Psychology of Women Quarterly

Asian-born Chinese and Caucasian American men and women were compared on attitudes toward women, using the Spence-Helmreich Attitude Toward Women Scale. All subjects—74 Americans, 85 Chinese—were between 30 and 55 years of age and had at least a bachelor's degree. Chinese subjects were Mandarin in origin. The prediction that Chinese subjects would be more liberal was not confirmed. Women were more liberal than men on two factors: first, vocational, educational, and intellectual roles; second, marital relations and obligations. Ethnic differences were not a main effect on other factors but a significant interaction was obtained in three factors: freedom and independence; dating, courting, and etiquette; and drinking, swearing, and telling jokes. On these factors Caucasian females scored in the liberal direction and so did Chinese males. Caucasian males and Chinese females were consistently and significantly more conservative.

“Fascinating womanhood” (Andelin, 1974) is explored as a response to anxiety generated by awareness of the potential for experiencing the self as a separate, responsible person. Such a response represents regression and offers only temporary reprieval from personal and/or marital distress. Clinical experiences are related to this concept; observations suggest that the solution formalized by Andelin is unsatisfactory.

A therapeutic approach that can be utilized in encouraging optimal individuation is discussed, with group, marital, and individual therapy examples. A sequence of predictable responses to therapeutic confrontation has been identified, along with indicators for evaluating progress or retreat from the process. Precautions in the use of this approach are also discussed.

The perceived satisfactions and costs of parenthood and employment were examined and categorized for 123 professional and nonprofessional married women aged 28 to 39 who were employed full-time. High perceived role conflict between parenting and employment was associated with both lower parity and professional status. Women with large families more highly valued the companionship aspects of children and liked children more than did other women. Nonprofessionals were more concerned about extrinsic characteristics of the job (e.g., money), while professionals were more concerned about intrinsic factors (e.g., mental stimulation) and were more likely to see children as interfering with employment.

Fifty male and 50 female students were asked to evaluate the teaching methods of three male and three female professors in two traditionally male, two traditionally female, and two relatively non-sex-linked fields. Each method was attributed to a male professor on one form and a female on another. A descriptive paragraph for each of the six areas was followed by six bipolar ratings scales. The different ratings assigned as a function of the sex of student and professor are discussed in relation to previous findings.

The existence of sexism in the structure and usage of the English language has recently been extensively documented by linguists, psychologists, feminists, publishers, and others. This awareness of sexism in language has led to numerous suggestions for change, but their implementation has been difficult for the following reasons: (1) alternative proposals were frequently made (e.g., at least 10 alternatives to the use of the masculine pronouns as generics have been proposed); (2) some suggestions contradict each other (e.g., chairman may be retained and contrasted with chairwoman, or chairman may be eliminated from usage and chairperson used for both sexes); (3) misunderstanding of some of the suggestions has occurred (e.g., chairperson has been used in reference to only females, while chairman has been retained for males); (4) a frequent response to some of the suggestions for change has been ridicule, often in the form of overextensions of the original suggestions (e.g., woperson). In this paper, as a first step toward clarifying the inconsistencies, identifying the problems in implementation, and undermining the basis for continued misunderstanding and ridicule, I have categorized the various suggestions regarding changing sexist language according to their underlying rationale. I have identified the following alternative approaches: (1) indirect change, (2) change via circumvention, and (3) change via emphasis on feminine terms. Within these approaches, various alternative strategies for implementation are discussed, and the arguments and research supportive of and critical of the underlying rationales are identified and evaluated. The paper concludes with a recommendation of changes in usage that are suggested by the latter two approaches. The need for further research on the differing psychological effects of those alternatives is noted.

To test the hypothesis that television content can teach sex-typed attitudes, this study presented third and eighth graders with television commercials showing either traditional or nontraditional women. Crossing this manipulation, the children's perceptions of the reality of the commercials were altered with instructions that the characters in the commercials were all real people (reality set), that they were all acting (acting set), or that the commercials were just like ones seen at home (no instructions). Results showed that the children's perceptions of reality were successfully manipulated, and that younger children thought all content was more real. The two sets of commercials were found to have a significant differential impact on the children's attitudes about women only for groups that had been instructed about reality. For these groups, there was an interaction with sex of subject so that eighth grade boys had more traditional attitudes about women after viewing the nontraditional women, while all other groups showed the reverse pattern of means. Finally, rather than the predicted interaction, perceived reality had a main effect such that children who believed the characters to be acting were less traditional in their attitudes about women. This result is supported by a matching correlation between the two variables for the noninstructed groups.