, N; Balzer-Geldsetzer, M; Dams, J; Dodel, R; Gräber, S; Pilotto, A; Petrelli, A; Fünkele, S; Kassubek, J; Kalbe, E

2016-08-01

Data on gender-specific profiles of cognitive functions in patients with Parkinson's disease (PD) are rare and inconsistent, and possible disease-confounding factors have been insufficiently considered. The LANDSCAPE study on cognition in PD enrolled 656 PD patients (267 without cognitive impairment, 66% male; 292 with mild cognitive impairment, 69% male; 97 with PD dementia, 69% male). Raw values and age-, education-, and gender-corrected Z scores of a neuropsychological test battery (CERAD-Plus) were compared between genders. Motor symptoms, disease duration, l-dopa equivalent daily dose, depression - and additionally age and education for the raw value analysis - were taken as covariates. Raw-score analysis replicated results of previous studies in that female PD patients were superior in verbal memory (word list learning, p = 0.02; recall, p = 0.03), while men outperformed women in visuoconstruction (p = 0.002) and figural memory (p = 0.005). In contrast, gender-corrected Z scores showed that men were superior in verbal memory (word list learning, p = 0.02; recall, p = 0.02; recognition, p = 0.04), while no difference was found for visuospatial tests. This picture could be observed both in the overall analysis of PD patients as well as in a differentiated group analysis. Normative data corrected for gender and other sociodemographic variables are relevant, since they may elucidate a markedly different cognitive profile compared to raw scores. Our study also suggests that verbal memory decline is stronger in women than in men with PD. Future studies are needed to replicate these findings, examine the progression of gender-specific cognitive decline in PD and define different underlying mechanisms of this dysfunction.

Video gaming and gender differences in digital and printed reading performance among 15-year-olds students in 26 countries.

PubMed

Borgonovi, Francesca

2016-04-01

Video games are a favorite leisure-time activity among teenagers worldwide. This study examines cross-national gender differences in reading achievement and video gaming and whether video gaming explains gender differences in reading achievement and differences in performance between paper-based and computer-based reading. We use data from a representative sample of 145,953 students from 26 countries who sat the PISA 2012 assessments and provided self-reports on use of video games. Although boys tend to have poorer results in both the computer-based and the paper-based reading assessments, boys' under achievement is smaller when the assessment is delivered on computer than when it is delivered on paper. Boys underperformance compared to girls in the two reading assessments is particularly pronounced among low-achieving students. Among both boys and girls moderate use of single-player games is associated with a performance advantage. However, frequent engagement with collaborative online games is generally associated with a steep reduction in achievement, particularly in the paper-based test and particularly among low-achieving students. Excessive gaming may hinder academic achievement, but moderate gaming can promote positive student outcomes. In many countries video gaming explains the difference in the gender gap in reading between the paper-based and the computer-based assessments. Copyright © 2016 The Foundation for Professionals in Services for Adolescents. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Navigating between two cultures: Immigrants’ gender attitudes toward working women

PubMed Central

Pessin, Léa; Arpino, Bruno

2018-01-01

BACKGROUND Gender attitudes toward women’s employment are of particular importance because they positively influence gender-equal outcomes in the labor market. Our understanding of the mechanisms that promote egalitarian gender attitudes among immigrants, however, remains limited. OBJECTIVE By studying first- and second-generation immigrants from multiple origins and living in different countries, this article seeks to explain under what conditions the prevalent cultural attitudes toward gender roles at the origin and destination influence immigrants’ gender attitudes. We address three main research questions. First, does the country-of-origin gender ideology influence immigrants’ views toward working women? Second, does the country-of-destination gender ideology influence immigrants’ view toward working women? Are these relationships moderated by (1) the immigrant generation; (2) the age at arrival in the country of destination; (3) the length of residence at destination? METHODS Using data from the European Social Survey, we model immigrants’ gender attitudes toward working women using linear cross-classified models to account for clustering into the country of origin and destination. RESULTS The results highlight the importance of the context of early socialization in shaping immigrants’ gender attitudes. First-generation immigrants, and more specifically, adult migrants hold gender attitudes that reflect more strongly the country of origin’s gender culture. In contrast, the positive association between gender ideology at destination and immigrants’ gender attitudes is stronger among second-generation immigrants and child migrants. CONTRIBUTION We add to the literature on gender ideology formation by analyzing the influence of gender ideology at the origin- and destination-levels on the gender attitudes of immigrants from 96 countries of origin and residing across 32 countries of destination. PMID:29606913

Preliminary study on pharmacokinetics of dacarbazine and fotemustine in glioblastoma multiforme patients does not indicate gender-specific differences.

PubMed

Fazeny-Dörner, Barbara; Mader, Robert M; Piribauer, Maria; Rizovski, Blanka; Stögermaier, Barbara; Marosi, Christine

2004-06-01

Twelve patients (six female and six male) with histologically proven glioblastoma multiforme were investigated during the administration of the first cycle of dacarbazine (D; 200 mg/m) and fotemustine (F; 100 mg/m). In total, 18 blood samples were collected for pharmacokinetic analysis (maximum plasma concentration, area under the concentration-time curve and total clearance) of D and F at 14 time points during therapy. D, its metabolite 5-aminoimidazole-4-carboxamide and F were evaluated by reversed-phase HPLC. For statistical calculations, groups were compared by the non-parametric Wilcoxon test. p<0.05 was considered statistically significant. No significant gender-dependent differences were observed in the pharmacokinetics of D and F. An additional response re-evaluation of 100 patients (50 female and 50 male) with glioblastoma multiforme, treated at our institution with D and F, gave no hint of any gender-dependent different response rates. We conclude that there is no evidence, neither from pharmacokinetic nor from our clinical data, to consider different dosages of D and F in female and male patients with glioblastoma multiforme.

Voice gender discrimination provides a measure of more than pitch-related perception in cochlear implant users.

PubMed

Li, Tianhao; Fu, Qian-Jie

2011-08-01

(1) To investigate whether voice gender discrimination (VGD) could be a useful indicator of the spectral and temporal processing abilities of individual cochlear implant (CI) users; (2) To examine the relationship between VGD and speech recognition with CI when comparable acoustic cues are used for both perception processes. VGD was measured using two talker sets with different inter-gender fundamental frequencies (F(0)), as well as different acoustic CI simulations. Vowel and consonant recognition in quiet and noise were also measured and compared with VGD performance. Eleven postlingually deaf CI users. The results showed that (1) mean VGD performance differed for different stimulus sets, (2) VGD and speech recognition performance varied among individual CI users, and (3) individual VGD performance was significantly correlated with speech recognition performance under certain conditions. VGD measured with selected stimulus sets might be useful for assessing not only pitch-related perception, but also spectral and temporal processing by individual CI users. In addition to improvements in spectral resolution and modulation detection, the improvement in higher modulation frequency discrimination might be particularly important for CI users in noisy environments.

The Relevance of Diversity in the Job Attribute Preferences of College Students

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Murphy, Angela J.; Collins, Jennifer M.

2015-01-01

The study explores the role of diversity in the underlying job attributes that college students use to evaluate careers and if there are differences in the individual job attributes based on the race, gender, and major of the participants. We use a factor analysis to explore the underlying factors associated with 16 job attributes. Findings reveal…

Assessment of Knowledge of Diabetes Mellitus in the Urban Areas of Klang District, Malaysia.

PubMed

Chinnappan, Sasikala; Sivanandy, Palanisamy; Sagaran, Rajenthina; Molugulu, Nagashekhara

2017-02-23

Diabetes is the most common cause of non-traumatic lower limb amputations and cardiovascular diseases. However, only a negligible percentage of the patients and subjects knew that the feet are affected in diabetes and diabetes affects the heart. Hence, a cross-sectional study was carried out to evaluate the knowledge of diabetes mellitus among the public of different age group, gender, ethnicity, and education level. A sample of 400 participants was randomly selected and data was collected using a structured questionnaire under non-contrived setting. The results showed that there is a statistically significant difference in knowledge on diabetes mellitus among different age groups and different ethnic origin but there is no significant difference in the knowledge among different gender and education level. Out of 400 respondents, 284 respondents (71%) knew that diabetes mellitus is actually a condition characterized by raised blood sugar. Age and education level of respondents were found to be the predominant predictive factors on diabetes knowledge, whereas the gender of respondents did not affect the findings of this study. An improved and well-structured educational programme that tackles the areas of weaknesses should be recommended to increase the level of knowledge on diabetes among Malaysians.

Gender-dependent differences in sensation seeking and social interaction are correlated with saliva testosterone titre in adolescents.

PubMed

Kerschbaum, Hubert H; Ruemer, Martina; Weisshuhn, Stefan; Klimesch, Wolfgang

2006-06-01

In the present study, we tested the hypothesis that gender - dependent differences in novelty seeking, leadership, and sympathy might correlate with testosterone titre. Since several studies report that the impact of testosterone on personality traits is more visible under emotional challenging situations, we harvested saliva testosterone upon an anticipated stressor (academic examination) and under basal conditions. 19 female and 23 male adolescents (17 to 19 years of age) completed standardized questionnaires on sensation seeking, anxiety, and social interaction. Two weeks later, they had to write an anticipated, rigorous examination in mathematics in their school. Before and after the examination, saliva had been harvested from each subject and testosterone titre has been estimated. Saliva testosterone was quantified using a luminescence immunoassay (LIA). Each subject completed questionnaires on sensations seeking according to Zuckerman (SSS - V), anxiety (STAI), and social interactions. Both genders showed an increase in their testosterone titre shortly after examination or announcement of test scores. A Spearman correlation coefficient indicated a significant correlation between testosterone titre and sensation seeking subscales in female but not in male subjects. Analysis of social interactions revealed that peers regarded male subjects, who had high testosterone titres, as leaders but not as likeable individuals, whereas they regarded female subjects, who had high testosterone titres, not as leaders but as highly likeable individuals. Theses findings strongly suggest that testosterone has gender specific effects on novelty seeking, dominance, and sympathy.

Gender and venture capital decision-making: the effects of technical background and social capital on entrepreneurial evaluations.

PubMed

Tinkler, Justine E; Bunker Whittington, Kjersten; Ku, Manwai C; Davies, Andrea Rees

2015-05-01

Research on gender and workplace decision-making tends to address either supply-side disparities between men's and women's human and social capital, or demand-side differences in the status expectations of women and men workers. In addition, this work often relies on causal inferences drawn from empirical data collected on worker characteristics and their workplace outcomes. In this study, we demonstrate how tangible education and work history credentials - typically associated with supply-side characteristics - work in tandem with cultural beliefs about gender to influence the evaluative process that underlies venture capital decisions made in high-growth, high-tech entrepreneurship. Using an experimental design, we simulate funding decisions by venture capitalists (VCs) for men and women entrepreneurs that differ in technical background and the presence of important social ties. We demonstrate the presence of two distinct aspects of VCs' evaluation: that of the venture and that of the entrepreneur, and find that the gender of the entrepreneur influences evaluations most when the person, rather than the venture, is the target of evaluation. Technical background qualifications moderate the influence of gendered expectations, and women receive more of a payoff than men from having a close contact to the evaluating VC. We discuss the implications for future research on gender and work. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

The Role of Psychological and Physiological Factors in Decision Making under Risk and in a Dilemma

PubMed Central

Fooken, Jonas; Schaffner, Markus

2016-01-01

Different methods to elicit risk attitudes of individuals often provide differing results despite a common theory. Reasons for such inconsistencies may be the different influence of underlying factors in risk-taking decisions. In order to evaluate this conjecture, a better understanding of underlying factors across methods and decision contexts is desirable. In this paper we study the difference in result of two different risk elicitation methods by linking estimates of risk attitudes to gender, age, and personality traits, which have been shown to be related. We also investigate the role of these factors during decision-making in a dilemma situation. For these two decision contexts we also investigate the decision-maker's physiological state during the decision, measured by heart rate variability (HRV), which we use as an indicator of emotional involvement. We found that the two elicitation methods provide different individual risk attitude measures which is partly reflected in a different gender effect between the methods. Personality traits explain only relatively little in terms of driving risk attitudes and the difference between methods. We also found that risk taking and the physiological state are related for one of the methods, suggesting that more emotionally involved individuals are more risk averse in the experiment. Finally, we found evidence that personality traits are connected to whether individuals made a decision in the dilemma situation, but risk attitudes and the physiological state were not indicative for the ability to decide in this decision context. PMID:26834591

Heritability of DUI convictions: a twin study of driving under the influence of alcohol.

PubMed

Anum, Emmanuel A; Silberg, Judy; Retchin, Sheldon M

2014-02-01

The study was undertaken to assess the relative contributions of genetic and environmental influences on drunk-driving. Driving records of a cohort of male and female twins (N = 17,360) from the Mid-Atlantic Twin Registry were examined. Structural equation models were used to estimate the magnitude of genetic and environmental effects on male and female phenotypes, and test for gender differences. There were significant gender and age effects. Compared with females, males were five times more likely to engage in driving under the influence. Among persons aged 21-49 years, the risk for drunk-driving was eight times that for those aged 50+ years and five times greater than those ≤20 years. In both males and females, aged 21-49 years, a large proportion (57%) of the variance in drunk-driving was due to genetic factors and the remaining 43% due to individual specific environmental influences. Drunk-driving is under significant genetic influence in both males and females. Our findings suggest that a different set of genes influence DUIs in men and women.

Comparative photochemistry activity and antioxidant responses in male and female Populus cathayana cuttings inoculated with arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi under salt

PubMed Central

Wu, Na; Li, Zhen; Wu, Fei; Tang, Ming

2016-01-01

We investigated the impact of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) on the morphology and physiology of two genders of the typical dioecious plant Populus cathayana under salt stress. We conducted a pot experiment containing seedlings of the two genders that were subjected to salt or non-salt and filled with soil that was either inoculated with Rhizophagus intraradices or not. The results showed that males had higher mycorrhizal dependency than females. Salt stress decreased growth, the relative water content and chlorophyll fluorescence. Meanwhile, salt increased the superoxide radical (O2−), and hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) contents and antioxidant enzyme activities. Mycorrhizal male seedlings performed better than females in shoot morphological growth under both conditions and in chlorophyll fluorescence parameters, O2− and H2O2 contents, MDA concentration, proline content and antioxidant enzymes activities under salt stress. In females, under saline conditions, a lower MDA concentration and H2O2, O2− and proline contents were observed in the leaves and roots. In addition, inoculated female plants performed better in chlorophyll fluorescence parameters than non-inoculated plants. AMF inoculation had either slight or no effects on the performance of females. These findings suggested that when subjected to stress and AMF, differences in the genders existed, followed by the alleviation of the damage to P. cathayana by AMF via improving growth and photosynthesis and antioxidant systems under salt stress. PMID:27898056

Comparing perceived effectiveness of FDA-proposed cigarette packaging graphic health warnings between sexual and gender minorities and heterosexual adults.

PubMed

Tan, Andy S L; Bigman, Cabral A; Nagler, Rebekah H; Minsky, Sara; Viswanath, Kasisomayajula

2017-10-01

In 2012, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration proposed nine graphic health warnings (GHWs) on cigarette packaging that were rated equally effective across racial/ethnic, education, or income groups of adult smokers. However, data on GHW effectiveness among sexual and gender minority (SGM) adults, who have higher smoking prevalence, are currently lacking. This study analyzed whether perceived effectiveness of GHWs differed by gender and sexual orientation. Data came from a randomized experiment among 1,200 adults with an oversample from low socioeconomic status groups, conducted between 2013 and 2014 in three Massachusetts communities. Participants viewed and rated the effectiveness of nine GHWs. Mixed effects regression models predicted perceived effectiveness with gender and sexual orientation, adjusting for repeated measurements, GHWs viewed, age, race, ethnicity, smoking status, and health status. Female heterosexuals rated GHWs as more effective than male heterosexual, lesbian, and transgender and other gender respondents. There was no significant difference between female and male heterosexuals versus gay, male bisexual, or female bisexual respondents. Differences by gender and sexual orientation were consistent across all nine GHWs. Significant correlates of higher perceived effectiveness included certain GHWs, older age, being African-American (vs white), being Hispanic (vs non-Hispanic), having less than high school education (vs associate degree or higher), and being current smokers (vs non-smokers). Perceived effectiveness of GHWs was lower in certain SGM groups. We recommend further studies to understand the underlying mechanisms for these findings and investments in research and policy to communicate anti-smoking messages more effectively to SGM populations.

What explains gender inequalities in HIV/AIDS prevalence in sub-Saharan Africa? Evidence from the demographic and health surveys.

PubMed

Sia, Drissa; Onadja, Yentéma; Hajizadeh, Mohammad; Heymann, S Jody; Brewer, Timothy F; Nandi, Arijit

2016-11-03

Women are disproportionally affected by human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)/acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). The determinants of gender inequality in HIV/AIDS may vary across countries and require country-specific interventions to address them. This study aimed to identify the socio-demographic and behavioral characteristics underlying gender inequalities in HIV/AIDS in 21 SSA countries. We applied an extension of the Blinder-Oaxaca decomposition approach to data from Demographic and Health Surveys and AIDS Indicator Surveys to quantify the differences in HIV/AIDS prevalence between women and men attributable to socio-demographic factors, sexual behaviours, and awareness of HIV/AIDS. We decomposed gender inequalities into two components: the percentage attributable to different levels of the risk factors between women and men (the "composition effect") and the percentage attributable to risk factors having differential effects on HIV/AIDS prevalence in women and men (the "response effect"). Descriptive analyses showed that the difference between women and men in HIV/AIDS prevalence varied from a low of 0.68 % (P = 0.008) in Liberia to a high of 11.5 % (P < 0.001) in Swaziland. The decomposition analysis showed that 84 % (P < 0.001) and 92 % (P < 0.001) of the higher prevalence of HIV/AIDS among women in Uganda and Ghana, respectively, was explained by the different distributions of HIV/AIDS risk factors, particularly age at first sex between women and men. In the majority of countries, however, observed gender inequalities in HIV/AIDS were chiefly explained by differences in the responses to risk factors; the differential effects of age, marital status and occupation on prevalence of HIV/AIDS for women and men were among the significant contributors to this component. In Cameroon, Guinea, Malawi and Swaziland, a combination of the composition and response effects explained gender inequalities in HIV/AIDS prevalence. The factors that explain gender inequality in HIV/AIDS in SSA vary by country, suggesting that country-specific interventions are needed. Unmeasured factors also contributed substantially to the difference in HIV/AIDS prevalence between women and men, highlighting the need for further study.

Gender roles and relationships: Implications for water management

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Peter, G.

This study mainstreams gender at household level by showing how the gendered roles and relations between women and men influence access, allocation and use of resources in a rural community, Makhosini, in Swaziland. Implications of the identified gender roles and relationships for water management in Swaziland are highlighted. The working hypotheses of this study are (i) that gender-neutral development initiatives will benefit equally women and men at household level; and (ii) in Swaziland the trend toward irrigated agriculture for food security will have unequal impacts on men and women as access, allocation and use of key resources is highly gendered, privileging men as the value of the resource increases. In this study, a questionnaire was administered to sampled male and female heads of household as well as women under male heads. The heads were asked to indicate the roles they play and key decisions they make in resource use as heads of households. The women under male heads were also asked to indicate their roles and key decision responsibilities. The key resources considered were land and crops produced. Comparative analysis on roles and decisions made as well as access and use of resources and production was done by gender and between the women groups. The results show marked gender differences within households and across resources. Men were overwhelmingly involved in productive roles, giving low priority to reproductive roles. In contrast, priority of women’s roles were reproductive in nature. The key findings are that there were no significant differences in the roles of men and women as heads of households. Women as heads of households assume the same roles as those of men heads suggesting relative gender-neutrality. Also all women played “double-day” roles. However, the data reveals that men dominate decisions on crops to be grown, inputs to be used, disposal of the products and use of income obtained. Only a small percentage of women claimed influence over decisions on high-income generating crops such as sugarcane. A majority of women did demonstrate influence in the areas of key rainfed crops such as sweet potatoes and maize. The only area where women had full control was on grass used for making handicrafts. The implications for water resources management are that gender-blind decisions regarding the importance of irrigated crop production for household security may in fact remove decision-making capacity out of the hands of women so increasing the gendered-nature of food insecurity. At the same time, however, women household heads do show some influence in irrigated crop production and in high-value rainfed crop production. This suggests possibilities for in-building gender-neutral practices where high value crops are concerned.

Neighbourhood socioeconomic inequalities in incidence of acute myocardial infarction: a cohort study quantifying age- and gender-specific differences in relative and absolute terms.

PubMed

Koopman, Carla; van Oeffelen, Aloysia A M; Bots, Michiel L; Engelfriet, Peter M; Verschuren, W M Monique; van Rossem, Lenie; van Dis, Ineke; Capewell, Simon; Vaartjes, Ilonca

2012-08-07

Socioeconomic status has a profound effect on the risk of having a first acute myocardial infarction (AMI). Information on socioeconomic inequalities in AMI incidence across age-gender-groups is lacking. Our objective was to examine socioeconomic inequalities in the incidence of AMI considering both relative and absolute measures of risk differences, with a particular focus on age and gender. We identified all patients with a first AMI from 1997 to 2007 through linked hospital discharge and death records covering the Dutch population. Relative risks (RR) of AMI incidence were estimated by mean equivalent household income at neighbourhood-level for strata of age and gender using Poisson regression models. Socioeconomic inequalities were also shown within the stratified age-gender groups by calculating the total number of events attributable to socioeconomic disadvantage. Between 1997 and 2007, 317,564 people had a first AMI. When comparing the most deprived socioeconomic quintile with the most affluent quintile, the overall RR for AMI was 1.34 (95 % confidence interval (CI): 1.32-1.36) in men and 1.44 (95 % CI: 1.42-1.47) in women. The socioeconomic gradient decreased with age. Relative socioeconomic inequalities were most apparent in men under 35 years and in women under 65 years. The largest number of events attributable to socioeconomic inequalities was found in men aged 45-74 years and in women aged 65-84 years. The total proportion of AMIs that was attributable to socioeconomic inequalities in the Dutch population of 1997 to 2007 was 14 % in men and 18 % in women. Neighbourhood socioeconomic inequalities were observed in AMI incidence in the Netherlands, but the magnitude across age-gender groups depended on whether inequality was expressed in relative or absolute terms. Relative socioeconomic inequalities were high in young persons and women, where the absolute burden of AMI was low. Absolute socioeconomic inequalities in AMI were highest in the age-gender groups of middle-aged men and elderly women, where the number of cases was largest.

Neighbourhood socioeconomic inequalities in incidence of acute myocardial infarction: a cohort study quantifying age- and gender-specific differences in relative and absolute terms

PubMed Central

2012-01-01

Background Socioeconomic status has a profound effect on the risk of having a first acute myocardial infarction (AMI). Information on socioeconomic inequalities in AMI incidence across age- gender-groups is lacking. Our objective was to examine socioeconomic inequalities in the incidence of AMI considering both relative and absolute measures of risk differences, with a particular focus on age and gender. Methods We identified all patients with a first AMI from 1997 to 2007 through linked hospital discharge and death records covering the Dutch population. Relative risks (RR) of AMI incidence were estimated by mean equivalent household income at neighbourhood-level for strata of age and gender using Poisson regression models. Socioeconomic inequalities were also shown within the stratified age-gender groups by calculating the total number of events attributable to socioeconomic disadvantage. Results Between 1997 and 2007, 317,564 people had a first AMI. When comparing the most deprived socioeconomic quintile with the most affluent quintile, the overall RR for AMI was 1.34 (95 % confidence interval (CI): 1.32 – 1.36) in men and 1.44 (95 % CI: 1.42 – 1.47) in women. The socioeconomic gradient decreased with age. Relative socioeconomic inequalities were most apparent in men under 35 years and in women under 65 years. The largest number of events attributable to socioeconomic inequalities was found in men aged 45–74 years and in women aged 65–84 years. The total proportion of AMIs that was attributable to socioeconomic inequalities in the Dutch population of 1997 to 2007 was 14 % in men and 18 % in women. Conclusions Neighbourhood socioeconomic inequalities were observed in AMI incidence in the Netherlands, but the magnitude across age-gender groups depended on whether inequality was expressed in relative or absolute terms. Relative socioeconomic inequalities were high in young persons and women, where the absolute burden of AMI was low. Absolute socioeconomic inequalities in AMI were highest in the age-gender groups of middle-aged men and elderly women, where the number of cases was largest. PMID:22870916

Human Motor Cortex Functional Changes in Acute Stroke: Gender Effects

PubMed Central

Di Lazzaro, Vincenzo; Pellegrino, Giovanni; Di Pino, Giovanni; Ranieri, Federico; Lotti, Fiorenza; Florio, Lucia; Capone, Fioravante

2016-01-01

The acute phase of stroke is accompanied by functional changes in the activity and interplay of both hemispheres. In healthy subjects, gender is known to impact the functional brain organization. We investigated whether gender influences also acute stroke functional changes. In thirty-five ischemic stroke patients, we evaluated the excitability of the affected (AH) and unaffected hemisphere (UH) by measuring resting and active motor threshold (AMT) and motor-evoked potential amplitude under baseline conditions and after intermittent theta burst stimulation (iTBS) of AH. We also computed an index of the excitability balance between the hemispheres, laterality indexes (LI), to evidence hemispheric asymmetry. AMT differed significantly between AH and UH only in the male group (p = 0.004), not in females (p > 0.200), and both LIAMT and LIRMT were significantly higher in males than in females (respectively p = 0.033 and p = 0.042). LTP-like activity induced by iTBS in AH was more frequent in females. Gender influences the functional excitability changes that take place after human stroke and the level of LTP that can be induced by repetitive stimulation. This knowledge is of high value in the attempt of individualizing to different genders any non-invasive stimulation strategy designed to foster stroke recovery. PMID:26858590

Effect of age and gender on the surface electromyogram during various levels of isometric contraction.

PubMed

Arjunan, Sridhar; Kumar, Dinesh; Kalra, Chandan; Burne, John; Bastos, Teodiano

2011-01-01

This study reports the effects of age and gender on the surface electromyogram while performing isometric contraction. Experiments were conducted with two age groups--Young (Age: 20-29) and Old (Age: 60-69) where they performed sustained isometric contractions at various force levels (50%, 75%, 100% of maximum voluntary contraction). Traditional features such as root mean square (RMS) and median frequency (MDF) were computed from the recorded sEMG. The result indicates that the MDF of sEMG was not significantly affected by age, but was impacted by gender in both age groups. Also there was a significant change in the RMS of sEMG with age and gender at all levels of contraction. The results also indicate a large inter-subject variation. This study will provide an understanding of the underlying physiological effects of muscle contraction and muscle fatigue in different cohorts.

Exploration–exploitation trade-off features a saltatory search behaviour

PubMed Central

Volchenkov, Dimitri; Helbach, Jonathan; Tscherepanow, Marko; Kühnel, Sina

2013-01-01

Searching experiments conducted in different virtual environments over a gender-balanced group of people revealed a gender irrelevant scale-free spread of searching activity on large spatio-temporal scales. We have suggested and solved analytically a simple statistical model of the coherent-noise type describing the exploration–exploitation trade-off in humans (‘should I stay’ or ‘should I go’). The model exhibits a variety of saltatory behaviours, ranging from Lévy flights occurring under uncertainty to Brownian walks performed by a treasure hunter confident of the eventual success. PMID:23782535

Gender in occupational health research of farmworkers: A systematic review

PubMed Central

Habib, Rima R; Hojeij, Safa; Elzein, Kareem

2014-01-01

Background Farmwork is one of the most hazardous occupations for men and women. Research suggests sex/gender shapes hazardous workplace exposures and outcomes for farmworkers. This paper reviews the occupational health literature on farmworkers, assessing how gender is treated and interpreted in exposure-outcome studies. Methods The paper evaluates peer-reviewed articles on men and women farmworkers' health published between 2000 and 2012 in PubMed or SCOPUS. Articles were identified and analyzed for approaches toward sampling, data analysis, and use of exposure indicators in relation to sex/gender. Results 18% of articles reported on and interpreted sex/gender differences in health outcomes and exposures. Sex/gender dynamics often shaped health outcomes, yet adequate data was not collected on established sex/gender risk factors relating to study outcomes. Conclusion Research can better incorporate sex/gender analysis into design, analytical and interpretive approaches to better explore its mediation of health outcomes in light of emerging calls to mainstream gender research. Am. J. Ind. Med. 57:1344–1367, 2014. © 2014 The Authors. American Journal of Industrial Medicine Published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs License, which permits use and distribution in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited, the use is non-commercial and no modifications or adaptations are made. PMID:25227724

Family physician perceptions of working with LGBTQ patients: physician training needs.

PubMed

Beagan, Brenda; Fredericks, Erin; Bryson, Mary

2015-01-01

Medical students and physicians report feeling under-prepared for working with patients who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender or queer (LGBTQ). Understanding physician perceptions of this area of practice may aid in developing improved education. In-depth interviews with 24 general practice physicians in Halifax and Vancouver, Canada, were used to explore whether, when and how the gender identity and sexual orientation of LGBTQ women were relevant to good care. Inductive thematic analysis was conducted using ATLAS.ti data analysis software. Three major themes emerged: 1) Some physicians perceived that sexual/gender identity makes little or no difference; treating every patient as an individual while avoiding labels optimises care for everyone. 2) Some physicians perceived sexual/gender identity matters primarily for the provision of holistic care, and in order to address the effects of discrimination. 3) Some physicians perceived that sexual/gender identity both matters and does not matter, as they strove to balance the implications of social group membership with recognition of individual differences. Physicians may be ignoring important aspects of social group memberships that affect health and health care. The authors hold that individual and socio-cultural differences are both important to the provision of quality health care. Distinct from stereotypes, generalisations about social group differences can provide valuable starting points, raising useful lines of inquiry. Emphasizing this distinction in medical education may help change physician approaches to the care of LGBTQ women.

Gender differences in factors associated with suicidal ideation and depressive symptoms among middle-aged workers in Japan.

PubMed

Sugawara, Norio; Yasui-Furukori, Norio; Sasaki, Giro; Tanaka, Osamu; Umeda, Takashi; Takahashi, Ippei; Danjo, Kazuma; Matsuzaka, Masashi; Kaneko, Sunao; Nakaji, Shigeyuki

2013-01-01

The purpose of this study was to assess middle-aged Japanese workers for possible gender differences in the risk factors associated with depressive symptoms and suicidal ideation. 5,878 workers (40-60 yr of age) (3,631 males and 2,247 females) were recruited from randomly selected companies in northern Japan. Demographic and lifestyle factors, suicidal ideation rate, and the data for the Brief Job Stress Questionnaire (BJSQ) and the Center for Epidemiologic Studies for Depression scale (CES-D) were obtained from the self-report questionnaires. After adjusting for possible confounding variables, marital status, absent of stress reduction technique and low job compatibility were significant independent risk factors for suicidal ideation among males. In females, marital status, feeling of insufficient sleep and absence of stress reduction techniques were significant independent risk factors after adjusting for all variables. Under the same adjustments, temporary employment also showed a protective effect against female suicidal ideation. In conclusion, our results suggest that factors related to suicidal ideation differed by gender. Different approaches for each gender might be useful in the development of suicide prevention programs. However, interpretation of work-related effects, such as temporary employment, interpersonal conflict and transportation industry, was hampered by lack of data concerning personal income, working hours and organizational commitment. Additional studies are needed to examine the longitudinal relationships between the risk factors associated with suicidal ideation and depressive symptoms.

Ecstasy Exposure & Gender: Examining Components of Verbal Memory Functioning

PubMed Central

Price, Jenessa S.; Shear, Paula; Lisdahl, Krista M.

2014-01-01

Objective Studies have demonstrated verbal memory deficits associated with past year ecstasy use, although specific underlying components of these deficits are less understood. Further, prior research suggests potential gender differences in ecstasy-induced serotonergic changes. Therefore, the current study investigated whether gender moderated the relationship between ecstasy exposure and components of verbal memory after controlling for polydrug use and confounding variables. Method Data were collected from 65 polydrug users with a wide range of ecstasy exposure (ages 18–35; 48 ecstasy and 17 marijuana users; 0–2310 ecstasy tablets). Participants completed a verbal learning and memory task, psychological questionnaires, and a drug use interview. Results Increased past year ecstasy exposure predicted poorer short and long delayed free and cued recalls, retention, and recall discrimination. Male ecstasy users were more susceptible to dose-dependent deficits in retention than female users. Conclusion Past year ecstasy consumption was associated with verbal memory retrieval, retention, and discrimination deficits in a dose-dependent manner in a sample of healthy young adult polydrug users. Male ecstasy users were at particular risk for deficits in retention following a long delay. Gender difference may be reflective of different patterns of polydrug use as well as increased hippocampal sensitivity. Future research examining neuronal correlates of verbal memory deficits in ecstasy users are needed. PMID:25545890

12-months metabolic changes among gender dysphoric individuals under cross-sex hormone treatment: a targeted metabolomics study

PubMed Central

Auer, Matthias K.; Cecil, Alexander; Roepke, Yasmin; Bultynck, Charlotte; Pas, Charlotte; Fuss, Johannes; Prehn, Cornelia; Wang-Sattler, Rui; Adamski, Jerzy; Stalla, Günter K.; T’Sjoen, Guy

2016-01-01

Metabolomic analyses in epidemiological studies have demonstrated a strong sexual dimorphism for most metabolites. Cross-sex hormone treatment (CSH) in transgender individuals enables the study of metabolites in a cross-gender setting. Targeted metabolomic profiling of serum of fasting transmen and transwomen at baseline and following 12 months of CSH (N = 20/group) was performed. Changes in 186 serum metabolites and metabolite ratios were determined by targeted metabolomics analysis based on ESI-LC-MS/MS. RandomForest (RF) analysis was applied to detect metabolites of highest interest for grouping of transwomen and transmen before and after initiation of CSH. Principal component analysis (PCA) was performed to check whether group differentiation was achievable according to these variables and to see if changes in metabolite levels could be explained by a priori gender differences. PCA predicted grouping of individuals-determined by the citrulline/arginine-ratio and the amino acids lysine, alanine and asymmetric dimethylarginine - in addition to the expected grouping due to changes in sex steroids and body composition. The fact that most of the investigated metabolites did, however, not change, indicates that the majority of sex dependent differences in metabolites reported in the literature before may primarily not be attributable to sex hormones but to other gender-differences. PMID:27833161

Ecstasy exposure & gender: examining components of verbal memory functioning.

PubMed

Price, Jenessa S; Shear, Paula; Lisdahl, Krista M

2014-01-01

Studies have demonstrated verbal memory deficits associated with past year ecstasy use, although specific underlying components of these deficits are less understood. Further, prior research suggests potential gender differences in ecstasy-induced serotonergic changes. Therefore, the current study investigated whether gender moderated the relationship between ecstasy exposure and components of verbal memory after controlling for polydrug use and confounding variables. Data were collected from 65 polydrug users with a wide range of ecstasy exposure (ages 18-35; 48 ecstasy and 17 marijuana users; 0-2310 ecstasy tablets). Participants completed a verbal learning and memory task, psychological questionnaires, and a drug use interview. Increased past year ecstasy exposure predicted poorer short and long delayed free and cued recalls, retention, and recall discrimination. Male ecstasy users were more susceptible to dose-dependent deficits in retention than female users. Past year ecstasy consumption was associated with verbal memory retrieval, retention, and discrimination deficits in a dose-dependent manner in a sample of healthy young adult polydrug users. Male ecstasy users were at particular risk for deficits in retention following a long delay. Gender difference may be reflective of different patterns of polydrug use as well as increased hippocampal sensitivity. Future research examining neuronal correlates of verbal memory deficits in ecstasy users are needed.

Technology-Facilitated Sexual Violence Victimization: Results From an Online Survey of Australian Adults.

PubMed

Powell, Anastasia; Henry, Nicola

2016-10-01

Online forms of sexual harassment and abuse as experienced by adults represent an emerging yet under-researched set of behaviors, such that very few studies have sought to estimate the extent of the problem. This article presents the results of an online survey of 2,956 Australian adult (aged 18 to 54 years) experiences of technology-facilitated sexual violence (TFSV) victimization. The prevalence of TFSV was analyzed in relation to a 21-item scale developed in accordance with prior conceptual research identifying multiple dimensions of TFSV including digital sexual harassment, image-based sexual abuse, sexual aggression and/or coercion, and, gender and/or sexuality-based harassment (including virtual sexual violence). Results revealed significant differences in lifetime TFSV victimization for younger (18-24) and non-heterosexual identifying adults. Lifetime TFSV victimization for men and women was not significantly different, though women were more likely to report sexual harassment victimization and men were more likely to report victimization through the distribution of non-consensual images, as well as gender and/or sexuality-based harassment. The authors conclude that although women and men report experiencing similar overall prevalence of TFSV victimization, the nature and impacts of those experiences differ in particular gendered ways that reflect broader patterns in both gender relations and "offline" sexual harassment.

Gender gaps in achievement and participation in multiple introductory biology classrooms.

PubMed

Eddy, Sarah L; Brownell, Sara E; Wenderoth, Mary Pat

2014-01-01

Although gender gaps have been a major concern in male-dominated science, technology, engineering, and mathematics disciplines such as physics and engineering, the numerical dominance of female students in biology has supported the assumption that gender disparities do not exist at the undergraduate level in life sciences. Using data from 23 large introductory biology classes for majors, we examine two measures of gender disparity in biology: academic achievement and participation in whole-class discussions. We found that females consistently underperform on exams compared with males with similar overall college grade point averages. In addition, although females on average represent 60% of the students in these courses, their voices make up less than 40% of those heard responding to instructor-posed questions to the class, one of the most common ways of engaging students in large lectures. Based on these data, we propose that, despite numerical dominance of females, gender disparities remain an issue in introductory biology classrooms. For student retention and achievement in biology to be truly merit based, we need to develop strategies to equalize the opportunities for students of different genders to practice the skills they need to excel. © 2014 S. L. Eddy et al. CBE—Life Sciences Education © 2014 The American Society for Cell Biology. This article is distributed by The American Society for Cell Biology under license from the author(s). It is available to the public under an Attribution–Noncommercial–Share Alike 3.0 Unported Creative Commons License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0).

Characterizing, modeling, and addressing gender disparities in introductory college physics

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kost-Smith, Lauren Elizabeth

2011-12-01

The underrepresentation and underperformance of females in physics has been well documented and has long concerned policy-makers, educators, and the physics community. In this thesis, we focus on gender disparities in the first- and second-semester introductory, calculus-based physics courses at the University of Colorado. Success in these courses is critical for future study and careers in physics (and other sciences). Using data gathered from roughly 10,000 undergraduate students, we identify and model gender differences in the introductory physics courses in three areas: student performance, retention, and psychological factors. We observe gender differences on several measures in the introductory physics courses: females are less likely to take a high school physics course than males and have lower standardized mathematics test scores; males outscore females on both pre- and post-course conceptual physics surveys and in-class exams; and males have more expert-like attitudes and beliefs about physics than females. These background differences of males and females account for 60% to 70% of the gender gap that we observe on a post-course survey of conceptual physics understanding. In analyzing underlying psychological factors of learning, we find that female students report lower self-confidence related to succeeding in the introductory courses (self-efficacy) and are less likely to report seeing themselves as a "physics person". Students' self-efficacy beliefs are significant predictors of their performance, even when measures of physics and mathematics background are controlled, and account for an additional 10% of the gender gap. Informed by results from these studies, we implemented and tested a psychological, self-affirmation intervention aimed at enhancing female students' performance in Physics 1. Self-affirmation reduced the gender gap in performance on both in-class exams and the post-course conceptual physics survey. Further, the benefit of the self-affirmation was strongest for females who endorsed the stereotype that men do better than women in physics. The findings of this thesis suggest that there are multiple factors that contribute to the underperformance of females in physics. Establishing this model of gender differences is a first step towards increasing females' participation and performance in physics, and can be used to guide future interventions to address the disparities.

Gender and Bladder Cancer: A Collaborative Review of Etiology, Biology, and Outcomes.

PubMed

Dobruch, Jakub; Daneshmand, Siamak; Fisch, Margit; Lotan, Yair; Noon, Aidan P; Resnick, Matthew J; Shariat, Shahrokh F; Zlotta, Alexandre R; Boorjian, Stephen A

2016-02-01

The incidence of bladder cancer is three to four times greater in men than in women. However, women are diagnosed with more advanced disease at presentation and have less favorable outcomes after treatment. To review the literature on potential biologic mechanisms underlying differential gender risk for bladder cancer, and evidence regarding gender disparities in bladder cancer presentation, management, and outcomes. A literature search of English-language publications that included an analysis of the association of gender with bladder cancer was performed using Pubmed. Ninety-seven articles were selected for analysis with the consensus of all authors. It has been shown that the gender difference in bladder cancer incidence is independent of differences in exposure risk, including smoking status. Potential molecular mechanisms include disparate metabolism of carcinogens by hepatic enzymes between men and women, resulting in differential exposure of the urothelium to carcinogens. In addition, the activity of the sex steroid hormone pathway may play a role in bladder cancer development, with demonstration that both androgens and estrogens have biologic effects in bladder cancer in vitro and in vivo. Importantly, gender differences exist in the timeliness and completeness of hematuria evaluation, with women experiencing a significantly greater delay in urologic referral and undergoing guideline-concordant imaging less frequently. Correspondingly, women have more advanced tumors at the time of bladder cancer diagnosis. Interestingly, higher cancer-specific mortality has been noted among women even after adjusting for tumor stage and treatment modality. Numerous potential biologic and epidemiologic factors probably underlie the gender differences observed for bladder cancer incidence, stage at diagnosis, and outcomes. Continued evaluation to define clinical applications for manipulation of the sex steroid pathway and to improve the standardization of hematuria evaluation in women may improve future patient outcomes and reduce these disparities. We describe the scientific basis and clinical evidence to explain the greater incidence of bladder cancer in men and the adverse presentation and outcomes for this disease in women. We identify goals for improving patient survival and reducing gender disparities in bladder cancer. Copyright © 2015 European Association of Urology. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Regional and Gender Differences and Trends in the Anesthesiologist Workforce.

PubMed

Baird, Matthew; Daugherty, Lindsay; Kumar, Krishna B; Arifkhanova, Aziza

2015-11-01

Concerns have long existed about potential shortages in the anesthesiologist workforce. In addition, many changes have occurred in the economy, demographics, and the healthcare sector in the last few years, which may impact the workforce. The authors documented workforce trends by region of the United States and gender, trends that may have implications for the supply and demand of anesthesiologists. The authors conducted a national survey of American Society of Anesthesiologists members (accounting for >80% of all practicing anesthesiologists in the United States) in 2007 and repeated it in 2013. The authors used logistic regression analysis and Seemingly Unrelated Regression to test across several indicators under an overarching hypothesis. Anesthesiologists in Western states had markedly different patterns of practice relative to anesthesiologists in other regions in 2007 and 2013, including differences in employer type, the composition of anesthesia teams, and the time spent on monitored anesthesia care. The number and proportion of female anesthesiologists in the workforce increased between 2007 and 2013, and females differed from males in employment arrangements, compensation, and work hours. Regional differences remained stable during this time period although the reasons for these differences are speculative. Similarly, how and whether the gender difference in work hours and shift to younger anesthesiologists during this period will impact workforce needs is uncertain.

Gender Differences in Exercise Habits and Quality of Life Reports: Assessing the Moderating Effects of Reasons for Exercise

PubMed Central

Craft, Baine B.; Carroll, Haley A.; Lustyk, M. Kathleen B.

2016-01-01

Men and women report different exercise habits and reasons for exercise. Given that quality of life is affected by exercise habits and reasons for exercise, the present study explored gender differences among these variables. Participants reported quality of life, exercise habits, and motives. Results revealed that women (n = 108) reported significantly higher exercise and quality of life levels than men (n = 72). Women reported exercising for weight loss and toning more than men, whereas men reported exercising for enjoyment more than women. Reasons for exercise predicted quality of life for women over exercise. For men, exercise was the best predictor of quality of life. Ultimately, exercise is not beneficial for a woman's quality of life under all conditions. PMID:27668243

Hormonal regulation of β-myosin heavy chain expression in the mouse left ventricle.

PubMed

Patrizio, Mario; Musumeci, Marco; Piccone, Ambra; Raggi, Carla; Mattei, Elisabetta; Marano, Giuseppe

2013-03-01

We investigated the influence of sex hormones on the expression of α- and β-cardiac myosin heavy chain isoforms (α-MHC and β-MHC) in C57bl/6 mice of both sexes under physiological and pathological conditions. In the left ventricles (LVs) of fertile female mice, β-MHC expression was tenfold higher compared with the age-matched males, whereas no difference was found in α-MHC expression. These differences disappeared after ovariectomy or in immature mice. We also found a sex-related difference in expression of β-adrenoceptors (β1-AR), as mRNA levels of this gene were 40% lower in fertile females compared with males of the same age but did not differ in prepubertal or ovariectomized animals. Interestingly, the deletion of both β1- and β2-ARs abolished sex difference of β-MHC expression, as mRNA levels in the LVs of knockout males were increased and reached values comparable to those of knockout females. Moreover, the β1-AR antagonist metoprolol induced about a threefold increase in β-MHC expression in adult male mice. The capability of gender to regulate β-MHC expression was also evaluated in the presence of hemodynamic overload. Thoracic aortic coarctation (TAC) produced cardiac hypertrophy along with a 12-fold increase in β-MHC and a 50% decrease in β1-AR expression in males but not in females, thus abolishing the gender difference observed in sham animals for such genes. By contrast, TAC did not change β2-AR expression. In conclusion, our results show that the expression of β-MHC and β1-AR in the LVs undergo gender-related and correlated changes under both physiological and pathological conditions and suggest a role of β1-AR-mediated signaling.

Effect of Meat Price on Race and Gender Disparities in Obesity, Mortality and Quality of Life in the US: A Model-Based Analysis

PubMed Central

Pitt, Allison; Bendavid, Eran

2017-01-01

Introduction There are large differences in the burden and health implications of obesity by race and gender in the US. It is unclear to what extent policies modifying caloric consumption change the distribution of the burden of obesity and related health outcomes. Meat is a large component of the American diet. We investigate how changing meat prices (that may result from policies or from exogenous factors that reduce supply) might impact the burden of obesity by race and gender. Methods We construct a microsimulation model that evaluates the 15-year body-mass index (BMI) and mortality impact of changes in meat price (5, 10, 25, and 50% increase) in the US adult population stratified by age, gender, race, and BMI. Results Under each price change evaluated, relative to the status quo, white males, black males, and black females are expected to realize more dramatic reduction in 2030 obesity prevalence than white females. Life expectancy gains are also projected to differ by subpopulation, with black males far less likely to benefit from an increase in meat prices than other groups. Conclusions Changing meat prices has considerable potential to affect population health differently by race and gender. In designing interventions that alter the price of foods to consumers, it is not sufficient to assess health effects based solely on the population as a whole, since differential effects across subpopulations may be substantial. PMID:28045931

Effect of Meat Price on Race and Gender Disparities in Obesity, Mortality and Quality of Life in the US: A Model-Based Analysis.

PubMed

Pitt, Allison; Bendavid, Eran

2017-01-01

There are large differences in the burden and health implications of obesity by race and gender in the US. It is unclear to what extent policies modifying caloric consumption change the distribution of the burden of obesity and related health outcomes. Meat is a large component of the American diet. We investigate how changing meat prices (that may result from policies or from exogenous factors that reduce supply) might impact the burden of obesity by race and gender. We construct a microsimulation model that evaluates the 15-year body-mass index (BMI) and mortality impact of changes in meat price (5, 10, 25, and 50% increase) in the US adult population stratified by age, gender, race, and BMI. Under each price change evaluated, relative to the status quo, white males, black males, and black females are expected to realize more dramatic reduction in 2030 obesity prevalence than white females. Life expectancy gains are also projected to differ by subpopulation, with black males far less likely to benefit from an increase in meat prices than other groups. Changing meat prices has considerable potential to affect population health differently by race and gender. In designing interventions that alter the price of foods to consumers, it is not sufficient to assess health effects based solely on the population as a whole, since differential effects across subpopulations may be substantial.

Gender Differences: Examination of the 12-Item Bem Sex Role Inventory (BSRI-12) in an Older Brazilian Population

PubMed Central

Carver, Lisa F.; Vafaei, Afshin; Guerra, Ricardo; Freire, Aline; Phillips, Susan P.

2013-01-01

Objectives Although gender is often acknowledged as a determinant of health, measuring its components, other than biological sex, is uncommon. The Bem Sex Role Inventory (BSRI) quantifies self-attribution of traits, indicative of gender roles. The BSRI has been used with participants across cultures and countries, but rarely in an older population in Brazil, as we have done in this study. Our primary objective was to determine whether the BSRI-12 can be used to explore gender in an older Brazilian population. Methods The BSRI was completed by volunteer participants, all community dwelling adults aged 65+ living in Natal, Brazil. Exploratory factor analysis was performed, followed by a varimax rotation (orthogonal solution) for iteration to examine the underlying gender roles of feminine, masculine, androgynous and undifferentiated, and to validate the BSRI in older adults in Brazil. Results The 278 participants, (80 men, 198 women) were 65–99 years old (average 73.6 for men, 74.7 for women). Age difference between sexes was not significant (p = 0.22). A 12 item version of the BSRI (BSRI-12) previously validated among Spanish seniors was used and showed validity with 5 BSRI-12 items (Cronbach=0.66) loading as feminine, 6 items (Cronbach=0.51) loading onto masculine roles and neither overlapping with the category of biological sex of respondent. Conclusions Although the BSRI-12 appears to be a valid indicator of gender among elderly Brazilians, the gender role status identified with the BSRI-12 was not correlated with being male or female. PMID:24098482

Exploring gender perceptions of risk of HIV infection and related behaviour among elderly men and women of Ga-Rankuwa, Gauteng Province, South Africa.

PubMed

Lekalakala-Mokgele, Eucebious

2016-12-01

The literature shows that there are important differences between women and men in the underlying mechanisms of transmission of HIV infection and AIDS, as well as in the social and economic consequences of HIV/AIDS. These stem from sexual behaviour and socially constructed 'gender' differences between women and men in roles and responsibilities. Despite the fact that numerous gender-related sociocultural factors influence HIV/AIDS protective behaviours, little gender specificity is included in HIV prevention among the elderly. In order to close this gap, this study explored gender-related perceptions of risk of HIV infection among elderly men and women of Ga-Rankuwa in Gauteng Province, South Africa. This qualitative study used purposive sampling to conduct three focus group interviews with 22 women and 10 men who were above 60 years of age. Findings revealed that both genders blame each other for the spreading of HIV/AIDS. Male participants displayed the tendency to have multiple partners, whereas females accepted that males are promiscuous. Mixed perceptions about disclosure of HIV status were found. Condom use was a challenge, as men did not know how to introduce it with their wives, and some female participants indicated that men are resistant to using condoms. The elderly men also believed that women will have sex in exchange for money. It is concluded that there is a need for substantial behaviour change among both elderly males and females, which should address gender power relations. More in-depth and extensive research in this area is recommended.

Gender differences: examination of the 12-item bem sex role inventory (BSRI-12) in an older Brazilian population.

PubMed

Carver, Lisa F; Vafaei, Afshin; Guerra, Ricardo; Freire, Aline; Phillips, Susan P

2013-01-01

Although gender is often acknowledged as a determinant of health, measuring its components, other than biological sex, is uncommon. The Bem Sex Role Inventory (BSRI) quantifies self-attribution of traits, indicative of gender roles. The BSRI has been used with participants across cultures and countries, but rarely in an older population in Brazil, as we have done in this study. Our primary objective was to determine whether the BSRI-12 can be used to explore gender in an older Brazilian population. The BSRI was completed by volunteer participants, all community dwelling adults aged 65+ living in Natal, Brazil. Exploratory factor analysis was performed, followed by a varimax rotation (orthogonal solution) for iteration to examine the underlying gender roles of feminine, masculine, androgynous and undifferentiated, and to validate the BSRI in older adults in Brazil. The 278 participants, (80 men, 198 women) were 65-99 years old (average 73.6 for men, 74.7 for women). Age difference between sexes was not significant (p = 0.22). A 12 item version of the BSRI (BSRI-12) previously validated among Spanish seniors was used and showed validity with 5 BSRI-12 items (Cronbach=0.66) loading as feminine, 6 items (Cronbach=0.51) loading onto masculine roles and neither overlapping with the category of biological sex of respondent. Although the BSRI-12 appears to be a valid indicator of gender among elderly Brazilians, the gender role status identified with the BSRI-12 was not correlated with being male or female.

Women Tend to Defect in a Social Dilemma Game in Southwest China.

PubMed

Pansini, Riccardo; Shi, Lei; Wang, Rui-Wu

2016-01-01

Cooperation theories assume that interacting individuals can change their strategies under different expected payoffs, depending on their social status or social situations. When looking at sex differences in cooperation, the existing studies have found that the genders cooperate at similar frequencies. However, the majority of the data originate within Western human societies. In this paper, we explore whether there are gender differences in cooperation in China. An Iterated Prisoner's Dilemma game with a punishment option was used to gather data about Southwest Chinese subjects in a culture in which men have a hierarchical advantage over women. Results indicate that men invested into partners significantly more than women did (34% ♂ vs. 24% ♀) while women, in turn, were more likely to defect (65% ♀ vs. 50% ♂). In this region, women have customarily held less economic power and they are used to obtain a payoff typically lower than men. We suggest that the women's willingness to invest in cooperation has decreased throughout evolutionary time, providing us with an illustration of a culturally-driven shift towards a disparity in gender cooperation interests.

Sex differences in brain activation patterns during processing of positively and negatively valenced emotional words.

PubMed

Hofer, Alex; Siedentopf, Christian M; Ischebeck, Anja; Rettenbacher, Maria A; Verius, Michael; Felber, Stephan; Wolfgang Fleischhacker, W

2007-01-01

Previous studies have suggested that men and women process emotional stimuli differently. In this study, we used event-related functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to investigate gender differences in regional cerebral activity during the perception of positive or negative emotions. The experiment comprised two emotional conditions (positively/negatively valenced words) during which fMRI data were acquired. Thirty-eight healthy volunteers (19 males, 19 females) were investigated. A direct comparison of brain activation between men and women revealed differential activation in the right putamen, the right superior temporal gyrus, and the left supramarginal gyrus during processing of positively valenced words versus non-words for women versus men. By contrast, during processing of negatively valenced words versus non-words, relatively greater activation was seen in the left perirhinal cortex and hippocampus for women versus men, and in the right supramarginal gyrus for men versus women. Our findings suggest gender-related neural responses to emotional stimuli and could contribute to the understanding of mechanisms underlying the gender disparity of neuropsychiatric diseases such as mood disorders.

A field study on thermal comfort in an Italian hospital considering differences in gender and age.

PubMed

Del Ferraro, S; Iavicoli, S; Russo, S; Molinaro, V

2015-09-01

The hospital is a thermal environment where comfort must be calibrated by taking into account two different groups of people, that is, patients and medical staff. The study involves 30 patients and 19 medical staff with a view to verifying if Predicted Mean Vote (PMV) index can accurately predict thermal sensations of both groups also taking into account any potential effects of age and gender. The methodology adopted is based on the comparison between PMV values (calculated according to ISO 7730 after having collected environmental data and estimated personal parameters) and perceptual judgments (Actual Mean Vote, AMV), expressed by the subjects interviewed. Different statistical analyses show that PMV model finds his best correlation with AMV values in a sample of male medical staff under 65 years of age. It has been observed that gender and age are factors that must be taken into account in the assessment of thermal comfort in the hospital due to very weak correlation between AMV and PMV values. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd and The Ergonomics Society. All rights reserved.

Women Tend to Defect in a Social Dilemma Game in Southwest China

PubMed Central

Wang, Rui-Wu

2016-01-01

Cooperation theories assume that interacting individuals can change their strategies under different expected payoffs, depending on their social status or social situations. When looking at sex differences in cooperation, the existing studies have found that the genders cooperate at similar frequencies. However, the majority of the data originate within Western human societies. In this paper, we explore whether there are gender differences in cooperation in China. An Iterated Prisoner’s Dilemma game with a punishment option was used to gather data about Southwest Chinese subjects in a culture in which men have a hierarchical advantage over women. Results indicate that men invested into partners significantly more than women did (34% ♂ vs. 24% ♀) while women, in turn, were more likely to defect (65% ♀ vs. 50% ♂). In this region, women have customarily held less economic power and they are used to obtain a payoff typically lower than men. We suggest that the women’s willingness to invest in cooperation has decreased throughout evolutionary time, providing us with an illustration of a culturally-driven shift towards a disparity in gender cooperation interests. PMID:27829046

An Analysis of Attitudes toward Statistics: Gender Differences among Advertising Majors.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Fullerton, Jami A.; Umphrey, Don

This study measures advertising students' attitudes toward statistics. Subjects, 275 undergraduate advertising students from two southwestern United States universities, completed a questionnaire used to gauge students' attitudes toward statistics by measuring 6 underlying factors: (1) students' interest and future applicability; (2) relationship…

Gender Opportunities in Psychosocial Oncology.

PubMed

Loscalzo, Matthew; Clark, Karen

2018-01-01

So much has happened since the original publication of this chapter. In some ways, the progress made in appreciating the full spectrum of sexual and gender expression has been uneven and in some nations, there has been serious regression and resulting repression. But overall, especially in the industrialized countries, there is much greater awareness of sex and gender and its importance in health and well being. In this updated chapter, we put sex and gender into a historical context that is relevant to psycho-oncology and that openly accepts that society overall, is highly conflicted when it comes to how women and men get the best out of each other, never mind how to best integrate lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) communities. With the advent of more tailored treatments and strategic medicine, sex becomes much more important as a variable and this has led to greater scientific requirements to create protocols that integrate sex into all aspects of health from prevention, diagnosis, treatment, survivorship, and death. But we still have a very far way to go. There is a serious dearth of data on sex and gender in science overall and in cancer medicine specifically. Avoidance of discussions of sex and gender in medicine reflects the larger lingering societal discomfort with any discussion that links potential sex and gender differences with superiority. The data shows that there is more intrasexual than intersexual variation in men and women. When speaking about sex and gender the literature reflects that, on average, there are many differences, and although they are small, that when taken together, the impact may be quite robust. Sex and gender differences are relevant to how individuals, couples, and families experience and cope with serious illness; however these important and obvious variables are seldom taken into account when counseling seriously ill patients and their families. Cancer is a complex disease that brings into sharp relief the potential alignments and misalignments in the sexes. In this chapter we have attempted to communicate the imperative for and importance of understanding people under stress within the context of sex and gender. Gender-specific medicine is a very young movement for scientific study but one that has great potential to maximize adaptation and mutual respect at a time when men and women are redefining themselves and adapting to new social realities and challenges.

Gender differences in perception of self-orientation: software or hardware?

PubMed

Tremblay, Luc; Elliott, Digby; Starkes, Janet L

2004-01-01

We evaluated the contribution of attentional strategy to the perception of self-orientation with and without a body tilt in the median plane. Reinking et al (1974 Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 30 807-811) found that the frame dependence of females on the rod-and-frame test could be mediated by instructions prompting them to focus on internal cues (ie arising from inside of the body). Here, we measured the influence of attentional instructions on the perception of the morphological horizon. Eleven females and thirteen males estimated their morphological horizon in an upright and a 45 degrees body tilt in the median plane under three instruction conditions. All participants first performed without attentional instructions. Then, participants performed under both internal and external attentional instructions. For females, but not for males, perception of morphological horizon was more footward in the supine than in the upright orientation. Although instructions did not eliminate gender differences, internal instructions allowed females to reduce their perceptual bias in the supine orientation.

Engendering climate change-induced migration

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Caretta, Martina Angela; Miletto, Michela

2017-04-01

Climate change leads to increased climate variability, which is manifest in extreme weather events such as floods and droughts. These put at stake agricultural productivity, forestry, inland fisheries, aquaculture, water supply and sanitation which in turn hamper poorest householdś self-sufficiency and capability to cope with risks. Due to the risk of losing or the actual loss of livelihood, farmers in the Global South must look for alternative strategies to diversify risk. Migration is one of those strategies, which that can be seen either as an adaptive measure or an indicator of limits to adaptation to environmental stress. 60% of young migrants live in the Global South (UN, 2013). Many internally displaced people in the world are under the age of 18, some move with their families, other, mostly in South Asia and West Africa, migrate alone. Youth, as all migrants, are seeking better economic opportunities to support themselves and their families. Migration is a gendered process which plays out differently in diverse societies depending on local cultural norms that do not only affect and are affected by gender roles, but also by age, class and ethnicity. Threats to water availability, access and water hazards have diverse impacts on men and women. The link gender and climate-induced migration is still under investigation and few studies provide concrete country specific examples of this phenomenon. Our paper will present a state of the art literature review around climate-induced migration in the Global South from a gender perspective showing how meńs and womeńs migratory decisions, patterns and outcomes differ at the stage pre-during post migration.

Slender women and overweight men: gender differences in the educational gradient in body weight in South Korea.

PubMed

Lee, Yeonjin

2017-11-21

Little is known about the gender-specific mechanisms through which education is associated with weight status in societies that have experienced a rapid rise in their obesity rates. This study extends previous literature by examining how the link between education and weight status operates within the structure of gender relations in South Korea where huge gender differences have been observed in the educational inequalities in weight status. Using the Korean National Health Survey (N = 17,947) conducted in 2008-2012 conditional quantile regression models were estimated to assess the associations between education and body weight distribution. The mean difference in the predicted probabilities of perceiving body image as average was compared by educational attainment for women and men while setting all other covariates at their means. Highly educated women were more likely to utilize their human capital to obtain slender body shape and the relationship was not mediated by economic resources. In contrast, education was positively associated with being overweight and obesity among men, for whom behaviors promoting healthy weight often conflict with a collective ideology at work that strongly supports long work hours and heavy alcohol consumption. Furthermore, Korean men were more likely to under-perceive their body size than Korean women, that is, overweight men tend to consider themselves to be of 'average' weight, regardless of their educational attainment. Current study found that gender inequalities in social status in South Korea operate to affect the relationship between education and weight status among men and women in unique ways. Weight status can be socially patterned by the interplay between education, economic, and behavioral resources within the structure of gender relations.

Expectancies for the Effectiveness of Different Tobacco Interventions Account for Racial and Gender Differences in Motivation to Quit and Abstinence Self-Efficacy

PubMed Central

Leventhal, Adam M.; Stevens, Erin N.; Trent, Lindsay R.; Clark, C. Brendan; Lahti, Adrienne C.; Hendricks, Peter S.

2014-01-01

Introduction: Racial and gender disparities for smoking cessation might be accounted for by differences in expectancies for tobacco interventions, but few studies have investigated such differences or their relationships with motivation to quit and abstinence self-efficacy. Methods: In this cross-sectional study, 673 smokers (African American: n = 443, 65.8%; women: n = 222, 33.0%) under criminal justice supervision who enrolled in a clinical smoking cessation trial in which all received bupropion and half received counseling. All participants completed pretreatment measures of expectancies for different tobacco interventions, motivation to quit, and abstinence self-efficacy. The indirect effects of race and gender on motivation to quit and abstinence self-efficacy through expectancies for different tobacco interventions were evaluated. Results: African Americans’ stronger expectancies that behavioral interventions would be effective accounted for their greater motivation to quit and abstinence self-efficacy. Women’s stronger expectancies for the effectiveness of pharmacotherapy accounted for their greater motivation to quit, whereas their stronger expectancies for the effectiveness of behavioral treatments accounted for their greater abstinence self-efficacy. Conclusions: Findings point to the mediating role of expectancies for treatment effectiveness and suggest the importance of exploring expectancies among African Americans and women as a way to augment motivation and self-efficacy. PMID:24719492

Health status and preventative behaviors of immigrants by gender and origin: a Portuguese cross-sectional study.

PubMed

Dias, Sónia; Gama, Ana; Martins, Maria O

2013-09-01

Migration has been associated with a greater vulnerability in health. Migrants, especially women, go through several experiences during the migration process and in the host countries that ultimately put their health at risk. This study examines self-reported health status and preventive behaviors among female and male immigrants in Portugal, and identifies sociodemographic and behavioral factors underlying gender differences. A sample of 1375 immigrants (51.1% women) was studied. Data were analyzed through logistic regression. Good health status was reported by 66.7% of men and by 56.6% of women (P < 0.001). Gender differences were also found across preventative behaviors. Among women and men, reported good health was associated with younger age, African and Brazilian origin (compared to Eastern European), secondary/higher education, no chronic disease, and concern about eating habits. Among women, good health was also associated with perceived sufficient income, no experience of mental illness, and regular physical exercise. When developing health programs to improve immigrants' health, special attention must be given to existing gender inequalities, and socioeconomic and cultural context, in accordance with their experience of living in the host country over time. © 2013 Wiley Publishing Asia Pty Ltd.

Work family balance, stress, and salivary cortisol in men and women academic physicians.

PubMed

Bergman, B; Ahmad, F; Stewart, D E

2008-01-01

The stress of medical practice has been recurrently studied, but work- and family-related determinants of health by gender remain under researched. To test the hypothesis that cortisol excretion would be affected by the perceived severity of total workload imbalance. By hierarchical regression analysis, the associations between work-family balance and diurnal salivary cortisol levels by sex in academic physicians (n = 40) were investigated. Men physicians reported more paid work hours per week than women physicians and women more time in childcare, but their total working hours were similar. Controlling for sex and age, the mean of the diurnal cortisol release was associated with a combined effect of sex and responsibility at home. When morning cortisol, sex, and children at home were held constant, cortisol levels in the evening were associated with responsibility at home without significant gender interaction. With increasing responsibility at home, women and men reacted differently with regard to cortisol responses over the day. However, in the evening, controlling for the morning cortisol, these gender differences were not as obvious. These findings highlight traditional gender patterns among both women and men physicians in the challenge of finding a balance between work and family.

Applying evolutionary psychology to a serious game about children's interpersonal conflict.

PubMed

Ingram, Gordon P D; Campos, Joana; Hondrou, Charline; Vasalou, Asimina; Martinho, Carlos; Joinson, Adam

2012-12-20

This article describes the use of evolutionary psychology to inform the design of a serious computer game aimed at improving 9-12-year-old children's conflict resolution skills. The design of the game will include dynamic narrative generation and emotional tagging, and there is a strong evolutionary rationale for the effect of both of these on conflict resolution. Gender differences will also be taken into consideration in designing the game. In interview research in schools in three countries (Greece, Portugal, and the UK) aimed at formalizing the game requirements, we found that gender differences varied in the extent to which they applied cross-culturally. Across the three countries, girls were less likely to talk about responding to conflict with physical aggression, talked more about feeling sad about conflict and about conflicts over friendship alliances, and talked less about conflicts in the context of sports or games. Predicted gender differences in anger and reconciliation were not found. Results are interpreted in terms of differing underlying models of friendship that are motivated by parental investment theory. This research will inform the design of the themes that we use in game scenarios for both girls and boys.

Voice gender discrimination provides a measure of more than pitch-related perception in cochlear implant users

PubMed Central

Li, Tianhao; Fu, Qian-Jie

2013-01-01

Objectives (1) To investigate whether voice gender discrimination (VGD) could be a useful indicator of the spectral and temporal processing abilities of individual cochlear implant (CI) users; (2) To examine the relationship between VGD and speech recognition with CI when comparable acoustic cues are used for both perception processes. Design VGD was measured using two talker sets with different inter-gender fundamental frequencies (F0), as well as different acoustic CI simulations. Vowel and consonant recognition in quiet and noise were also measured and compared with VGD performance. Study sample Eleven postlingually deaf CI users. Results The results showed that (1) mean VGD performance differed for different stimulus sets, (2) VGD and speech recognition performance varied among individual CI users, and (3) individual VGD performance was significantly correlated with speech recognition performance under certain conditions. Conclusions VGD measured with selected stimulus sets might be useful for assessing not only pitch-related perception, but also spectral and temporal processing by individual CI users. In addition to improvements in spectral resolution and modulation detection, the improvement in higher modulation frequency discrimination might be particularly important for CI users in noisy environments. PMID:21696330

Maternal supplementation with an excess of different fat sources during pregnancy and lactation differentially affects feeding behavior in offspring: putative role of the leptin system.

PubMed

Sánchez, Juana; Priego, Teresa; García, Ana Paula; Llopis, Marina; Palou, Mariona; Picó, Catalina; Palou, Andreu

2012-11-01

This study investigates the lasting effects of maternal supplementation with different fat sources during pregnancy and lactation on feeding behavior and energy homeostasis of their offspring, and its relation to hypothetical effects in the development of main central structures involved in leptin signaling. Offspring of dams supplemented with olive oil, butter, or margarine during late pregnancy and lactation were fed with normal fat (NF) diet until 4-month-old, and then with NF or high fat (HF) diet until 6-month-old. Results showed that 21-day-old margarine group pups presented a higher cell number in the arcuate nucleus (ARC) (females) and higher hypothalamic ObRb/SOCS3 mRNA ratio (males). In adulthood, and under HF diet, they displayed a lower body weight (both genders) and body fat (males) than the butter group, a lower preference for fat food (both genders), and lower leptin levels than the olive oil (both genders) and butter (males) groups. Maternal supplementation with different fat sources during the perinatal period may affect the development of hypothalamic structures and hence predisposition to obesity. Margarine, compared with other fats, may program the offspring for increased leptin sensitivity and a lower preference for fat food, thus providing relative protection against body weight gain in adulthood, particularly under an obesogenic environment. © 2012 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

The Role of Self-esteem and Fear of Negative Evaluation in Compulsive Buying

PubMed Central

Biolcati, Roberta

2017-01-01

Compulsive buying is a relatively new addictive disorder that interferes with everyday functioning and may result in serious psychological and financial problems (1). A very few data are currently available regarding this behavioral addiction. This study investigated gender differences in the relationships between contingent self-esteem (CSE), fear of negative evaluation (FNE), and compulsive buying. Participants included 240 Italian adults (170 females, M age = 33.80) who responded to self-report questionnaires. The results showed that women scored higher on CSE and FNE scales than men. No gender differences were found in compulsive buying tendencies. CSE and FNE were positively related to CB. Furthermore, structural equation modeling confirmed the evidence on CSE as a strong predictor of CB for both genders. Interestingly, FNE seems to play a mediating role between CSE and compulsive buying behaviors only for women. These findings highlight the importance of studying self-esteem in compulsive buying tendencies to inquire more deeply into the underlying mechanisms of some compulsive behaviors. PMID:28512435

Estrogen Contributes to Gender Differences in Mouse Ventricular Repolarization

PubMed Central

Saito, Tomoaki; Ciobotaru, Andrea; Bopassa, Jean Chrisostome; Toro, Ligia; Stefani, Enrico; Eghbali, Mansoureh

2010-01-01

Rationale Fast-transient outward K+ (Ito,f) and ultra-rapid delayed rectifier K+ currents (IKur or IK,slow) contribute to mouse cardiac repolarization. Gender studies on these currents have reported conflicting results. Objective One key missing piece information in these studies is the animals’ estral stage. We decided to revisit gender-related differences in K+ currents, taking into consideration the females’ estral stage. Methods and Results We hypothesized that changes in estrogen levels during the estral cycle could play a role in determining the densities of K+ currents underlying ventricular repolarization. Peak total K+ current (IK,total) densities (pA/pF, at +40 mV) were much higher in males (48.6±3.0) than in females at estrus (27.2±2.3) but not at diestrus-2 (39.1±3.4). Underlying this change, Ito,f and IK,slow were lower in females at estrus vs males and diestrus-2 (IK,slow: male 21.9±1.8, estrus 14.6±0.6, diestrus-2 20.3±1.4; Ito,f: male 26.8±1.9, estrus 14.9±1.6, diestrus-2 22.1±2.1). The lower IK,slow in estrus was only due to IK,slow1 reduction without changes of IK,slow2. Estrogen treatment of ovariectomized mice decreased IK,total (46.4±3.0 to 28.4±1.6), Ito,f (26.6±1.6 to 12.8±1.0) and IK,slow (22.2±1.6 to 17.2±1.4). Transcript levels of Kv4.3 and Kv1.5 (underlying Ito,f and IK,slow, respectively) were lower in estrus vs. diestrus-2 and male. In ovariectomized mice, estrogen treatment resulted in downregulation of Kv4.3 and Kv1.5, but not Kv4.2, KChIP2 and Kv2.1 transcripts. K+ current reduction in high estrogenic conditions were associated with prolongation of the action potential duration and corrected QT interval. Conclusion Downregulation of Kv4.3 and Kv1.5 transcripts by estrogen are one mechanism defining gender-related differences in mouse ventricular repolarization. PMID:19608983

Gender differences in delayed-type hypersensitivity response: effects of stress and coping in first-year law students.

PubMed

Flynn, Sarah McQueary; Schipper, Lindsey J; Roach, Abbey R; Segerstrom, Suzanne C

2009-07-01

Law students show significant deficits in emotional and physical well-being compared with groups of students in other areas of higher education. Furthermore, evidence suggests that these effects may be worse for women than for men. The use of active coping can positively affect immunity under stress, but this may be most true for men in the context of law school. The current study examined the delayed-type hypersensitivity (DTH) skin responses of first-year law students (n=121) and a comparison group (n=30). Students' health behaviors, self-evaluative emotions, and coping strategies were also reported. Male law students had larger DTH responses than females, but this gender effect was not present in the comparison group. Endorsement of perseverance under stress (n=19), an active coping strategy, moderated the gender effect on immunity. Perseverance associated with larger DTH responses and more positive self-evaluative emotion, but only among men. These results indicate that active coping may be less efficacious for women than for men in law school, which in turn may limit women's opportunities to attenuate negative effects of law school.

Closing the Gender Gap: Act Now

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

OECD Publishing (NJ3), 2012

2012-01-01

Gender gaps are pervasive in all walks of economic life and imply large losses in terms of foregone productivity and living standards to the individuals concerned and the economy. This new OECD report focuses on how best to close these gender gaps under four broad headings: (1) Gender equality, social norms and public policies; and gender equality…

Gender Inequity Associated with Increased Child Physical Abuse and Neglect: a Cross-Country Analysis of Population-Based Surveys and Country-Level Statistics.

PubMed

Klevens, Joanne; Ports, Katie A

2017-11-01

Gender inequity is proposed as a societal-level risk factor for child maltreatment. However, most cross-national research examining this association is limited to developing countries and has used limited measures of gender inequity and child homicides as a proxy for child maltreatment. To examine the relationship between gender inequity and child maltreatment, we used caregivers' reported use of severe physical punishment (proxy for physical abuse) and children under 5 left alone or under the care of another child younger than 10 years of age (supervisory neglect) and three indices of gender inequity (the Social and Institutional Gender Index, the Gender Inequality Index, and the Gender Gap Index) from 57 countries, over half of which were developing countries. We found all three gender inequity indices to be significantly associated with physical abuse and two of the three to be significantly associated with neglect, after controlling for country-level development. Based on these findings, efforts to prevent child abuse and neglect might benefit from reducing gender inequity.

[Gender dysphoria in children and adolescents - treatment guidelines and follow-up study].

PubMed

Meyenburg, Bernd; Kröger, Anne; Neugebauer, Rebecca

2015-01-01

Treatment guidelines for transidentity in children and adolescents are presently under discussion. We present an overview of the various treatment modalities. Further, follow-up data on children and adolescents referred for gender-identity problems are presented. Of the 84 patients seen for the first time more than 3 years before follow-up, 37 mailed in the completed questionnaires. In addition, 33 patients agreed to answer some short follow-up questions. We assessed steps of treatment, gender role, psychopathology, and psychotherapy. We compared differences in psychopathology in patients with vs. without gender role change and in patients with intense vs. less intense psychotherapy. A total of 22 patients had completely changed gender role, and some had started hormonal treatment und sex reassignment surgery. Most patients were satisfied with the treatment results. All patients showed less psychopathology on follow-up, independent of role change or intensity of psychotherapy. In general, the patients reported little psychopathology. Our follow-up results support the present treatment approach. In patients with little psychopathology, low-frequency supportive treatment appears sufficient to obtain safe judgement on hormonal of surgical treatment.

Project on Elite Athlete Commitment (PEAK): III. An examination of the external validity across gender, and the expansion and clarification of the Sport Commitment Model.

PubMed

Scanlan, Tara K; Russell, David G; Magyar, T Michelle; Scanlan, Larry A

2009-12-01

The Sport Commitment Model was further tested using the Scanlan Collaborative Interview Method to examine its generalizability to New Zealand's elite female amateur netball team, the Silver Ferns. Results supported or clarified Sport Commitment Model predictions, revealed avenues for model expansion, and elucidated the functions of perceived competence and enjoyment in the commitment process. A comparison and contrast of the in-depth interview data from the Silver Ferns with previous interview data from a comparable elite team of amateur male athletes allowed assessment of model external validity, tested the generalizability of the underlying mechanisms, and separated gender differences from discrepancies that simply reflected team or idiosyncratic differences.

Girls Just Want to Know Where to Have Fun: Preventing Substance Use Initiation in an Under-Resourced Community in South Africa Through HealthWise

PubMed Central

Caldwell, Linda; Wegner, Lisa; Smith, Edward; Jones, Damon

2016-01-01

This study examined how the perception of the availability of leisure opportunities may prevent substance use initiation through HealthWise, a school-based program focused on reducing risky behavior. In this study, we specifically focused on whether HealthWise increased student perceptions of leisure opportunities between 8th grade and 10th grade (N = 5610) in an under-resourced community in South Africa. Path analyses were used to test hypotheses. Given gender differences in substance use patterns, societal norms, and leisure opportunities in under-resourced communities, such as the townships of Cape Town, South Africa, it was especially important to examine associations within each gender. Results suggested that HealthWise directly reduced the likelihood of initiating alcohol and cigarette use and increased the amount of perceived leisure opportunities among girls but not boys. Perceived leisure opportunities mediated the effect of HealthWise on reducing the initiation of alcohol and cigarette use directly, and marijuana use indirectly, among girls but not boys. This is the first study to demonstrate how experimentally targeting leisure through an intervention can increase perceived leisure opportunities and thereby prevent early substance use initiation for a specific population. The importance of considering the context of gender, age, and location is discussed. PMID:27129478

Gender differences in sexuality: a meta-analysis.

PubMed

Oliver, M B; Hyde, J S

1993-07-01

This meta-analysis surveyed 177 usable sources that reported data on gender differences on 21 different measures of sexual attitudes and behaviors. The largest gender difference was in incidence of masturbation: Men had the greater incidence (d = .96). There was also a large gender difference in attitudes toward casual sex: Males had considerably more permissive attitudes (d = .81). There were no gender differences in attitudes toward homosexuality or in sexual satisfaction. Most other gender differences were in the small-to-moderate range. Gender differences narrowed from the 1960s to the 1980s for many variables. Chodorow's neoanalytic theory, sociobiology, social learning theory, social role theory, and script theory are discussed in relation to these findings.

Derivation of gender and age-specific reference intervals from fully normal Japanese individuals and the implications for health screening.

PubMed

Yamakado, Minoru; Ichihara, Kiyoshi; Matsumoto, Yoshiyuki; Ishikawa, Yoshiki; Kato, Kiminori; Komatsubara, Yusuke; Takaya, Norihide; Tomita, Shohken; Kawano, Reo; Takada, Keisuke; Watanabe, Kiyoaki

2015-07-20

With nationwide standardization of laboratory tests among institutions for health screening in Japan, common reference intervals (RIs) were derived from records of 1,500,000 health check attendees. Targets were 20 basic laboratory tests including body mass index (BMI) and systolic and diastolic blood pressures (SBP, DBP). Individuals fulfilling the following strict criteria were chosen: SBP<130, DBP<85mmHg, BMI<25kg/m(2), non-smoking, ethanol consumption<20g/day and under no mediation with no remarkable current/past illnesses. The latent abnormal values exclusion (LAVE) method was applied to ensure fully normal results. RIs were derived by parametric method using modified Box-Cox power transformation. Among all attendees, 23% fulfilled the criteria. Application of the LAVE method further reduced the dataset by 40%-50%. Age-related charts of test results differed greatly between genders in almost all tests. Comparison of derived RIs with clinical decision limits (CDLs) revealed that the upper limits of RIs differed from CDLs according to gender and age. Implementation of gender and age-specific RIs derived from individuals with fully normal health attributes will (1) enable appropriate interpretation of test results in health screening and (2) promote judicious application of CDLs for therapeutic intervention, taking into account gender, age and other health attributes. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Gender differences in climacteric symptoms and associated factors in Korean men and women.

PubMed

Yeom, Hyun-E

2018-06-01

Both men and women may experience multifaceted symptoms that are part of natural aging throughout the climacteric period. This study compared the prevalence and severity of climacteric symptoms between genders and identified the underlying clusters of climacteric symptoms and associated factors in midlife men and women. A cross-sectional study was done with 254 middle-aged Korean men (n = 129, M = 50.4) and women (n = 125, M = 49.5). Data were collected by self-administered surveys and analyzed using t-tests, chi-square tests, exploratory factor analysis, and regression analysis. Significant gender differences in overall climacteric symptoms were not detected except for muscle weakness, weight gain, and hot flashes. Climacteric symptoms were clustered as physical, vasomotor-genital, psychological, and metabolic dimensions, with the physical dimension being the most explanatory cluster. A significant gender effect was found only in the metabolic dimension after adjusting for the relevant covariates, and regular eating was significantly associated with all symptom clusters. This study offers evidence that most climacteric symptoms are shared by both men and women and emphasizes the importance of healthier lifestyles in the climacteric transition period. The findings highlight the critical need for integrated assessments of the multifactorial symptoms and of modifying poor lifestyles in both genders throughout the climacteric transition period. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Family Change and Gender Differences: Implications for Theory and Practice.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hare-Mustin, Rachel T.

1988-01-01

Examines theories of gender differences. Discusses alpha bias, exaggeration of gender opposition, as characteristic of psychodynamic and sex role theories; and beta bias, denial of gender differences, as evident in systems theories. Calls for new model of gender differences which recognizes asymmetry in women's and men's roles and…

Romantic ideals, mate preferences, and anticipation of future difficulties in marital life: a comparative study of young adults in India and America

PubMed Central

Bejanyan, Kathrine; Marshall, Tara C.; Ferenczi, Nelli

2014-01-01

Previous studies have established that Indians tend to be greater in collectivism and gender role traditionalism than Americans. The purpose of the present study was to examine whether these differences explained further cultural differences in romantic beliefs, traditional mate preferences, and anticipation of future difficulties in marital life. Results revealed that Indians reported greater collectivism than Americans and, in turn, held stronger romantic beliefs. Additionally, Indians' greater collectivism and endorsement of more traditional gender roles in part predicted their preferences for a marital partner possessing traditional characteristics, and fully accounted for their heightened concerns about encountering future difficulties in marital life. These results shed light on the processes underlying cultural differences in relationship attitudes and preferences, and point to culture-specific therapies to enhance marital functioning. PMID:25520681

Importance of race-ethnicity: An exploration of Asian, Black, Latino, and Multiracial adolescent identity

PubMed Central

Charmaraman, Linda; Grossman, Jennifer M.

2010-01-01

This mixed-method study used a grounded theory approach to explore the meanings underlying the importance adolescents attach to their racial-ethnic identities. The sample consisted of 923 9th–12th grade students from Black, Latino, Asian, and Multiracial backgrounds. Thematic findings identified a broad range of explanations for adolescents’ racial-ethnic centrality, ranging from pride and cultural connection to ambivalence and colorblind attitudes. While racial-ethnic groups differed in reported levels of racial-ethnic centrality, few group differences were identified in participants’ thematic explanations, with the exception of racial-ethnic and gender differences for Positive Regard and Disengagement. These findings highlight the diversity of meanings adolescents attribute to their racial-ethnic centrality as well as the many commonalities among adolescents across gender and racial-ethnic groups. PMID:20438152

Personality and gender differences in global perspective.

PubMed

Schmitt, David P; Long, Audrey E; McPhearson, Allante; O'Brien, Kirby; Remmert, Brooke; Shah, Seema H

2017-12-01

Men's and women's personalities appear to differ in several respects. Social role theories of development assume gender differences result primarily from perceived gender roles, gender socialization and sociostructural power differentials. As a consequence, social role theorists expect gender differences in personality to be smaller in cultures with more gender egalitarianism. Several large cross-cultural studies have generated sufficient data for evaluating these global personality predictions. Empirically, evidence suggests gender differences in most aspects of personality-Big Five traits, Dark Triad traits, self-esteem, subjective well-being, depression and values-are conspicuously larger in cultures with more egalitarian gender roles, gender socialization and sociopolitical gender equity. Similar patterns are evident when examining objectively measured attributes such as tested cognitive abilities and physical traits such as height and blood pressure. Social role theory appears inadequate for explaining some of the observed cultural variations in men's and women's personalities. Evolutionary theories regarding ecologically-evoked gender differences are described that may prove more useful in explaining global variation in human personality. © 2016 International Union of Psychological Science.

Gender in facial representations: a contrast-based study of adaptation within and between the sexes.

PubMed

Oruç, Ipek; Guo, Xiaoyue M; Barton, Jason J S

2011-01-18

Face aftereffects are proving to be an effective means of examining the properties of face-specific processes in the human visual system. We examined the role of gender in the neural representation of faces using a contrast-based adaptation method. If faces of different genders share the same representational face space, then adaptation to a face of one gender should affect both same- and different-gender faces. Further, if these aftereffects differ in magnitude, this may indicate distinct gender-related factors in the organization of this face space. To control for a potential confound between physical similarity and gender, we used a Bayesian ideal observer and human discrimination data to construct a stimulus set in which pairs of different-gender faces were equally dissimilar as same-gender pairs. We found that the recognition of both same-gender and different-gender faces was suppressed following a brief exposure of 100 ms. Moreover, recognition was more suppressed for test faces of a different-gender than those of the same-gender as the adaptor, despite the equivalence in physical and psychophysical similarity. Our results suggest that male and female faces likely occupy the same face space, allowing transfer of aftereffects between the genders, but that there are special properties that emerge along gender-defining dimensions of this space.

Gender inequality in Russia: the perspective of participatory gender budgeting.

PubMed

Zakirova, Venera

2014-11-01

Gender-based discrimination is found in all economies in the world. Women's unpaid work accounts for about half of the world GDP, yet women remain under-valued and under-represented in national policies worldwide. The question of gender budgeting and citizens' participation in budgeting and governance processes has gained attention in recent years, but Russia is far from implementing these. Instead, blindness to gender issues dominates in national strategies and budgets. This paper explores these issues and looks in-depth at them in the decentralisation process in Bashkortostan, a central Russian republic. Civil society institutions whose role is to strengthen the links between government, civil society and the community in Bashkortostan, such as Public Chambers and Municipalities, lack the capacity to introduce participatory gender budgeting. As a result, no systematic participatory planning, let alone planning that is gender-sensitive, has taken place there. Copyright © 2014 Reproductive Health Matters. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Family physician perceptions of working with LGBTQ patients: physician training needs

PubMed Central

Beagan, Brenda; Fredericks, Erin; Bryson, Mary

2015-01-01

Background Medical students and physicians report feeling under-prepared for working with patients who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender or queer (LGBTQ). Understanding physician perceptions of this area of practice may aid in developing improved education. Method In-depth interviews with 24 general practice physicians in Halifax and Vancouver, Canada, were used to explore whether, when and how the gender identity and sexual orientation of LGBTQ women were relevant to good care. Inductive thematic analysis was conducted using ATLAS.ti data analysis software. Results Three major themes emerged: 1) Some physicians perceived that sexual/gender identity makes little or no difference; treating every patient as an individual while avoiding labels optimises care for everyone. 2) Some physicians perceived sexual/gender identity matters primarily for the provision of holistic care, and in order to address the effects of discrimination. 3) Some physicians perceived that sexual/gender identity both matters and does not matter, as they strove to balance the implications of social group membership with recognition of individual differences. Conclusions Physicians may be ignoring important aspects of social group memberships that affect health and health care. The authors hold that individual and socio-cultural differences are both important to the provision of quality health care. Distinct from stereotypes, generalisations about social group differences can provide valuable starting points, raising useful lines of inquiry. Emphasizing this distinction in medical education may help change physician approaches to the care of LGBTQ women. PMID:26451226

Gender differences in hypoxic acclimatization in cyclooxygenase-2-deficient mice.

PubMed

Xu, Kui; Sun, Xiaoyan; Benderro, Girriso F; Tsipis, Constantinos P; LaManna, Joseph C

2017-02-01

The aim of this study was to determine the effect of cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) gene deletion on the adaptive responses during prolonged moderate hypobaric hypoxia. Wild-type (WT) and COX-2 knockout (KO) mice of both genders (3 months old) were exposed to hypobaric hypoxia (~0.4 ATM) or normoxia for 21 days and brain capillary densities were determined. Hematocrit was measured at different time intervals; brain hypoxia-inducible factor -1 α (HIF-1 α ), angiopoietin 2 (Ang-2), brain erythropoietin (EPO), and kidney EPO were measured under normoxic and hypoxic conditions. There were no gender differences in hypoxic acclimatization in the WT mice and similar adaptive responses were observed in the female KO mice. However, the male KO mice exhibited progressive vulnerability to prolonged hypoxia. Compared to the WT and female KO mice, the male COX-2 KO mice had significantly lower survival rate and decreased erythropoietic and polycythemic responses, diminished cerebral angiogenesis, decreased brain accumulation of HIF-1 α , and attenuated upregulation of VEGF, EPO, and Ang-2 during hypoxia. Our data suggest that there are physiologically important gender differences in hypoxic acclimatization in COX-2-deficient mice. The COX-2 signaling pathway appears to be required for acclimatization in oxygen-limiting environments only in males, whereas female COX-2-deficient mice may be able to access COX-2-independent mechanisms to achieve hypoxic acclimatization. © 2017 Case Western Reserve University. Physiological Reports published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. on behalf of The Physiological Society and the American Physiological Society.

A Test of Biological and Behavioral Explanations for Gender Differences in Telomere Length: The Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis

PubMed Central

NEEDHAM, BELINDA L.; DIEZ ROUX, ANA V.; BIRD, CHLOE E.; BRADLEY, RYAN; FITZPATRICK, ANNETTE L.; JACOBS, DAVID R.; OUYANG, PAMELA; SEEMAN, TERESA E.; THURSTON, REBECCA C.; VAIDYA, DHANANJAY; WANG, STEVEN

2015-01-01

The purpose of this study was to examine biological and behavioral explanations for gender differences in leukocyte telomere length (LTL), a biomarker of cell aging that has been hypothesized to contribute to women’s greater longevity. Data are from a subsample (n = 851) of the Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis, a population-based study of women and men aged 45 to 84. Mediation models were used to examine study hypotheses. We found that women had longer LTL than men, but the gender difference was smaller at older ages. Gender differences in smoking and processed meat consumption partially mediated gender differences in telomere length, whereas gender differences in estradiol, total testosterone, oxidative stress, and body mass index did not. Neither behavioral nor biological factors explained why the gender difference in LTL was smaller at older ages. Longitudinal studies are needed to assess gender differences in the rate of change in LTL over time; to identify the biological, behavioral, and psychosocial factors that contribute to these differences throughout the life course; and to determine whether gender differences in LTL explain the gender gap in longevity. PMID:25343364

A test of biological and behavioral explanations for gender differences in telomere length: the multi-ethnic study of atherosclerosis.

PubMed

Needham, Belinda L; Diez Roux, Ana V; Bird, Chloe E; Bradley, Ryan; Fitzpatrick, Annette L; Jacobs, David R; Ouyang, Pamela; Seeman, Teresa E; Thurston, Rebecca C; Vaidya, Dhananjay; Wang, Steven

2014-01-01

The purpose of this study was to examine biological and behavioral explanations for gender differences in leukocyte telomere length (LTL), a biomarker of cell aging that has been hypothesized to contribute to women's greater longevity. Data are from a subsample (n = 851) of the Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis, a population-based study of women and men aged 45 to 84. Mediation models were used to examine study hypotheses. We found that women had longer LTL than men, but the gender difference was smaller at older ages. Gender differences in smoking and processed meat consumption partially mediated gender differences in telomere length, whereas gender differences in estradiol, total testosterone, oxidative stress, and body mass index did not. Neither behavioral nor biological factors explained why the gender difference in LTL was smaller at older ages. Longitudinal studies are needed to assess gender differences in the rate of change in LTL over time; to identify the biological, behavioral, and psychosocial factors that contribute to these differences throughout the life course; and to determine whether gender differences in LTL explain the gender gap in longevity.

Emotions under discussion: gender, status and communication in online collaboration.

PubMed

Iosub, Daniela; Laniado, David; Castillo, Carlos; Fuster Morell, Mayo; Kaltenbrunner, Andreas

2014-01-01

Despite the undisputed role of emotions in teamwork, not much is known about the make-up of emotions in online collaboration. Publicly available repositories of collaboration data, such as Wikipedia editor discussions, now enable the large-scale study of affect and dialogue in peer production. We investigate the established Wikipedia community and focus on how emotion and dialogue differ depending on the status, gender, and the communication network of the [Formula: see text] editors who have written at least 100 comments on the English Wikipedia's article talk pages. Emotions are quantified using a word-based approach comparing the results of two predefined lexicon-based methods: LIWC and SentiStrength. We find that administrators maintain a rather neutral, impersonal tone, while regular editors are more emotional and relationship-oriented, that is, they use language to form and maintain connections to other editors. A persistent gender difference is that female contributors communicate in a manner that promotes social affiliation and emotional connection more than male editors, irrespective of their status in the community. Female regular editors are the most relationship-oriented, whereas male administrators are the least relationship-focused. Finally, emotional and linguistic homophily is prevalent: editors tend to interact with other editors having similar emotional styles (e.g., editors expressing more anger connect more with one another). Emotional expression and linguistic style in online collaboration differ substantially depending on the contributors' gender and status, and on the communication network. This should be taken into account when analyzing collaborative success, and may prove insightful to communities facing gender gap and stagnation in contributor acquisition and participation levels.

Challenging Discourse Themes Reproducing Gender in Heterosexual Dating: An Analog Study.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Gilbert, Lucia Albino; Walker, Sarah J.; McKinney, Sherry; Snell, Jessica L.

1999-01-01

Investigated whether male sexual drive discourse themes in heterosexual dating could be reproduced in a laboratory and whether those themes could be disrupted via laboratory intervention. Single, heterosexual college students role played various dating scenarios under differing conditions (dominant discourse themes and disrupted dominant discourse…

Educational Expansion and Inequality in Taiwan and the Czech Republic

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Smith, Michael; Tsai, Shu-Ling; Mateju, Petr; Huang, Min-Hsiung

2016-01-01

This article presents a comparative analysis of educational inequality by family background and gender in Taiwan and the Czech Republic, which have both experienced substantial educational expansion in the last half-century under different educational systems. We highlight the specific institutional histories of both countries and examine the role…

In Canada: Under the Rainbow

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Robertson, Heather-jane

2005-01-01

Inclusive education seeks to provide a welcoming environment for all students, not by ignoring gender, race, disability, or sexual identities, but by recognizing and validating difference. It is precisely this validation that alarms those who are attempting to rein in schools that have initiated anti-heterosexist programs. But no one is satisfied…

Five Excellent Resources on Sexuality and Religious Education

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kissel-Ito, Cindy L.

2007-01-01

A preliminary search of the Internet reveals the multiplicity of issues addressed under the topic of sexuality and education. Terms such as gender identity, sexual orientation, women's health, abuse, abstinence, education of children, teens, and parents, HIV/AIDS, morality and sexual ethics indicate the many different dimensions of contemporary…

Where the Women Aren't: Gender Differences in the Use of LGBT Resources on College Campuses

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Westbrook, Laurel

2009-01-01

LGBT campus resources are vital for many LGBT college students' wellbeing and academic success. In this article, I explore what factors may cause different groups under the LGBT umbrella to be included in or excluded from use of LGBT campus resources. I examine patterns of participation at two college campuses: one where women wanted access to…

New York State Residential Treatment Center Admissions: Differences in Histories of Maltreatment, Behavioral Problems, and Mental Health Problems

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Baker, Amy J. L.; Purcell, James F.

2005-01-01

This study explored how the histories of young people entering residential treatment in New York State varied depending upon the age and gender of the residents. Specifically, we asked whether children who were admitted to residential treatment centers (RTCs) under 12 years of age had a different set of characteristics than young persons who were…

The Gender Confidence Gap in Fractions Knowledge: Gender Differences in Student Belief-Achievement Relationships

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ross, John A.; Scott, Garth; Bruce, Catherine D.

2012-01-01

Recent research demonstrates that in many countries gender differences in mathematics achievement have virtually disappeared. Expectancy-value theory and social cognition theory both predict that if gender differences in achievement have declined there should be a similar decline in gender differences in self-beliefs. Extant literature is…

The study on facial soft tissue thickness using Han population in Xinjiang.

PubMed

Wang, Jierui; Zhao, Xi; Mi, Congbo; Raza, Iqbal

2016-09-01

Facial profile is an important aspect in physical anthropology, forensic science, and cosmetic research. Thus, facial soft tissue measurement technology plays a significant role in facial restoration. A considerable amount of work has investigated facial soft tissue thickness, which significantly varies according to gender, age, and race. However, only few studies have considered the nutritional status of the investigated individuals. Moreover, no sufficient research among Chinese ethnic groups, particularly Xinjiang population in China, is currently available. Hence, the current study investigated the adaptability of facial soft tissue to the underlying hard tissue among young adults of Han population in Xinjiang, China; the analysis was performed on the basis of gender, skeletal class, and body mass index (BMI). Measurements were obtained from the lateral cephalometric radiographs of 256 adults aged 18-26 years old. Differences in soft tissue thickness were observed between genders and among skeletal classes. With regard to gender, significant differences in soft tissue thickness were found at rhinion, glabella, subnasale, stomion, labrale superius, pogonion, and gnathion among different BMI groups. Thus, nutritional status should be considered when reconstructing an individual's facial profile. Results showed that the thinnest and thickest craniofacial soft tissues existed in rhinion and lip regions, respectively. Overall, this research provides valuable data for forensic facial reconstruction and identification of young adults in Xinjiang, China. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

[Gender-specific influences on incidence, screening, treatment, and outcome of colorectal cancer].

PubMed

Grundmann, R T; Meyer, F

2013-08-01

This overview comments on potential gender-specific differences in incidence, anatomic site, screening, treatment, and outcome in patients with colorectal cancer (CRC). For the literature review, the Medline database (PubMed) was searched under the key words "colorectal carcinoma AND gender" and "gender differences AND colorectal cancer". Publications of the last 9 years (2005-2013) were firstly retrieved. CRC is more commonly observed in men than in women, with the higher tumour risk for men being limited to the distal colon and rectum. Risk factors for the development of CRC include overweight and obesity, this relationship is more pronounced for men than for women. The extent to which gender is a prognostic factor for patient survival is controversial. A better survival of women compared to men is found especially in the younger age groups, from which can be derived a protective effect of oestrogens on the development of CRC. As for the frequency with which men and women undergo a screening of CRC, sometimes higher screening rates have been reported for men than women, however, the socio-economic status of persons invited to participate has much more influence on screening attendance than gender. An analysis of surgical procedures indicates that it is more difficult to perform the low anterior resection of the rectum in men than women, with the result that men managed by less experienced surgeons are more likely to receive abdominoperineal excision. Furthermore, the risk of anastomotic leakage is higher in men than women. The essential gender difference, however, is the longer life expectancy of women compared to men which has been not always clearly (risk adjusted) elaborated in the studies available so far. This difference alone can already explain at a high rate the poorer prognosis of right-sided colon cancers compared to left-sided cancers. Comparable levels of CRC risk are reached in women as compared to men at a higher age. This may influence the effectiveness of screening programmes and has not been sufficiently examined. Evidence suggests the adaptation of screening recommendations to this fact. Georg Thieme Verlag KG Stuttgart · New York.

Maintaining distinctions under threat: heterosexual men endorse the biological theory of sexuality when equality is the norm.

PubMed

Falomir-Pichastor, Juan M; Hegarty, Peter

2014-12-01

According to social identity theory, group members sometimes react to threats to their group's distinctiveness by asserting the distinctiveness of their group. In four studies (n = 261) we tested the hypothesis that heterosexual men with a greater propensity to be threatened by homosexuality would react to egalitarian norms by endorsing biological theories of sexuality. Heterosexual men, but not women, with narrow prototypes of their gender in-group endorsed biological theories the most (Study 1). Heterosexual men with higher gender self-esteem, with heterosexist attitudes, who endorsed traditional gender roles, and with narrow prototypes of their gender in-group, endorsed the biological theories more when egalitarian norms rather than anti-egalitarian norms (Studies 2 and 3) or pro-minority ideologies that emphasized group differences (Study 4) were made salient. These findings show group-level reactive distinctiveness among members of a high-status group in a context of threat to the unique privileges that they once enjoyed. © 2013 The British Psychological Society.

Gendered Pathways: How Mathematics Ability Beliefs Shape Secondary and Postsecondary Course and Degree Field Choices

PubMed Central

Perez-Felkner, Lara; Nix, Samantha; Thomas, Kirby

2017-01-01

Do mathematics ability beliefs explain gender gaps in the physical science, engineering, mathematics, and computer science fields (PEMC) and other science fields? We leverage U.S. nationally representative longitudinal data to estimate gendered differences in girls' and boys' perceptions of mathematics ability with the most difficult or challenging material. Our analyses examine the potentially interacting effects of gender and these ability beliefs on students' pathways to scientific careers. Specifically, we study how beliefs about ability with challenging mathematics influence girls' and boys' choices to pursue PEMC degrees, evaluating educational milestones over a 6-year period: advanced science course completion in secondary school and postsecondary major retention and selection. Our findings indicate even at the same levels of observed ability, girls' mathematics ability beliefs under challenge are markedly lower than those of boys. These beliefs matter over time, potentially tripling girls' chances of majoring in PEMC sciences, over and above biological science fields, all else being equal. Implications and potential interventions are discussed. PMID:28428762

Gendered Pathways: How Mathematics Ability Beliefs Shape Secondary and Postsecondary Course and Degree Field Choices.

PubMed

Perez-Felkner, Lara; Nix, Samantha; Thomas, Kirby

2017-01-01

Do mathematics ability beliefs explain gender gaps in the physical science, engineering, mathematics, and computer science fields (PEMC) and other science fields? We leverage U.S. nationally representative longitudinal data to estimate gendered differences in girls' and boys' perceptions of mathematics ability with the most difficult or challenging material. Our analyses examine the potentially interacting effects of gender and these ability beliefs on students' pathways to scientific careers. Specifically, we study how beliefs about ability with challenging mathematics influence girls' and boys' choices to pursue PEMC degrees, evaluating educational milestones over a 6-year period: advanced science course completion in secondary school and postsecondary major retention and selection. Our findings indicate even at the same levels of observed ability, girls' mathematics ability beliefs under challenge are markedly lower than those of boys. These beliefs matter over time, potentially tripling girls' chances of majoring in PEMC sciences, over and above biological science fields, all else being equal. Implications and potential interventions are discussed.

Sex differences in anxiety and emotional behavior

PubMed Central

Donner, Nina C.; Lowry, Christopher A.

2013-01-01

Research has elucidated causal links between stress exposure and the development of anxiety disorders, but due to the limited use of female or sex-comparative animal models, little is known about the mechanisms underlying sex differences in those disorders. This is despite an overwhelming wealth of evidence from the clinical literature that the prevalence of anxiety disorders is about twice as high in women compared to men, in addition to gender differences in severity and treatment efficacy. We here review human gender differences in generalized anxiety disorder, panic disorder, posttraumatic stress disorder and anxiety-relevant biological functions, discuss the limitations of classic conflict anxiety tests to measure naturally occurring sex differences in anxiety-like behaviors, describe sex-dependent manifestation of anxiety states after gestational, neonatal, or adolescent stressors, and present animal models of chronic anxiety states induced by acute or chronic stressors during adulthood. Potential mechanisms underlying sex differences in stress-related anxiety states include emerging evidence supporting the existence of two anatomically and functionally distinct serotonergic circuits that are related to the modulation of conflict anxiety and panic-like anxiety, respectively. We discuss how these serotonergic circuits may be controlled by reproductive steroid hormone-dependent modulation of crfr1 and crfr2 expression in the midbrain dorsal raphe nucleus and by estrous stage-dependent alterations of γ-aminobutyric acid (GABAergic) neurotransmission in the periaqueductal gray, ultimately leading to sex differences in emotional behavior. PMID:23588380

Perceived mathematical ability under challenge: a longitudinal perspective on sex segregation among STEM degree fields.

PubMed

Nix, Samantha; Perez-Felkner, Lara; Thomas, Kirby

2015-01-01

Students' perceptions of their mathematics ability vary by gender and seem to influence science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) degree choice. Related, students' perceptions during academic difficulty are increasingly studied in educational psychology, suggesting a link between such perceptions and task persistence. Despite interest in examining the gender disparities in STEM, these concepts have not been considered in tandem. In this manuscript, we investigate how perceived ability under challenge-in particular in mathematics domains-influences entry into the most sex-segregated and mathematics-intensive undergraduate degrees: physics, engineering, mathematics, and computer science (PEMC). Using nationally representative Education Longitudinal Study of 2002 (ELS) data, we estimate the influence of perceived ability under challenging conditions on advanced high school science course taking, selection of an intended STEM major, and specific major type 2 years after high school. Demonstrating the importance of specificity when discussing how gender influences STEM career pathways, the intersecting effects of gender and perceived ability under mathematics challenge were distinct for each scientific major category. Perceived ability under challenge in secondary school varied by gender, and was highly predictive of selecting PEMC and health sciences majors. Notably, women's 12th grade perceptions of their ability under mathematics challenge increased their probability of selecting PEMC majors over and above biology. In addition, gender moderated the effect of growth mindset on students' selection of health science majors. Perceptions of ability under challenge in general and verbal domains also influenced retention in and declaration of certain STEM majors. The implications of these results are discussed, with particular attention to access to advanced scientific coursework in high school and interventions aimed at enhancing young women's perceptions of their ability, in particular in response to the potentially inhibiting influence of stereotype threat on their pathways to scientific degrees.

Perceived mathematical ability under challenge: a longitudinal perspective on sex segregation among STEM degree fields

PubMed Central

Nix, Samantha; Perez-Felkner, Lara; Thomas, Kirby

2015-01-01

Students' perceptions of their mathematics ability vary by gender and seem to influence science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) degree choice. Related, students' perceptions during academic difficulty are increasingly studied in educational psychology, suggesting a link between such perceptions and task persistence. Despite interest in examining the gender disparities in STEM, these concepts have not been considered in tandem. In this manuscript, we investigate how perceived ability under challenge—in particular in mathematics domains—influences entry into the most sex-segregated and mathematics-intensive undergraduate degrees: physics, engineering, mathematics, and computer science (PEMC). Using nationally representative Education Longitudinal Study of 2002 (ELS) data, we estimate the influence of perceived ability under challenging conditions on advanced high school science course taking, selection of an intended STEM major, and specific major type 2 years after high school. Demonstrating the importance of specificity when discussing how gender influences STEM career pathways, the intersecting effects of gender and perceived ability under mathematics challenge were distinct for each scientific major category. Perceived ability under challenge in secondary school varied by gender, and was highly predictive of selecting PEMC and health sciences majors. Notably, women's 12th grade perceptions of their ability under mathematics challenge increased their probability of selecting PEMC majors over and above biology. In addition, gender moderated the effect of growth mindset on students' selection of health science majors. Perceptions of ability under challenge in general and verbal domains also influenced retention in and declaration of certain STEM majors. The implications of these results are discussed, with particular attention to access to advanced scientific coursework in high school and interventions aimed at enhancing young women's perceptions of their ability, in particular in response to the potentially inhibiting influence of stereotype threat on their pathways to scientific degrees. PMID:26113823

Why is high-risk drinking more prevalent among men than women? evidence from South Korea

PubMed Central

2012-01-01

Background It is important to identify and quantify the factors that affect gender differences in high-risk drinking (HRD), from both an academic and a policy perspective. However, little is currently known about them. This study examines these factors and estimates the percentage contribution each makes to gender differences in HRD. Methods This study analyzed information on 23,587 adults obtained from the Korea National Health and Nutrition Surveys of 1998, 2001, and 2005. It found that the prevalence of HRD was about 5 times higher among men (0.37) than women (0.08). Using a decomposition approach extended from the Oaxaca-Blinder method, we decomposed the gender difference in HRD to an "overall composition effect" (contributions due to gender differences in the distribution of observed socio-economic characteristics), and an "overall HRD-tendency effect" (contributions due to gender differences in tendencies in HRD for individuals who share socio-economic characteristics). Results The HRD-tendency effect accounted for 96% of the gender difference in HRD in South Korea, whereas gender differences in observed socio-economic characteristics explained just 4% of the difference. Notably, the gender-specific HRD-tendency effect accounts for 90% of the gender difference in HRD. Conclusion We came to a finding that gender-specific HRD tendency is the greatest contributor to gender differences in HRD. Therefore, to effective reduce HRD, it will be necessary to understand gender differences in socioeconomic characteristics between men and women but also take notice of such differences in sociocultural settings as they experience. And it will be also required to prepare any gender-differentiated intervention strategy for men and women. PMID:22304965

Gender in Facial Representations: A Contrast-Based Study of Adaptation within and between the Sexes

PubMed Central

Oruç, Ipek; Guo, Xiaoyue M.; Barton, Jason J. S.

2011-01-01

Face aftereffects are proving to be an effective means of examining the properties of face-specific processes in the human visual system. We examined the role of gender in the neural representation of faces using a contrast-based adaptation method. If faces of different genders share the same representational face space, then adaptation to a face of one gender should affect both same- and different-gender faces. Further, if these aftereffects differ in magnitude, this may indicate distinct gender-related factors in the organization of this face space. To control for a potential confound between physical similarity and gender, we used a Bayesian ideal observer and human discrimination data to construct a stimulus set in which pairs of different-gender faces were equally dissimilar as same-gender pairs. We found that the recognition of both same-gender and different-gender faces was suppressed following a brief exposure of 100ms. Moreover, recognition was more suppressed for test faces of a different-gender than those of the same-gender as the adaptor, despite the equivalence in physical and psychophysical similarity. Our results suggest that male and female faces likely occupy the same face space, allowing transfer of aftereffects between the genders, but that there are special properties that emerge along gender-defining dimensions of this space. PMID:21267414

Driver’s Cognitive Workload and Driving Performance under Traffic Sign Information Exposure in Complex Environments: A Case Study of the Highways in China

PubMed Central

Lyu, Nengchao; Xie, Lian; Wu, Chaozhong; Fu, Qiang; Deng, Chao

2017-01-01

Complex traffic situations and high driving workload are the leading contributing factors to traffic crashes. There is a strong correlation between driving performance and driving workload, such as visual workload from traffic signs on highway off-ramps. This study aimed to evaluate traffic safety by analyzing drivers’ behavior and performance under the cognitive workload in complex environment areas. First, the driving workload of drivers was tested based on traffic signs with different quantities of information. Forty-four drivers were recruited to conduct a traffic sign cognition experiment under static controlled environment conditions. Different complex traffic signs were used for applying the cognitive workload. The static experiment results reveal that workload is highly related to the amount of information on traffic signs and reaction time increases with the information grade, while driving experience and gender effect are not significant. This shows that the cognitive workload of subsequent driving experiments can be controlled by the amount of information on traffic signs; Second, driving characteristics and driving performance were analyzed under different secondary task driving workload levels using a driving simulator. Drivers were required to drive at the required speed on a designed highway off-ramp scene. The cognitive workload was controlled by reading traffic signs with different information, which were divided into four levels. Drivers had to make choices by pushing buttons after reading traffic signs. Meanwhile, the driving performance information was recorded. Questionnaires on objective workload were collected right after each driving task. The results show that speed maintenance and lane deviations are significantly different under different levels of cognitive workload, and the effects of driving experience and gender groups are significant. The research results can be used to analyze traffic safety in highway environments, while considering more drivers’ cognitive and driving performance. PMID:28218696

Gender Differences in Sustained Attentional Control Relate to Gender Inequality across Countries

PubMed Central

Riley, Elizabeth; Okabe, Hidefusa; Germine, Laura; Wilmer, Jeremy; Esterman, Michael; DeGutis, Joseph

2016-01-01

Sustained attentional control is critical for everyday tasks and success in school and employment. Understanding gender differences in sustained attentional control, and their potential sources, is an important goal of psychology and neuroscience and of great relevance to society. We used a large web-based sample (n = 21,484, from testmybrain.org) to examine gender differences in sustained attentional control. Our sample included participants from 41 countries, allowing us to examine how gender differences in each country relate to national indices of gender equality. We found significant gender differences in certain aspects of sustained attentional control. Using indices of gender equality, we found that overall sustained attentional control performance was lower in countries with less equality and that there were greater gender differences in performance in countries with less equality. These findings suggest that creating sociocultural conditions which value women and men equally can improve a component of sustained attention and reduce gender disparities in cognition. PMID:27802294

Gender Differences in Sustained Attentional Control Relate to Gender Inequality across Countries.

PubMed

Riley, Elizabeth; Okabe, Hidefusa; Germine, Laura; Wilmer, Jeremy; Esterman, Michael; DeGutis, Joseph

2016-01-01

Sustained attentional control is critical for everyday tasks and success in school and employment. Understanding gender differences in sustained attentional control, and their potential sources, is an important goal of psychology and neuroscience and of great relevance to society. We used a large web-based sample (n = 21,484, from testmybrain.org) to examine gender differences in sustained attentional control. Our sample included participants from 41 countries, allowing us to examine how gender differences in each country relate to national indices of gender equality. We found significant gender differences in certain aspects of sustained attentional control. Using indices of gender equality, we found that overall sustained attentional control performance was lower in countries with less equality and that there were greater gender differences in performance in countries with less equality. These findings suggest that creating sociocultural conditions which value women and men equally can improve a component of sustained attention and reduce gender disparities in cognition.

Gender differences in the relationship between blood pressure and body mass index during adolescence.

PubMed

Kawada, Noritaka; Nakanishi, Kaori; Ohama, Tohru; Nishida, Makoto; Yamauchi-Takihara, Keiko; Moriyama, Toshiki

2015-01-01

In adults, gender and obesity play significant roles in the regulation of blood pressure (BP). This study investigated the effects of gender and body mass index (BMI) on BP during adolescence. A cross-sectional and longitudinal study involving 6838 students under twenty years old (median, eighteen years old; male, 4624; female, 2214) at Osaka University visited the Healthcare Center for their matriculation health examination from April to May in the years 2008, 2009, and 2010, and re-visited the Healthcare Center for their student health examination from May to June in the years 2011, 2012, and 2013. Height, body weight, and BP were measured in students both on and 3 years after admission to Osaka University. On admission, the slope of the regression line for BMI and systolic BP (SBP) in non-underweight students was significantly different between genders. SBP and diastolic BP (DBP) increased in both genders during the observation period. Among male students who had a normal BMI on admission, those who had an increase in BMI of over 4% during the observation period showed a greater increase in SBP than those who had a change in BMI of -4% to 4%. On the other hand, female students showed no change in BP with the increase in BMI. The magnitude of BP elevation with increased BMI was associated with gender during adolescence. This may be a cause of the higher prevalence of hypertension in adult males. Copyright © 2014 Asian Oceanian Association for the Study of Obesity. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Gender and occupation wise knowledge, Awareness and prevention of tuberculosis among people of district Muzaffarabad AJ & K.

PubMed

Abbasi, Atif; Rafique, Muhammad; Saghir, Amir; Abbas, Kamran; Shaheen, Shabnum; Abdullah, Farooq

2016-11-01

To assess the awareness about the spread and control of tuberculosis as well as to investigate the gender and occupation wise differences among people regarding knowledge and attitude towards tuberculosis in the State of AJ & K. A cross-sectional descriptive study was conducted in district Muzaffarabad and a sample of 4000 respondents was selected by using stratified random sampling technique. The stratification was done with respect to gender and occupation. The occupation wise classification includes households, labors, and shop keepers, government employers, under graduate students of social and natural sciences, medical students and doctors. A close ended structured questionnaire was developed to collect the data and data were analyzed by using SPSS (Statistical Package for Social Sciences). Chi-Square test was used for association and Logistic Regression model was used to find out the most significant risk factors with gender. Majority of the males were more aware of tuberculosis than females regarding different aspects related to tuberculosis. The respondents from household, labors and shopkeepers have less awareness and knowledge than those who belong to other professions. The doctors and medical students have almost 100% awareness and knowledge of tuberculosis. It was examined that all the variables were associated with gender except threat, curable and transmissible. Only three variables mentioned above showed non- significant result, while all other variables were strongly associated with gender. Males were found more aware about TB than females. Moreover, the literate people were more conscious concerning the prevalence and threats of the disease.

Exploring gender perceptions of risk of HIV infection and related behaviour among elderly men and women of Ga-Rankuwa, Gauteng Province, South Africa

PubMed Central

Lekalakala-Mokgele, Eucebious

2016-01-01

Abstract The literature shows that there are important differences between women and men in the underlying mechanisms of transmission of HIV infection and AIDS, as well as in the social and economic consequences of HIV/AIDS. These stem from sexual behaviour and socially constructed ‘gender’ differences between women and men in roles and responsibilities. Despite the fact that numerous gender-related sociocultural factors influence HIV/AIDS protective behaviours, little gender specificity is included in HIV prevention among the elderly. In order to close this gap, this study explored gender-related perceptions of risk of HIV infection among elderly men and women of Ga-Rankuwa in Gauteng Province, South Africa. This qualitative study used purposive sampling to conduct three focus group interviews with 22 women and 10 men who were above 60 years of age. Findings revealed that both genders blame each other for the spreading of HIV/AIDS. Male participants displayed the tendency to have multiple partners, whereas females accepted that males are promiscuous. Mixed perceptions about disclosure of HIV status were found. Condom use was a challenge, as men did not know how to introduce it with their wives, and some female participants indicated that men are resistant to using condoms. The elderly men also believed that women will have sex in exchange for money. It is concluded that there is a need for substantial behaviour change among both elderly males and females, which should address gender power relations. More in-depth and extensive research in this area is recommended. PMID:27687151

Stepping out of the caveman's shadow: nations' gender gap predicts degree of sex differentiation in mate preferences.

PubMed

Zentner, Marcel; Mitura, Klaudia

2012-10-01

An influential explanation for gender differences in mating strategies is that the sex-specific reproductive constraints faced by human ancestors shaped these differences. Other theorists have emphasized the role of societal factors, hypothesizing, for example, that gender differences in mate preferences should wane in gender-equal societies. However, findings have been ambiguous. Using recent data and a novel measure of gender equality, we revisited the role of gender parity in gender differentiation for mate preferences. In the first study, 3,177 participants from 10 nations with a gradually decreasing Global Gender Gap Index (GGI) provided online ratings of the desirability of mate attributes with reportedly evolutionary origins. In the second study, GGI scores were related to gender differences in mate preferences previously reported for 8,953 participants from 31 nations (Buss, 1989). Both studies show that gender differences in mate preferences with presumed evolutionary roots decline proportionally to increases in nations' gender parity.

Gender differences in the relationship between social communication and emotion recognition.

PubMed

Kothari, Radha; Skuse, David; Wakefield, Justin; Micali, Nadia

2013-11-01

To investigate the association between autistic traits and emotion recognition in a large community sample of children using facial and social motion cues, additionally stratifying by gender. A general population sample of 3,666 children from the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (ALSPAC) were assessed on their ability to correctly recognize emotions using the faces subtest of the Diagnostic Analysis of Non-Verbal Accuracy, and the Emotional Triangles Task, a novel test assessing recognition of emotion from social motion cues. Children with autistic-like social communication difficulties, as assessed by the Social Communication Disorders Checklist, were compared with children without such difficulties. Autistic-like social communication difficulties were associated with poorer recognition of emotion from social motion cues in both genders, but were associated with poorer facial emotion recognition in boys only (odds ratio = 1.9, 95% CI = 1.4, 2.6, p = .0001). This finding must be considered in light of lower power to detect differences in girls. In this community sample of children, greater deficits in social communication skills are associated with poorer discrimination of emotions, implying there may be an underlying continuum of liability to the association between these characteristics. As a similar degree of association was observed in both genders on a novel test of social motion cues, the relatively good performance of girls on the more familiar task of facial emotion discrimination may be due to compensatory mechanisms. Our study might indicate the existence of a cognitive process by which girls with underlying autistic traits can compensate for their covert deficits in emotion recognition, although this would require further investigation. Copyright © 2013 American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

40 CFR 209.2 - Use of number and gender.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-07-01

... 40 Protection of Environment 26 2012-07-01 2011-07-01 true Use of number and gender. 209.2 Section... Hearings for Orders Issued Under Section 11(d) of the Noise Control Act § 209.2 Use of number and gender... masculine gender apply to the feminine and vice versa. ...

Gender differences in memory for objects and their locations: a study on automatic versus controlled encoding and retrieval contexts.

PubMed

De Goede, Maartje; Postma, Albert

2008-04-01

Object-location memory is the only spatial task where female subjects have been shown to outperform males. This result is not consistent across all studies, and may be due to the combination of the multi-component structure of object location memory with the conditions under which different studies were done. Possible gender differences in object location memory and its component object identity memory were assessed in the present study. In order to disentangle these two components, an object location memory task (in which objects had to be relocated in daily environments), and a separate object identity recognition task were carried out. This study also focused on the conditions under which object locations were encoded and retrieved. Only half of the participants were aware of the fact that object locations had to be retrieved later on. Moreover, by applying the 'process dissociation procedure' to the object location memory assessments and the 'remember-know' paradigm to the object identity measure, the amount of explicit (conscious) and implicit (unconscious) retrieval was estimated for each component. In general, females performed better than males on the object location memory task. However, when controlled for object identity memory, females no longer outperformed males, whereas they did not obtain a higher general object identity memory score, nor did they have more explicit or implicit recollection of the object identities. These complicated effects might stem from a difference between males and females, in the way locations or associations between objects and locations are retrieved. In general, participants had more explicit (conscious) recollection than implicit (unconscious) recollection. No effect of encoding context was found, nor any interaction effect of gender, encoding and retrieval context.

[Gender: new methodological approaches in guideline development].

PubMed

Weinbrenner, Susanne; Lönnfors, Sanna; Babitsch, Birgit

2010-01-01

Gender and diversity have a strong impact on health and illness as evidenced by sex and gender differences in the onset and progression of diseases as well as in diagnosis, therapy, and therapeutic outcome. The number of sex/gender-specific studies in medicine has increased steadily in recent years, indicating sex (biological) and gender (social) differences in numerous diseases. Despite this evidence, however, sex/gender differences are rarely considered in medical practice or in health systems, suggesting a delay in transferring such research into evidence-based medical treatment. Similarly, quality improvement guidelines in medical care do not systematically integrate the sex/gender perspective. Against this backdrop, this paper seeks to enumerate the necessary components of a guideline development and evaluation process that systematically integrates sex/gender differences in addition to providing a sex/gender-based methodological approach. The latter is illustrated by a pilot study in which four international guidelines on depression were selected. The sex/gender appropriateness of these guidelines was analysed using two methods: first, sex/gender-relevant words were counted; and second, relevant sex/gender differences were summarised based on a systematic literature review and then compared with the information given in the guidelines. The findings of the pilot study revealed that although strong evidence exists on sex/gender differences in depression, such research was rarely implemented in the guidelines. Given the scope and potential of guidelines to improve the quality of health care, it is essential that they consider the crucial role of sex/gender differences. To date, sex/gender differences have been insufficiently addressed in guideline development and evaluation when they should be an integral component of the process. Copyright © 2010. Published by Elsevier GmbH.

The hand that rocks the cradle should also rock the boat.

PubMed

Walker, B

1996-10-01

The Gender and Development Unit (GADU) was established in 1985 at Oxfam. The unit challenged previous development assumptions; gender analysis required recognition of inequalities based on class, caste, age, and education, as well as on gender. Personal attitudes and professional actions were scrutinized, views on how to achieve gender equity differed, and accusations of cultural imperialism were made. Currently, the organization has a gender policy that is implemented by managers; the "feminist thought police" are gone. Consolidation should occur under a new team. However, questions remain concerning organizational culture; gender roles and relations are culturally determined and culture-specific. There is great diversity in this regard within Oxfam. Some field offices have "family-friendly" policies and procedures, but the "glass ceiling," albeit higher, still exists for women. The ability to read, write, and respond quickly are valued by the work culture, and there is little time to reflect. Discursive expression is unwelcome in the presence of information overload. Both men and women are now making childcare arrangements, and one of the first items on the agenda of the GADU was a workplace nursery. Its establishment came about from "corporate management recognizing the need to look at process as well as product, and from field offices shaping their work cultures to their values." The struggle for gender equality has only changed its form.

"Boy Crisis" or "Girl Risk"? The Gender Difference in Nonsuicidal Self-Injurious Behavior Among Middle-School Students in China and its Relationship to Gender Role Conflict and Violent Experiences.

PubMed

Yang, Xueyan; Xin, Moye

2018-03-01

We attempted to test if there were gender differences in nonsuicidal self-injurious (NSSI) behaviors among Chinese middle-school students, and analyze the impact of gender role conflict and violent experiences on these behaviors among middle-school students of different genders. Based on the survey data from seven middle schools in Xi'an region of China, the gender difference in NSSI behaviors and its associated factors were analyzed in this study. There was no significant gender difference in NSSI behaviors among middle-school students; however, female middle-school students were more likely to experience gender role conflicts while male students were more likely to experience all kinds of violence earlier. Gender role conflicts and violent experiences can explain the prevalence of NSSI behaviors by gender, to some extent. The hypothesis on gender patterns of "boy crisis" or "girl risk" on NSSI prevalence was not verified; however, a "girl risk" for gender role conflicts and a "boy crisis" in violent experiences were found. The gender role conflicts were significantly associated with NSSI prevalence among middle-school students to some extent; however, this relationship was adjusted by variables of violent experiences. The different variables of violent experiences were the important predictors of NSSI prevalence among male and female middle-school students with specific contents varying across genders.

Freedom's Children: A Gender Perspective on the Education of the Learner-Citizen

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Arnot, Madeleine

2006-03-01

Drawing on Ulrich Beck's theory of "freedom's children", the present contribution examines contemporary concerns about educating young people for citizenship as well as educating them about citizenship. Under the first theme, the author focuses on the citizen as learner, highlighting some of the gender- and class-related inequalities that are typically associated with individualisation. Under the second theme, she looks at the learner as citizen in view of the fact that citizenship education courses often prepare learners for a gender-divided world - even though the processes of individualisation have themselves significantly reshaped contemporary gender relations. In light of current challenges facing citizenship education, the study concludes by reflecting on gender-related dimensions of individualisation and their implications for democracy and the learner-citizen.

Sex-Specific Effects of Gender Identification on Pain Study Recruitment.

PubMed

Mattos Feijó, Larissa; Tarman, Guliz Zeynep; Fontaine, Charlotte; Harrison, Richard; Johnstone, Tom; Salomons, Tim

2018-02-01

Epidemiological, clinical, and laboratory studies show sex differences in pain responses, with women more sensitive to nociceptive stimulation and more vulnerable to long-term pain conditions than men. Because of evidence that men are culturally reinforced for the ability to endure (or under-report) pain, some of these findings might be explained by sociocultural beliefs about gender-appropriate behavior. One potential manifestation of these effects might be differential participation in pain studies, with men adhering to stereotypical masculine roles viewing participation as a way to demonstrate their masculinity. To test this possibility, we assessed gender identification in 137 healthy participants. At the end of the assessment, they were asked if they would like to participate in other research studies. Interested participants were then asked to participate in a study involving administration of pain-evoking stimulation. We compared individuals who agreed to participate in the pain study with those who declined. We observed a significant Sex × Participation interaction in masculine gender identification, such that men (but not women) who agreed to participate identified significantly more with masculine gender. Among masculine gender traits examined, we found that high levels of aggression and competitiveness were the strongest predictors of pain study participation. Our results suggest that men in pain studies might have higher levels of masculine gender identification than the wider male population. Taken together with previous findings of lower levels of pain sensitivity (or reporting) in masculine-identifying male participants, these results suggest an explanation for some of the sex-related differences observed in pain responses. To examine whether sex and gender affect willingness to participate in pain studies, we assessed gender identification in men and women, then attempted to recruit them to participate in a pain study. Men who agree to participate in pain studies are significantly higher in masculine gender identification than men who decline to participate or women who agree to participate. Men who agreed to participate were rated particularly high in aggressiveness and competitiveness. Copyright © 2018. Published by Elsevier Inc.

Inclusion of sex and gender in biomedical research: survey of clinical research proposed at the University of Pennsylvania.

PubMed

Freeman, Anne; Stanko, Patrick; Berkowitz, Lily N; Parnell, Neanta; Zuppe, Anastasia; Bale, Tracy L; Ziolek, Tracy; Epperson, C Neill

2017-01-01

The 2015 National Institutes of Health (NIH) policy that sex be considered as a biological variable (SABV) is now a critical part of the peer-review process for NIH funding as well as publication in several high-impact scientific journals. We sought to determine the degree to which biomedical researchers at the University of Pennsylvania already consider SABV or gender in their research. We reviewed 240 research protocols approved by the University of Pennsylvania Investigational Review Board (IRB) consecutively submitted between January and July 2016. Each protocol was searched for the terms sex, gender, male, female, man, and woman and justifications related to the population under study. A PubMed search was conducted to determine the current state of knowledge regarding potential sex and/or gender differences with respect to protocol topic. Data were summarized using descriptive statistics. Of the 165 (68.8%) protocols that included one of the search terms, only 24 (14.5%) provided justification for the choice of the sex/gender of the population studied. Sixty-three percent ( n  = 151) of the protocols focused on topics for which the extant literature supports at least a moderate degree of sex/gender differences in some aspect of the disorder/condition being studied. Of these, only three (2.0%) indicated that the investigator would consider sex or gender impact on their primary outcomes. Review of a subset of IRB protocols submitted at a major research institution suggests that very few investigators are considering sex or gender as important variables in their clinical research at the stage of protocol development. IRBs are in an excellent position to encourage investigators to consider SABV and gender in order to enhance the rigor of research design, maximize the importance of the resulting knowledge, and ensure that subject selection is equitable. These findings serve as the basis for developing an intervention at the level of IRB protocol development and submission that will promote consideration of SABV and/or gender, factors with critical import to patient safety and efficacy of interventions.

Gender-Dependent Association of FTO Polymorphisms with Body Mass Index in Mexicans

PubMed Central

Saldaña-Alvarez, Yolanda; Salas-Martínez, María Guadalupe; García-Ortiz, Humberto; Luckie-Duque, Angélica; García-Cárdenas, Gustavo; Vicenteño-Ayala, Hermenegildo; Cordova, Emilio J.; Esparza-Aguilar, Marcelino; Contreras-Cubas, Cecilia; Carnevale, Alessandra; Chávez-Saldaña, Margarita; Orozco, Lorena

2016-01-01

To evaluate the associations between six single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in intron 1 of FTO and body mass index (BMI), a case-control association study of 2314 unrelated Mexican-Mestizo adult subjects was performed. The association between each SNP and BMI was tested using logistic and linear regression adjusted for age, gender, and ancestry and assuming additive, recessive, and dominant effects of the minor allele. Association analysis after BMI stratification showed that all five FTO SNPs (rs1121980, rs17817449, rs3751812, rs9930506, and rs17817449), were significantly associated with obesity class II/III under an additive model (P<0.05). Interestingly, we also documented a genetic model-dependent influence of gender on the effect of FTO variants on increased BMI. Two SNPs were specifically associated in males under a dominant model, while the remainder were associated with females under additive and recessive models (P<0.05). The SNP rs9930506 showed the highest increased in obesity risk in females (odds ratio = 4.4). Linear regression using BMI as a continuous trait also revealed differential FTO SNP contributions. Homozygous individuals for the risk alleles of rs17817449, rs3751812, and rs9930506 were on average 2.18 kg/m2 heavier than homozygous for the wild-type alleles; rs1121980 and rs8044769 showed significant but less-strong effects on BMI (1.54 kg/m2 and 0.9 kg/m2, respectively). Remarkably, rs9930506 also exhibited positive interactions with age and BMI in a gender-dependent manner. Women carrying the minor allele of this variant have a significant increase in BMI by year (0.42 kg/m2, P = 1.17 x 10−10). Linear regression haplotype analysis under an additive model, confirmed that the TGTGC haplotype harboring all five minor alleles, increased the BMI of carriers by 2.36 kg/m2 (P = 1.15 x 10−5). Our data suggest that FTO SNPs make differential contributions to obesity risk and support the hypothesis that gender differences in the mechanisms involving these variants may contribute to disease development. PMID:26726774

Hong Kong secondary school students' attitudes towards science: a study of structural models and gender differences

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wan, Zhi Hong; Lee, John Chi Kin

2017-03-01

This study explored two under-researched areas on students' attitudes towards science, that is, the structural models representing these attitudes and the role played by school bands in moderating the gender differences in such attitudes. The participants were 360 ninth graders in Hong Kong from 3 school bands. The structural equation modelling method was adopted to compare four hypothetical models for students' attitudes towards science. Results reflect that (i) the data supported the three-factor structure of the behavioural domain of students' attitudes towards science; (ii) the four lower level dimensions of the attitudes towards science (i.e. value of science to society, self-concept in science, anxiety towards science and enjoyment of science) could be further integrated into broader categories; (iii) male students demonstrated significantly more positive attitudes towards science in five dimensions (i.e. self-concept in science, enjoyment in science, learning science in and outside the classroom and future participation) and (iv) school bands played a prominent moderating role in gender differences in students' attitudes towards science. Implications for studying and developing students' attitudes towards science are discussed in the paper.

Farm injury hospitalisations in New South Wales (2010 to 2014).

PubMed

Lower, Tony; Mitchell, Rebecca J

2017-08-01

To examine gender differences in the characteristics, treatment costs and health outcomes of farm injuries resulting in hospitalisation of New South Wales (NSW) residents. A population-based study of individuals injured on a farm and admitted to hospital using linked hospital admission and mortality records from 1 January 2010 to 30 June 2014 in NSW. Health outcomes, including injury severity, hospital length of stay (LOS), 28-day readmission and 30-day mortality were examined by gender. A total of 6,270 hospitalisations were identified, with males having a higher proportion of work-related injuries and injuries involving motorbikes compared to females. Females had a higher proportion of equestrian-related injuries. There were no differences in injury severity, with around 20% serious injuries, in mean LOS or 28-day hospital re-admission. Treatment costs totalled $42.7 million, with males accounting for just under 80% of the total. There are some gender differences in the characteristics of farm injury-related hospitalisations. Farm injury imposes modest, but nonetheless relatively considerable, financial costs on hospital services in NSW. Implications for public health: Continued efforts to ameliorate these injuries in a farm environment, which are mainly preventable, will have personal and societal benefits. © 2017 The Authors.

Gender similarities and differences.

PubMed

Hyde, Janet Shibley

2014-01-01

Whether men and women are fundamentally different or similar has been debated for more than a century. This review summarizes major theories designed to explain gender differences: evolutionary theories, cognitive social learning theory, sociocultural theory, and expectancy-value theory. The gender similarities hypothesis raises the possibility of theorizing gender similarities. Statistical methods for the analysis of gender differences and similarities are reviewed, including effect sizes, meta-analysis, taxometric analysis, and equivalence testing. Then, relying mainly on evidence from meta-analyses, gender differences are reviewed in cognitive performance (e.g., math performance), personality and social behaviors (e.g., temperament, emotions, aggression, and leadership), and psychological well-being. The evidence on gender differences in variance is summarized. The final sections explore applications of intersectionality and directions for future research.

Gender Differences in Homicide of Neonates, Infants, and Children under 5 y in South Africa: Results from the Cross-Sectional 2009 National Child Homicide Study.

PubMed

Abrahams, Naeemah; Mathews, Shanaaz; Martin, Lorna J; Lombard, Carl; Nannan, Nadine; Jewkes, Rachel

2016-04-01

Homicide of children is a global problem. The under-5-y age group is the second largest homicide age group after 15-19 y olds, but has received little research attention. Understanding age and gender patterns is important for assisting with developing prevention interventions. Here we present an age and gender analysis of homicides among children under 5 y in South Africa from a national study that included a focus on neonaticide and infanticide. A retrospective national cross-sectional study was conducted using a random sample of 38 medico-legal laboratories operating in 2009 to identify homicides of children under 5 y. Child data were abstracted from the mortuary files and autopsy reports, and both child and perpetrator data data were collected from police interviews. We erred towards applying a conservative definition of homicide and excluded sudden infant death syndrome cases. We estimated that 454 (95% CI 366, 541) children under the age of 5 y were killed in South Africa in 2009. More than half (53.2%; 95% CI 46.7%, 59.5%) were neonates (0-28 d), and 74.4% (95% CI 69.3%, 78.9%) were infants (under 1 y), giving a neonaticide rate of 19.6 per 100,000 live births and an infanticide rate of 28.4 per 100,000 live births. The majority of the neonates died in the early neonatal period (0-6 d), and abandonment accounted for 84.9% (95% CI 81.5%, 87.8%) of all the neonates killed. Distinct age and gender patterns were found, with significantly fewer boy children killed in rural settings compared to urban settings (odds ratio 0.6; 95% CI 0.4, 0.9; p = 0.015). Abuse-related killings and evidence of sexual assault were more common among older girls than in all other age and gender groups. Mothers were identified as the perpetrators in all of the neonaticides and were the most common perpetrators overall (71.0%; 95% CI 63.9%, 77.2%). Abandoned neonates were mainly term babies, with a mean gestational age of 38 wk. We did not have information on abandonment motives for all newborns and did not know if babies were abandoned with the intention that they would die or with the hope that they would be found alive. We therefore considered all abandoned babies as homicides. Homicide of children is an extreme form or consequence of violence against children. This national study provides one of the first analyses of neonaticide and infanticide by age and gender and shows the failure of reproductive and mental health and social services to identify and help vulnerable mothers. Multi-sectoral prevention strategies are needed.

Social Representations Used by the Parents of Mexican Adolescent Drug Users under Treatment to Explain Their Children's Drug Use: Gender Differences in Parental Narratives

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Nuno-Gutierrez, Bertha Lidia; Alvarez-Nemegyei, Jose; Rodriguez-Cerda, Oscar

2008-01-01

The aim of this study was to explore the social representations used by the parents of adolescent drug users to explain the onset of drug use. Differences in explanations between the parents of male and female adolescents were also explored. Sixty parents who accompanied their children to four rehabilitation centers in 2004 completed two…

Explaining Gender-Based Language Use: Effects of Gender Identity Salience on References to Emotion and Tentative Language in Intra- and Intergroup Contexts

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Palomares, Nicholas A.

2008-01-01

An experiment tested hypotheses derived from self-categorization theory's explanation for gender-based language use. Under high or low conditions of gender salience, men and women sent e-mail to an ostensible male or female recipient yielding either an intra- or an intergroup setting. Gender salience was manipulated so that the stereotypically…

Impact of Gender on Pharmocokinetics of Intranasal Scopolamine

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Putcha, L.; Lei, Wu.; S-L Chow, Diana

2013-01-01

Introduction: An intranasal gel dosage formulation of scopolamine (INSCOP) was developed for the treatment of Space Motion Sickness (SMS), which is commonly experienced by astronauts during space missions. The bioavailability and pharmacokinetics (PK) were evaluated under IND guidelines. Since information is lacking on the effect of gender on the PK of Scopolamine, we examined gender differences in PK parameters of INSCOP at three dose levels of 0.1, 0.2 and 0.4 mg. Methods: Plasma scopolamine concentrations as a function of time data were collected from twelve normal healthy human subjects (6 male/6 female) who participated in a fully randomized double blind crossover study. The PK parameters were derived using WinNonlin. Covariate analysis of PK profiles was performed using NONMEN and statistically compared using a likelihood ratio test on the difference of objective function value (OFV). Statistical significance for covariate analysis was set at P<0.05(?OFV=3.84). Results: No significant difference in PK parameters between male and female subjects was observed with 0.1 and 0.2 mg doses. However, CL and Vd were significantly different between male and female subjects at the 0.4 mg dose. Results from population covariate modeling analysis indicate that a onecompartment PK model with first-order elimination rate offers best fit for describing INSCOP concentration-time profiles. The inclusion of sex as a covariate enhanced the model fitting (?OFV=-4.1) owing to the genderdependent CL and Vd differences after the 0.4 mg dose. Conclusion: Statistical modeling of scopolamine concentration-time data suggests gender-dependent pharmacokinetics of scopolamine at the high dose level of 0.4 mg. Clearance of the parent compound was significantly faster and the volume of distribution was significantly higher in males than in females, As a result, including gender as a covariate to the pharmacokinetic model of scopolamine offers the best fit for PK modeling of the drug at dose of 0.4 mg or higher.

Comorbid psychiatric diagnoses in suicide attempt by charcoal burning: a 10-year study in a general hospital in Taiwan.

PubMed

Lin, Chemin; Yen, Tzung-Hai; Juang, Yeong-Yuh; Leong, Wa Cheong; Hung, Huei-Min; Ku, Chung-Hsuan; Lin, Ja-Liang; Lee, Shwu-Hua

2012-01-01

Over the last decade, charcoal burning has become a common method of suicide in Taiwan; however, the underlying psychiatric diagnoses and gender differences have yet to be examined. We conducted a retrospective chart review on inpatients after suicide attempt by charcoal burning during 2000-2010. The patients were referred to the psychiatric consultation team and diagnoses were made according to DSM-IV. We chose those who were admitted to the nephrology ward in the same period due to accidental carbon monoxide intoxication as controls. Demographic and laboratory data, psychiatric diagnoses and reasons for suicide were obtained and analyzed. Among seventy-three patients, major depressive disorder (49.3%) and adjustment disorder (41.1%) were most frequently diagnosed. Breaking-up, financial debt and physical/mental illnesses were the top three reasons for suicide (17.8% each). The male-to-female gender ratio was 1.5:1. Female patients had higher rates of major depressive disorders, while male patients presented more adjustment disorders comorbid with alcohol use disorders. There were gender differences in patients of suicide attempt by charcoal burning, in terms of demographic profiles and psychiatric diagnoses. Suicide risk assessment and prevention should be tailored by gender. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Sexuality behind bars in the female central penitentiary of Santiago, Chile: Unlocking the gendered binary.

PubMed

Castro Madariaga, Francisca Alejandra; Gómez Garcés, Belén Estefanía; Carrasco Parra, Alicia; Foster, Jennifer

2017-01-01

We explore what it means to promote healthy sexuality for incarcerated women. We report upon the experiences of ten inmates in the Female Central Penitentiary of Santiago, Chile, regarding their sexuality within prison. We used a qualitative, descriptive research approach. Individual and semistructured interviews were conducted with women from different sections of the prison over a 2-month period. Participants highlighted the site for conjugal visits, the Venusterio, as a place of privacy and sexual expression between couples from outside prison. Motivated by loneliness, need of protection, and desire for affection, participants enacted alternate gender and sexual identities and sexual orientation. Some previously heterosexual women became 'machos', women taking on dominant masculine identities. Women found a paradoxical freedom to express a malleable and fluid sexual identity, an identity that might not go outside the prison. Informed by Judith Butler's idea of performativity, we argue that women could enact both different gender and sexual identities in search of satisfying their affective and erotic desires while under the duress of incarceration. The findings suggest a need for a more fluid understanding of gender and sexuality, especially for those midwives and nurses who strive to promote sexual health, not only reproductive health. © 2017 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Gender differences in Finnish homicide offence characteristics.

PubMed

Häkkänen-Nyholm, Helinä; Putkonen, Hanna; Lindberg, Nina; Holi, Matti; Rovamo, Tuija; Weizmann-Henelius, Ghitta

2009-04-15

Approximately 10% of the homicides in Finland are committed by females. This study was designed to compare offence circumstances and crime scene behaviour among female and male homicide offenders. The forensic examination reports and crime reports of all female offenders prosecuted for a homicide between 1995 and 2004 were collected and content analysed (n=91). A sample of male offenders was selected for a comparison group. In addition to several bivariate analyses, two multidimensional scaling analyses were conducted to identify the underlying structure of the offence characteristics-related variables in male and female offenders. The results showed that family members were the victims of female offenders more frequently than of male offenders. Child victims were almost always killed by females. No significant difference emerged between the gender groups in the proportion of victims being former intimate partners. The results also showed that different offence characteristics relate to offender gender and type of victim. In male offenders, covering the body relates to moving and hiding an acquaintance victim's body, while in females it relates to emotional detachment and family member victim. For females, post-offence behaviours that relate to seek for help and regret were more frequent than for males. There were only marginal differences in the use of violence between females and males.

Gender differences in emotion expression in children: a meta-analytic review.

PubMed

Chaplin, Tara M; Aldao, Amelia

2013-07-01

Emotion expression is an important feature of healthy child development that has been found to show gender differences. However, there has been no empirical review of the literature on gender and facial, vocal, and behavioral expressions of different types of emotions in children. The present study constitutes a comprehensive meta-analytic review of gender differences and moderators of differences in emotion expression from infancy through adolescence. We analyzed 555 effect sizes from 166 studies with a total of 21,709 participants. Significant but very small gender differences were found overall, with girls showing more positive emotions (g = -.08) and internalizing emotions (e.g., sadness, anxiety, sympathy; g = -.10) than boys, and boys showing more externalizing emotions (e.g., anger; g = .09) than girls. Notably, gender differences were moderated by age, interpersonal context, and task valence, underscoring the importance of contextual factors in gender differences. Gender differences in positive emotions were more pronounced with increasing age, with girls showing more positive emotions than boys in middle childhood (g = -.20) and adolescence (g = -.28). Boys showed more externalizing emotions than girls at toddler/preschool age (g = .17) and middle childhood (g = .13) and fewer externalizing emotions than girls in adolescence (g = -.27). Gender differences were less pronounced with parents and were more pronounced with unfamiliar adults (for positive emotions) and with peers/when alone (for externalizing emotions). Our findings of gender differences in emotion expression in specific contexts have important implications for gender differences in children's healthy and maladaptive development. 2013 APA, all rights reserved

Gender Differences in Emotion Expression in Children: A Meta-Analytic Review

PubMed Central

Chaplin, Tara M.; Aldao, Amelia

2012-01-01

Emotion expression is an important feature of healthy child development that has been found to show gender differences. However, there has been no empirical review of the literature on gender and facial, vocal, and behavioral expressions of different types of emotions in children. The present study constitutes a comprehensive meta-analytic review of gender differences, and moderators of differences, in emotion expression from infancy through adolescence. We analyzed 555 effect sizes from 166 studies with a total of 21,709 participants. Significant, but very small, gender differences were found overall, with girls showing more positive emotions (g = −.08) and internalizing emotions (e.g., sadness, anxiety, sympathy; g = −.10) than boys, and boys showing more externalizing emotions (e.g., anger; g = .09) than girls. Notably, gender differences were moderated by age, interpersonal context, and task valence, underscoring the importance of contextual factors in gender differences. Gender differences in positive emotions were more pronounced with increasing age, with girls showing more positive emotions than boys in middle childhood (g = −.20) and adolescence (g = −.28). Boys showed more externalizing emotions than girls at toddler/preschool age (g = .17) and middle childhood (g = .13) and fewer externalizing emotions than girls in adolescence (g = −.27). Gender differences were less pronounced with parents and were more pronounced with unfamiliar adults (for positive emotions) and with peers/when alone (for externalizing emotions). Our findings of gender differences in emotion expression in specific contexts have important implications for gender differences in children’s healthy and maladaptive development. PMID:23231534

Gender Differences of Popular Music Production in Secondary Schools

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Abramo, Joseph Michael

2011-01-01

In this case study, the author investigated how students' gender affected their participation in a secondary popular music class in which participants wrote and performed original music. Three same-gendered rock groups and two mixed-gendered rock groups were observed. Would students of different genders rehearse and compose differently? How would…

Meta-analysis of effects of gender in combination with carcass weight and breed on pork quality.

PubMed

Trefan, L; Doeschl-Wilson, A; Rooke, J A; Terlouw, C; Bünger, L

2013-03-01

Meta-analysis was performed to quantify the effects of gender in combination with carcass weight and breed on pork quality. Altogether published results from 43 references were used. The traits analyzed were pH at 45 min (pH45min) and pH at 24 h (pH24hr) postmortem, objective color attributes lightness (L*), redness (a*), and yellowness (b*; CIE color system), color and marbling scores, drip loss, intramuscular fat content (IMF), and backfat thickness (P2), as well as sensory scores of juiciness and tenderness. Data for 2 muscle types, LM and Musculus semimembranosus (SMM), were used for the analysis. Swine genders were defined as intact/entire male (EM), surgically castrated male (SM), immunocastrated male (IM), and entire female (EF). After standardization of scaled traits (color, marbling scores, juiciness, tenderness) and accounting for cold carcass weight (CW), statistical analysis was performed using mixed models where breed was included as random effect. The analysis found a general effect of gender on each trait and multiple comparisons identified significant differences among the individual genders for L* (lightness), marbling scores, IMF, P2 in LM, and pH24hr in SMM. For these traits, when genders were grouped into gender categories as "castrates" (IM, SM) and "natural genders" (EM, EF), significant differences were found among estimates related to these categories. Furthermore, significant differences were found between castrates and individual gender types, indicating that castrated animals statistically segregated regarding their pork quality and regardless of type of castration. Pork of SM/EM animals has been found to be the fattest/leanest and there is indication that IM pork has the lightest meat color. Carcass weight dependence was found to be nonlinear (quadratic) for a*, P2, and marbling scores, and linear for b* and color scores in LM and pH24hr in SMM. The analysis identified significant breed effects for all traits, with large variation in the actual magnitudes (∼10 to 100%) of breed effects among individual traits. The established CW dependencies of pork quality traits in combination with the other influencing factors investigated here provides pork producers with the opportunity to achieve desired pork quality targets for a wide range of CW (∼30 to 150 kg) under standard indoor-rearing conditions.

Selected Personality Variables of Students in Single-Sex and Coeducational Residence Halls.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Young, Donna; And Others

Selected personality variables of college students who reside under different living arrangements were studied to determine the effect of student's type of housing, gender, and enrollment classification. A sample of students living in residential halls at Maryville College were administered the Attitude Toward Women Scale (ATWS), the Bem Sex Role…

The influence of LED lighting on task accuracy: time of day, gender and myopia effects

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rao, Feng; Chan, A. H. S.; Zhu, Xi-Fang

2017-07-01

In this research, task errors were obtained during performance of a marker location task in which the markers were shown on a computer screen under nine LED lighting conditions; three illuminances (100, 300 and 500 lx) and three color temperatures (3000, 4500 and 6500 K). A total of 47 students participated voluntarily in these tasks. The results showed that task errors in the morning were small and nearly constant across the nine lighting conditions. However in the afternoon, the task errors were significantly larger and varied across lighting conditions. The largest errors for the afternoon session occurred when the color temperature was 4500 K and illuminance 500 lx. There were significant differences between task errors in the morning and afternoon sessions. No significant difference between females and males was found. Task errors for high myopia students were significantly larger than for the low myopia students under the same lighting conditions. In summary, the influence of LED lighting on task accuracy during office hours was not gender dependent, but was time of day and myopia dependent.

Gender-related academic and occupational interests and goals.

PubMed

Petersen, Jennifer; Hyde, Janet Shibley

2014-01-01

This chapter reviews the theories and empirical evidence concerning whether gender differences in academic and occupational goals and interests exist, and if so, why those differences may be present. Expectancy-value theory, stereotype threat, sociocultural theory, and the gender similarities hypothesis lay the theoretical framework for this chapter. Following a brief review of these theories, we describe the evidence for gender differences in academic ability and occupational interests and goals, using meta-analytic reviews wherever possible. Although there are few gender differences in academic ability, some gender differences in occupational goals and interests persist, particularly in science and mathematics. These gender differences may be due to parental or cultural expectations, changes in developmental trends, stereotypes and discrimination, or gendered-expectations to achieve work-family balance. Overall, the pathways to adult occupations are complex, involving many factors that affect occupational goals, interests, and self-concept.

Depression in later life: A closer look at the gender gap.

PubMed

Acciai, Francesco; Hardy, Melissa

2017-11-01

Gender differences in depressive symptoms have been extensively documented, with women reporting a higher number of depressive symptoms than men. However, studies offer different explanations for why such a gap exists. The goal of the current paper is to analyze how much of the observed gender gap in depression may be attributed to (1) compositional versus (2) reporting differences or (3) differences in reactivity to adversities. We contribute to this literature by testing, net of compositional differences, whether the relationship between reporting behavior and depressive symptoms is gendered and whether accounting for the possibility of gender-specific reactivity alters the structure of the gender gap at older ages. Our results show that the observed gender gap in depression (1) only partially derives from compositional differences; (2) is not an artifact of a gender-specific reporting style; and remarkably (3) men appear more sensitive to adversities. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Social comparison, self-stereotyping, and gender differences in self-construals.

PubMed

Guimond, Serge; Chatard, Armand; Martinot, Delphine; Crisp, Richard J; Redersdorff, Sandrine

2006-02-01

Four studies examined gender differences in self-construals and the role of social comparison in generating these differences. Consistent with previous research, Study 1 (N=461) showed that women define themselves as higher in relational interdependence than men, and men define themselves as higher in independence/agency than women. Study 2 (N=301) showed that within-gender social comparison decreases gender differences in self-construals relative to a control condition, whereas between-genders comparison increases gender differences on both relational interdependence and independence/agency. Studies 3 (N=169) and 4 (N=278) confirmed these findings and showed that changing self-construal changes gender differences in social dominance orientation. Across the 4 studies, strong evidence for the role of in-group stereotyping as mediator of the effect of gender on self-construal was observed on the relational dimension but not on the agentic dimension. Copyright 2006 APA, all rights reserved.

Girls' math performance under stereotype threat: the moderating role of mothers' gender stereotypes.

PubMed

Tomasetto, Carlo; Alparone, Francesca Romana; Cadinu, Mara

2011-07-01

Previous research on stereotype threat in children suggests that making gender identity salient disrupts girls' math performance at as early as 5 to 7 years of age. The present study (n = 124) tested the hypothesis that parents' endorsement of gender stereotypes about math moderates girls' susceptibility to stereotype threat. Results confirmed that stereotype threat impaired girls' performance on math tasks among students from kindergarten through 2nd grade. Moreover, mothers' but not fathers' endorsement of gender stereotypes about math moderated girls' vulnerability to stereotype threat: performance of girls whose mothers strongly rejected the gender stereotype about math did not decrease under stereotype threat. These findings are important because they point to the role of mothers' beliefs in the development of girls' vulnerability to the negative effects of gender stereotypes about math. PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved

Gender identity, gender assignment and reassignment in individuals with disorders of sex development: a major of dilemma.

PubMed

Fisher, A D; Ristori, J; Fanni, E; Castellini, G; Forti, G; Maggi, M

2016-11-01

Disorders of Sex Development (DSD) are a wide range of congenital conditions characterized by an incongruence of components involved in sexual differentiation, including gender psychosexual development. The management of such disorders is complex, and one of the most crucial decision is represented by gender assignment. In fact, the primary goal in DSD is to have a gender assignment consistent with the underlying gender identity in order to prevent the distress related to a forthcoming Gender Dysphoria. Historically, gender assignment was based essentially on surgical outcomes, assuming the neutrality of gender identity at birth. This policy has been challenged in the past decade refocusing on the importance of prenatal and postnatal hormonal and genetic influences on psychosexual development. (1) to update the main psychological and medical issues that surround DSD, in particular regarding gender identity and gender assignment; (2) to report specific clinical recommendations according to the different diagnosis. A systematic search of published evidence was performed using Medline (from 1972 to March 2016). Review of the relevant literature and recommendations was based on authors' expertise. A review of gender identity and assignment in DSD is provided as well as clinical recommendations for the management of individuals with DSD. Given the complexity of this management, DSD individuals and their families need to be supported by a specialized multidisciplinary team, which has been universally recognized as the best practice for intersexual conditions. In case of juvenile GD in DSD, the prescription of gonadotropin-releasing hormone analogues, following the World Professional Association for Transgender Health and the Endocrine Society guidelines, should be considered. It should always be taken into account that every DSD person is unique and has to be treated with individualized care. In this perspective, international registries are crucial to improve the understanding of these challenging conditions and clinical practice, in providing a better prediction of gender identity.

Why parents should not be told the sex of their fetus.

PubMed

Browne, Tamara Kayali

2017-01-01

A new technique called non-invasive prenatal testing (NIPT) has been developed, which can detect a range of genetic and chromosomal diseases, as well as fetal sex earlier, more easily and more reliably. NIPT, therefore, potentially expands the market for sex determination and sex selective abortion. This paper argues that both practices should be prevented by not including fetal sex in prenatal test reports. This is because there is a discrepancy between what parents are concerned with (gender) and what the prenatal test can provide (sex). The paper first presents arguments, which indicate a difference between sex and gender before presenting parental motivations for sex selection and sex determination to show that parents are not concerned with their child's sex chromosomes, or even their genitalia, but the gender role that their child will espouse. That, however, is not something that a prenatal test can provide. We are thus left with a situation in which what parents are told, and what they think they are being told, are two different things. In other words, as the conflation of sex with gender is implicit in the disclosure of fetal sex, it may be more accurate to refer to it as misinformation. This misinformation promotes sexism via gender essentialism, which is neither in the interests of the future child nor society. Published by the BMJ Publishing Group Limited. For permission to use (where not already granted under a licence) please go to http://www.bmj.com/company/products-services/rights-and-licensing/.

Gender recognition depends on type of movement and motor skill. Analyzing and perceiving biological motion in musical and nonmusical tasks.

PubMed

Wöllner, Clemens; Deconinck, Frederik J A

2013-05-01

Gender recognition in point-light displays was investigated with regard to body morphology cues and motion cues of human motion performed with different levels of technical skill. Gestures of male and female orchestral conductors were recorded with a motion capture system while they conducted excerpts from a Mendelssohn string symphony to musicians. Point-light displays of conductors were presented to observers under the following conditions: visual-only, auditory-only, audiovisual, and two non-conducting conditions (walking and static images). Observers distinguished between male and female conductors in gait and static images, but not in visual-only and auditory-only conducting conditions. Across all conductors, gender recognition for audiovisual stimuli was better than chance, yet significantly less reliable than for gait. Separate analyses for two groups of conductors indicated an expertise effect in that novice conductors' gender was perceived above chance level for visual-only and audiovisual conducting, while skilled conducting gestures of experts did not afford gender-specific cues. In these conditions, participants may have ignored the body morphology cues that led to correct judgments for static images. Results point to a response bias such that conductors were more often judged to be male. Thus judgment accuracy depended both on the conductors' level of expertise as well as on the observers' concepts, suggesting that perceivable differences between men and women may diminish for highly trained movements of experienced individuals. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Gender differences in trusting strangers: Role of the target's gender.

PubMed

Zhao, Na; Zhang, Jianxin

2016-06-01

Previous findings on gender differences in the behaviors of individuals, including trusting behaviors, are inconsistent. A criticism is that these studies neglect contextual factors. The present study aims to examine how the target's gender, as a primary context factor, influences the trusting behavior of individuals in one survey and two experimental situations. Results indicate that people tend to trust strangers of the opposite gender more than those of the same gender in mixed-gender situations. Furthermore, females trust females much more than males trust males. The results help people understand that when talking about gender differences in interpersonal situations, the gender identity of target persons should be considered. These findings are somewhat in conflict with those of previous studies conducted in Western cultures, and suggest that culture should also be explored in future studies on gender differences in interpersonal relationships. © 2016 The Institute of Psychology, Chinese Academy of Sciences and John Wiley & Sons Australia, Ltd.

Gender-related Differences in Food Craving and Obesity

PubMed Central

Hallam, Jessica; Boswell, Rebecca G.; DeVito, Elise E.; Kober, Hedy

2016-01-01

Food craving is often defined as a strong desire to eat. Much work has shown that it consistently and prospectively predicts eating and weight-related outcomes, contributing to the growing obesity epidemic. Although there are clear gender differences in the prevalence and health consequences of obesity, relatively little recent work has investigated gender differences in craving, or any sex-hormone-based differences as they relate to phases of the menstrual cycle. Here, we propose that gender-related differences in food craving contribute to gender-related differences in obesity. Drawing on findings in the addiction literature, we highlight ways to incorporate gender-based differences in food craving into treatment approaches, potentially improving the efficacy of obesity and weight loss treatment. Overall, this review aims to emphasize the importance of investigating gender differences in food craving, with a view towards informing the development of more effective treatments for obesity and weight loss. PMID:27354843

Theory of Planned Behavior explains gender difference in fruit and vegetable consumption.

PubMed

Emanuel, Amber S; McCully, Scout N; Gallagher, Kristel M; Updegraff, John A

2012-12-01

A gender difference in fruit and vegetable intake (FVI) is widely documented, but not well understood. Using data from the National Cancer Institute's Food Attitudes and Behavior Survey, we assessed the extent to which gender differences in FVI are attributable to gender differences in constructs from the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB). Females reported more favorable attitudes and greater perceived behavior control regarding FVI than males, and these beliefs mediated the observed gender difference. Males reported greater perceived norms for FVI, but norms did not predict FVI. Gender did not moderate the influence of TPB constructs on FVI. Thus, TPB constructs substantially explained the gender difference. Interventions targeted toward adult males may benefit by promoting favorable attitudes and perceived behavioral control over FVI. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Introduction to special issue 'Gender, Culture and Alcohol Problems: a Multi-national Study'.

PubMed

Bloomfield, Kim; Gmel, Gerhard; Wilsnack, Sharon

2006-01-01

This paper provides an introduction to a series of articles reporting results from the EU concerted action "Gender, Culture and Alcohol Problems: A Multi-national Study" which examined differences in drinking among women and men in 13 European and two non-European countries. The gender gap in alcohol drinking is one of the few universal gender differences in human social behavior. However, the size of these differences varies greatly from one society to another. The papers in this issue examine, across countries, (1) men's and women's drinking patterns, (2) the prevalence of men's and women's experience of alcohol-related problems, (3) gender differences in social inequalities in alcohol use and abuse, (4) gender differences in the influence of combinations of social roles on heavy alcohol use, and (5) how societal-level factors predict women's and men's alcohol use and problems on a regional and global level. Country surveys were independently conducted and then centralized at one institution for further data standardization and processing. Several results indicated that the greater the societal gender equality in a country, the smaller the gender differences in drinking behavior. In most analyses the smallest gender differences in drinking behaviour were found in Nordic countries, followed by western and central European countries, with the largest gender differences in countries with developing economies.

Gender Differences in Delayed-Type Hypersensitivity Response: Effects of Stress and Coping in First Year Law Students

PubMed Central

Flynn, Sarah McQueary; Schipper, Lindsey J.; Roach, Abbey R.; Segerstrom, Suzanne C.

2009-01-01

Law students show significant deficits in emotional and physical well-being compared with groups of students in other areas of higher education. Furthermore, evidence suggests that these effects may be worse for women than for men. The use of active coping can positively affect immunity under stress, but this may be most true for men in the context of law school. The current study examined the delayed-type hypersensitivity (DTH) skin responses of first year law students (n=121) and a comparison group (n=30). Students' health behaviors, self-evaluative emotions, and coping strategies were also reported. Male law students had larger DTH responses than females, but this gender effect was not present in the comparison group. Endorsement of perseverance under stress (n = 19), an active coping strategy, moderated the gender effect on immunity. Perseverance associated with larger DTH responses and more positive self-evaluative emotion, but only among men. These results indicate that active coping may be less efficacious for women than for men in law school, which in turn may limit women's opportunities to attenuate negative effects of law school. PMID:19162169

Testing the effects of social anxiety disorder on friendship quality across gender and ethnicity.

PubMed

Rodebaugh, Thomas L; Fernandez, Katya C; Levinson, Cheri A

2012-01-01

Previous research suggests that social anxiety disorder (SAD) has a specific relationship with impairment in friendship quality; however, potential moderators of this relationship have not been tested. The current study examines whether the specific effect of SAD on friendship quality is stable or varies across gender and ethnicity in a large epidemiological dataset. Results indicate that the underlying construct of friendship quality differed slightly but significantly between men and women; as a result, effects of SAD were tested in men and women separately. After partially constraining friendship quality across ethnic groups, our results indicated that the relationship between SAD and friendship quality remained robust in all groups. In addition to replicating the finding that SAD specifically relates to perceived friendship quality, the current study highlights the need to test whether underlying constructs such as friendship quality are consistent across the groups that make up heterogeneous samples.

Methods for estimating the labour force insured by the Ontario Workplace Safety and Insurance Board: 1990-2000.

PubMed

Smith, Peter M; Mustard, Cameron A; Payne, Jennifer I

2004-01-01

This paper presents a methodology for estimating the size and composition of the Ontario labour force eligible for coverage under the Ontario Workplace Safety & Insurance Act (WSIA). Using customized tabulations from Statistics Canada's Labour Force Survey (LFS), we made adjustments for self-employment, unemployment, part-time employment and employment in specific industrial sectors excluded from insurance coverage under the WSIA. Each adjustment to the LFS reduced the estimates of the insured labour force relative to the total Ontario labour force. These estimates were then developed for major occupational and industrial groups stratified by gender. Additional estimates created to test assumptions used in the methodology produced similar results. The methods described in this paper advance those previously used to estimate the insured labour force, providing researchers with a useful tool to describe trends in the rate of injury across differing occupational, industrial and gender groups in Ontario.

Spatial Visualisation and Cognitive Style: How Do Gender Differences Play Out?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ramful, Ajay; Lowrie, Tom

2015-01-01

This study investigated potential gender differences in a sample of 807 Year 6 Singaporean students in relation to two variables: spatial visualisation ability and cognitive style. In contrast to the general trend, overall there were no significant gender differences on spatial visualisation ability. However, gender differences were prevalent…

Girls in detail, boys in shape: gender differences when drawing cubes in depth.

PubMed

Lange-Küttner, C; Ebersbach, M

2013-08-01

The current study tested gender differences in the developmental transition from drawing cubes in two- versus three dimensions (3D), and investigated the underlying spatial abilities. Six- to nine-year-old children (N = 97) drew two occluding model cubes and solved several other spatial tasks. Girls more often unfolded the various sides of the cubes into a layout, also called diagrammatic cube drawing (object design detail). In girls, the best predictor for drawing the cubes was Mental Rotation Test (MRT) accuracy. In contrast, boys were more likely to preserve the optical appearance of the cube array. Their drawing in 3D was best predicted by MRT reaction time and the Embedded Figures Test (EFT). This confirmed boys' stronger focus on the contours of an object silhouette (object shape). It is discussed whether the two gender-specific approaches to drawing in three dimensions reflect two sides of the appearance-reality distinction in drawing, that is graphic syntax of object design features versus visual perception of projective space. © 2012 The British Psychological Society.

Fluidity models in ancient Greece and current practices of sex assignment

PubMed Central

Chen, Min-Jye; McCann-Crosby, Bonnie; Gunn, Sheila; Georgiadis, Paraskevi; Placencia, Frank; Mann, David; Axelrad, Marni; Karaviti, L.P; McCullough, Laurence B.

2018-01-01

Disorders of sexual differentiation such as androgen insensitivity and gonadal dysgenesis can involve an intrinsic fluidity at different levels, from the anatomical and biological to the social (gender) that must be considered in the context of social constraints. Sex assignment models based on George Engel’s biopsychosocial aspects model of biology accept fluidity of gender as a central concept and therefore help establish expectations within the uncertainty of sex assignment and anticipate potential changes. The biology underlying the fluidity inherent to these disorders should be presented to parents at diagnosis, an approach that the gender medicine field should embrace as good practice. Greek mythology provides many accepted archetypes of change, and the ancient Greek appreciation of metamorphosis can be used as context with these patients. Our goal is to inform expertise and optimal approaches, knowing that this fluidity may eventually necessitate sex reassignment. Physicians should provide sex assignment education based on different components of sexual differentiation, prepare parents for future hormone-triggered changes in their children, and establish a sex-assignment algorithm. PMID:28478088

Fluidity models in ancient Greece and current practices of sex assignment.

PubMed

Chen, Min-Jye; McCann-Crosby, Bonnie; Gunn, Sheila; Georgiadis, Paraskevi; Placencia, Frank; Mann, David; Axelrad, Marni; Karaviti, L P; McCullough, Laurence B

2017-06-01

Disorders of sexual differentiation such as androgen insensitivity and gonadal dysgenesis can involve an intrinsic fluidity at different levels, from the anatomical and biological to the social (gender) that must be considered in the context of social constraints. Sex assignment models based on George Engel's biopsychosocial aspects model of biology accept fluidity of gender as a central concept and therefore help establish expectations within the uncertainty of sex assignment and anticipate potential changes. The biology underlying the fluidity inherent to these disorders should be presented to parents at diagnosis, an approach that the gender medicine field should embrace as good practice. Greek mythology provides many accepted archetypes of change, and the ancient Greek appreciation of metamorphosis can be used as context with these patients. Our goal is to inform expertise and optimal approaches, knowing that this fluidity may eventually necessitate sex reassignment. Physicians should provide sex assignment education based on different components of sexual differentiation, prepare parents for future hormone-triggered changes in their children, and establish a sex-assignment algorithm. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Different coding strategies for the perception of stable and changeable facial attributes.

PubMed

Taubert, Jessica; Alais, David; Burr, David

2016-09-01

Perceptual systems face competing requirements: improving signal-to-noise ratios of noisy images, by integration; and maximising sensitivity to change, by differentiation. Both processes occur in human vision, under different circumstances: they have been termed priming, or serial dependencies, leading to positive sequential effects; and adaptation or habituation, which leads to negative sequential effects. We reasoned that for stable attributes, such as the identity and gender of faces, the system should integrate: while for changeable attributes like facial expression, it should also engage contrast mechanisms to maximise sensitivity to change. Subjects viewed a sequence of images varying simultaneously in gender and expression, and scored each as male or female, and happy or sad. We found strong and consistent positive serial dependencies for gender, and negative dependency for expression, showing that both processes can operate at the same time, on the same stimuli, depending on the attribute being judged. The results point to highly sophisticated mechanisms for optimizing use of past information, either by integration or differentiation, depending on the permanence of that attribute.

The transsexual brain--A review of findings on the neural basis of transsexualism.

PubMed

Smith, Elke Stefanie; Junger, Jessica; Derntl, Birgit; Habel, Ute

2015-12-01

Transsexualism describes the condition when a person's psychological gender differs from his or her biological sex and is commonly thought to arise from a discrepant cerebral and genital sexual differentiation. This review intends to give an extensive overview of structural and functional neurobiological correlates of transsexualism and their course under cross-sex hormonal treatment. Research in this field enables insight into the stability or variability of gender differences and their relation to hormonal status. For a number of sexually dimorphic brain structures or processes, signs of feminisation or masculinisation are observable in transsexual individuals, which, during hormonal treatment, partly seem to further adjust to characteristics of the desired sex. Still, it appears the data are quite inhomogeneous, mostly not replicated and in many cases available for male-to-female transsexuals only. As the prevalence of homosexuality is markedly higher among transsexuals than among the general population, disentangling correlates of sexual orientation and gender identity is a major problem. To resolve such deficiencies, the implementation of specific research standards is proposed. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Gender and Age Differences in Awareness and Endorsement of Gender Stereotypes about Academic Abilities

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kurtz-Costes, Beth; Copping, Kristine E.; Rowley, Stephanie J.; Kinlaw, C. Ryan

2014-01-01

We measured age and gender differences in children's awareness and endorsement of gender stereotypes about math, science, and verbal abilities in 463 fourth, sixth, and eighth graders. Children reported their perceptions of adults' beliefs and their own stereotypes about gender differences in academic abilities. Consistent with study…

Country of residence, gender equality and victim blaming attitudes about partner violence: a multilevel analysis in EU.

PubMed

Ivert, Anna-Karin; Merlo, Juan; Gracia, Enrique

2017-09-27

Intimate partner violence against women (IPVAW) is a global and preventable public health problem. Public attitudes, such as victim-blaming, are important for our understanding of differences in the occurrence of IPVAW, as they contribute to its justification. In this paper, we focus on victim-blaming attitudes regarding IPVAW within the EU and we apply multilevel analyses to identify contextual determinants of victim-blaming attitudes. We investigate both the general contextual effect of the country and the specific association between country level of gender equality and individual victim-blaming attitudes, as well as to what extend a possible general contextual effect was explained by county level gender equality. We analyzed data from 26 800 respondents from 27 member states of the European Union who responded to a survey on public perceptions of domestic violence. We applied multilevel logistic regression analysis and measures of variance (intra-class correlation (ICC)) were calculated, as well as the discriminatory accuracy by calculating the area under the receiver operator characteristic curve. Over and above individual characteristics, about 15% of the individual variance in the propensity for having victim-blaming attitudes was found at the country level, and country level of gender equality did not affect the general contextual effect (i.e. ICC) of the country on individual victim-blaming attitudes. The present study shows that there are important between-country differences in victim-blaming attitudes that cannot be explained by differences in individual-level demographics or in gender equality at the country level. More research on attitudes towards IPVAW is needed. © The Author 2017. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the European Public Health Association. All rights reserved.

Emotions under Discussion: Gender, Status and Communication in Online Collaboration

PubMed Central

Iosub, Daniela; Laniado, David; Castillo, Carlos; Fuster Morell, Mayo; Kaltenbrunner, Andreas

2014-01-01

Background Despite the undisputed role of emotions in teamwork, not much is known about the make-up of emotions in online collaboration. Publicly available repositories of collaboration data, such as Wikipedia editor discussions, now enable the large-scale study of affect and dialogue in peer production. Methods We investigate the established Wikipedia community and focus on how emotion and dialogue differ depending on the status, gender, and the communication network of the editors who have written at least 100 comments on the English Wikipedia's article talk pages. Emotions are quantified using a word-based approach comparing the results of two predefined lexicon-based methods: LIWC and SentiStrength. Principal Findings We find that administrators maintain a rather neutral, impersonal tone, while regular editors are more emotional and relationship-oriented, that is, they use language to form and maintain connections to other editors. A persistent gender difference is that female contributors communicate in a manner that promotes social affiliation and emotional connection more than male editors, irrespective of their status in the community. Female regular editors are the most relationship-oriented, whereas male administrators are the least relationship-focused. Finally, emotional and linguistic homophily is prevalent: editors tend to interact with other editors having similar emotional styles (e.g., editors expressing more anger connect more with one another). Conclusions/Significance Emotional expression and linguistic style in online collaboration differ substantially depending on the contributors' gender and status, and on the communication network. This should be taken into account when analyzing collaborative success, and may prove insightful to communities facing gender gap and stagnation in contributor acquisition and participation levels. PMID:25140870

Gender Differences and Intra-Gender Differences amongst Management Information Systems Students

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Beyer, Sylvia

2008-01-01

Few women major in Management Information Systems (MIS). The purpose of this paper is to examine the reasons for women's underrepresentation in MIS. In addition to examining gender differences, an important and novel goal of this study is to examine intra-gender differences in undergraduate students, i.e., differences among female MIS majors and…

Gender-related traits in the dioecious shrub Empetrum rubrum in two plant communities in the Magellanic steppe

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Díaz-Barradas, Mari Cruz; Zunzunegui, María; Collantes, Marta; Álvarez-Cansino, Leonor; García Novo, Francisco

2014-10-01

Following the theory on costs of reproduction, sexually dimorphic plants may exhibit several trade-offs in energy and resources that can determine gender dimorphism in morphological or physiological traits, especially during the reproductive period. In this study we assess whether the sexes of the dioecious species Empetrum rubrum differ in morphological and ecophysiological traits related to water economy and photochemical efficiency and whether these differences change in nearby populations with contrasting plant communities. We conducted physiological, morphological, sex ratio, and cover measurements in E. rubrum plants in the Magellanic steppe, North-Eastern part of Tierra del Fuego (Argentina), from two types of heathlands with differing community composition. We found differences between sites in soil pH and wind speed at the canopy level. E. rubrum plants exhibited lower photosynthetic height and higher LAI (leaf area index), lower RWC (relative water content) and higher water-use efficiency (lower Δ13C) in the heathland with harsher environmental conditions. Gender dimorphism in the physiological response was patent for photochemical efficiency and water use (RWC and Δ13C discrimination), with males showing a more conservative strategy in relation to females. Accordingly, male-biased sex ratio in the stress-prone community suggested a better performance of male plants under stressful environmental conditions. The integrated analysis of all variables (photochemical efficiency, RWC, leaf dry matter content (LDMC), pigments, and Δ13C) indicated an interaction between gender and heathland community effects in the physiological response. We suggest that female plants may exhibit compensatory mechanisms to face their higher reproductive costs.

On the role of autophagy in human diseases: a gender perspective

PubMed Central

Lista, Pasquale; Straface, Elisabetta; Brunelleschi, Sandra; Franconi, Flavia; Malorni, Walter

2011-01-01

Abstract Cytopathological features of cells from males and females, i.e. XX and XY isolated cells, have been demonstrated to represent a key variable in the mechanism underlying gender disparity in human diseases. Major insights came from the studies of gender differences in cell fate, e.g. in apoptotic susceptibility. We report here some novel insights recently emerged from literature that are referred as to a cytoprotection mechanism by which cells recycle cytoplasm and dispose of excess or defective organelles, i.e. autophagy. Autophagy and related genes have first been identified in yeast. Orthologue genes have subsequently been found in other organisms, including human beings. This stimulated the research in the field and, thanks to the use of molecular genetics and cell biology in different model systems, autophagy gained the attention of several research groups operating to analyse the pathogenetic mechanisms of human diseases. It remains unclear, however, whether autophagy can exert a protective effect or instead contribute to the pathogenesis of important human diseases. On the basis of the growing importance of sex/gender as key determinant of human pathology and of the known differences between males and females in the onset, progression, drug susceptibility and outcome of a plethora of diseases, the idea that autophagy could represent key and critical factor should be taken into account. In the review, we summarize our current knowledge about the role of autophagy in some paradigmatic human diseases (cancer, neurodegenerative, autoimmune, cardiovascular) and the role of ‘cell sex’ differences in this context. PMID:21362130

Gender inequality in nutritional status among under five children in a village in Hooghly district, West Bengal.

PubMed

Dey, I; Chaudhuri, R N

2008-01-01

A community based, cross-sectional study was conducted in the Mollasimla village of Hooghly district of West Bengal, to examine the differences in nutritional status of under-five males and females and to determine the different bio-social factors associated with such differences. It was found that 55.9%, 51.4% and 42.3% of the girls were underweight, stunted and wasted respectively compared to 46.6%, 40.5% and 35.3% of the boys and a significantly higher proportion of malnutrition was found to be present among female children of higher birth order and those belonging to families with lower per capita income compared to the males.

Freedom's Children: A gender perspective on the education of the learner-citizen

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Arnot, Madeleine

2007-01-01

Drawing on Ulrich Beck's theory of "freedom's children", the present contribution examines contemporary concerns about educating young people for citizenship as well as educating them about citizenship. Under the first theme, the author focuses on the citizen as learner, highlighting some of the gender- and class-related inequalities that are typically associated with individualisation. Under the second theme, she looks at the learner as citizen in view of the fact that citizenship education courses often prepare learners for a gender-divided world — even though the processes of individualisation have themselves significantly reshaped contemporary gender relations. In light of current challenges facing citizenship education, the study concludes by reflecting on gender-related dimensions of individualisation and their implications for democracy and the learner-citizen.

Effects of medical and mental status on treatment modalities in patients treated under general anaesthesia at the KTU Faculty of Dentistry in Trabzon, Turkey: A comparative retrospective study.

PubMed

Baygin, Ozgul; Tuzuner, Tamer; Kusgoz, Adem; Yahyaoglu, Gorkem; Yilmaz, Nagehan; Aksoy, Simge

2017-02-01

This study evaluated the differences in dental conditions and treatment modalities between disabled and non-cooperative healthy children under general anaesthesia. The data were collected from paediatric patients between 3 and 15 years of age who received dental treatment under general anaesthesia. Patients with at least one mental/physical disturbance (group 1) and other healthy non-cooperative patients (group 2) were compared with regard to gender, age, weight, and treatment time-type. The statistical analyses were performed using Fisher's exact and Mann-Whitney U tests. No significant differences were observed between the groups with regard to gender, weight and treatment-time (p>0.05). The numbers of treated teeth (p<0.01) and extractions (p<0.001) were higher in group 1 than in group 2, whereas the frequency of advanced restorative procedures for group 1 was lower than that for group 2, including preventive-resin-restoration (p<0.001), glass-ionomer-cement (p<0.05), root-canal (p<0.001) and stainless-steel-crowns (p<0.001). This study supports the hypothesis that the general condition of the patients may alter the type of treatment provided and confirms the necessity of performing preventive procedures.

Gender identity disorder: a literature review from a developmental perspective.

PubMed

Shechner, Tomer

2010-01-01

The present paper reviews the theoretical and empirical literature on children and adolescents with gender variant behaviors. The organizational framework underlying this review is one that presents gender behavior in children and adolescents as a continuum rather than as a dichotomy of normal versus abnormal categories. Seven domains are reviewed in relation to gender variant behavior in general, and to Gender Identity Disorder (GID) in particular: theories of normative gender development, phenomenology, prevalence, assessment, developmental trajectories, comorbidity and treatment.

Which form of assessment provides the best information about student performance in chemistry examinations?

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hudson, Ross D.; Treagust, David F.

2013-04-01

Background . This study developed from observations of apparent achievement differences between male and female chemistry performances in a state university entrance examination. Male students performed more strongly than female students, especially in higher scores. Apart from the gender of the students, two other important factors that might influence student performance were format of questions (short-answer or multiple-choice) and type of questions (recall or application). Purpose The research question addressed in this study was: Is there a relationship between performance in state university entrance examinations in chemistry and school chemistry examinations and student gender, format of questions - multiple-choice or short-answer, and conceptual level - recall or application? Sample The two sources of data were: (1) secondary analyses of five consecutive years' data published by the examining authority of chemistry examinations, and (2) tests conducted with 192 students which provided information about all aspects of the three variables (question format, question type and gender) under consideration. Design and methods Both sources of data were analysed using ANOVA to compare means for the variables under consideration and the statistical significance of any differences. The data from the tests were also analysed using Rasch analysis to determine differences in gender performance. Results When overall mean data are considered, both male and female students performed better on multiple-choice questions and recall questions than on short-answer questions and application questions, respectively. When overall mean data are considered, male students outperformed female students in both the university entrance and school tests, particularly in the higher scores. When data were analysed with Rasch, there was no statistically significant difference in performance between males and females of equal ability. Conclusions Both male and female students generally perform better on multiple-choice questions than they do on short-answer questions. However, when the questions are matched in terms of difficulty (using Rasch analysis), the differences in performance between multiple-choice and short-answer are quite small. Rasch analysis showed that there was little difference in performance between males and females of equal ability. This study shows that a simple face-value score analysis of relative student performance - in this case, in chemistry - can be deceptive unless the actual abilities of the students concerned, as measured by a tool such as Rasch, are taken into consideration before reaching any conclusion.

The gender similarities hypothesis.

PubMed

Hyde, Janet Shibley

2005-09-01

The differences model, which argues that males and females are vastly different psychologically, dominates the popular media. Here, the author advances a very different view, the gender similarities hypothesis, which holds that males and females are similar on most, but not all, psychological variables. Results from a review of 46 meta-analyses support the gender similarities hypothesis. Gender differences can vary substantially in magnitude at different ages and depend on the context in which measurement occurs. Overinflated claims of gender differences carry substantial costs in areas such as the workplace and relationships. Copyright (c) 2005 APA, all rights reserved.

Gender, culture, and sex-typed cognitive abilities.

PubMed

Reilly, David

2012-01-01

Although gender differences in cognitive abilities are frequently reported, the magnitude of these differences and whether they hold practical significance in the educational outcomes of boys and girls is highly debated. Furthermore, when gender gaps in reading, mathematics and science literacy are reported they are often attributed to innate, biological differences rather than social and cultural factors. Cross-cultural evidence may contribute to this debate, and this study reports national gender differences in reading, mathematics and science literacy from 65 nations participating in the 2009 round of the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA). Consistently across all nations, girls outperform boys in reading literacy, d = -.44. Boys outperform girls in mathematics in the USA, d = .22 and across OECD nations, d = .13. For science literacy, while the USA showed the largest gender difference across all OECD nations, d = .14, gender differences across OECD nations were non-significant, and a small female advantage was found for non-OECD nations, d = -.09. Across all three domains, these differences were more pronounced at both tails of the distribution for low- and high-achievers. Considerable cross-cultural variability was also observed, and national gender differences were correlated with gender equity measures, economic prosperity, and Hofstede's cultural dimension of power distance. Educational and societal implications of such gender gaps are addressed, as well as the mechanisms by which gender differences in cognitive abilities are culturally mediated.

[Gender-specific influencing factors on incidence, risk factors and outcome of carcinoma of the liver, gallbladder, extrahepatic bile duct and pancreas].

PubMed

Grundmann, R T; Meyer, F

2014-04-01

This overview comments on gender-specific differences in incidence, risk factors and prognosis in patients with carcinoma of the liver, gallbladder, extrahepatic bile duct and pancreas. For the literature review, the MEDLINE database (PubMed) was searched under the key words "liver cancer", "gallbladder cancer", "extrahepatic bile duct carcinoma", "pancreatic cancer" AND "gender". There were significant gender differences in the epidemiology of the analysed carcinomas. The incidence of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is much higher in men than in women, one of 86 men, but only 1 out of 200 women develop a malignant primary liver tumour in Germany in the course of their life. The lifetime risk for carcinomas of the gallbladder and extrahepatic bile ducts in Germany amounts to about 0.6 % for women and 0.5 % for men, specifically gallbladder carcinomas are observed more frequently in women than in men. For pancreatic cancer, no clear gender preference exists in Germany, although the mortality risk for men is higher than that for women (age-adjusted standardised death rate in men 12.8/100, 000 persons, in women 9.5). Remarkable is furthermore the shift of the tumour incidence in the last decades. Liver cancer has increased among men in Germany by about 50 % in the last 30 years, the incidence of gallbladder carcinoma has inversely dropped. The prognosis of these cancers across all tumour stages is uniformly bad in an unselected patient population. This is probably the main reason why only little - if any - gender differences in survival are described. In addition to avoiding the known risk factors such as hepatitis B and C virus infection, alcohol abuse, and smoking, the avoidance of overweight and obesity plays an increasingly important role in the prevention of these cancers. Georg Thieme Verlag KG Stuttgart · New York.

Gender differences in public and private drinking contexts: a multi-level GENACIS analysis.

PubMed

Bond, Jason C; Roberts, Sarah C M; Greenfield, Thomas K; Korcha, Rachael; Ye, Yu; Nayak, Madhabika B

2010-05-01

This multi-national study hypothesized that higher levels of country-level gender equality would predict smaller differences in the frequency of women's compared to men's drinking in public (like bars and restaurants) settings and possibly private (home or party) settings. GENACIS project survey data with drinking contexts included 22 countries in Europe (8); the Americas (7); Asia (3); Australasia (2), and Africa (2), analyzed using hierarchical linear models (individuals nested within country). Age, gender and marital status were individual predictors; country-level gender equality as well as equality in economic participation, education, and political participation, and reproductive autonomy and context of violence against women measures were country-level variables. In separate models, more reproductive autonomy, economic participation, and educational attainment and less violence against women predicted smaller differences in drinking in public settings. Once controlling for country-level economic status, only equality in economic participation predicted the size of the gender difference. Most country-level variables did not explain the gender difference in frequency of drinking in private settings. Where gender equality predicted this difference, the direction of the findings was opposite from the direction in public settings, with more equality predicting a larger gender difference, although this relationship was no longer significant after controlling for country-level economic status. Findings suggest that country-level gender equality may influence gender differences in drinking. However, the effects of gender equality on drinking may depend on the specific alcohol measure, in this case drinking context, as well as on the aspect of gender equality considered. Similar studies that use only global measures of gender equality may miss key relationships. We consider potential implications for alcohol related consequences, policy and public health.

Gender equality in university sportspeople's drinking.

PubMed

O'Brien, Kerry S; Hunter, Jackie; Kypri, Kypros; Ali, Ajmol

2008-11-01

In large population-based alcohol studies males are shown consistently to drink more, and more hazardously, than females. However, research from some countries suggests that gender differences in drinking are converging, with females drinking more than in the past. Large population-based research may miss gender-based changes in drinking behaviours that occur in sub-populations most at risk of hazardous drinking. We examine gender differences in a sub-population where hazardous drinking is common and endorsed, namely university sportspeople. The Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT) and a drinking motives measure were used to assess hazardous drinking behaviours and drinking motives in 631 university sportspeople (females = 331, 52%). There were no gender differences in AUDIT scores. However, drinking motives differed between genders, with coping motives being a significant predictor of hazardous drinking in females but not males. Hazardous drinking, including binge drinking (46.3%) and frequent binge drinking (35%), in New Zealand university sportspeople is high for both males and females. New Zealand university sportspeople are one population where gender differences in drinking are not apparent and run counter to European population based research and research in US sporting populations. Gender role equality in the university systems, and endorsement of drinking in sporting culture, may account for the lack of gender differences in this New Zealand sporting population. Future research on gender differences in drinking should examine sub-populations where gender role differentiation is low, and socio-cultural/structural factors supporting gender equality are high.

Toward Transformative Gender Justice: Listening to Gender Non-Binary Individuals' Experiences of School

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lewis, Katherine

2017-01-01

The primary purpose of this study is to investigate and understand gender diverse individuals' retrospective accounts of their experiences of school and to interpret these experiences under the influence of deconstruction. A second purpose is to use these experiences to inform a model of gender-inclusive education. In this qualitative study,…

45 CFR 81.3 - Use of gender and number.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-10-01

... 45 Public Welfare 1 2013-10-01 2013-10-01 false Use of gender and number. 81.3 Section 81.3 Public... UNDER PART 80 OF THIS TITLE General Information § 81.3 Use of gender and number. As used in this part... versa. Words importing the masculine gender may be applied to females or organizations. ...

45 CFR 81.3 - Use of gender and number.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-10-01

... 45 Public Welfare 1 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false Use of gender and number. 81.3 Section 81.3 Public... UNDER PART 80 OF THIS TITLE General Information § 81.3 Use of gender and number. As used in this part... versa. Words importing the masculine gender may be applied to females or organizations. ...

45 CFR 81.3 - Use of gender and number.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-10-01

... 45 Public Welfare 1 2012-10-01 2012-10-01 false Use of gender and number. 81.3 Section 81.3 Public... UNDER PART 80 OF THIS TITLE General Information § 81.3 Use of gender and number. As used in this part... versa. Words importing the masculine gender may be applied to females or organizations. ...

45 CFR 81.3 - Use of gender and number.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-10-01

... 45 Public Welfare 1 2011-10-01 2011-10-01 false Use of gender and number. 81.3 Section 81.3 Public... UNDER PART 80 OF THIS TITLE General Information § 81.3 Use of gender and number. As used in this part... versa. Words importing the masculine gender may be applied to females or organizations. ...

45 CFR 81.3 - Use of gender and number.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-10-01

... 45 Public Welfare 1 2014-10-01 2014-10-01 false Use of gender and number. 81.3 Section 81.3 Public... UNDER PART 80 OF THIS TITLE General Information § 81.3 Use of gender and number. As used in this part... versa. Words importing the masculine gender may be applied to females or organizations. ...

Gender Equality in Education in the Context of the Millennium Development Goals: Challenges and Opportunities for Women

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Moletsane, Relebohile

2005-01-01

This article addresses the question: In the context of poverty, gender-based violence (GBV) and HIV/AIDS currently ravaging under-resourced countries, dare we set our hopes for gender- equitable development in general, and gender equality in education in particular, on the Millenium Development Goals MDGs? The article analyses the…

Exploring Gender Differences in Solving Open-Ended Mathematical Problems.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Cai, Jinfa

Open-ended tasks were used to examine gender differences in complex mathematical problem solving. The results of this study suggest that, overall, males perform better than females, but the gender differences vary from task to task. A qualitative analysis of student responses to those tasks with gender differences showed that male and female…

Gender Differences in the Longitudinal Impact of Exposure to Violence on Mental Health in Urban Youth

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Zona, Kate; Milan, Stephanie

2011-01-01

There is evidence of gender differences in psychopathology during adolescence, but little research has investigated gender differences in trauma-related symptoms. Exposure to violence is a commonly experienced potentially traumatic event among urban adolescents, and the few studies examining gender differences in its mental health impact have…

Educational Attainment and the Gender Wage Gap: Evidence from the 1986 and 1991 Canadian Censuses.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Christie, Pamela; Shannon, Michael

2001-01-01

Uses Canadian census data to examine effects of gender differences in educational attainment on the gender earnings gap for full-time, full-year Canadian workers. These educational attainment differences account for virtually none of the gender earnings gap in 1985 and 1990. Gender differences in field of study matter somewhat more. (Contains 17…

Learning to Be Gendered: Gender Socialization in Early Adolescence Among Urban Poor in Delhi, India, and Shanghai, China.

PubMed

Basu, Sharmistha; Zuo, Xiayun; Lou, Chaohua; Acharya, Rajib; Lundgren, Rebecka

2017-10-01

The purpose of the study is to understand the gender socialization process in early adolescence. The study was located in two disadvantaged urban communities in Delhi, India and Shanghai, China and was part of the multicountry (15) Global Early Adolescent Study. Qualitative methodologies were used with boys and girls aged 11-13 years, including 16 group-based timeline exercises and 65 narrative interviews. In addition, 58 parents of participating adolescents were interviewed. Interviews were recorded, transcribed, translated, and uploaded into Atlas.ti for coding and thematic analysis. Boys and girls growing up in the same community were directed onto different pathways during their transition from early to late adolescence. Adolescents and parents in both sites identified mothers as the primary actor, socializing adolescents into how to dress and behave and what gender roles to play, although fathers were also mentioned as influential. Opposite-sex interactions were restricted, and violations enforced by physical violence. In Delhi, gender roles and mobility were more strictly enforced for girls than boys. Restrictions on opposite-sex interactions were rigid for both boys and girls in Delhi and Shanghai. Sanctions, including beating, for violating norms about boy-girl relationships were more punitive than those related to dress and demeanor, especially in Delhi. Education and career expectations were notably more equitable in Shanghai. Parents teach their children to adhere to inequitable gender norms in both Delhi and Shanghai. However, education and career expectations for boys and girls in the two sites differed. Although gender norms varied by site according to the particular cultural and historical context, similar patterns of gender inequity reflect the underlying patriarchal system in both settings. The tendency of parents to pass on the norms they grew up with is evident, yet these results illustrate the social construction of gender through children's interaction with the social ecology, including evolving political and economic systems. Efforts to bend gender norms toward greater equality can build on these results by empowering children and parents to reflect critically on inequitable gender norms and roles and by mobilizing economic and social support at key turning points in adolescents' lives. Copyright © 2017 Society for Adolescent Health and Medicine. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Gender Differences in Resistance to Schooling: The Role of Dynamic Peer-Influence and Selection Processes.

PubMed

Geven, Sara; O Jonsson, Jan; van Tubergen, Frank

2017-12-01

Boys engage in notably higher levels of resistance to schooling than girls. While scholars argue that peer processes contribute to this gender gap, this claim has not been tested with longitudinal quantitative data. This study fills this lacuna by examining the role of dynamic peer-selection and influence processes in the gender gap in resistance to schooling (i.e., arguing with teachers, skipping class, not putting effort into school, receiving punishments at school, and coming late to class) with two-wave panel data. We expect that, compared to girls, boys are more exposed and more responsive to peers who exhibit resistant behavior. We estimate hybrid models on 5448 students from 251 school classes in Sweden (14-15 years, 49% boys), and stochastic actor-based models (SIENA) on a subsample of these data (2480 students in 98 classes; 49% boys). We find that boys are more exposed to resistant friends than girls, and that adolescents are influenced by the resistant behavior of friends. These peer processes do not contribute to a widening of the gender gap in resistance to schooling, yet they contribute somewhat to the persistence of the initial gender gap. Boys are not more responsive to the resistant behavior of friends than girls. Instead, girls are influenced more by the resistant behavior of lower status friends than boys. This explains to some extent why boys increase their resistance to schooling more over time. All in all, peer-influence and selection processes seem to play a minor role in gender differences in resistance to schooling. These findings nuance under investigated claims that have been made in the literature.

Influence of gender on office staff management in orthodontics.

PubMed

Holmes, Patrick B; Shroff, Bhavna; Best, Al M; Lindauer, Steven J

2010-11-01

To examine the gender differences in managing practice and staff members in orthodontic practices. All orthodontists in Virginia and Maryland (n = 427) were surveyed and demographic information was collected. For the crude analyses of the data, a Fisher's exact test or chi(2) test was performed. For the adjusted analyses, genders were compared using a logistic regression or analysis of covariance. The covariates were adjusted for age, program length, years in practice, number of years since graduation, and practice state. The length of the residency program attended did not differ with gender. No gender differences in practice ownership or creating the practice were observed. There was a significant gender difference in implementation of performance reviews: female orthodontists were more likely to provide performance reviews and tended to accept more poor reviews before staff termination than male orthodontists. However, when provided, no gender difference was observed in the number of performance reviews. Gender has a significant impact on the implementation of performance reviews in practices. Practice ownership status was not influenced by providers' gender.

Gender and creativity: an overview of psychological and neuroscientific literature.

PubMed

Abraham, Anna

2016-06-01

The topic of gender differences in creativity is one that generates substantial scientific and public interest, but also courts considerable controversy. Owing to the heterogeneous nature of the findings associated with this line of research, the general picture often appears puzzling or obscure. This article presents a selective overview of psychological and neuroscientific literature that has a relevant bearing on the theme of gender and creativity. Topics that are explored include the definition and methods of assessing creativity, a summary of behavioral investigations on gender in relation to creativity, postulations that have been put forward to understand gender differences in creative achievement, gender-based differences in the structure and function of the brain, gender-related differences in behavioral performance on tasks of normative cognition, and neuroscientific studies of gender and creativity. The article ends with a detailed discussion of the idea that differences between men and women in creative cognition are best explained with reference to the gender-dependent adopted strategies or cognitive style when faced with generative tasks.

Gender differences in depression in representative national samples: Meta-analyses of diagnoses and symptoms.

PubMed

Salk, Rachel H; Hyde, Janet S; Abramson, Lyn Y

2017-08-01

In 2 meta-analyses on gender differences in depression in nationally representative samples, we advance previous work by including studies of depression diagnoses and symptoms to (a) estimate the magnitude of the gender difference in depression across a wide array of nations and ages; (b) use a developmental perspective to elucidate patterns of gender differences across the life span; and (c) incorporate additional theory-driven moderators (e.g., gender equity). For major depression diagnoses and depression symptoms, respectively, we meta-analyzed data from 65 and 95 articles and their corresponding national data sets, representing data from 1,716,195 and 1,922,064 people in over 90 different nations. Overall, odds ratio (OR) = 1.95, 95% confidence interval (CI) [1.88, 2.03], and d = 0.27 [0.26, 0.29]. Age was the strongest predictor of effect size. The gender difference for diagnoses emerged earlier than previously thought, with OR = 2.37 at age 12. For both meta-analyses, the gender difference peaked in adolescence (OR = 3.02 for ages 13-15, and d = 0.47 for age 16) but then declined and remained stable in adulthood. Cross-national analyses indicated that larger gender differences were found in nations with greater gender equity, for major depression, but not depression symptoms. The gender difference in depression represents a health disparity, especially in adolescence, yet the magnitude of the difference indicates that depression in men should not be overlooked. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2017 APA, all rights reserved).

Gendered health inequalities in mental well-being? The Nordic countries in a comparative perspective.

PubMed

Olafsdottir, Sigrun

2017-03-01

The aims of this study were to: (a) compare gender differences in mental well-being in the Nordic countries with gender differences in 28 other countries around the world; and (b) evaluate whether gender differences in the Nordic countries remain when other social and lifestyle factors are taken into account. Data were obtained from 32 countries around the world that participated in the 2011 health module of the International Social Survey Programme. Ordered logit regression models were used to evaluate whether gender differences remained significant when other social and lifestyle factors were considered. Gender differences in mental well-being in the Nordic countries are not particularly small and the four countries do not cluster together. The gender differences remain when other social and lifestyle factors are taken into account. There appears to be a similar Nordic health paradox for mental well-being outcomes as for physical health outcomes. Although there may be multiple reasons for this, continued gender equality, including sex segregation in the labour market and gendered expectations, are considered to play a part.

Singaporean gifted adolescents under scrutiny: The gender factor

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kwan, Patrick C. F.

1993-05-01

Research on the sex-role problems of gifted adolescents rarely lifts its sight beyond Western developed countries, making generalizations to the Third World suspect. The present study, by exploring the relationship between gender and adjustment among gifted adolescents in Singapore, hopes to extend the consideration of developmental sex-role issues to a society different from the West. Specifically, it reports that Singaporean gifted girls, like some of their Western counterparts, had difficulty in reconciling their giftedness with societal notions of femininity. Conceivably, this conflict placed them on the threshold of stress, leaving them more vulnerable than the gifted boys to adjustment problems. In addition, having internalized the gender stereotypic view that academic excellence was less important to them than to the boys, the gifted girls might inadvertently put ceilings on their own achievements. The paper concludes with several remedies for educators, counsellors, and parents to help gifted girls embark upon their road to self-fulfilment.

Mathematicians, Attributional Complexity, and Gender

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Stalder, Daniel R.

Given indirect indications in sex role and soda! psychology research that mathematical-deductive reasoning may negatively relate to social acuity, Study 1 investigated whether mathematicians were less attributionally complex than nonmathematicians. Study 1 administered the Attributional Complexity Scale, a measure of social acuity, to female and male faculty members and graduate students in four Midwestern schools. Atlrihutional complexity (AC) is the ability and motivation to give complex explanations for behavior. Study 1 found a significant interaction between field and gender. Only among women did mathematicians score lower on AC. In addition, an established gender difference in AC (that women score higher than men) was present only among nonmathematicians. Studies 2 and 3 offered some preliminary support for the possibility that it is generally female students who score tow on AC who aspire to he mathematicians and for the underlying view that female students' perceived similarity to mathematicians can influence their vocational choices.

The gendered construction and experience of difficulties and rewards in cancer care.

PubMed

Ussher, Jane M; Sandoval, Mirjana; Perz, Janette; Wong, W K Tim; Butow, Phyllis

2013-07-01

Women cancer carers have consistently been found to report higher levels of distress than men carers. However, there is little understanding of the mechanisms underlying these gender differences in distress, and a neglect of rewarding aspects of care. We conducted in-depth semistructured interviews with 53 informal cancer carers, 34 women and 19 men, to examine difficult and rewarding aspects of cancer care. Thematic analysis was used to analyze the transcripts. Women were more likely to report negative changes in the relationship with the person with cancer; neglect of self, social isolation, and physical health consequences; anxiety; personal strength and growth; and to position caring as a privilege. Men were more likely to report increased relational closeness with the person with cancer, and the burden of additional responsibilities within the home as a difficult aspect of caring. We interpret these findings in relation to a social constructionist analysis of gender roles.

An examination of gender differences in the American Fisheries Society peer-review process

USGS Publications Warehouse

Handley, Grace; Frantz, Cynthia M; Kocovsky, Patrick; DeVries, Dennis R.; Cooke, Steven J.; Claussen, Julie

2015-01-01

This study investigated the possibility of gender differences in outcomes throughout the peer review process of American Fisheries Society (AFS) journals. For each manuscript submitted to four AFS journals between January 2003 and December 2010, we collated information regarding the gender and nationality of authors, gender of associate editor, gender of reviewers, reviewer recommendations, associate editor's decision, and publication status of the manuscript. We used hierarchical linear modeling to test for differences in manuscript decision outcomes associated with author, reviewer, and associate editor gender. Gender differences were present at some but not every stage of the review process and were not equal among the four journals. Although there was a small gender difference in decision outcomes, we found no evidence of bias in editors’ and reviewers’ recommendations. Our results support the conclusion that the current single-blind review system does not result in bias against female authors within AFS journals.

Gender equality in couples and self-rated health - A survey study evaluating measurements of gender equality and its impact on health.

PubMed

Sörlin, Ann; Lindholm, Lars; Ng, Nawi; Ohman, Ann

2011-08-26

Men and women have different patterns of health. These differences between the sexes present a challenge to the field of public health. The question why women experience more health problems than men despite their longevity has been discussed extensively, with both social and biological theories being offered as plausible explanations. In this article, we focus on how gender equality in a partnership might be associated with the respondents' perceptions of health. This study was a cross-sectional survey with 1400 respondents. We measured gender equality using two different measures: 1) a self-reported gender equality index, and 2) a self-perceived gender equality question. The aim of comparison of the self-reported gender equality index with the self-perceived gender equality question was to reveal possible disagreements between the normative discourse on gender equality and daily practice in couple relationships. We then evaluated the association with health, measured as self-rated health (SRH). With SRH dichotomized into 'good' and 'poor', logistic regression was used to assess factors associated with the outcome. For the comparison between the self-reported gender equality index and self-perceived gender equality, kappa statistics were used. Associations between gender equality and health found in this study vary with the type of gender equality measurement. Overall, we found little agreement between the self-reported gender equality index and self-perceived gender equality. Further, the patterns of agreement between self-perceived and self-reported gender equality were quite different for men and women: men perceived greater gender equality than they reported in the index, while women perceived less gender equality than they reported. The associations to health were depending on gender equality measurement used. Men and women perceive and report gender equality differently. This means that it is necessary not only to be conscious of the methods and measurements used to quantify men's and women's opinions of gender equality, but also to be aware of the implications for health outcomes.

Social strain, couple dynamics and gender differences in gambling problems: evidence from Chinese married couples.

PubMed

Cheung, Nicole W T

2015-02-01

Knowledge of the influence of couple dynamics on gender differences in gambling behavior remains meager. Building on general strain theory from the sociology of deviance and stress crossover theory from social psychology, we argue that the strain encountered by one partner in a social setting may affect his or her spouse. For instance, the wife of a man under more social strain may experience more strain in turn and thus be at a higher risk of developing disordered gambling than the wife of a man under less social strain. Using community survey data of 1620 Chinese married couples, we performed multilevel dyad analyses to address social strain and couple dynamics, in addition to their roles as predictors of gambling behavior in both spouses. This was a community survey of Hong Kong and therefore was not representative of China. Based on the DSM-IV screen, the rates of probable problem gambling and pathological gambling among male partners (12.8% vs. 2.5%) were twice those among female partners (5.2% vs. 0.3%). We also found that the social strain experienced by a male partner significantly predicted both his and his wife's likelihood of developing gambling problems. Although a female partner's exposure to social strain was a significant correlate of her gambling problem, it had no significant association with her husband's gambling behavior. These results suggest that the cross-spouse transference of social strain may be a gendered process. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Gender and leprosy: case studies in Indonesia, Nigeria, Nepal and Brazil.

PubMed

Varkevisser, Corlien M; Lever, Peter; Alubo, Ogoh; Burathoki, Kamala; Idawani, Cut; Moreira, Tatiana M A; Patrobas, Phillip; Yulizar, Media

2009-03-01

There appear to be regional differences in gender ratios of leprosy patients being diagnosed and treated. In Asian countries, more men than women are registered whilst in Africa female patients outnumber males. The Netherlands Leprosy Relief (NLR) therefore initiated research into factors underlying these regional gender differences. Between 1997 and 1999, leprosy control teams in Indonesia, Nigeria, Nepal and Brazil supported by social/public health scientists, conducted comparative exploratory research. They looked at three groups of potential explanatory factors: biological, socio-cultural/economic and service-related. The studies were partially quantitative (analysis of the records of patients who according to prescription could have completed treatment) and partially qualitative (interviews/focus group discussions with patients, their relatives, community members and health staff on perceptions of leprosy, its socio-economic consequences, treatment and cure). Biological factors appeared similar in the four countries: irrespective of the M/F ratio, more men than women were registered with multibacillary (MB) leprosy. Strong traditions, the low status of women, their limited mobility, illiteracy and poor knowledge of leprosy appeared to be important sociocultural factors explaining why women were under reporting. Yet, accessible, well reputed services augmented female participation and helped to diminish stigma, which in three out of the four societies seemed greater for women than for men. These positive effects could still be higher if the services would enhance community and patient education with active participation of patients and ex-patients themselves.

Varying age-gender associations between body mass index and urban greenspace.

PubMed

Sander, Heather A; Ghosh, Debarchana; Hodson, Cody B

2017-08-01

Urban greenspace benefits urbanites in numerous ways ranging from regulating flooding, air quality, and local climate to providing opportunities for exercise and relaxation. These benefits may influence human health. Greenspace, for example, may facilitate exercise, thereby helping to reduce body mass index (BMI) and combat obesity, a current epidemic of great public health concern. Little evidence exists to support this assertion, however, and we lack a full understanding of the mechanisms whereby this relationship operates, the populations for whom greenspace is linked to weight status, and the aspects of urban greenspace that are linked to weight status. This study seeks to identify relationships among the composition and arrangement of greenspace and BMI for different populations using regression models for eight age and gender groups in Cleveland, Ohio, US. We find that several greenspace variables are related to BMI for women under 65 years and males under 51 years, but not for older groups, and that the aspects and types of greenspace that are significantly related to BMI vary among groups. Relationships between greenspace attributes and BMI are generally stronger for female groups and for younger groups. Providing access to greenspace with particular attributes such as greenspaces with water, canopy cover, or connected greenspaces could support a healthy weight status for some populations, but these attributes are not consistent across age and gender groups. These results could help to inform policy aimed at designing urban greenspace to benefit the health of different population subgroups.

The impact of gender stereotypes on the evaluation of general practitioners' communication skills: an experimental study using transcripts of physician-patient encounters.

PubMed

Nicolai, Jennifer; Demmel, Ralf

2007-12-01

The present study has been designed to test for the effect of physicians' gender on the perception and assessment of empathic communication in medical encounters. Eighty-eight volunteers were asked to assess six transcribed interactions between physicians and a standardized patient. The effects of physicians' gender were tested by the experimental manipulation of physicians' gender labels in transcripts. Participants were randomly assigned to one of two testing conditions: (1) perceived gender corresponds to the physician's true gender; (2) perceived gender differs from the physician's true gender. Empathic communication was assessed using the Rating Scales for the Assessment of Empathic Communication in Medical Interviews. A 2 (physician's true gender: female vs. male)x2 (physician's perceived gender: female vs. male)x2 (rater's gender: female vs. male) mixed multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) yielded a main effect for physician's true gender. Female physicians were rated higher on empathic communication than male physicians irrespective of any gender labels. The present findings suggest that gender differences in the perception of physician's empathy are not merely a function of the gender label. These findings provide evidence for differences in male and female physicians' empathic communication that cannot be attributed to stereotype bias. Future efforts to evaluate communication skills training for general practitioners may consider gender differences.

Investigating gender differences in alcohol problems: a latent trait modeling approach.

PubMed

Nichol, Penny E; Krueger, Robert F; Iacono, William G

2007-05-01

Inconsistent results have been found in research investigating gender differences in alcohol problems. Previous studies of gender differences used a wide range of methodological techniques, as well as limited assortments of alcohol problems. Parents (1,348 men and 1,402 women) of twins enrolled in the Minnesota Twin Family Study answered questions about a wide range of alcohol problems. A latent trait modeling technique was used to evaluate gender differences in the probability of endorsement at the problem level and for the overall 105-problem scale. Of the 34 problems that showed significant gender differences, 29 were more likely to be endorsed by men than women with equivalent overall alcohol problem levels. These male-oriented symptoms included measures of heavy drinking, duration of drinking, tolerance, and acting out behaviors. Nineteen symptoms were denoted for removal to create a scale that favored neither gender in assessment. Significant gender differences were found in approximately one-third of the symptoms assessed and in the overall scale. Further examination of the nature of gender differences in alcohol problem symptoms should be undertaken to investigate whether a gender-neutral scale should be created or if men and women should be assessed with separate criteria for alcohol dependence and abuse.

Methodologies, bioindicators, and biomarkers for assessing gender-related differences in wildlife exposed to environmental chemicals.

PubMed

Burger, Joanna; Fossi, Cristina; McClellan-Green, Patricia; Orlando, Edward F

2007-05-01

Male and female organisms may have significant differences in their exposure, toxicokinetics, and response to chemicals, but gender effects have received relatively little attention, often viewed as a confounder rather than of primary importance. In this paper, we examine some of the key issues and methodologies for incorporating gender in studies of the effects of chemicals on wildlife, and explore bioindicators and biomarkers of gender effects. Examining gender-related differences in response to chemicals is complicated in wildlife because of the vast array of species, and differences in niches, lifespans, reproductive cycles and modes, and population dynamics. Further, organisms are more at risk in some ecosystems than others, which may increase the magnitude of effects. Only by studying wild animals, especially native species, can we truly understand the potential impact of gender-specific effects of chemical exposure on populations. Several factors affect gender-related differences in responses to chemicals, including exposure, age, size, seasonality, and genetic and phenotypic variation. There are clear examples where gender-related differences have had significant effects on reproductive success and population stability, including destabilization of gamete release in invertebrates, and alterations of endocrine and neuroendocrine system functioning in vertebrates. A wide range of new technologies and methods are available for examining gender-related differences in responses to chemicals. We provide examples that show that there are gender-related differences in responses to chemicals that have significant biological effects, and these gender-related differences should be taken into account by scientists, regulators, and policy makers, as well as the public.

Family physicians' beliefs about genetic contributions to racial/ethnic and gender differences in health and clinical decision-making.

PubMed

Warshauer-Baker, Esther; Bonham, Vence L; Jenkins, Jean; Stevens, Nancy; Page, Zintesia; Odunlami, Adebola; McBride, Colleen M

2008-01-01

Greater attention towards genetics as a contributor to group health differences may lead to inappropriate use of race/ethnicity and gender as genetic heuristics and exacerbate health disparities. As part of a web-based survey, 1,035 family physicians (FPs) rated the contribution of genetics and environment to racial/ethnic and gender differences in health outcomes, and the importance of race/ethnicity and gender in their clinical decision-making. FPs attributed racial/ethnic and gender differences in health outcomes equally to environment and genetics. These beliefs were not associated with rated importance of race/ethnicity or gender in clinical decision-making. FPs appreciate the complexity of genetic and environmental influences on health differences by race/ethnicity and gender. Copyright 2008 S. Karger AG, Basel.

Gender Differences in Searching for Health Information on the Internet and the Virtual Patient-Physician Relationship in Germany: Exploratory Results on How Men and Women Differ and Why

PubMed Central

Terlutter, Ralf

2015-01-01

Background Many studies have shown that women use the Internet more often for health-related information searches than men, but we have limited knowledge about the underlying reasons. We also do not know whether and how women and men differ in their current use of the Internet for communicating with their general practitioner (GP) and in their future intention to do so (virtual patient-physician relationship). Objective This study investigates (1) gender differences in health-related information search behavior by exploring underlying emotional, motivational, attitudinal as well as cognitive variables, situational involvement, and normative influences, and different personal involvement regarding health-related information searching and (2) gender differences in the virtual patient-physician relationship. Methods Gender differences were analyzed based on an empirical online survey of 1006 randomly selected German patients. The sample was drawn from an e-panel maintained by GfK HealthCare. A total of 958 usable questionnaires were analyzed. Principal component analyses were carried out for some variables. Differences between men (517/958) and women (441/958) were analyzed using t tests and Kendall’s tau-b tests. The survey instrument was guided by several research questions and was based on existing literature. Results Women were more engaged in using the Internet for health-related information searching. Gender differences were found for the frequency of usage of various Internet channels for health-related information searches. Women used the Internet for health-related information searches to a higher degree for social motives and enjoyment and they judged the usability of the Internet medium and of the information gained by health information searches higher than men did. Women had a more positive attitude toward Web 2.0 than men did, but perceived themselves as less digitally competent. Women had a higher health and nutrition awareness and a greater reluctance to make use of medical support, as well as a higher personal disposition of being well-informed as a patient. Men may be more open toward the virtual patient-physician relationship. Conclusions Women have a stronger social motive for and experience greater enjoyment in health-related information searches, explained by social role interpretations, suggesting these needs should be met when offering health-related information on the Internet. This may be interesting for governmental bodies as well as for the insurance and the pharmaceutical industries. Furthermore, women may be more easily convinced by health awareness campaigns and are, therefore, the primary target group for them. Men are more open to engaging in a virtual relationship with the GP; therefore, they could be the primary target group for additional online services offered by GPs. There were several areas for GPs to reinforce the virtual patient-physician relationship: the fixing of personal appointments, referral to other doctors, writing prescriptions, and discussions of normal test results and doctor’s notes/certificates of health. PMID:26099325

Gender Differences in Searching for Health Information on the Internet and the Virtual Patient-Physician Relationship in Germany: Exploratory Results on How Men and Women Differ and Why.

PubMed

Bidmon, Sonja; Terlutter, Ralf

2015-06-22

Many studies have shown that women use the Internet more often for health-related information searches than men, but we have limited knowledge about the underlying reasons. We also do not know whether and how women and men differ in their current use of the Internet for communicating with their general practitioner (GP) and in their future intention to do so (virtual patient-physician relationship). This study investigates (1) gender differences in health-related information search behavior by exploring underlying emotional, motivational, attitudinal as well as cognitive variables, situational involvement, and normative influences, and different personal involvement regarding health-related information searching and (2) gender differences in the virtual patient-physician relationship. Gender differences were analyzed based on an empirical online survey of 1006 randomly selected German patients. The sample was drawn from an e-panel maintained by GfK HealthCare. A total of 958 usable questionnaires were analyzed. Principal component analyses were carried out for some variables. Differences between men (517/958) and women (441/958) were analyzed using t tests and Kendall's tau-b tests. The survey instrument was guided by several research questions and was based on existing literature. Women were more engaged in using the Internet for health-related information searching. Gender differences were found for the frequency of usage of various Internet channels for health-related information searches. Women used the Internet for health-related information searches to a higher degree for social motives and enjoyment and they judged the usability of the Internet medium and of the information gained by health information searches higher than men did. Women had a more positive attitude toward Web 2.0 than men did, but perceived themselves as less digitally competent. Women had a higher health and nutrition awareness and a greater reluctance to make use of medical support, as well as a higher personal disposition of being well-informed as a patient. Men may be more open toward the virtual patient-physician relationship. Women have a stronger social motive for and experience greater enjoyment in health-related information searches, explained by social role interpretations, suggesting these needs should be met when offering health-related information on the Internet. This may be interesting for governmental bodies as well as for the insurance and the pharmaceutical industries. Furthermore, women may be more easily convinced by health awareness campaigns and are, therefore, the primary target group for them. Men are more open to engaging in a virtual relationship with the GP; therefore, they could be the primary target group for additional online services offered by GPs. There were several areas for GPs to reinforce the virtual patient-physician relationship: the fixing of personal appointments, referral to other doctors, writing prescriptions, and discussions of normal test results and doctor's notes/certificates of health.

24 CFR 572.405 - Nondiscrimination and equal opportunity requirements.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-04-01

..., religion, sex, disability, familial status, or national origin, for the program without special outreach... paragraph (a)(1) of this section. (c) Authority for collection of racial, ethnic, and gender data. HUD requires submission of racial, ethnic, and gender data under this part under the authority of section 562...

Direct and Indirect Aggression during Childhood and Adolescence: A Meta-Analytic Review of Gender Differences, Intercorrelations, and Relations to Maladjustment

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Card, Noel A.; Stucky, Brian D.; Sawalani, Gita M.; Little, Todd D.

2008-01-01

This meta-analytic review of 148 studies on child and adolescent direct and indirect aggression examined the magnitude of gender differences, intercorrelations between forms, and associations with maladjustment. Results confirmed prior findings of gender differences (favoring boys) in direct aggression and trivial gender differences in indirect…

Personality Traits and Gender-Specific Income Expectations in Dutch Higher Education

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Need, Ariana; de Jong, Uulkje

2008-01-01

In this article we examine gender differences in income expectations of students in higher education. We found quite large gender differences. Men and women differ significantly in the income they expect to earn at the top of their career. We examined how much personality traits contribute to explain gender differences in income expectations, and…

Differential effects of social stress on laboratory-based decision-making are related to both impulsive personality traits and gender.

PubMed

Wise, Richard J; Phung, Alissa L; Labuschagne, Izelle; Stout, Julie C

2015-01-01

Urgency is the tendency to make impulsive decisions under extreme positive or negative emotional states. Stress, gender and impulsive personality traits are all known to influence decision-making, but no studies have examined the interplay of all of these factors. We exposed 78 men and women to a stress or a non-stress condition, and then administered the Balloon Analogue Risk Task. We found that stress effects varied as a function of gender and urgency traits. Under stress, women low in negative urgency and men high in negative urgency made fewer risky decisions. Positive urgency yielded a similar pattern. Thus, decisions under stress depend on a complex interplay between gender and impulsive personality traits. These findings have implications for clinical disorders, such as substance use disorders, in which there are known deficits in decision-making and high levels of impulsive traits.

Gender Differences in Personality across the Ten Aspects of the Big Five.

PubMed

Weisberg, Yanna J; Deyoung, Colin G; Hirsh, Jacob B

2011-01-01

This paper investigates gender differences in personality traits, both at the level of the Big Five and at the sublevel of two aspects within each Big Five domain. Replicating previous findings, women reported higher Big Five Extraversion, Agreeableness, and Neuroticism scores than men. However, more extensive gender differences were found at the level of the aspects, with significant gender differences appearing in both aspects of every Big Five trait. For Extraversion, Openness, and Conscientiousness, the gender differences were found to diverge at the aspect level, rendering them either small or undetectable at the Big Five level. These findings clarify the nature of gender differences in personality and highlight the utility of measuring personality at the aspect level.

Gender Differences in Personality across the Ten Aspects of the Big Five

PubMed Central

Weisberg, Yanna J.; DeYoung, Colin G.; Hirsh, Jacob B.

2011-01-01

This paper investigates gender differences in personality traits, both at the level of the Big Five and at the sublevel of two aspects within each Big Five domain. Replicating previous findings, women reported higher Big Five Extraversion, Agreeableness, and Neuroticism scores than men. However, more extensive gender differences were found at the level of the aspects, with significant gender differences appearing in both aspects of every Big Five trait. For Extraversion, Openness, and Conscientiousness, the gender differences were found to diverge at the aspect level, rendering them either small or undetectable at the Big Five level. These findings clarify the nature of gender differences in personality and highlight the utility of measuring personality at the aspect level. PMID:21866227

Gender Differences in Child Aggression: Relations With Gender-Differentiated Parenting and Parents' Gender-Role Stereotypes.

PubMed

Endendijk, Joyce J; Groeneveld, Marleen G; van der Pol, Lotte D; van Berkel, Sheila R; Hallers-Haalboom, Elizabeth T; Bakermans-Kranenburg, Marian J; Mesman, Judi

2017-01-01

This longitudinal study examines the association between child gender and child aggression via parents' physical control, moderated by parents' gender-role stereotypes in a sample of 299 two-parent families with a 3-year-old child in the Netherlands. Fathers with strong stereotypical gender-role attitudes and mothers were observed to use more physical control strategies with boys than with girls, whereas fathers with strong counterstereotypical attitudes toward gender roles used more physical control with girls than with boys. Moreover, when fathers had strong attitudes toward gender roles (stereotypical or counterstereotypical), their differential treatment of boys and girls completely accounted for the gender differences in children's aggressive behavior a year later. Mothers' gender-differentiated parenting practices were unrelated to gender differences in child aggression. © 2016 The Authors. Child Development © 2016 Society for Research in Child Development, Inc.

Gender, Culture, and Sex-Typed Cognitive Abilities

PubMed Central

Reilly, David

2012-01-01

Although gender differences in cognitive abilities are frequently reported, the magnitude of these differences and whether they hold practical significance in the educational outcomes of boys and girls is highly debated. Furthermore, when gender gaps in reading, mathematics and science literacy are reported they are often attributed to innate, biological differences rather than social and cultural factors. Cross-cultural evidence may contribute to this debate, and this study reports national gender differences in reading, mathematics and science literacy from 65 nations participating in the 2009 round of the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA). Consistently across all nations, girls outperform boys in reading literacy, d = −.44. Boys outperform girls in mathematics in the USA, d = .22 and across OECD nations, d = .13. For science literacy, while the USA showed the largest gender difference across all OECD nations, d = .14, gender differences across OECD nations were non-significant, and a small female advantage was found for non-OECD nations, d = −.09. Across all three domains, these differences were more pronounced at both tails of the distribution for low- and high-achievers. Considerable cross-cultural variability was also observed, and national gender differences were correlated with gender equity measures, economic prosperity, and Hofstede’s cultural dimension of power distance. Educational and societal implications of such gender gaps are addressed, as well as the mechanisms by which gender differences in cognitive abilities are culturally mediated. PMID:22808072

Sensory and Postural Input in the Occurrence of a Gender Difference in Orienting Liquid Surfaces

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Robert, Michele; Longpre, Sophie

2005-01-01

In the water-level task, both spatial skill and physical knowledge contribute to representing the surface of a liquid as horizontal irrespective of the container's tilt. Under the standard visual format of the task, men systematically surpass women at drawing correct water lines in outlines of tilted containers. The present exploratory experiments…

Towards an understanding of gender differences with respect to whitewater rafting preferences

Treesearch

Duarte B. Morais; Traci Zillifro; Susanne Dubrouillet

2002-01-01

Previous literature suggests that there are an increasing number of females participating in outdoor recreation. However, the majority of outdoor programs are still designed under a male dominated paradigm. Few authors have dedicated attention to the special needs of female participants. Furthermore, very little if any attention has been given to the needs of females...

Did Project 2000 Nurse Training Change Recruitment Patterns or Career Expectations?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Davies, Carol; Stilwell, John; Wilson, Rob; Carlisle, Caroline; Luker, Karen

2000-01-01

Interviews with British nurse administrators and a survey of nurses who qualified under the old system and the new higher education system revealed that the new system has not attracted different applicants in terms of age, education, or gender. Not all administrators felt that new graduates were better prepared. More of the new graduates felt…

Developmental Differences in Young Children's Sex-Typing: Automatic versus Reflective Processing.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Perry, Louise C.; Sung, Hung-yen A.

To investigate social cognitive factors in early sex-role development, this study examined young children's gender-related judgments of toy appropriateness under speeded and delayed response conditions. Subjects were 55 boys and 59 girls, aged 3, 5, and 7. Ninety-two photographs of common toys were independently rated as mainly for girls, mainly…

Blacked Out: Racial and Gender Segregation in Gifted Education 60 Years after "Brown vs. Board of Education"

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ford, Donna Y.; King, Robert A., Jr.

2014-01-01

This article examines the under-representation of African American students in gifted education, with attention to how representation differs for Black males and females. We contend that social injustices (e.g., prejudice and discrimination) contribute to racially segregated gifted education classes (Ford, 2013b). For support, gifted…

Sex and gender differences in substance use disorders.

PubMed

McHugh, R Kathryn; Votaw, Victoria R; Sugarman, Dawn E; Greenfield, Shelly F

2017-11-10

The gender gap in substance use disorders (SUDs), characterized by greater prevalence in men, is narrowing, highlighting the importance of understanding sex and gender differences in SUD etiology and maintenance. In this critical review, we provide an overview of sex/gender differences in the biology, epidemiology and treatment of SUDs. Biological sex differences are evident across an array of systems, including brain structure and function, endocrine function, and metabolic function. Gender (i.e., environmentally and socioculturally defined roles for men and women) also contributes to the initiation and course of substance use and SUDs. Adverse medical, psychiatric, and functional consequences associated with SUDs are often more severe in women. However, men and women do not substantively differ with respect to SUD treatment outcomes. Although several trends are beginning to emerge in the literature, findings on sex and gender differences in SUDs are complicated by the interacting contributions of biological and environmental factors. Future research is needed to further elucidate sex and gender differences, especially focusing on hormonal factors in SUD course and treatment outcomes; research translating findings between animal and human models; and gender differences in understudied populations, such as those with co-occurring psychiatric disorders and gender-specific populations, such as pregnant women. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Why is the gender gap in life expectancy decreasing? The impact of age- and cause-specific mortality in Sweden 1997-2014.

PubMed

Sundberg, Louise; Agahi, Neda; Fritzell, Johan; Fors, Stefan

2018-04-13

To enhance the understanding of the current increase in life expectancy and decreasing gender gap in life expectancy. We obtained data on underlying cause of death from the National Board of Health and Welfare in Sweden for 1997 and 2014 and used Arriaga's method to decompose life expectancy by age group and 24 causes of death. Decreased mortality from ischemic heart disease had the largest impact on the increased life expectancy of both men and women and on the decreased gender gap in life expectancy. Increased mortality from Alzheimer's disease negatively influenced overall life expectancy, but because of higher female mortality, it also served to decrease the gender gap in life expectancy. The impact of other causes of death, particularly smoking-related causes, decreased in men but increased in women, also reducing the gap in life expectancy. This study shows that a focus on overall changes in life expectancies may hide important differences in age- and cause-specific mortality. It also emphasizes the importance of addressing modifiable lifestyle factors to reduce avoidable mortality.

Relevance of gender-sensitive policies and general health indicators to compare the status of South Asian women's health.

PubMed

Gill, Roopan; Stewart, Donna E

2011-01-01

despite goals for gender equity in South Asia, the relationship between gender-sensitive policies and the empowerment of women is complex and requires an analysis of how policies align with a broad set of social, cultural, political, and economic indicators that relate to women's health. through a review of four documents under the umbrella of the World Health Organization and the United Nations, a list of 17 gender-sensitive policy and 17 general health indicators was generated with a focus on health, education, economic, and political empowerment and violence against women. A series of policy documents and international and national databases that are accessible in the public domain were the major tools used to find supporting documentation to address women's health outcomes in Bangladesh, India, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka. all five South Asian countries had several gender-sensitive policies that were measurable by indicators that contribute to health. Examination of political and economic status, birth sex ratios, human trafficking, illiteracy rates, maternal mortality rates, contraception prevalence, fertility rates, knowledge of HIV/AIDS prevention, access to skilled birth attendants, and microfinance show that large gender inequities still prevail despite the presence of gender-sensitive policies. in many cases, the presence of gender-sensitive policies did not reflect the realization of gender equity over a wide range of indicators. Although the economic, political, social, and cultural climates of the five countries may differ, the integration of women's needs into the formulation, implementation, and monitoring of policies is a universal necessity to achieve positive outcomes. 2011 Jacobs Institute of Women's Health. Published by Elsevier Inc.

Decomposing race and gender differences in underweight and obesity in South Africa.

PubMed

Averett, Susan L; Stacey, Nicholas; Wang, Yang

2014-12-01

Using data from the National Income Dynamics Study, we document differentials in both underweight and obesity across race and gender in post-Apartheid South Africa. Using a nonlinear decomposition method, we decompose these differences across gender within race and then across race within gender. Less than one third of the differences in obesity and underweight across gender are explained by differences in covariates. In contrast, at least 70% of the obesity differences across race are explained by differences in covariates. Behavioral variables such as smoking and exercise explain the largest part of the bodyweight differentials across gender. For bodyweight differentials across race within gender, however, socioeconomic status and background variables have the largest explanatory power for obesity differentials, while background variables play the key role in explaining the underweight differentials. These results indicate that eradicating obesity and underweight differentials will require targeting policies to specific groups. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Gender intensification of peer socialization during puberty.

PubMed

Pettitt, Lisa M

2004-01-01

Gender differences are a provocative subject with good reason: they are implicated as contributors to important societal problems. Gender differences in math achievement contribute to limited career options for women (Center for Early Adolescence, 1984; Stipp, 1992), which may in turn affect their economic self-sufficiency. Gender differences in social norms about competition and closeness contribute to power and communication problems in female-male relationships, with consequences for family stability and domestic violence (Leaper, 1994). Understanding the origins of gender differences, therefore, has important societal implications.

Acute stress symptoms, dissociation, and depression among rescue personnel 24 hours after the Bet-Yehoshua train crash in Israel:the effect of gender.

PubMed

Palgi, Yuval; Ben-Ezra, Menachem; Essar, Nir; Sofer, Hilik; Haber, Yeela

2009-01-01

The effect of immediate exposure to traumatic events and gender differences is under-studied in the literature. Most studies focus on acute stress disorder (ASD) and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) phases in order to measure gender differences, and tend to neglect the immediate exposure to the disaster. The main hypothesis was that female rescue personnel would exhibit higher levels of acute stress symptoms, dissociation, and depressive symptoms in the 24 hours following a traumatic event. Twenty-three rescue personnel participated in a search and rescue operation at the Bet-Yehoshua train crash in Israel. The rescue personnel group was divided based on gender. Each participant completed a demographic questionnaire including questions that assessed psychological symptoms and issues such as perceived threat to life, the Impact of Event Scale Revised (IES-R), the Dissociative Experience Scale (DES), and the Center of Epidemiologic Studies Depression questionnaire (CES-D). Statistical inferences were calculated using t-tests and chi-square tests, along with testing of covariance (MANCOVA) in order to indentify which factors are related to psychiatric symptomatology following the immediate exposure to disaster. The results suggest that among rescue personnel, women did not differ in their levels of acute stress, dissociation, and depressive symptoms from men. These results suggest the possibility that the gender differences in reactions to traumatic events do not emerge in the acute stress reactions (ASR) phase (up to 24 hours after the event), but later on when people have time to process the trauma. Another possibility that may explain the discrepancy between this study and the common knowledge in the literature is that women rescue personnel are considered a highly selected group, which does not reflect on the general population of women. More studies are needed in order to substantiate these results.

Eating Behaviour among Multi-Ethnic Adolescents in a Middle-Income Country as Measured by the Self-Reported Children’s Eating Behaviour Questionnaire

PubMed Central

Loh, Debbie Ann; Moy, Foong Ming; Zaharan, Nur Lisa; Mohamed, Zahurin

2013-01-01

Background Escalating weight gain among the Malaysian paediatric population necessitates identifying modifiable behaviours in the obesity pathway. Objectives This study describes the adaptation and validation of the Children’s Eating Behaviour Questionnaire (CEBQ) as a self-report for adolescents, investigates gender and ethnic differences in eating behaviour and examines associations between eating behaviour and body mass index (BMI) z-scores among multi-ethnic Malaysian adolescents. Methodology This two-phase study involved validation of the Malay self-reported CEBQ in Phase 1 (n = 362). Principal Axis Factoring with Promax rotation, confirmatory factor analysis and reliability tests were performed. In Phase 2, adolescents completed the questionnaire (n = 646). Weight and height were measured. Gender and ethnic differences in eating behaviour were investigated. Associations between eating behaviour and BMI z-scores were examined with complex samples general linear model (GLM) analyses, adjusted for gender, ethnicity and maternal educational level. Results Exploratory factor analysis revealed a 35-item, 9-factor structure with ‘food fussiness’ scale split into two. In confirmatory factor analysis, a 30-item, 8-factor structure yielded an improved model fit. Reliability estimates of the eight factors were acceptable. Eating behaviours did not differ between genders. Malay adolescents reported higher Food Responsiveness, Enjoyment of Food, Emotional Overeating, Slowness in Eating, Emotional Undereating and Food Fussiness 1 scores (p<0.05) compared to Chinese and Indians. A significant negative association was observed between BMI z-scores and Food Fussiness 1 (‘dislike towards food’) when adjusted for confounders. Conclusion Although CEBQ is a valuable psychometric instrument, adjustments were required due to age and cultural differences in our sample. With the self-report, our findings present that gender, ethnic and weight status influenced eating behaviours. Obese adolescents were found to display a lack of dislike towards food. Future longitudinal and qualitative studies are warranted to further understand behavioural phenotypes of obesity to guide prevention and intervention strategies. PMID:24349385

Eating behaviour among multi-ethnic adolescents in a middle-income country as measured by the self-reported Children's Eating Behaviour Questionnaire.

PubMed

Loh, Debbie Ann; Moy, Foong Ming; Zaharan, Nur Lisa; Mohamed, Zahurin

2013-01-01

Escalating weight gain among the Malaysian paediatric population necessitates identifying modifiable behaviours in the obesity pathway. This study describes the adaptation and validation of the Children's Eating Behaviour Questionnaire (CEBQ) as a self-report for adolescents, investigates gender and ethnic differences in eating behaviour and examines associations between eating behaviour and body mass index (BMI) z-scores among multi-ethnic Malaysian adolescents. This two-phase study involved validation of the Malay self-reported CEBQ in Phase 1 (n = 362). Principal Axis Factoring with Promax rotation, confirmatory factor analysis and reliability tests were performed. In Phase 2, adolescents completed the questionnaire (n = 646). Weight and height were measured. Gender and ethnic differences in eating behaviour were investigated. Associations between eating behaviour and BMI z-scores were examined with complex samples general linear model (GLM) analyses, adjusted for gender, ethnicity and maternal educational level. Exploratory factor analysis revealed a 35-item, 9-factor structure with 'food fussiness' scale split into two. In confirmatory factor analysis, a 30-item, 8-factor structure yielded an improved model fit. Reliability estimates of the eight factors were acceptable. Eating behaviours did not differ between genders. Malay adolescents reported higher Food Responsiveness, Enjoyment of Food, Emotional Overeating, Slowness in Eating, Emotional Undereating and Food Fussiness 1 scores (p<0.05) compared to Chinese and Indians. A significant negative association was observed between BMI z-scores and Food Fussiness 1 ('dislike towards food') when adjusted for confounders. Although CEBQ is a valuable psychometric instrument, adjustments were required due to age and cultural differences in our sample. With the self-report, our findings present that gender, ethnic and weight status influenced eating behaviours. Obese adolescents were found to display a lack of dislike towards food. Future longitudinal and qualitative studies are warranted to further understand behavioural phenotypes of obesity to guide prevention and intervention strategies.

Morphologic Characteristics Help Explain the Gender Difference in Peak Anterior Cruciate Ligament Strain During a Simulated Pivot Landing

PubMed Central

Lipps, David B.; Oh, Youkeun K.; Ashton-Miller, James A.; Wojtys, Edward M.

2015-01-01

Background Gender differences exist in anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) cross-sectional area and lateral tibial slope. Biomechanical principles suggest that the direction of these gender differences should induce larger peak ACL strains in females under dynamic loading. Hypothesis Peak ACL relative strain during a simulated pivot landing is significantly greater in female ACLs than male ACLs. Study Design Controlled laboratory study. Methods Twenty cadaveric knees from height- and weight-matched male and female cadavers were subjected to impulsive 3-dimensional test loads of 2 times body weight in compression, flexion, and internal tibial torque starting at 15° of flexion. Load cells measured the 3-dimensional forces and moments applied to the knee, and forces in the pretensioned quadriceps, hamstring, and gastrocnemius muscle equivalents. A novel, gender-specific, nonlinear spring simulated short-range and longer range quadriceps muscle tensile stiffness. Peak relative strain in the anteromedial bundle of the ACL (AM-ACL) was measured using a differential variable reluctance transducer, while ACL cross-sectional area and lateral tibial slope were measured using magnetic resonance imaging. A repeated-measures Mann-Whitney signed-rank test was used to test the hypothesis. Results Female knees exhibited 95% greater peak AM-ACL relative strain than male knees (6.37% [22.53%] vs 3.26% [11.89%]; P = .004). Anterior cruciate ligament cross-sectional area and lateral tibial slope were significant predictors of peak AM-ACL relative strain (R2 = .59; P = .001). Conclusion Peak AM-ACL relative strain was significantly greater in female than male knees from donors of the same height and weight. This gender difference is attributed to a smaller female ACL cross-sectional area and a greater lateral tibial slope. Clinical Relevance Since female ACLs are systematically exposed to greater strain than their male counterparts, training and injury prevention programs should take this fact into consideration. PMID:21917612

Effects of Partial Vibration on Morphological Changes in Bone and Surrounding Muscle of Rats Under Microgravity Condition: Comparative Study by Gender

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Park, Ji Hyung; Seo, Dong-Hyun; Cho, Seungkwan; Kim, Seo-Hyun; Eom, Sinae; Kim, Han Sung

2015-09-01

Musculoskeletal disorders during and after spaceflight are considered as a serious health issue. In space, weight-bearing exercise recognized as the main countermeasure to bone loss, since many anti-resorptive medications have not yet been approved for spaceflight or have been unsuccessful in their limited application. We need to investigate a complementary or alternative way to prevent bone loss and muscle atrophy resulting from microgravity condition. Partial vibration was chosen because it is one of the most feasible ways to adopt safely and effectively. Moreover, although the influence of hind-limb suspension has been studied in both male and female rodents, only rarely are both genders evaluated in the same study. Thus, to further extend our knowledge, the present study performed comparative analysis between genders. A total of 36 12-week-old male and female Sprague-Dawley rats were used and were randomly assigned to control (CON), hind-limb suspension without vibration stimulus (HS), and hind-limb suspension with vibration stimulus (HV) groups. Hind-limb suspension has led to increasing the rate of bone loss and muscle atrophy regardless of gender. The rates of bone loss in male group obviously increased than that of female group. All structural parameters were showed significant difference between HS and HV ( p < 0.05) in male group whereas there are no significant differences in female group. In female, the muscle volume with treatment of partial vibration stimulus significantly increased which compared with that of hind-limb suspension ( p < 0.05) whereas there are no significant differences in male group. Thus partial vibration could prevent bone loss of tibia in males and muscle atrophy in females induced by hind-limb suspension. In other words, partial vibration has positive effects on damaged musculoskeletal tissues that differ based on gender.

Sex- and Gender-Differences in Emotion: A Preliminary Examination.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Emmers, Tara M.

This paper offers a preliminary examination of literature reviewing sex and gender differences in the five prototypic emotions of fear, anger, sadness, joy, and love. The paper notes that within the literature on sex and gender differences, the terms "sex" and "gender" are often erroneously referred to interchangeably…

Gender Difference in Schooling and Its Challenges to Teacher Education in China.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Qiang, Haiyan

2000-01-01

Discusses gender differences in academic achievement and cognitive development in China, noting gender differences in school treatment that have negative effects on girls' learning and achievement. The paper reviews Chinese educational processes and outcomes and summarizes various efforts designed to enhance gender equity in education, noting…

A theoretical model for analysing gender bias in medicine

PubMed Central

Risberg, Gunilla; Johansson, Eva E; Hamberg, Katarina

2009-01-01

During the last decades research has reported unmotivated differences in the treatment of women and men in various areas of clinical and academic medicine. There is an ongoing discussion on how to avoid such gender bias. We developed a three-step-theoretical model to understand how gender bias in medicine can occur and be understood. In this paper we present the model and discuss its usefulness in the efforts to avoid gender bias. In the model gender bias is analysed in relation to assumptions concerning difference/sameness and equity/inequity between women and men. Our model illustrates that gender bias in medicine can arise from assuming sameness and/or equity between women and men when there are genuine differences to consider in biology and disease, as well as in life conditions and experiences. However, gender bias can also arise from assuming differences when there are none, when and if dichotomous stereotypes about women and men are understood as valid. This conceptual thinking can be useful for discussing and avoiding gender bias in clinical work, medical education, career opportunities and documents such as research programs and health care policies. Too meet the various forms of gender bias, different facts and measures are needed. Knowledge about biological differences between women and men will not reduce bias caused by gendered stereotypes or by unawareness of health problems and discrimination associated with gender inequity. Such bias reflects unawareness of gendered attitudes and will not change by facts only. We suggest consciousness-rising activities and continuous reflections on gender attitudes among students, teachers, researchers and decision-makers. PMID:19646289

A theoretical model for analysing gender bias in medicine.

PubMed

Risberg, Gunilla; Johansson, Eva E; Hamberg, Katarina

2009-08-03

During the last decades research has reported unmotivated differences in the treatment of women and men in various areas of clinical and academic medicine. There is an ongoing discussion on how to avoid such gender bias. We developed a three-step-theoretical model to understand how gender bias in medicine can occur and be understood. In this paper we present the model and discuss its usefulness in the efforts to avoid gender bias. In the model gender bias is analysed in relation to assumptions concerning difference/sameness and equity/inequity between women and men. Our model illustrates that gender bias in medicine can arise from assuming sameness and/or equity between women and men when there are genuine differences to consider in biology and disease, as well as in life conditions and experiences. However, gender bias can also arise from assuming differences when there are none, when and if dichotomous stereotypes about women and men are understood as valid. This conceptual thinking can be useful for discussing and avoiding gender bias in clinical work, medical education, career opportunities and documents such as research programs and health care policies. Too meet the various forms of gender bias, different facts and measures are needed. Knowledge about biological differences between women and men will not reduce bias caused by gendered stereotypes or by unawareness of health problems and discrimination associated with gender inequity. Such bias reflects unawareness of gendered attitudes and will not change by facts only. We suggest consciousness-rising activities and continuous reflections on gender attitudes among students, teachers, researchers and decision-makers.

Global differences between women and men in the prevalence of obesity: is there an association with gender inequality?

PubMed

Garawi, F; Devries, K; Thorogood, N; Uauy, R

2014-10-01

In most populations the prevalence of obesity is greater in women than in men; however, the magnitude of the difference between the sexes varies significantly by country. We considered the role of gender inequality in explaining these disparities. We undertook an ecological analysis of internationally comparable obesity prevalence data to examine the association between indicators of gender inequality and the differences between men and women in obesity prevalence. Gender inequality was assessed using three measures: the Gender Inequality Index, the Global Gender Gap Index and the Social Institutions and Gender Index. We fitted multiple regression models to examine the association. We found that the prevalence of obesity across countries shows gendered patterning with greater prevalence and greater heterogeneity in women than in men (P<0.001). We also found that two of three measures of gender inequality were significantly associated with the sex differences in obesity prevalence across countries. The patterning of obesity across countries is gendered. However, the association between global measures of gender inequality and the sex gap in obesity is dependent on the measure used. Further research is needed to investigate the mechanisms that underpin the gendered nature of obesity prevalence.

Gender differences in narcissism: a meta-analytic review.

PubMed

Grijalva, Emily; Newman, Daniel A; Tay, Louis; Donnellan, M Brent; Harms, P D; Robins, Richard W; Yan, Taiyi

2015-03-01

Despite the widely held belief that men are more narcissistic than women, there has been no systematic review to establish the magnitude, variability across measures and settings, and stability over time of this gender difference. Drawing on the biosocial approach to social role theory, a meta-analysis performed for Study 1 found that men tended to be more narcissistic than women (d = .26; k = 355 studies; N = 470,846). This gender difference remained stable in U.S. college student cohorts over time (from 1990 to 2013) and across different age groups. Study 1 also investigated gender differences in three facets of the Narcissistic Personality Inventory (NPI) to reveal that the narcissism gender difference is driven by the Exploitative/Entitlement facet (d = .29; k = 44 studies; N = 44,108) and Leadership/Authority facet (d = .20; k = 40 studies; N = 44,739); whereas the gender difference in Grandiose/Exhibitionism (d = .04; k = 39 studies; N = 42,460) was much smaller. We further investigated a less-studied form of narcissism called vulnerable narcissism-which is marked by low self-esteem, neuroticism, and introversion-to find that (in contrast to the more commonly studied form of narcissism found in the DSM and the NPI) men and women did not differ on vulnerable narcissism (d = -.04; k = 42 studies; N = 46,735). Study 2 used item response theory to rule out the possibility that measurement bias accounts for observed gender differences in the three facets of the NPI (N = 19,001). Results revealed that observed gender differences were not explained by measurement bias and thus can be interpreted as true sex differences. Discussion focuses on the implications for the biosocial construction model of gender differences, for the etiology of narcissism, for clinical applications, and for the role of narcissism in helping to explain gender differences in leadership and aggressive behavior. Readers are warned against overapplying small effect sizes to perpetuate gender stereotypes. PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2015 APA, all rights reserved.

Gender differences in the induction of chromosomal aberrations and gene mutations in rodent germ cells

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Adler, Ilse-Dore; Carere, Angelo; Eichenlaub-Ritter, Ursula

2007-05-15

Germ cell mutagenicity testing provides experimental data to quantify genetic risk for exposed human populations. The majority of tests are performed with exposure of males, and female data are relatively rare. The reason for this paucity lies in the differences between male and female germ cell biology. Male germ cells are produced throughout reproductive life and all developmental stages can be ascertained by appropriate breeding schemes. In contrast, the female germ cell pool is limited, meiosis begins during embryogenesis and oocytes are arrested over long periods of time until maturation processes start for small numbers of oocytes during the oestrusmore » cycle in mature females. The literature data are reviewed to point out possible gender differences of germ cells to exogenous agents such as chemicals or ionizing radiation. From the limited information, it can be concluded that male germ cells are more sensitive than female germ cells to the induction of chromosomal aberrations and gene mutations. However, exceptions are described which shed doubt on the extrapolation of experimental data from male rodents to the genetic risk of the human population. Furthermore, the female genome may be more sensitive to mutation induction during peri-conceptional stages compared to the male genome of the zygote. With few exceptions, germ cell experiments have been carried out under high acute exposure to optimize the effects and to compensate for the limited sample size in animal experiments. Human exposure to environmental agents, on the other hand, is usually chronic and involves low doses. Under these conditions, gender differences may become apparent that have not been studied so far. Additionally, data are reviewed that suggest a false impression of safety when responses are negative under high acute exposure of male rodents while a mutational response is induced by low chronic exposure. The classical (morphological) germ cell mutation tests are not performed anymore because they are animal and time consuming. Nevertheless, information is needed to place genetic risk extrapolations on more solid grounds and thereby to prevent an increased genetic burden to future generations. It is pointed out that modern molecular methodologies are available now to experimentally address the open questions.« less

Expectancies for the effectiveness of different tobacco interventions account for racial and gender differences in motivation to quit and abstinence self-efficacy.

PubMed

Cropsey, Karen L; Leventhal, Adam M; Stevens, Erin N; Trent, Lindsay R; Clark, C Brendan; Lahti, Adrienne C; Hendricks, Peter S

2014-09-01

Racial and gender disparities for smoking cessation might be accounted for by differences in expectancies for tobacco interventions, but few studies have investigated such differences or their relationships with motivation to quit and abstinence self-efficacy. In this cross-sectional study, 673 smokers (African American: n = 443, 65.8%; women: n = 222, 33.0%) under criminal justice supervision who enrolled in a clinical smoking cessation trial in which all received bupropion and half received counseling. All participants completed pretreatment measures of expectancies for different tobacco interventions, motivation to quit, and abstinence self-efficacy. The indirect effects of race and gender on motivation to quit and abstinence self-efficacy through expectancies for different tobacco interventions were evaluated. African Americans' stronger expectancies that behavioral interventions would be effective accounted for their greater motivation to quit and abstinence self-efficacy. Women's stronger expectancies for the effectiveness of pharmacotherapy accounted for their greater motivation to quit, whereas their stronger expectancies for the effectiveness of behavioral treatments accounted for their greater abstinence self-efficacy. Findings point to the mediating role of expectancies for treatment effectiveness and suggest the importance of exploring expectancies among African Americans and women as a way to augment motivation and self-efficacy. © The Author 2014. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Society for Research on Nicotine and Tobacco. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.

Negatively-marked MCQ assessments that reward partial knowledge do not introduce gender bias yet increase student performance and satisfaction and reduce anxiety.

PubMed

Bond, A Elizabeth; Bodger, Owen; Skibinski, David O F; Jones, D Hugh; Restall, Colin J; Dudley, Edward; van Keulen, Geertje

2013-01-01

Multiple-choice question (MCQ) examinations are increasingly used as the assessment method of theoretical knowledge in large class-size modules in many life science degrees. MCQ-tests can be used to objectively measure factual knowledge, ability and high-level learning outcomes, but may also introduce gender bias in performance dependent on topic, instruction, scoring and difficulty. The 'Single Answer' (SA) test is often used in which students choose one correct answer, in which they are unable to demonstrate partial knowledge. Negatively marking eliminates the chance element of guessing but may be considered unfair. Elimination testing (ET) is an alternative form of MCQ, which discriminates between all levels of knowledge, while rewarding demonstration of partial knowledge. Comparisons of performance and gender bias in negatively marked SA and ET tests have not yet been performed in the life sciences. Our results show that life science students were significantly advantaged by answering the MCQ test in elimination format compared to single answer format under negative marking conditions by rewarding partial knowledge of topics. Importantly, we found no significant difference in performance between genders in either cohort for either MCQ test under negative marking conditions. Surveys showed that students generally preferred ET-style MCQ testing over SA-style testing. Students reported feeling more relaxed taking ET MCQ and more stressed when sitting SA tests, while disagreeing with being distracted by thinking about best tactics for scoring high. Students agreed ET testing improved their critical thinking skills. We conclude that appropriately-designed MCQ tests do not systematically discriminate between genders. We recommend careful consideration in choosing the type of MCQ test, and propose to apply negative scoring conditions to each test type to avoid the introduction of gender bias. The student experience could be improved through the incorporation of the elimination answering methods in MCQ tests via rewarding partial and full knowledge.

Negatively-Marked MCQ Assessments That Reward Partial Knowledge Do Not Introduce Gender Bias Yet Increase Student Performance and Satisfaction and Reduce Anxiety

PubMed Central

Bond, A. Elizabeth; Bodger, Owen; Skibinski, David O. F.; Jones, D. Hugh; Restall, Colin J.; Dudley, Edward; van Keulen, Geertje

2013-01-01

Multiple-choice question (MCQ) examinations are increasingly used as the assessment method of theoretical knowledge in large class-size modules in many life science degrees. MCQ-tests can be used to objectively measure factual knowledge, ability and high-level learning outcomes, but may also introduce gender bias in performance dependent on topic, instruction, scoring and difficulty. The ‘Single Answer’ (SA) test is often used in which students choose one correct answer, in which they are unable to demonstrate partial knowledge. Negatively marking eliminates the chance element of guessing but may be considered unfair. Elimination testing (ET) is an alternative form of MCQ, which discriminates between all levels of knowledge, while rewarding demonstration of partial knowledge. Comparisons of performance and gender bias in negatively marked SA and ET tests have not yet been performed in the life sciences. Our results show that life science students were significantly advantaged by answering the MCQ test in elimination format compared to single answer format under negative marking conditions by rewarding partial knowledge of topics. Importantly, we found no significant difference in performance between genders in either cohort for either MCQ test under negative marking conditions. Surveys showed that students generally preferred ET-style MCQ testing over SA-style testing. Students reported feeling more relaxed taking ET MCQ and more stressed when sitting SA tests, while disagreeing with being distracted by thinking about best tactics for scoring high. Students agreed ET testing improved their critical thinking skills. We conclude that appropriately-designed MCQ tests do not systematically discriminate between genders. We recommend careful consideration in choosing the type of MCQ test, and propose to apply negative scoring conditions to each test type to avoid the introduction of gender bias. The student experience could be improved through the incorporation of the elimination answering methods in MCQ tests via rewarding partial and full knowledge. PMID:23437081

Gender differences in mathematics achievement in Beijing: A meta-analysis.

PubMed

Li, Meijuan; Zhang, Yongmei; Liu, Hongyun; Hao, Yi

2017-12-19

The topic of gender differences in mathematical performance has received considerable attention in the fields of education, sociology, economics and psychology. We analysed gender differences based on data from the Beijing Assessment of Educational Quality in China. A large data set of Grade 5 and Grade 8 students who took the mathematical test from 2008 to 2013 (n = 73,318) were analysed. Meta-analysis was used in this research. The findings were as follows. (1) No gender differences in mathematical achievement exist among students in Grade 5, relatively small gender differences exist in Grade 8, females scored higher than males, and variance of male students is larger than that of females in both Grade 5 and Grade 8. (2) Except for statistics and probability, gender differences in other domains in Grade 8 are significantly higher than those in Grade 5, and female students outperform males. (3) The ratio of students of both gender in Grade 5 and Grade 8 at the 95-100% percentile level shows no significant differences. However, the ratio of male students is significantly higher than that of females at the 0-5% percentile level. (4) In Grade 5, the extent to which females outperformed males in low SES group is larger than that in higher SES groups, and in Grade 8, the magnitude of gender differences in urban schools is smaller than that in rural schools. There is a small gender difference among the 8th graders, with the male disadvantage at the bottom of the distribution. And gender differences also vary across school locations. © 2017 The British Psychological Society.

Gender awareness among physicians--the effect of specialty and gender. A study of teachers at a Swedish medical school.

PubMed

Risberg, Gunilla; Hamberg, Katarina; Johansson, Eva E

2003-10-27

An important goal for medical education today is professional development including gender equality and awareness of gender issues. Are medical teachers prepared for this task? We investigated gender awareness among physician teachers, expressed as their attitudes towards the role of gender in professional relationships, and how it varied with physician gender and specialty. We discuss how this might be related to the gender climate and sex segregation in different specialties. Questionnaires were sent to all 468 specialists in the clinical departments and in family medicine, who were engaged in educating medical students at a Swedish university. They were asked to rate, on visual analogue scales, the importance of physician and patient gender in consultation, of preceptor and student gender in clinical tutoring and of physician gender in other professional encounters. Differences between family physicians, surgical, and non-surgical hospital doctors, and between women and men were estimated by chi-2 tests and multivariate logistic regression analyses. The response rate was 65 %. There were differences between specialty groups in all investigated areas mainly due to disparities among men. The odds for a male family physician to assess gender important were three times higher, and for a male non-surgical doctor two times higher when compared to a male surgical doctor. Female teachers assessed gender important to a higher degree than men. Among women there were no significant differences between specialty groups. There was an interaction between physician teachers' gender and specialty as to whether they identified gender as important in professional relationships. Male physicians, especially from the surgical group, assessed gender important to a significantly lower degree than female physicians. Physicians' degree of gender awareness may, as one of many factors, affect working climate and the distribution of women and men in different specialties. Therefore, to improve working climate and reduce segregation we suggest efforts to increase gender awareness among physicians, for example educational programs where continuous reflections about gender attitudes are encouraged.

Behavioural and cognitive sex/gender differences in autism spectrum condition and typically developing males and females.

PubMed

Hull, Laura; Mandy, William; Petrides, K V

2017-08-01

Studies assessing sex/gender differences in autism spectrum conditions often fail to include typically developing control groups. It is, therefore, unclear whether observed sex/gender differences reflect those found in the general population or are particular to autism spectrum conditions. A systematic search identified articles comparing behavioural and cognitive characteristics in males and females with and without an autism spectrum condition diagnosis. A total of 13 studies were included in meta-analyses of sex/gender differences in core autism spectrum condition symptoms (social/communication impairments and restricted/repetitive behaviours and interests) and intelligence quotient. A total of 20 studies were included in a qualitative review of sex/gender differences in additional autism spectrum condition symptoms. For core traits and intelligence quotient, sex/gender differences were comparable in autism spectrum conditions and typical samples. Some additional autism spectrum condition symptoms displayed different patterns of sex/gender differences in autism spectrum conditions and typically developing groups, including measures of executive function, empathising and systemising traits, internalising and externalising problems and play behaviours. Individuals with autism spectrum conditions display typical sex/gender differences in core autism spectrum condition traits, suggesting that diagnostic criteria based on these symptoms should take into account typical sex/gender differences. However, awareness of associated autism spectrum condition symptoms should include the possibility of different male and female phenotypes, to ensure those who do not fit the 'typical' autism spectrum condition presentation are not missed.

Measuring Gender Dysphoria: A Multicenter Examination and Comparison of the Utrecht Gender Dysphoria Scale and the Gender Identity/Gender Dysphoria Questionnaire for Adolescents and Adults.

PubMed

Schneider, Catharina; Cerwenka, Susanne; Nieder, Timo O; Briken, Peer; Cohen-Kettenis, Peggy T; De Cuypere, Griet; Haraldsen, Ira R; Kreukels, Baudewijntje P C; Richter-Appelt, Hertha

2016-04-01

This study examined two instruments measuring gender dysphoria within the multicenter study of the European Network for the Investigation of Gender Incongruence (ENIGI). The Utrecht Gender Dysphoria Scale (UGDS) and the Gender Identity/Gender Dysphoria Questionnaire for Adolescents and Adults (GIDYQ-AA) were examined for their definitions of gender dysphoria and their psychometric properties, and evaluated for their congruence in assessing the construct. The sample of 318 participants consisted of 178 male-to-females (MtF) and 140 female-to-males (FtM) who were recruited from the four ENIGI gender clinics. Both instruments were significantly correlated in the group of MtFs. For the FtM group, there was a trend in the same direction but smaller. Gender dysphoria was found to be defined differently in the two instruments, which led to slightly different findings regarding the subgroups. The UGDS detected a difference between the subgroups of early and late onset of gender identity disorder in the group of MtFs, whereas the GIDYQ-AA did not. For the FtM group, no significant effect of age of onset was found. Therefore, both instruments seem to capture not only similar but also different aspects of gender dysphoria. The UGDS focusses on bodily aspects, gender identity, and gender role, while the GIDYQ-AA addresses subjective, somatic, social, and sociolegal aspects. For future research, consistency in theory and definition of gender dysphoria is needed and should be in line with the DSM-5 diagnosis of gender dysphoria in adolescents and adults.

Genetic and epigenetic factors underlying sex differences in the regulation of gene expression in the brain

PubMed Central

Ratnu, Vikram S.; Emami, Michael R.; Bredy, Timothy W.

2016-01-01

There are inherent biological differences between males and females that contribute to sex differences in brain function and to many sex-specific illnesses and disorders. Traditionally, it has been thought that such differences are largely due to hormonal regulation; however, there are also genetic and epigenetic effects caused by the inheritance and unequal dosage of genes located on the X- and Y-chromosomes. Here we discuss the evidence in favor of a genetic and epigenetic basis for sexually dimorphic behavior, as a consequence of underlying differences in the regulation of genes that drive brain function. A better understanding of sex-specific molecular processes in the brain will provide further insight for the development of novel therapeutic approaches for the treatment of neuropsychiatric disorders characterized by gender/sex differences. PMID:27870402

Similar Gender Dimorphism in the Costs of Reproduction across the Geographic Range of Fraxinus ornus

PubMed Central

Verdú, Miguel; Spanos, Kostas; čaňová, Ingrid; Slobodník, Branko; Paule, Ladislav

2007-01-01

Background and Aims The reproductive costs for individuals with the female function have been hypothesized to be greater than for those with the male function because the allocation unit per female flower is very high due to the necessity to nurture the embryos until seed dispersal occurs, while the male reproductive allocation per flower is lower because it finishes once pollen is shed. Consequently, males may invest more resources in growth than females. This prediction was tested across a wide geographical range in a tree with a dimorphic breeding system (Fraxinus ornus) consisting of males and hermaphrodites functioning as females. The contrasting ecological conditions found across the geographical range allowed the evaluation of the hypothesis that the reproductive costs of sexual dimorphism varies with environmental stressors. Methods By using random-effects meta-analysis, the differences in the reproductive and vegetative investment of male and hermaphrodite trees of F. ornus were analysed in 10 populations from the northern (Slovakia), south-eastern (Greece) and south-western (Spain) limits of its European distribution. The variation in gender-dimorphism with environmental stress was analysed by running a meta-regression between these effect sizes and the two environmental stress indicators: one related to temperature (the frost-free period) and another related to water availability (moisture deficit). Key Results Most of the effect sizes showed that males produced more flowers and grew more quickly than hermaphrodites. Gender differences in reproduction and growth were not minimized or maximized under adverse climatic conditions such as short frost-free periods or severe aridity. Conclusions The lower costs of reproduction for F. ornus males allow them to grow more quickly than hermaphrodites, although such differences in sex-specific reproductive costs are not magnified under stressful conditions. PMID:17098751

Circumstances of fall-related injuries by age and gender among community-dwelling adults in the United States

PubMed Central

Timsina, Lava R.; Willetts, Joanna L.; Brennan, Melanye J.; Marucci-Wellman, Helen; Lombardi, David A.; Courtney, Theodore K.; Verma, Santosh K.

2017-01-01

Introduction Falls are the leading cause of injury in almost all age-strata in the U.S. However, fall-related injuries (FI) and their circumstances are under-studied at the population level, particularly among young and middle-aged adults. This study examined the circumstances of FI among community-dwelling U.S. adults, by age and gender. Methods Narrative texts of FI from the National Health Interview Survey (1997–2010) were coded using a customized taxonomy to assess place, activity, initiating event, hazards, contributing factors, fall height, and work-relatedness of FI. Weighted proportions and incidence rates of FI were calculated across six age-gender groups (18–44, 45–64, 65+ years; women, men). Results The proportion of FI occurring indoors increased with age in both genders (22%, 30%, and 48% among men, and 40%, 49% and 62% among women for 18–44, 45–64, 65+ age-groups, respectively). In each age group the proportion of indoor FI was higher among women as compared to men. Among women, using the stairs was the second leading activity (after walking) at the time of FI (19%, 14% and 10% for women in 18–44, 45–64, 65+ age groups, respectively). FI associated with tripping increased with age among both genders, and women were more likely to trip than men in every age group. Of all age-gender groups, the rate of FI while using ladders was the highest among middle-aged men (3.3 per 1000 person-year, 95% CI 2.0, 4.5). Large objects, stairs and steps, and surface contamination were the three most common hazards noted for 15%, 14% and 13% of fall-related injuries, respectively. Conclusions The rate and the circumstances of FI differ by age and gender. Understanding these differences and obtaining information about circumstances could be vital for developing effective interventions to prevent falls and FI. PMID:28472065

The development of sex role stereotypes in the third year: relationships to gender labeling, gender identity, sex-typed toy preference, and family characteristics.

PubMed

Weinraub, M; Clemens, L P; Sockloff, A; Ethridge, T; Gracely, E; Myers, B

1984-08-01

The onset and development of preschoolers' awareness of sex role stereotypes, gender labeling, gender identity, and sex-typed toy preference were explored in 26-, 31-, and 36-month-old children. Gender labeling, gender identity, sex-typed toy preferences, and awareness of adult sex role differences were observed in significantly more 26-month-old children than would have been expected by chance. Verbal gender labeling was observed in a majority of 26-month-olds, while verbal and nonverbal gender identity were observed in a majority of 31-month-olds. Nonverbal gender labeling and awareness of adult sex role differences were observed in a majority of children by 36 months. No evidence of awareness of sex differences in children's toys was found in the majority of children at any age. Awareness of sex role differences in children's toys was not related to awareness of adult sex role differences. Brighter children were more aware of adult sex role differences. Sex-typed toy preference was not related to awareness of sex role differences but was related to gender identity. Predictors of sex role development included the mothers' employment, and the father's personality traits, attitudes toward women, and sex-typed activities in the home. Implications for theories of early sex role development are discussed.

Gender Differences in Variance and Means on the Naglieri Non-Verbal Ability Test: Data from the Philippines

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Vista, Alvin; Care, Esther

2011-01-01

Background: Research on gender differences in intelligence has focused mostly on samples from Western countries and empirical evidence on gender differences from Southeast Asia is relatively sparse. Aims: This article presents results on gender differences in variance and means on a non-verbal intelligence test using a national sample of public…

Content-specific gender differences in emotion ratings from early to late adulthood.

PubMed

Gomez, Patrick; von Gunten, Armin; Danuser, Brigitta

2013-12-01

The investigation of gender differences in emotion has attracted much attention given the potential ramifications on our understanding of sexual differences in disorders involving emotion dysregulation. Yet, research on content-specific gender differences across adulthood in emotional responding is lacking. The aims of the present study were twofold. First, we sought to investigate to what extent gender differences in the self-reported emotional experience are content specific. Second, we sought to determine whether gender differences are stable across the adult lifespan. We assessed valence and arousal ratings of 14 picture series, each of a different content, in 94 men and 118 women aged 20 to 81. Compared to women, men reacted more positively to erotic images, whereas women rated low-arousing pleasant family scenes and landscapes as particularly positive. Women displayed a disposition to respond with greater defensive activation (i.e., more negative valence and higher arousal), in particular to the most arousing unpleasant contents. Importantly, significant interactions between gender and age were not found for any single content. This study makes a novel contribution by showing that gender differences in the affective experiences in response to different contents persist across the adult lifespan. These findings support the "stability hypothesis" of gender differences across age. © 2013 The Scandinavian Psychological Associations.

Bias in food intake reporting in children and adolescents with type 1 diabetes: the role of body size, age and gender.

PubMed

Maffeis, Claudio; Schutz, Yves; Fornari, Elena; Marigliano, Marco; Tomasselli, Francesca; Tommasi, Mara; Chini, Veronica; Morandi, Anita

2017-05-01

An assessment of total daily energy intake is helpful in planning the overall treatment of children with type 1 diabetes (T1D). However, energy intake misreporting may hinder nutritional intervention. To assess the plausibility of energy intake reporting and the potential role of gender, body mass index (BMI) z-score (z-BMI), disease duration and insulin requirement in energy intake misreporting in a sample of children and adolescents with T1D. The study included 58 children and adolescents aged 8-16 yr with T1D. Anthropometry, blood pressure and glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c) were measured. Subjects were instructed to wear a SenseWear Pro Armband (SWA) for 3 consecutive days, including a weekend day and to fill out with their parents a weighed dietary record for the same days. Predicted energy expenditure (pEE) was calculated by age and gender specific equations, including gender, age, weight, height and physical activity level (assessed by SWA). The percent reported energy intake (rEI)/pEE ratio was used as an estimate of the plausibility of dietary reporting. Misreporting of food intake, especially under-reporting, was common in children and adolescents with T1D: more than one-third of participants were classified as under-reporters and 10% as over-reporters. Age, z-BMI and male gender were associated with the risk of under-reporting (model R 2  = 0.5). Waist circumference was negatively associated with the risk of over-reporting (model R 2  = 0.25). Children and adolescents with T1D frequently under-report their food intake. Age, gender and z-BMI contribute to identify potential under-reporters. © 2016 John Wiley & Sons A/S. Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Women's advantage at remembering others' appearance: A systematic look at the why and when of a gender difference.

PubMed

Mast, Marianne Schmid; Hall, Judith A

2006-03-01

Women recall the appearance of others better than men. The goal of the present research was to shed light on the explanations and boundary conditions of this gender difference. In three studies (592 participants), the authors tested potential mediators and moderators of the gender difference. Results corroborated the robustness of the gender difference. General task motivation, general memory ability, importance of appearance, appearance knowledge, attention paid to target, gazing at target, and communal or agentic orientation could not explain why women were better at recalling others' appearance than men were. Except for importance of appearance and appearance knowledge, which both decreased the magnitude of the gender difference, general task motivation, attention paid to target, length of exposure to target, delay in responding, cognitive load, and response format (verbal vs. nonverbal) had no effect on the gender difference. Results are discussed in relation to gender differences found in the nonverbal sensitivity literature.

Gender-Biased Expectations of Altruism in Adolescents

PubMed Central

Salgado, Mauricio

2018-01-01

Research suggests that women, but not men, manifest gender-biased expectations of altruism: while women expect other women to be more altruistic, men expect women to be as generous as men. Do adolescents expect women and men to behave differently regarding altruism? I analyse adolescents' gender beliefs about altruism using a modified Dictator Game. Results indicate that adolescents believe that others of same gender are more altruistic than others of the opposite gender. I also found that adolescents' agreement with the existence of different societal roles for men and women moderates the relationship between gender and gender beliefs. Although it was expected that adolescents who agree with different gender roles would expect women to be more generous, surprisingly, the results presented here confirm this only for male adolescents, but in the opposite direction: the more male adolescents agree with the existence of different gender roles, the more they seem to believe that men are more generous than women. Meanwhile, female adolescents believe that women are more altruistic unconditionally. Thus, the previously documented bias seems to be already in place during adolescence, above and beyond other confounding factors. Adolescents' in-group bias, and their socialization into different cultural values regarding gender roles are discussed as potential explanatory mechanisms for these gender beliefs. PMID:29692749

The gendered health workforce: mixed methods analysis from four fragile and post-conflict contexts.

PubMed

Witter, Sophie; Namakula, Justine; Wurie, Haja; Chirwa, Yotamu; So, Sovanarith; Vong, Sreytouch; Ros, Bandeth; Buzuzi, Stephen; Theobald, Sally

2017-12-01

It is well known that the health workforce composition is influenced by gender relations. However, little research has been done which examines the experiences of health workers through a gender lens, especially in fragile and post-conflict states. In these contexts, there may not only be opportunities to (re)shape occupational norms and responsibilities in the light of challenges in the health workforce, but also threats that put pressure on resources and undermine gender balance, diversity and gender responsive human resources for health (HRH). We present mixed method research on HRH in four fragile and post-conflict contexts (Sierra Leone, Zimbabwe, northern Uganda and Cambodia) with different histories to understand how gender influences the health workforce. We apply a gender analysis framework to explore access to resources, occupations, values, decision-making and power. We draw largely on life histories with male and female health workers to explore their lived experiences, but complement the analysis with evidence from surveys, document reviews, key informant interviews, human resource data and stakeholder mapping. Our findings shed light on patterns of employment: in all contexts women predominate in nursing and midwifery cadres, are under-represented in management positions and are clustered in lower paying positions. Gendered power relations shaped by caring responsibilities at the household level, affect attitudes to rural deployment and women in all contexts face challenges in accessing both pre- and in-service training. Coping strategies within conflict emerged as a key theme, with experiences here shaped by gender, poverty and household structure. Most HRH regulatory frameworks did not sufficiently address gender concerns. Unless these are proactively addressed post-crisis, health workforces will remain too few, poorly distributed and unable to meet the health needs of vulnerable populations. Practical steps need to be taken to identify gender barriers proactively and engage staff and communities on best approaches for change. © The Author 2017. Published by Oxford University Press in association with The London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine.

The gendered health workforce: mixed methods analysis from four fragile and post-conflict contexts

PubMed Central

Witter, Sophie; Namakula, Justine; Wurie, Haja; Chirwa, Yotamu; So, Sovanarith; Vong, Sreytouch; Ros, Bandeth; Buzuzi, Stephen; Theobald, Sally

2017-01-01

Abstract It is well known that the health workforce composition is influenced by gender relations. However, little research has been done which examines the experiences of health workers through a gender lens, especially in fragile and post-conflict states. In these contexts, there may not only be opportunities to (re)shape occupational norms and responsibilities in the light of challenges in the health workforce, but also threats that put pressure on resources and undermine gender balance, diversity and gender responsive human resources for health (HRH). We present mixed method research on HRH in four fragile and post-conflict contexts (Sierra Leone, Zimbabwe, northern Uganda and Cambodia) with different histories to understand how gender influences the health workforce. We apply a gender analysis framework to explore access to resources, occupations, values, decision-making and power. We draw largely on life histories with male and female health workers to explore their lived experiences, but complement the analysis with evidence from surveys, document reviews, key informant interviews, human resource data and stakeholder mapping. Our findings shed light on patterns of employment: in all contexts women predominate in nursing and midwifery cadres, are under-represented in management positions and are clustered in lower paying positions. Gendered power relations shaped by caring responsibilities at the household level, affect attitudes to rural deployment and women in all contexts face challenges in accessing both pre- and in-service training. Coping strategies within conflict emerged as a key theme, with experiences here shaped by gender, poverty and household structure. Most HRH regulatory frameworks did not sufficiently address gender concerns. Unless these are proactively addressed post-crisis, health workforces will remain too few, poorly distributed and unable to meet the health needs of vulnerable populations. Practical steps need to be taken to identify gender barriers proactively and engage staff and communities on best approaches for change. PMID:29244105

Problematizing gender, work and health: the relationship between gender, occupational grade, working conditions and minor morbidity in full-time bank employees.

PubMed

Emslie, C; Hunt, K; Macintyre, S

1999-01-01

It is commonly asserted that while women have longer life expectancy than men, they have higher rates of morbidity, particularly for minor and psychological conditions. However, most research on gender and health has taken only limited account of the gendered distribution of social roles. Here we investigate gender differences in morbidity whilst controlling, as far as possible, for one major role, namely participation in paid employment. There is substantial segregation of the labour market by gender; men and women typically work different hours in different occupations which involve varying conditions and differing rewards and costs. Here, we examine men and women working full-time for the same employer. This paper reports on a postal survey of employees (1112 men and 1064 women) of a large British bank. It addresses three main questions: do gender differences in minor morbidity remain if we compare men and women who are employed in similar circumstances (same industry and employer)? What is the relative importance of gender, grade of employment within the organisation, perceived working conditions and orientation to gender roles for minor morbidity? Finally, are these factors related to health differentially for men and women? There were statistically significant gender differences amongst these full-time employees in recent experience of malaise symptoms, but not in physical symptoms or GHQ scores. Controlling for other factors did not reduce the gender differences in malaise scores and produced a weak, but significant, gender difference in GHQ scores. However, gender explained only a small proportion of variance, particularly in comparison with working conditions. Generally similar relationships between experience of work and occupational grade and morbidity were observed for men and women. Throughout the paper, we attempt to problematize gender, recognising that there are similarities between women and men and diversity amongst women and amongst men. However, we conclude that the gendered nature of much of adult life, including paid work, continues to shape the experiences and health of men and women at the end of the twentieth century.

Serum Iron Status of Under-Five Children with Sickle Cell Anaemia in Lagos, Nigeria

PubMed Central

Akodu, S. O.; Diaku-Akinwumi, I. N.; Kehinde, O. A.; Njokanma, O. F.

2013-01-01

Background. Iron status in patients with sickle cell anaemia is a matter of continuing investigation. Objective. This paper aims to determine the serum iron status of under-five, sickle cell anaemia patients. Methods. The study spanned from December 2009 to February 2010 at the Consultant Outpatient Clinics involving 97 HbSS subjects and 97 age- and sex-matched HbAA controls. Biochemical iron status was assayed in subjects and controls. Results. Age range of the children was seven months to five years, with a mean of 30.6 (±15.97) months. Irrespective of gender, mean serum iron values were higher in HbAA controls than their HbSS counterparts but the observed difference was not significant (P = 0.299 and 0.111, resp.). The mean total iron binding capacity values of males and females were also not significantly different for sickle cell anaemia subjects and controls (P > 0.05). Males and females with HbAA had significantly lower serum ferritin when compared with their HbSS counterparts. Irrespective of gender, mean transferrin saturation was lower in HbSS subjects but the difference was not statistically significant (P > 0.05). Conclusion. Children with sickle cell anaemia have higher serum ferritin than controls, implying relatively higher iron content in the reticuloendothelial cells. PMID:24288599

Gender differences in the effects of cathinone and the interaction with caffeine on temperature and locomotor activity in the rat.

PubMed

Alsufyani, Hadeel A; Docherty, James R

2017-08-15

We have investigated gender differences in the effects of cathinone and the interaction with caffeine on temperature and movement activity in Wistar rats. Telemetry probes were implanted in rats under isoflurane anaesthesia, and 7 days later, temperature and activity were recorded in conscious unrestrained animals. Caffeine (10mg/lkg) or vehicle, and 30min later, cathinone (5mg/kg) or vehicle, were injected subcutaneously. Cathinone produced significant and marked increases in activity, and the response to cathinone was significantly greater in female animals. The combination of caffeine and cathinone causes a short lived potentiation followed by a prolonged inhibition of the activity response to cathinone. Cathinone alone had minor effects on temperature. However, the combination of caffeine and cathinone produced a significant acute rise in temperature only in male rats in the 90min after cathinone injection. Hence, cathinone caused greater increases in activity in female than in male rats. Secondly, caffeine produced an initial potentiation followed by a prolonged inhibition of the activity response to cathinone. Thirdly, cathinone in combination with caffeine significantly raised temperature acutely in male but not female rats. These differences highlight the need to carry out gender studies of the actions of stimulants. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Gender differences in body-sway factors of center of foot pressure in a static upright posture and under the influence of alcohol intake.

PubMed

Kitabayashi, Tamotsu; Demura, Shinichi; Noda, Masahiro; Yamada, Takayoshi

2004-07-01

This study aimed to examine gender differences in 4 body-sway factors of the center of foot pressure (CFP) during a static upright posture and the influence of alcohol intake on them. Four body-sway factors were interpreted in previous studies using factor analysis (the principal factor method and oblique solution by promax-rotation) on 220 healthy young males and females as follows; unit time sway, front-back sway, left-right sway and high frequency band power. The CFP measurement for 1 min was carried out twice with 1 min rest. The measurements of blood pressure, heart rate, whole body reaction time, standing on one leg with eyes closed, and CFP were carried out before and after the alcohol intake using 11 healthy young males and females. The measurement device used was an Anima's stabilometer G5500. The data sampling frequency was 20 Hz. Reliability of 4 body-sway factors was very high. Significant gender differences were found in the left-right sway and the high frequency band power factors, but the influence on body-sway is, as a whole, can be disregarded. These four sway factors can determine the influence of alcohol intake as efficient as 32 sway parameters.

Gender Differences in Axial Spondyloarthritis: Women Are Not So Lucky.

PubMed

Rusman, T; van Vollenhoven, R F; van der Horst-Bruinsma, I E

2018-05-12

Ankylosing spondylitis (AS) was historically seen as a predominantly male disease. However, more recent data showed a more homogenous sex prevalence. Unfortunately, in many studies in axial spondyloarthritis (axSpA), the number of women included is low and the analyses are often not stratified for gender distribution. The purpose of this review is to aggregate the existing data on gender differences in axSpA in order to increase the awareness that female axSpA patients are still under-recognized. Several studies considering gender differences revealed that female axSpA patients had different disease manifestations due to different immunological, hormonal, and genetic responses. For instance, allelic frequencies of the AHNK-gene and tissue non-specific alkaline phosphatase (TNAP) haplotypes differed between men and women with ankylosing spondylitis (AS). In addition, different levels of tumor necrosis factor (TNF), interleukins IL-6, IL-17, and IL-18, were found between the two sexes. Furthermore, female patients show a higher diagnostic delay compared to males. Several studies indicate a higher frequency of extra-articular manifestations (EAM) in female axSpA patients, such as enthesitis, psoriasis, and inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), whereas acute anterior uveitis is more prevalent in male patients. Male AS patients more frequently show a higher Bath Ankylosing Spondylitis Radiology Index (BASRI) scores and modified Stoke Ankylosing Spondylitis Spine Scores (mSASSS) than females, which indicates that males have higher radiological damage and radiographic progression. However, disease activity (BASDAI) and quality of life (AsQol) scores are significantly higher in women, and more importantly, they have significantly lower response rates to treatment with TNF inhibitors (TNFi) and a significantly lower drug adherence. Despite the fact that men with axial SpA have a worse radiologic prognosis, women have a high disease burden, in part because they have a longer delay in diagnosis, higher disease activity, and significantly less responsiveness to treatment with TNFi.

Gender differences in adults with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder: A narrative review.

PubMed

Williamson, David; Johnston, Charlotte

2015-08-01

Certain characteristics of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in children have long been known to differ by gender. What has not been as widely studied is whether gender is similarly associated with ADHD differences in adults. In this review, the relation between gender and adult ADHD prevalence, persistence, impairment, comorbidity, cognitive functioning, and treatment response was examined across 73 studies. Although gender was related to several characteristics and correlates of adult ADHD, it appeared that many of these gender differences may be at least be partially attributed to methodological artifacts or social and cultural influences, rather than fundamental differences in the expression of ADHD in men and women. We highlight how understanding the nature of the relation between gender and ADHD across the lifespan is complicated by a number of methodological difficulties, and offer recommendations for how emerging research and clinical practice can better incorporate gender into the conceptualization of ADHD in adulthood. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Gender Differences in Homicide of Neonates, Infants, and Children under 5 y in South Africa: Results from the Cross-Sectional 2009 National Child Homicide Study

PubMed Central

Abrahams, Naeemah; Mathews, Shanaaz; Martin, Lorna J.; Lombard, Carl; Nannan, Nadine; Jewkes, Rachel

2016-01-01

Background Homicide of children is a global problem. The under-5-y age group is the second largest homicide age group after 15–19 y olds, but has received little research attention. Understanding age and gender patterns is important for assisting with developing prevention interventions. Here we present an age and gender analysis of homicides among children under 5 y in South Africa from a national study that included a focus on neonaticide and infanticide. Methods and Findings A retrospective national cross-sectional study was conducted using a random sample of 38 medico-legal laboratories operating in 2009 to identify homicides of children under 5 y. Child data were abstracted from the mortuary files and autopsy reports, and both child and perpetrator data data were collected from police interviews. We erred towards applying a conservative definition of homicide and excluded sudden infant death syndrome cases. We estimated that 454 (95% CI 366, 541) children under the age of 5 y were killed in South Africa in 2009. More than half (53.2%; 95% CI 46.7%, 59.5%) were neonates (0–28 d), and 74.4% (95% CI 69.3%, 78.9%) were infants (under 1 y), giving a neonaticide rate of 19.6 per 100,000 live births and an infanticide rate of 28.4 per 100,000 live births. The majority of the neonates died in the early neonatal period (0–6 d), and abandonment accounted for 84.9% (95% CI 81.5%, 87.8%) of all the neonates killed. Distinct age and gender patterns were found, with significantly fewer boy children killed in rural settings compared to urban settings (odds ratio 0.6; 95% CI 0.4, 0.9; p = 0.015). Abuse-related killings and evidence of sexual assault were more common among older girls than in all other age and gender groups. Mothers were identified as the perpetrators in all of the neonaticides and were the most common perpetrators overall (71.0%; 95% CI 63.9%, 77.2%). Abandoned neonates were mainly term babies, with a mean gestational age of 38 wk. We did not have information on abandonment motives for all newborns and did not know if babies were abandoned with the intention that they would die or with the hope that they would be found alive. We therefore considered all abandoned babies as homicides. Conclusions Homicide of children is an extreme form or consequence of violence against children. This national study provides one of the first analyses of neonaticide and infanticide by age and gender and shows the failure of reproductive and mental health and social services to identify and help vulnerable mothers. Multi-sectoral prevention strategies are needed. PMID:27115771

Mid-trimester maternal ADAM12 levels differ according to fetal gender in pregnancies complicated by preeclampsia.

PubMed

Myers, Jenny E; Thomas, Grégoire; Tuytten, Robin; Van Herrewege, Yven; Djiokep, Raoul O; Roberts, Claire T; Kenny, Louise C; Simpson, Nigel A B; North, Robyn A; Baker, Philip N

2015-02-01

An overrepresentation of adverse pregnancy outcomes has been observed in pregnancies associated with a male fetus. We investigated the association between fetal gender and candidate biomarkers for preeclampsia. Proteins were quantified in samples taken at 20 weeks from women recruited to the SCreening fOr Pregnancy Endpoints (SCOPE) study (preeclampsia n = 150; no preeclampsia n = 450). In contrast to placental growth factor, soluble endoglin, and insulin-like growth factor acid labile subunit, levels of metallopeptidase domain 12 (ADAM12) at 20 weeks were dependent on fetal gender in pregnancies complicated by preeclampsia, for male (n = 73) fetuses the multiples of the median (MoM; interquartile range [IQR] 1.1-1.5) was 1.3, whereas for female fetuses (n = 75) MoM was 1.1 (1.0-1.3); P < .01. Prediction of preeclampsia using ADAM12 levels was improved for pregnancies associated with a male fetus (area under receiver-operator curve [AUC] 0.73 [95% confidence interval [CI] 0.67-0.80]) than that of a female fetus (AUC 0.62 [0.55-0.70]); P = .03. The data presented here fit a contemporary hypothesis that there is a difference between the genders in response to an adverse maternal environment and suggest that an alteration in ADAM12 may reflect an altered placental response in pregnancies subsequently complicated by preeclampsia. © The Author(s) 2014.

The possible role of resource requirements and academic career-choice risk on gender differences in publication rate and impact

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zeng, Xiaohan; Duch, Jordi; Sales-Pardo, Marta; Radicchi, Filippo; Otis, Shayna; Woodruff, Teresa; Amaral, Luis

2013-03-01

Many studies demonstrate that there is still a significant gender bias, especially at higher career levels, in many areas including science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). We investigated field-dependent, gender-specific effects of the selective pressures individuals experience as they pursue a career in academia within seven STEM disciplines. We built a unique database that comprises 437,787 publications authored by 4,292 faculty members at top United States research universities. Our analyses reveal that gender differences in publication rate and impact are discipline-specific. Our results also support two hypotheses. First, the widely-reported lower publication rates of female faculty are correlated with the amount of research resources typically needed in the discipline considered, and thus may be explained by the lower level of institutional support historically received by females. Second, in disciplines where pursuing an academic position incurs greater career risk, female faculty tend to have a greater fraction of higher impact publications than males. Our findings have significant, field-specific, policy implications for achieving diversity at the faculty level within the STEM disciplines. L. A. N. Amaral gratefully acknowledges the support of NSF awards SBE 0624318 and 0830388, and ThomsonReuters for access to the WoS data. J. Duch and M. Sales-Pardo's work have been partially supported by the Spanish DGICYT under project FIS2010-18639.

Exploring differential item functioning (DIF) with the Rasch model: a comparison of gender differences on eighth grade science items in the United States and Spain.

PubMed

Babiar, Tasha Calvert

2011-01-01

Traditionally, women and minorities have not been fully represented in science and engineering. Numerous studies have attributed these differences to gaps in science achievement as measured by various standardized tests. Rather than describe mean group differences in science achievement across multiple cultures, this study focused on an in-depth item-level analysis across two countries: Spain and the United States. This study investigated eighth-grade gender differences on science items across the two countries. A secondary purpose of the study was to explore the nature of gender differences using the many-faceted Rasch Model as a way to estimate gender DIF. A secondary analysis of data from the Third International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) was used to address three questions: 1) Does gender DIF in science achievement exist? 2) Is there a relationship between gender DIF and characteristics of the science items? 3) Do the relationships between item characteristics and gender DIF in science items replicate across countries. Participants included 7,087 eight grade students from the United States and 3,855 students from Spain who participated in TIMSS. The Facets program (Linacre and Wright, 1992) was used to estimate gender DIF. The results of the analysis indicate that the content of the item seemed to be related to gender DIF. The analysis also suggests that there is a relationship between gender DIF and item format. No pattern of gender DIF related to cognitive demand was found. The general pattern of gender DIF was similar across the two countries used in the analysis. The strength of item-level analysis as opposed to group mean difference analysis is that gender differences can be detected at the item level, even when no mean differences can be detected at the group level.

Gender differences in human single neuron responses to male emotional faces.

PubMed

Newhoff, Morgan; Treiman, David M; Smith, Kris A; Steinmetz, Peter N

2015-01-01

Well-documented differences in the psychology and behavior of men and women have spurred extensive exploration of gender's role within the brain, particularly regarding emotional processing. While neuroanatomical studies clearly show differences between the sexes, the functional effects of these differences are less understood. Neuroimaging studies have shown inconsistent locations and magnitudes of gender differences in brain hemodynamic responses to emotion. To better understand the neurophysiology of these gender differences, we analyzed recordings of single neuron activity in the human brain as subjects of both genders viewed emotional expressions. This study included recordings of single-neuron activity of 14 (6 male) epileptic patients in four brain areas: amygdala (236 neurons), hippocampus (n = 270), anterior cingulate cortex (n = 256), and ventromedial prefrontal cortex (n = 174). Neural activity was recorded while participants viewed a series of avatar male faces portraying positive, negative or neutral expressions. Significant gender differences were found in the left amygdala, where 23% (n = 15∕66) of neurons in men were significantly affected by facial emotion, vs. 8% (n = 6∕76) of neurons in women. A Fisher's exact test comparing the two ratios found a highly significant difference between the two (p < 0.01). These results show specific differences between genders at the single-neuron level in the human amygdala. These differences may reflect gender-based distinctions in evolved capacities for emotional processing and also demonstrate the importance of including subject gender as an independent factor in future studies of emotional processing by single neurons in the human amygdala.

Investigation of Students' Experiences of Gendered Cultures in Engineering Workplaces

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Male, Sally A.; Gardner, Anne; Figueroa, Eugenia; Bennett, Dawn

2018-01-01

Women remain severely under-represented in engineering in Australia as in all Western countries. This limits the pool of talent, standpoints and approaches within the profession. Furthermore, this under-representation equates to restriction of the benefits of being an engineer mainly to men. Gendered workplace experiences have been found to…

Preference for human body odors is influenced by gender and sexual orientation.

PubMed

Martins, Yolanda; Preti, George; Crabtree, Christina R; Runyan, Tamar; Vainius, Aldona A; Wysocki, Charles J

2005-09-01

Human body odor may contribute to selection of partners. If so, sexual orientation may influence preference for and perhaps production of human body odors. In a test of these hypotheses, heterosexual and homosexual males and females made two-alternative forced-choice preference judgments for body odors obtained from other heterosexual and homosexual males and females. Subjects chose between odors from (a) heterosexual males and gay males, (b) heterosexual males and heterosexual females, (c) heterosexual females and lesbians, and (d) gay males and lesbians. Results indicate that differences in body odor are detected and responded to on the basis of, in part, an individual's gender and sexual orientation. Possible mechanisms underlying these findings are discussed.

Gender Differences in Respiratory Morbidity and Mortality of Preterm Neonates

PubMed Central

Townsel, Courtney Denise; Emmer, Sawyer F.; Campbell, Winston A.; Hussain, Naveed

2017-01-01

For the past century, researchers have underscored the “disadvantage” observed in respiratory morbidity and mortality of male newborns. In this contemporary review, we examine gender differences in preterm infant respiratory morbidity and mortality specifically appraising differences in the very low birth weight (VLBW) population as well as the late preterm (LPT) population. In the era of postnatal surfactant and antenatal corticosteroids, the gender gap in neonatal outcomes has not narrowed. Structural, physiologic, and hormonal sex differences may be at the root of this disparity. Further exploration into the origin of gender differences in respiratory morbidity and neonatal mortality will shape future therapies. These therapies may need to be gender specific to close the gender gap. PMID:28194395

Developmental Gender Differences for Overhand Throwing in Aboriginal Australian Children

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Thomas, Jerry R.; Alderson, Jacqueline A.; Thomas, Katherine T.; Campbell, Amity C.; Elliott, Bruce C.

2010-01-01

In a review of 46 meta-analyses of gender differences, overhand throwing had the largest gender difference favoring boys (ES greater than 3.0). Expectations for gender-specific performances may be less pronounced in female Australian Aborigines, because historical accounts state they threw for defense and hunting. Overhand throwing velocities and…

Gender Differences in E-Learning Satisfaction

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Gonzalez-Gomez, Francisco; Guardiola, Jorge; Rodriguez, Oscar Martin; Alonso, Miguel Angel Montero

2012-01-01

Student learning skills differ depending on gender. The importance of studying this situation in the classroom is that recommendations can be made taking gender into consideration. In e-learning, the roles of students and teachers change. In line with recent research, the question this paper raises is whether or not gender differences also exist…

Age and Gender Differences in the Relation between Self-Concept Facets and Self-Esteem

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Arens, A. Katrin; Hasselhorn, Marcus

2014-01-01

This study tested whether the gender intensification hypothesis applies to relations between multiple domain-specific self-concept facets and self-esteem. This hypothesis predicts gender-stereotypic differences in these relations and assumes they intensify with age. Furthermore, knowledge about gender-related or age-related differences in…

Gender Similarity or Gender Difference? Contemporary Women's and Men's Career Patterns

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Whitmarsh, Lona; Wentworth, Diane Keyser

2012-01-01

Career development research has often explored gender differences in and development of career patterns (Gottfredson, 2006). Hyde's (2005) meta-analysis indicated that men and women shared more similarities than differences. Applying Hyde's gender similarities hypothesis to careers, the authors conducted a 2-stage study. Stage 1 was an analysis of…

Differences in Study Motivation within and between Genders: An Examination by Gender Typicality among Early Adolescents

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Vantieghem, Wendelien; Van Houtte, Mieke

2018-01-01

Despite boys' educational underachievement, gender differences in study motivation have received little research attention. Guided by self-determination theory and the identity-based motivation model, this study investigates differences in study motivation between boys and girls, as well as within each gender. To adequately consider these…

A Meta-Analytic Review of Research on Gender Differences in Sexuality, 1993-2007

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Petersen, Jennifer L.; Hyde, Janet Shibley

2010-01-01

In 1993 Oliver and Hyde conducted a meta-analysis on gender differences in sexuality. The current study updated that analysis with current research and methods. Evolutionary psychology, cognitive social learning theory, social structural theory, and the gender similarities hypothesis provided predictions about gender differences in sexuality. We…

Visual Attention Patterns of Women with Androphilic and Gynephilic Sexual Attractions.

PubMed

Dawson, Samantha J; Fretz, Katherine M; Chivers, Meredith L

2017-01-01

Women who report exclusive sexual attractions to men (i.e., androphilia) exhibit gender-nonspecific patterns of sexual response-similar magnitude of genital response to both male and female targets. Interestingly, women reporting any degree of attraction to women (i.e., gynephilia) show significantly greater sexual responses to stimuli depicting female targets compared to male targets. At present, the mechanism(s) underlying these patterns are unknown. According to the information processing model (IPM), attentional processing of sexual cues initiates sexual responding; thus, attention to sexual cues may be one mechanism to explain the observed within-gender differences in specificity findings among women. The purpose of the present study was to examine patterns of initial and controlled visual attention among women with varying sexual attractions. We used eye tracking to assess visual attention to sexually preferred and nonpreferred cues in a sample of 164 women who differed in their degree of androphilia and gynephilia. We found that both exclusively and predominantly androphilic women showed gender-nonspecific patterns of initial attention. In contrast, ambiphilic (i.e., concurrent androphilia and gynephilia) and predominantly/exclusively gynephilic women oriented more quickly toward female targets. Controlled attention patterns mirrored patterns of self-reported sexual attractions for three of these four groups of women, such that gender-specific patterns of visual attention were found for androphilic and gynephilic women. Ambiphilic women looked significantly longer at female targets compared to male targets. These findings support predictions from the IPM and suggest that both initial and controlled attention to sexual cues may be mechanisms contributing to within-gender variation in sexual responding.

A Biocultural Investigation of Gender Differences in Tobacco Use in an Egalitarian Hunter-Gatherer Population.

PubMed

Roulette, Casey J; Hagen, Edward; Hewlett, Barry S

2016-06-01

In the developing world, the dramatic male bias in tobacco use is usually ascribed to pronounced gender disparities in social, political, or economic power. This bias might also reflect under-reporting by woman and/or over-reporting by men. To test the role of gender inequality on gender differences in tobacco use we investigated tobacco use among the Aka, a Congo Basin foraging population noted for its exceptionally high degree of gender equality. We also tested a sexual selection hypothesis-that Aka men's tobacco use is related to risk taking. Tobacco use, income, tobacco purchases, tobacco sharing, reasons for using tobacco, risk taking, and other variables were measured using structured surveys and peer reports. Tobacco use was verified by testing for salivary cotinine, a nicotine metabolite. Contrary to expectations, we found a very large male bias in tobacco use. Low levels of use among females appeared to be explained by aversions to tobacco, concerns over its negative effects on fetal health, and a desire to attract husbands, who prefer nonsmoking wives. High male use appeared to be related to a desire to enhance hunting abilities and attract and/or retain wives, who prefer husbands that smoke. We conclude that low levels of smoking by Aka women are better explained by the hypothesis that women evolved to avoid plant toxins to protect their fetuses and nursing infants. High male use might be better explained by sexual selection. We also highlight the important role that recreational drugs appear to play in hunter-gatherer sharing relationships.

Work-family conflict and health in Swedish working women and men: a 2-year prospective analysis (the SLOSH study).

PubMed

Leineweber, Constanze; Baltzer, Maria; Magnusson Hanson, Linda L; Westerlund, Hugo

2013-08-01

Research has suggested that gender is related to perceptions of work-family conflict (WFC) and an underlying assumption is that interference of paid work with family life will burden women more than men. There is, however, mixed evidence as to whether men and women report different levels of WFC. Even less studies investigate gender differences in health outcomes of WFC. Also the number of longitudinal studies in this field is low. Based on the Swedish Longitudinal Occupational Survey of Health, we prospectively examined the effects of WFC on three different health measures representing a wide spectrum off ill health (i.e. self-rated health, emotional exhaustion and problem drinking). Logistic regression analyses were used to analyse multivariate associations between WFC in 2008 and health 2 years later. The results show that WFC was associated with an increased risk of emotional exhaustion among both men and women. Gender differences are suggested as WFC was related to an increased risk for poor self-rated health among women and problem drinking among men. Interaction analyses revealed that the risk of poor self-rated health was substantially more influenced by WFC among women than among men. We conclude that, despite the fact that women experience conflict between work and family life slightly more often than men, both men's and women's health is negatively affected by this phenomenon.

Gender differences in tobacco use.

PubMed

Grunberg, N E; Winders, S E; Wewers, M E

1991-01-01

Gender differences in overall tobacco use clearly exist. In general, men are more likely to use tobacco products than are women. However, this simple generalization, ignoring type of tobacco products, time, and culture, masks many more interesting gender differences in tobacco use. There are pronounced gender differences in tobacco use of specific tobacco products within some cultures but not others. Yet these differences have changed across time, including narrowing and widening of this gender gap, depending on culture and tobacco product. This article addresses these issues and presents possible psychosocial, biological, and psychobiological explanations for these phenomena. In addition, the implications of these differences and ways to learn more about these important differences are discussed.

Gender equality in couples and self-rated health - A survey study evaluating measurements of gender equality and its impact on health

PubMed Central

2011-01-01

Background Men and women have different patterns of health. These differences between the sexes present a challenge to the field of public health. The question why women experience more health problems than men despite their longevity has been discussed extensively, with both social and biological theories being offered as plausible explanations. In this article, we focus on how gender equality in a partnership might be associated with the respondents' perceptions of health. Methods This study was a cross-sectional survey with 1400 respondents. We measured gender equality using two different measures: 1) a self-reported gender equality index, and 2) a self-perceived gender equality question. The aim of comparison of the self-reported gender equality index with the self-perceived gender equality question was to reveal possible disagreements between the normative discourse on gender equality and daily practice in couple relationships. We then evaluated the association with health, measured as self-rated health (SRH). With SRH dichotomized into 'good' and 'poor', logistic regression was used to assess factors associated with the outcome. For the comparison between the self-reported gender equality index and self-perceived gender equality, kappa statistics were used. Results Associations between gender equality and health found in this study vary with the type of gender equality measurement. Overall, we found little agreement between the self-reported gender equality index and self-perceived gender equality. Further, the patterns of agreement between self-perceived and self-reported gender equality were quite different for men and women: men perceived greater gender equality than they reported in the index, while women perceived less gender equality than they reported. The associations to health were depending on gender equality measurement used. Conclusions Men and women perceive and report gender equality differently. This means that it is necessary not only to be conscious of the methods and measurements used to quantify men's and women's opinions of gender equality, but also to be aware of the implications for health outcomes. PMID:21871087

Sex, Gender, Genetics, and Health

PubMed Central

Yang, Yang Claire; Jenkins, Tania M.

2013-01-01

This article addresses 2 questions. First, to what extent are sex and gender incorporated into research on genetics and health? Second, how might social science understandings of sex and gender, and gender differences in health, become more integrated into scholarship in this area? We review articles on genetics and health published in selected peer-reviewed journals. Although sex is included frequently as a control or stratifying variable, few articles articulate a conceptual frame or methodological justification for conducting research in this way, and most are not motivated by sex or gender differences in health. Gender differences in health are persistent, unexplained, and shaped by multilevel social factors. Future scholarship on genetics and health needs to incorporate more systematic attention to sex and gender, gender as an environment, and the intertwining of social and biological variation over the life course. Such integration will advance understandings of gender differences in health, and may yield insight regarding the processes and circumstances that make genomic variation relevant for health and well-being. PMID:23927517

Gender Differences in Emotion Regulation: An fMRI Study of Cognitive Reappraisal.

PubMed

McRae, Kateri; Ochsner, Kevin N; Mauss, Iris B; Gabrieli, John J D; Gross, James J

2008-04-01

Despite strong popular conceptions of gender differences in emotionality and striking gender differences in the prevalence of disorders thought to involve emotion dysregulation, the literature on the neural bases of emotion regulation is nearly silent regarding gender differences (Gross, 2007; Ochsner & Gross, in press). The purpose of the present study was to address this gap in the literature. Using functional magnetic resonance imaging, we asked male and female participants to use a cognitive emotion regulation strategy (reappraisal) to down-regulate their emotional responses to negatively valenced pictures. Behaviorally, men and women evidenced comparable decreases in negative emotion experience. Neurally, however, gender differences emerged. Compared with women, men showed (a) lesser increases in prefrontal regions that are associated with reappraisal, (b) greater decreases in the amygdala, which is associated with emotional responding, and (c) lesser engagement of ventral striatal regions, which are associated with reward processing. We consider two non-competing explanations for these differences. First, men may expend less effort when using cognitive regulation, perhaps due to greater use of automatic emotion regulation. Second, women may use positive emotions in the service of reappraising negative emotions to a greater degree. We then consider the implications of gender differences in emotion regulation for understanding gender differences in emotional processing in general, and gender differences in affective disorders.

Gender Differences in Emotion Regulation: An fMRI Study of Cognitive Reappraisal

PubMed Central

McRae, Kateri; Ochsner, Kevin N.; Mauss, Iris B.; Gabrieli, John J. D.; Gross, James J.

2009-01-01

Despite strong popular conceptions of gender differences in emotionality and striking gender differences in the prevalence of disorders thought to involve emotion dysregulation, the literature on the neural bases of emotion regulation is nearly silent regarding gender differences (Gross, 2007; Ochsner & Gross, in press). The purpose of the present study was to address this gap in the literature. Using functional magnetic resonance imaging, we asked male and female participants to use a cognitive emotion regulation strategy (reappraisal) to down-regulate their emotional responses to negatively valenced pictures. Behaviorally, men and women evidenced comparable decreases in negative emotion experience. Neurally, however, gender differences emerged. Compared with women, men showed (a) lesser increases in prefrontal regions that are associated with reappraisal, (b) greater decreases in the amygdala, which is associated with emotional responding, and (c) lesser engagement of ventral striatal regions, which are associated with reward processing. We consider two non-competing explanations for these differences. First, men may expend less effort when using cognitive regulation, perhaps due to greater use of automatic emotion regulation. Second, women may use positive emotions in the service of reappraising negative emotions to a greater degree. We then consider the implications of gender differences in emotion regulation for understanding gender differences in emotional processing in general, and gender differences in affective disorders. PMID:29743808

Causal Inference from Big Data: Theoretical Foundations and the Data-fusion Problem

DTIC Science & Technology

2015-06-01

both treatment and response. Some of these factors may be unmeasurable, such as genetic trait or lifestyle, while others are measurable, such as gender...several tasks in Artificial Intelligence [22, 23] and Statistics [24, 25] as well as in the empirical sciences (e.g., Genetics [26, 27], Economics [28...conditions are likely to be different. Special cases of transportability can be found in the literature under different rubrics such as “external validity

Socioeconomic Status and Performance in the US Army and US Marine Corps

DTIC Science & Technology

1998-03-01

education levels, recruits’ parents are slightly under- represented as homeowners in the highest category and overrepresented among those who pay neither... DIFFERENCES IN SES REPRESENTATION 82 1. Race/Ethnicity 82 2. Region 85 3. Gender 87 4. Omission of Officers 89 5. Reasons for Joining the Military 90...his or her performance in the military. For example, differences in SES may help to explain the high rates of attrition among first-term enlisted

Gender equity and equality on Korean student scientists: A life history narrative study

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hur, Changsoo

Much research, including that by Koreans (e.g., Mo, 1999), agrees on two major points relating to the inequitable and unequal condition of women in the scientific community: (1) the fact that the under-representation of women in the scientific community has been taken for granted for years (e.g., Rathgeber, 1998), and (2) documenting women's lives has been largely excluded in women's studies (e.g., Sutton, 1998). The basis for the design of this study relates to the aforementioned observations. This study addresses two major research questions: how do social stereotypes exist in terms of gender equity and equality in the South Korean scientific and educational fields, and how do these stereotypes influence women and men's socializations, in terms of gender equity and equality, in the South Korean scientific and educational fields? To investigate the research questions, this qualitative study utilizes a life history narrative approach in examining various theoretical perspectives, such as critical theory, post-structuralism, and postmodernism. Through the participants' perceptions and experiences in the scientific community and in South Korean society, this study fords gendered stereotypes, practices, and socializations in school, family, and the scientific community. These findings demonstrate asymmetric gendered structures in South Korea. Moreover, with the comparison among male and female participants, this study shows how they perceive and experience differently in school, family, and the scientific community. This study attempts to understand the South Korean scientific community as represented by four student scientists through social structures. Education appears to function significantly as an hegemonic power in conveying legitimating ideologies. This process reproduces man-centered social structures, especially in the scientific community. This suggests that to emancipate women's under-representations in the scientific community, educational administrators and teachers should carefully consider gendered practices, stereotypes, and socialization in science classes. There have been significant findings of educative authenticity criteria (Guba & Lincoln, 1989) that stimulate the needs of future studies on gender, especially women in the scientific community in general and, more specifically, in South Korea. These findings suggest the importance of active involvement by women participants to enhance a more detailed examination, by women's studies, of the scientific community.

Gender Representation in Geography: Singapore. Symposium

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Yeoh, Brenda S. A.; Huang, Shirlena; Wong, Theresa

2004-01-01

In Singapore, geography emerged as a strongly masculinist university discipline during the interwar years under colonial rule. Localizing staff hires in the postcolonial era did not immediately produce gender-balanced staff profiles. Instead, a more equitable gender representation was achieved only in the last decade, following the increasing…

The Influence of Cooperative Problem Solving on Gender Differences in Achievement, Self-Efficacy, and Attitudes toward Mathematics in Gifted Students.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Garduno, Edna Leticia Hernandez

2001-01-01

Examination of gender differences in self-efficacy, attitudes toward mathematics, and achievement of 48 gifted 7th and 8th grade students after participating in a 2-week course on probability and statistics found no differences in achievement or self-efficacy between cooperative learning mixed gender or single gender groups. Differences in…

Gender Achievement and Social, Political and Economic Equality: A European Perspective

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ireson, Gren

2017-01-01

Differences in gender equality based on social, political and economic factors is cited, by some writers, as a contributory factor in the differentially greater achievement of boys in STEM subjects through the concept of gender stratification. Gender differences, especially in mathematics, have been linked directly to gender parity in wider…

Developmental and Individual Differences in Preschoolers' Recognition Memories: The Influences of Gender Schematization and Verbal Labeling of Information.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Levy, Gary D.

1989-01-01

Examines developmental and individual differences in the effects of gender schematization on young children's memories for gender-typed information, and investigates the interactive effects of children's age, gender schematization, and verbal labeling of information on preschoolers' memories for gender typed information. (JS)

Gender Differences in Subjective Well-Being: Comparing Societies with Respect to Gender Equality

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Tesch-Romer, Clemens; Motel-Klingebiel, Andreas; Tomasik, Martin J.

2008-01-01

These analyses explore the relationship between gender inequality and subjective well-being. The hypothesis was tested as to whether societal gender inequality is related to the size of gender differences in subjective well-being in various societies. Results come from comparative data sets (World Values Survey, involving 57 countries; OASIS…

Gender and Gender-Role Orientation Differences on Adolescents' Coping with Peer Stressors.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Washburn-Ormachea, Jill M.; Hillman, Stephen B.; Sawilowsky, Shlomo S.

2004-01-01

Gender and gender-role orientation differences were explored on adolescents' coping with peer stressors. Eighth-grade and ninth-grade public junior high school students (N = 285) completed the COPE, reporting the strategies they recently used to deal with a stressful peer-related situation. Measures of gender-role orientation (Bem Sex-Role…