Gender roles
Early Postnatal Testosterone Predicts Sex-Related Differences in Early Expressive Vocabulary
Karson Kung et al.
Psychoneuroendocrinology, June 2016, Pages 111-116
Abstract:
During the first few years of life, girls typically have a larger expressive vocabulary than boys. This sex difference is important since a small vocabulary may predict subsequent language difficulties, which are more prevalent in boys than girls. The masculinizing effects of early androgen exposure on neurobehavioral development are well-documented in nonhuman mammals. The present study conducted the first test of whether early postnatal testosterone concentrations influence sex differences in expressive vocabulary in toddlers. It was found that testosterone measured in saliva samples collected at 1 to 3 months of age, i.e., during the period called mini-puberty, negatively predicted parent-report expressive vocabulary size at 18 to 30 months of age in boys and in girls. Testosterone concentrations during mini-puberty also accounted for additional variance in expressive vocabulary after other predictors such as sex, child's age at vocabulary assessment, and paternal education, were taken into account. Furthermore, testosterone concentrations during mini-puberty mediated the sex difference in expressive vocabulary. These results suggest that testosterone during the early postnatal period contributes to early language development and neurobehavioral sexual differentiation in humans.
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Do CEO Activists Make a Difference? Evidence from a Field Experiment
Aaron Chatterji & Michael Toffel
Harvard Working Paper, March 2016
Abstract:
Several CEOs are receiving significant media attention for taking public positions on controversial social and environmental issues largely unrelated to their core business, ranging from gay marriage to climate change to gender equality. We provide the first evidence that such "CEO activism" can influence public opinion and consumer attitudes. Our field experiment examines the impact of Apple CEO Tim Cook's public statements opposing a pending religious freedom law that critics warned would allow discrimination against same-sex couples. Our results confirm the influence of issue framing on public opinion and suggest that CEOs can sway public opinion, and potentially to the same extent as prominent politicians. Moreover, Cook's CEO activism increased consumer intentions to purchase Apple products, especially among proponents of same-sex marriage.
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Cadet and Civilian Undergraduate Attitudes toward Transgender People: A Research Note
Morten Ender, David Rohall & Michael Matthews
Armed Forces & Society, April 2016, Pages 427-435
Abstract:
We explore American military academy, Reserve Officers' Training Corps (ROTC) and civilian undergraduate attitudes toward transgender people in general, in the workplace, and in the military. Earlier this decade, the US military experienced both the repeals of the Don't Ask, Don't Tell policy and the exclusion of women from combat, yet transgender people are prohibited from serving openly in the military. This study explores tolerance toward perceived gender nonconformity by military affiliation, race/ethnicity, sex, religious affiliation, and political leaning. Most members of our sample, regardless of military affiliation, do not report that having a transgender person in the workplace would impact their job. At first glance, military academy and ROTC cadets are least tolerant of transgender people in the military and in society more generally. Further analyses shows that the impact of military affiliation is reduced substantially by controlling for background characteristics, especially political ideology and religious affiliation.
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Doug VanderLaan, Lanna Petterson & Paul Vasey
Archives of Sexual Behavior, April 2016, Pages 619-633
Abstract:
Androphilia refers to sexual attraction and arousal toward males whereas gynephilia refers to sexual attraction and arousal toward females. This study tested the adaptive feminine phenotype model of the evolution of male androphilia via kin selection, which posits that the development of an evolved disposition toward elevated kin-directed altruism among androphilic males is contingent on the behavioral expression of femininity. Gynephilic men, androphilic women, and androphilic men (N = 387) completed measures of childhood and adulthood gender expression and concern for kin's well-being. Adulthood femininity correlated positively with uncle/aunt-like tendencies among androphilic men and women. Although androphilic women reported greater willingness to invest in nieces and nephews than gynephilic and androphilic men, mediation analyses indicated that adult femininity completely mediated these group differences. In addition, changes in the expression of femininity between childhood and adulthood were associated with parallel changes in concern for the well-being of kin among androphilic men. Thus, these findings suggest that femininity is key to the expression of kin-directed altruism among androphilic males and may have been important in the evolution of male androphilia.
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Testosterone reduces functional connectivity during the 'Reading the Mind in the Eyes' Test
Peter Bos et al.
Psychoneuroendocrinology, June 2016, Pages 194-201
Abstract:
Women on average outperform men in cognitive-empathic abilities, such as the capacity to infer motives from the bodily cues of others, which is vital for effective social interaction. The steroid hormone testosterone is thought to play a role in this sexual dimorphism. Strikingly, a previous study shows that a single administration of testosterone in women impairs performance on the 'Reading the Mind in Eyes' Test (RMET), a task in which emotions have to be inferred from the eye-region of a face. This effect was mediated by the 2D:4D ratio, the ratio between the length of the index and ring finger, a proxy for fetal testosterone. Research in typical individuals, in individuals with autism spectrum conditions (ASC), and in individuals with brain lesions has established that performance on the RMET depends on the left inferior frontal gyrus (IFG). Using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), we found that a single administration of testosterone in 16 young women significantly altered connectivity of the left IFG with the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) and the supplementary motor area (SMA) during RMET performance, independent of 2D:4D ratio. This IFG-ACC-SMA network underlies the integration and selection of sensory information, and for action preparation during cognitive empathic behavior. Our findings thus reveal a neural mechanism by which testosterone can impair emotion-recognition ability, and may link to the symptomatology of ASC, in which the same neural network is implicated.
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Yoel Inbar et al.
Social Psychological and Personality Science, forthcoming
Abstract:
Previous evidence linking disease threat and social attitudes suggests that a highly salient society-wide pathogen threat should lead to more negative attitudes toward gay men and lesbians. Using a sample of 248,922 Americans recruited via the Project Implicit website, we tested whether implicit attitudes toward gay men and lesbians shifted as a result of the 2014 Ebola virus outbreak. Regression discontinuity analyses, but not t-tests, showed evidence of a small shift in implicit (but not explicit) attitudes at the height of public concern over Ebola. These results could be interpreted as providing partial support for the effects of naturally occurring pathogen threats on social attitudes. Alternatively, given the large size of our sample, the mixed evidence and small effects may reflect a boundary condition for the operation of the behavioral immune system.
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Genetic Attributions, Immutability, and Stereotypical Judgments: An Analysis of Homosexuality
Mark Joslyn & Donald Haider-Markel
Social Science Quarterly, forthcoming
Objectives: Individuals employ causal reasoning to explain the world around them, including political events, group behavior, and conditions in society. People may attribute causes of behavior to controllable components, such as individual choices, or uncontrollable elements, such as broader forces in the environment. To this, we add biological or genetic attributions that have received increasing attention. Broadly, we argue that people's understanding about genetics as a cause for group behavior influences perceptions of immutability and stereotypical judgments about groups.
Methods: Making use of individual-level data from three national surveys of American adults, we examine causal beliefs about the origins of homosexuality. Specifically, we assess the impact of genetic attributions on judgments about whether a gay or lesbian person's sexual orientation can or cannot be changed. We also examine the association between genetic attributions and several stereotypic judgments about gays and lesbians.
Results: We find that genetic attributions strongly shape perceptions of immutability as well as stereotypic judgments about gays and lesbians.
Conclusions: Implications of our findings for attribution theory and the attitudinal changes that follow from the public's understanding of genetics and its impact on sexual orientation are discussed.
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The association between AIDS-related stigma and aggression toward gay men and lesbians
Wilson Vincent, John Peterson & Dominic Parrott
Aggressive Behavior, forthcoming
Abstract:
This study examined whether self-identified race and prior contact with a gay man or lesbian moderate the association between AIDS-related stigma and aggression toward gay men and lesbians when controlling for sexual prejudice. A regional, community-recruited sample of 194 heterosexual men (50% Black, 50% White) completed measures of AIDS-related stigma, sexual prejudice, and prior contact with gay men and lesbians. Regression analyses showed that AIDS-related stigma was positively associated with aggression toward gay men and lesbians among White men who reported no prior contact, but not among White men who endorsed prior contact and Black men regardless of prior contact. Findings suggest that intergroup contact may be a key component to reducing the effects of AIDS-related stigma towards stigmatized groups. Implications for aggression theory and intervention are discussed.