Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Signals From On High And The Power Of Growth Mindset: A Natural Field Experiment In Attracting Minorities To High-Profile Position, Jeffrey A. Flory, Andreas Leibbrandt, Christina Rott, Olga B. Stoddard

Faculty Publications

We conduct a large-scale natural field experiment with a Fortune 500 company to test several approaches to attract minorities to high-profile positions. 5,000 prospective applicants were randomized into treatments varying a portion of recruiting materials. We find that self-selection at two early-career stages exhibits a substantial race gap. Importantly, we show that this gap can be strongly influenced by several treatments, with some increasing application rates by minorities by 40 percent and others being particularly effective for minority women. The heterogeneities we find by gender, race, and career stage shed light on the underlying drivers of self-selection barriers among minorities.

Strength In Numbers: A Field Experiment In Gender, Influence, And Group Dynamics, Olga B. Stoddard, Christopher F. Karpowitz, Jessica Preece

Faculty Publications

Policy interventions to increase women’s presence in the workforce and leadership positions vary in their intensity, with some including a lone or token woman and others setting higher quotas. However, little is known about how the resulting group gender compositions influence individuals’ experiences and broader workplace dynamics. In this paper, we investigate whether token women are disadvantaged compared to women on majority-women mixed-gender teams. We conducted a multi-year field experiment with a top-10 undergraduate accounting program that randomized the gender composition of semester-long teams. Using laboratory, survey, and administrative data, we find that even after accounting for their proportion of …

Ugandan Adolescents’ Descriptive Gender Stereotypes About Domestic And Recreational Activities, And Attitudes About Women, Flora Farago, Natalie Eggum-Wilkens, Linlin Zhang

Faculty Publications

In Eastern Uganda, 201 adolescents aged 11- to 17-years old (48% girls; M_age = 14.62) answered close- and open-ended questions about gender stereotypes of domestic and recreational activities and gender-role attitudes about women’s behavior, rights, and roles. Adolescents answered questions such as “who is more likely to . . .?” assessing descriptive stereotypes (i.e., stereotype knowledge) and questions such as “is it ok for women to . . .?” assessing prescriptive stereotypes (i.e., stereotype endorsement) about gender roles. Data were analyzed via descriptive statistics, correlations, and thematic coding. Findings indicate that Ugandan adolescents were fairly egalitarian in some domains …

Ugandan Adolescents' Attitudes Toward, And Shared Activities With, Same And Other-Gender Peers And Friends, Flora Farago, J. Xu, Natalie D. Eggum-Wilkens, Linlin Zhang, Danming An, Eunjung Kim, Emily Adams

Faculty Publications

Ugandan adolescents (n = 202, 54% girls; M_age = 14.26) answered closed- and open-ended questions about the gender composition of friends and attitudes about, and activities with, same- and other-gender peers and friends. Adolescents’ friendships were somewhat gender segregated, although other-gender friendships were present. Positive attitudes about same- and other-gender peers and friends were prevalent. Girls and boys displayed similar attitudes about same- and other-gender peers, with the exception of boys reporting more positive attitudes toward boys. Adolescents enjoyed the following aspects of same- and other-gender friendships: talking about problems, receiving help, sharing items and activities, receiving advice …

Examining Criteria For Adulthood Among Young People In Sabah (East Malaysia), Walton Wider, Norazah Mohd Suki, Melanie L. Lott, Larry J. Nelson, Sew Kim Low, Gertrude Cosmas

Faculty Publications

This study aims to identify perceived adult status and to explore the criteria for adulthood of young people in Sabah (East Malaysia). The differences in such criteria based on gender and student status are also examined. Data collected from 208 respondents were analyzed via confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) and one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA). The empirical results of CFA revealed six criteria for adulthood: family capacities, norm compliance, interdependence, biological transitions, role transitions, and chronological transitions. However, the independence factor was discarded for further analysis because of having weak item loadings. In addition, the ANOVA test showed that women have …

Increasing Workplace Diversity: Evidence From A Recruiting Experiment At A Fortune 500 Company, Jeffrey A. Flory, Andreas Leibbrandt, Christina Rott, Olga B. Stoddard

Faculty Publications

While many firms have set ambitious goals to increase diversity in their ranks, there is a dearth of empirical evidence on effective ways to reach them. We use a natural field experiment to test several hypotheses on effective means to attract minority candidates for top professional careers. By randomly varying the content in recruiting materials of a major financial services corporation with more than 10,000 employees, we find that signaling explicit interest in employee diversity more than doubles the interest in openings among racial minority candidates, as well as the likelihood that they apply and are selected. Impacts on gender …

Ugandan Adolescents’ Gender Stereotype Knowledge About Jobs, Flora Farago, Natalie D. Eggum-Wilkens, Linlin Zhang

Faculty Publications

Ugandan adolescents ages 11- to 17-years-old (N = 201; 48% girls; M _age = 14.62) answered closed- and open-ended questions about occupational gender segregation, allowing researchers to assess their gender stereotype knowledge. Adolescents answered 38 closed-ended questions such as ‘who is more likely to be a doctor?’ and were asked to list masculine, feminine, and gender-neutral jobs. Data were analyzed via descriptive statistics, chi-square tests, t-tests, and thematic coding. Findings indicated that adolescents were fairly egalitarian about jobs and there were no differences in occupational stereotype knowledge between males and females. Findings present reasons for hope and for continued …

The Work-Family Interface, Erin K. Holmes, Clare R. Thomas, Richard J. Petts, E. Jeffrey Hill

Faculty Publications

In this chapter, we focus on the work-family interface using an ecological systems framework and three other related theories: boundary theory, role theory, and gender theory. We then introduce the literature on the work-family interface and focus our attention on the experiences of work-to-family and family-to-work conflict, work-to-family and family-to-work spillover, work-to-family and family-to-work crossover, workplace flexibility, parental leave policies, and day-care arrangements. We further recognize that cultural characteristics imbedded in different regions and countries moderate dimensions of the work-family interface. We have emphasized research in multiple countries and regions where such cross-cultural research was available.

Do Workplace Characteristics Moderate The Effects Of Attitudes On Father Warmth And Engagement?, Erin Kramer Holmes, Richard J. Petts, Clare R. Thomas, Nathan L. Robbins, Tom Henry

Faculty Publications

Though many fathers want to be warmer, more nurturing, and more actively involved than prior generations (i.e., the new fatherhood ideal), they also embrace a father's traditional role as financial earner. Thus, we hypothesized that fathers' attitudes about their roles would likely interact with workplace characteristics to produce variations in father warmth and engagement. Using a national sample of 1,020 employed U.S. fathers with children ages 2–8 years old, results suggest that adherence to the new fatherhood idea was associated with less father warmth. Also consistent with prior research showing that family friendly work cultures may enable fathers to be …

Parental Financial Education During Childhood And Financial Behaviors Of Emerging Adults, Ashley B. Lebaron, Erin K. Holmes, Bryce L. Jorgensen, Roy A. Bean

Faculty Publications

The purpose of this article was to determine whether overt financial education from parents during childhood (retrospective measure collected in the same survey wave) is associated with a greater frequency of healthy financial management behaviors in emerging adulthood, and whether this relationship is dependent on gender. Using a sample of emerging adults from the Flourishing Families dataset (N = 437), we ran two multivariate linear regressions—one with and one without the interaction variable. Results suggest that financial education from parents during childhood is linked with a greater frequency of healthy financial behaviors in emerging adulthood but was not dependent on …

Are Father Depression And Masculinity Associated With Father Perceptions Of Maternal Gatekeeping?, Clare R. Thomas, Erin Kramer Holmes

Faculty Publications

Maternal gatekeeping has been associated with reductions in father involvement and can have a negative impact on the family. Few researchers, however, have focused on how characteristics of the father contribute to gatekeeping. Consequently, this brief report is focused on associations between father depression, father adherence to masculine norms, and father reports of maternal gatekeeping. We further test whether a father's adherence to traditional masculine norms interacts with the relationship between depression and father reports of maternal gatekeeping. This study adds to the current literature on both maternal gatekeeping and father mental health. Participants in this study include 2,214 fathers …

The Importance Of Relationship Processes For Lowering Bmi Over Time In Women With Type 2 Diabetes In A Randomized Controlled Trial, Jeremy B. Yorgason, Jonathan G. Sandberg, Ruth S. Weinstock, Paula M. Trief, Lawrence Fisher, Danielle Hessler

Faculty Publications

Objective: Weight change may be affected by dyadic processes within couple relationships. The aim of this secondary data analysis was to explore trends in BMI across time, and assess whether relationship processes (i.e., relationship satisfaction, positive problem-solving), predict BMI trajectories in men and women.

Methods: Data are from 268 participants in the Diabetes Support Project, a randomized trial of behavioral intervention for individuals with type 2 diabetes (T2D) in poor glycemic control. For secondary analyses, BMI was measured at pre-treatment (baseline), 4 months (post-treatment), 8 months, and 12 months. Multiple relationship variables were measured at all time points and were …

Determinants Of Hiv-Risk Sexual Behaviors Among Zambian Adolescents: The Role Of Gendered Power, Sherinah K. Saasa, Orion Mowbray

Faculty Publications

Sub-Saharan African adolescents account for a disproportionate share of the global HIV infection rates with adolescent females carrying the heavy burden. Vulnerability to negative sexual health outcomes have been attributed to varying life contexts and power differentials influencing adolescent sexual behaviors. Using social dominance theory and the four bases of gendered power, this study examines the relationship between gender based power and adolescent HIV-risk sexual behavior. Data was derived from the 2013‐14 Zambia Demographic Health Survey (ZDHS). We utilize gender stratified multivariate logistic regression to determine whether the four bases of gendered power are predictive of condom use and multiple …

Gender Assignment To Spanish Pseudowords By Monolingual And Basque-Spanish Bilingual Children, Rocio Pérez-Tattam, Maria José Ezeizabarrena, Hans Stadthagen-González, Virginia C. Mueller Gathercole

Faculty Publications

This study examines gender marking in the Spanish of Basque-Spanish bilingual children. We analyze data collected via a production task designed to elicit 48 DPs, controlling for gender of referents and for number and types of morphological cues to grammatical gender. The goals were to determine the extent to which participants rely on biological cues (female referent =>FEM gender, male referent =>MASC gender) and morpho-phonological cues (-a ending =>FEM, -o ending =>MASC, others =>MASC or FEM) to assign gender to pseudowords/novel words; and whether bilinguals’ language dominance (Spanish strong/weak) has an effect. Data were collected …

The Paradox Of Patient Consent: A Feminist Perspective Of Illness And Healthcare, Kristen Cole

Faculty Publications

Through autoethnographic analysis, I present my personal illness story as a case study in patient consent. In doing so, I explore the complexities that emerge at the intersection of gender and health, including issues of autonomy and choice. Specifically, I reflect on the ideological and systemic factors that contribute to a paradox of consent versus noncompliance in US healthcare contexts. Within this paradoxical binary, control is both persistent and illusive, which is a condition fueled by individualism, paternalistic antagonism, and medical colonization. As an alternative, I offer two viable options for facilitating patients’ agency in gendered health contexts, even under …

Faith, Feminism, And Marriage: Institutions, Norms, And Relationship Quality, Jason S. Carroll, Spencer James, W. Bradford Wilcox, Richard Reeves, Laurie Derose

Faculty Publications

In this essay, we explore the links between religion and relationship quality for cohabiting and married couples. Our evidence from an 11-country sample suggests men and women in highly religious couples enjoy significantly higher levels of relationship quality and sexual satisfaction. Joint decision-making, however, is higher among men in shared secular relationships and women in highly religious relationships, compared to their peers in less/mixed religious couples. We also find a J-Curve in overall relationship quality for women such that women in shared secular, progressive relationships enjoy comparatively high levels of relationship quality, women in the ideological and religious middle report …

Social Entrepreneurship In China: Driving Institutional Change, Tonia Warnecke

Faculty Publications

In the aftermath of the Great Recession, the concern with exclusionary and unethical business practices has led to the growing popularity of social entrepreneurship, which focuses on the creation of social value, not wealth. In this article, I reflect on social entrepreneurship in China, a unique context given the strong Communist party leadership and the transition to a market economy. To begin, I discuss the legal and political framework for social entrepreneurship in China, followed by an overview of the sector’s characteristics, including age, size, social issues emphasized, leader characteristics, and the role of women. Next, I provide examples of …

Incivility In The Workplace: The Experiences Of Female Sport Management Faculty In Higher Education, Elizabeth A. Taylor, Robin Hardin, Natalie Welch, Allison B. Smith

Faculty Publications

Access to higher education for women has dramatically increased in the United States during the past 50 years. Female college graduates have reversed the figures and gone from being outnumbered by their male counterparts 3 to 2 in the 1970s, to now outnumbering male college graduates 3 to 2. Women also graduate from masters and doctoral programs at a higher rate than men.

However, increases in the number of women obtaining college and advanced degrees has not translated to comparable representation in faculty positions or leadership roles in higher education. This lack of women in leadership positions, as well as …

Rape Myths And Hookup Culture: An Exploratory Study Of U.S. College Students' Perceptions, Timothy T. Reling, Michael S. Barton, Sarah Anna Becker, Matthew A. Valasik

Faculty Publications

The present study provides the first known systematic examination of the association of hookup culture endorsement and rape myth acceptance. Multivariate regression analysis was conducted to test the primary hypothesis that hookup culture endorsement would be the primary predictor of rape myth acceptance levels among a sample of 422 U.S. college students. Findings indicated the existence of a complex relationship in which rape myth acceptance increases or decreases based upon the form of hookup culture endorsement examined. Beliefs that hookups are harmless and elevate social status increased rape myth acceptance, whereas beliefs that hookups express sexual freedom decreased rape myth …

Social Innovation, Gender, And Technology: Bridging The Resource Gap, Tonia Warnecke

Faculty Publications

Some of the most important resources are intangible, such as knowledge and access to networks. In the developing world, technology can facilitate these resources and address basic human needs in a variety of ways: from provision of farmer training and cloud-controlled clean water systems to health information and mobile money services. Some of these services expand access to resources in ways that particularly benefit women. In environments where women are disadvantaged socially and economically, information and communications technologies (ICT) can enable women to access valuable information, consider a broader range of business opportunities, access wider markets, partake in educational programs, …

Capabilities, Human Development, And Design Thinking: A Framework For Gender-Sensitive Entrepreneurship Programs, Tonia Warnecke

Faculty Publications

This paper discusses the ways that capabilities and human development theory can guide the creation of entrepreneurship programs, utilizing a framework of human-centered design thinking. It is well known that a variety of institutional factors shape gender outcomes and gender inequality within entrepreneurship, particularly with regard to necessity versus opportunity entrepreneurship and informal versus formal sector entrepreneurship. Failure to understand the diversity of entrepreneurial activity among women, and the connection (or lack thereof) of such activity to human freedom, leads to biased entrepreneurship programs. This paper links social economic theory and practice by: (1) discussing the ways that capabilities and …

Preaching Motherhood And Womanhood From The Christian Pulpit: Information Dissemination And Use, Darin S. Freeburg

Faculty Publications

The sermons clergy preach every Sunday can provide tremendous insight into current religious thinking about motherhood and womanhood. A database of sermons preached by clergy from a sample of Christian churches in the United States was searched for sermons given on Mother's Day 2014. A grounded theory approach explored how clergy framed these constructs. Results show that although clergy tend to frame these concepts in stereotypical ways, there is great complexity in how this is done. Clergy use a variety of information sources to preach on the roles of women and mothers, providing insight into the very construction of these …

Androgyny/Hermaphroditism: Hebrew Bible, Jennifer J. Williams

Faculty Publications

The Hebrew Bible lacks a term for androgyny or hermaphroditism. The term tumtumim, which identifies persons of indeterminate or “hidden” sex, appears later in rabbinic texts. Nevertheless, sexual fluidity, ambiguity, intersexed persons, and persons with a combination of masculine and feminine characteristics appear in the Genesis creation stories and prophetic texts. While gender transgression is relevant to the general discussion, this entry from The Oxford Encyclopedia of the Bible and Gender Studies: Oxford Biblical Studies Online focuses primarily on ancient understandings, namely those presented in the Hebrew Bible, of those of “both sexes.”

The Impact Of Faculty Status And Gender On Employee Well-Being In Academic Libraries, Quinn Galbraith, Leanna Fry, Melissa Garrison

Faculty Publications

This study measures job satisfaction, personal fulfillment, work/life balance, and stress levels of male and female librarians. Researchers surveyed 719 librarians at ARL institutions that either offer faculty status and tenure or offer neither. Females at libraries offering faculty status indicated poor work/life balance and high levels of stress compared to male colleagues and female librarians without faculty status; however, their reported job satisfaction was similar. Possible implications of the results are discussed.

Run, Jane, Run! Gendered Responses To Political Party Recruitment, Jessica Robinson Preece, Olga B. Stoddard, Rachel Fisher

Faculty Publications

Many researchers point to gender inequities in party recruitment practices to explain women’s underrepresentation on the ballot. However, there has been little systematic research about how men and women respond to recruitment, so we do not know whether gender-balanced recruitment would actually lead to genderbalanced outcomes. We conduct two studies to address this question. First, in cooperation with a county Republican Party, we identically recruited 5510 male and 5506 female highly active party members to attend a free candidate training seminar. Republican women were half as likely to respond to the invitation as men. Second, we conducted a survey experiment …

Media Violence And Judgments Of Offensiveness: A Quantitative And Qualitative Analysis, Sarah M. Coyne, Mark A. Callister, Douglas A. Gentile, Emily Howard

Faculty Publications

Although many studies examine the behavioral effects of viewing media violence, there is little research on whether such violence is perceived as offensive to viewers. Accordingly, the current study examines whether media violence is offensive to viewers and whether feelings of offense mediate the relationship between viewing media violence and aggressive behavior. Participants consisted of 1,429 emerging adults from 2 different Universities in the United States. Results revealed that compared with other content in the media, media violence is perceived as relatively inoffensive. Certain situational (context, genre, and type of violence) and viewer characteristics (gender and religiosity) influenced feelings of …

Gender Differences In Depression Across Parental Roles, Kevin Shafer, Garrett T. Pace

Faculty Publications

Prior research has focused on the relationship between parenthood and psychological well-being, with mixed results. Some studies have also addressed potential gender differences in this relationship, again yielding varied findings. One reason may be methodological choices pursued in these studies, including the lack of focus on combined parental roles (for example, biological parent and stepparent). The authors used data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth, 1979 (N = 6,276) and multinomial treatment models to address how combined roles influence depressive symptoms in mothers and fathers. Further, they explored potential gender differences. Their results indicated that having multiple parental roles …

Men's Mental Health: A Call To Social Workers, Kevin Shafer, Douglas Wendt

Faculty Publications

Substantial attention is paid to the mental health needs of women and children by social work researchers, educators, and practitioners—and with good reason, as these are two vulnerable populations in U.S. society. However, the status of men's mental health; its resulting effect on individuals, families, and communities; and the various challenges associated with it are often overlooked by social workers. The authors document the prevalence of common mental health issues among men in the United States, the unique problems that men face, and help-seeking behaviors. They also discuss how social work is in an exceptional position to help men, and …

Does The Message Matter? A Field Experiment On Political Party Recruitment, Jessica Robinson Preece

Faculty Publications

Do men and women respond to various party recruitment messages similarly? Working with the Utah County Republican Party, we designed a field experiment in which we invited over 11,600 male and female party activists to attend a free, party-sponsored “Prospective Candidate Information Seminar” by randomizing different invitation messages. We found that women were half as likely as men to respond to recruitment—log on to the seminar website for more information, register for the seminar, and attend the seminar. While we found some suggestive evidence about what recruitment messages may particularly motivate women or men vis-a-vis a control message, our findings …

Gender Differences In Exercise Dependence And Eating Disorders In Young Adults: A Path Analysis Of A Conceptual Model, Tevni Grajales, Shelli Meulemans, Peter Pribis, Gretchen Krivak

Faculty Publications

Abstract: The purpose of our study was to study the prevalence of exercise dependence (EXD) among college students and to investigate the role of EXD and gender on exercise behavior and eating disorders. Excessive exercise can become an addiction known as exercise dependence. In our population of 517 college students, 3.3% were at risk for EXD and 8% were at risk for an eating disorder. We used Path analysis the simplest case of Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) to investigate the role of EXD and exercise behavior on eating disorders. We observed a small direct effect from gender to eating disorders. …