Body Shame in 7-12-Year-Old Girls and Boys: The Role of Parental Attention to Children's Appearance
Guided by the Tripartite Influence Model and Objectification Theory, we examined whether parents' attention to their children's appearance was related to higher body shame in girls and boys. In Study 1 ( = 195) and 2 ( = 163), we investigated 7-12-year-old children's metaperceptions about parents' attention to their appearance and its association with children's body shame. In Study 3, we examined the link between parents' self-reported attention to their children's appearance and children's body shame among parent-child triads ( = 70). Results demonstrated that both children's metaperceptions and fathers' self-reported attention to children's appearance were associated with body shame in children. Furthermore, when mothers' and fathers' attitudes toward their children were analyzed simultaneously, only fathers' attention to their children's appearance was associated with greater body shame in girls and boys. Notably, no gender differences emerged, suggesting that parents' attention to their children's appearance was not differentially related to body shame in girls and boys. These results remained significant when controlling for other sources of influence, namely peer and media influence, both of which were found to have a strong association with body shame in children. Theoretical and practical implications of our findings are discussed.
Self-objectification during the perinatal period: The role of body surveillance in maternal and infant wellbeing
Pregnancy represents a unique time during which women's bodies undergo significant physical changes (e.g., expanding belly, larger breasts, weight gain) that can elicit increased objectification. Experiences of objectification set the stage for women to view themselves as sexual objects (i.e., self-objectification) and is associated with adverse mental health outcomes. Although women may experience heightened self-objectification and behavioral consequences (such as body surveillance) due to the objectification of pregnant bodies in Western cultures, there are remarkably few studies examining objectification theory among women during the perinatal period. The present study investigated the impact of body surveillance, a consequence of self-objectification, on maternal mental health, mother-infant bonding, and infant socioemotional outcomes in a sample of 159 women navigating pregnancy and postpartum. Utilizing a serial mediation model, we found that mothers who endorsed higher levels of body surveillance during pregnancy reported more depressive symptoms and body dissatisfaction, which were associated with greater impairments in mother-infant bonding following childbirth and more infant socioemotional dysfunction at 1-year postpartum. Maternal prenatal depressive symptoms emerged as a unique mechanism through which body surveillance predicted bonding impairments and subsequent infant outcomes. Results highlight the critical need for early intervention efforts that not only target general depression, but also promote body functionality and acceptance over the Western "thin ideal" of attractiveness among expecting mothers.
Let's Talk About Single Men: A Qualitative Investigation of Never Married Men's Experiences of Singlehood
Existing research on singlehood has largely focused on the experiences of single women, and little is known about singlehood among men. The current investigation examined the experience of long-term singlehood through individual, semi-structured interviews with 22 never-married single men living in Poland who were aged 22-43 years. Thematic analysis revealed five key themes: (1) the sense of being deficient-is there something wrong with me?; (2) navigating outside the dominant discourse of traditional masculinity, marriage and family; (3) the benefits and downsides of singlehood; (4) adaptation to singlehood; and (5) the dilemma between waiting and actively searching for a romantic partner. An analysis of single men's narratives revealed that men experience their single status in the context of their various needs and hopes and as a status that determines their adult life course. This study contributes to the singlehood literature, highlighting the complexity of singlehood for men and the importance of traditional masculinity norms in experiencing long-term singlehood. These findings challenge stereotypical and unrealistic views of singlehood among men and have practical implications for psychotherapists, counsellors and educators working with single men.
Gendered Social Perceptions of "The Poor": Differences in Individualistic Attributions, Stereotypes, and Attitudes Toward Social Protection Policies
Poverty is a phenomenon that affects men and women differently. In the current research, we examined social perceptions of poor men and women across three experiments focusing on attributions for poverty, classist attitudes, and stereotypes about poor people. In Study 1, participants from the general population ( = 484) made more individualistic (dispositional) attributions for men's poverty compared to women's poverty, blaming men more for their poverty. Participants also believed that men would manage the assistance they received from the state more poorly than women. These patterns were observed across all three studies. In Study 2 ( = 256), we also found that more individualistic attributions for why men were in poverty predicted more negative attitudes toward social protection policies concerning men. In Study 3 ( = 358), we replicated the results observed in Study 2, and found that women in poverty were described as mor communal and competent than men in poverty. We interpret these results considering the operation of traditional gender roles as well as the parallelism between stereotypes of women and poor people. Our results are relevant to the framing of the proposals by social organizations, political parties, and emancipation movements that advocate for policies and programs to address poverty.
Competition or Community? The Backstage Experience of Men in Bodybuilding Competitions
Bodybuilding is an increasingly popular sport in the United States. Across fields of psychology, history, sociology, and anthropology, bodybuilding has been examined as being related to, or as manifestly being, a pathology. Extant work on men who are bodybuilders are often built on the assumption that narcissism, self-doubt, and insecurity are the driving forces for men's involvement. The present study sought to examine the experiences of eleven men who have competed in bodybuilding competitions. In contrast to the dominant academic discourse on bodybuilding as an embodiment of toxic masculinity or as a reaction to underlying feelings of inferiority, the study participants described friendly, supportive competition contexts. That such feelings were found backstage, as opposed to in a gym, strengthens the need for a more nuanced distinction between bodybuilding as a culture, and bodybuilding as a sport. This study disrupts dominant narratives of bodybuilding as pathological and contributes to work on the construction of gender and masculinity in sport. The present work suggests a scholarly approach to men's bodybuilding in an open and nuanced manner that does not focus on pathologizing bodybuilding or competition.
"A Dad Can Get the Money and the Mom Stays at Home": Patriarchal Gender Role Attitudes, Intimate Partner Violence, Historical Oppression, and Resilience Among Indigenous Peoples
Research has shown that gender role attitudes influence a number of health-related outcomes, including intimate partner violence (IPV). Yet the gender role attitudes of Indigenous peoples - a population that experiences persistent health and violence disparities - have received scant scholarly attention. Using the Framework of Historical Oppression, Resilience, and Transcendence (FHORT), the purpose of this mixed methodology was to qualitatively explore U.S. Indigenous peoples' gender role attitudes and quantitatively examine how key social determinants of health, including IPV perpetration, historical oppression, and resilience, relate to gender role attitudes. This research integrates qualitative and quantitative data from two Southeastern tribes with a total of 563 unique data sources. Regression analysis revealed male sex and IPV victimization were associated with higher patriarchal gender role attitudes, while historical oppression and resilience were associated with lower patriarchal gender role attitudes. Resilience was also associated with lower "victim blaming." Ethnographic team-based data analysis methods revealed qualitative themes of patriarchal gender role attitudes and gendered socialization processes. This work highlights how key aspects of the FHORT might explain Indigenous peoples' patriarchal gender role attitudes, suggesting the need to redress historical oppression and patriarchal roles through decolonization.
Embodied, Situated, and Co-Constructed: Young Sexual Minority Men's Experiences of Intersectional Identity and Minority Stress
Intersectionality, minority stress, and social ecological theories have all been important frameworks for understanding mechanisms that create and maintain sexual and gender minority health disparities. In this study, we integrated these frameworks to guide a grounded theory examination of identity-related experiences in specific settings among 33 Black, White, and Latino young sexual minority cisgender men who lived in Chicago. Analyses identified four key categories: Racism Manifests in Context- and Sexual Minority-Specific Ways, Sexual Orientation Can Mean Feeling Safe and Seen or Threatened and Alone, Gender is a Matter of Self-Expression, and Bodies Are Not Always Made to Fit In. Participants reported both identity-based privilege and marginalization as well as unique forms of minority stress at the intersection of specific identities. Across these categories, participants' experiences of their intersecting identities and associated forms of minority stress were in their physical appearance, in specific neighborhoods and contexts, and through their interpersonal interactions with others. Further, participants' narratives provide powerful insights about the nuanced ways in which young sexual minority men understand and negotiate their lived experiences. Findings highlight how experiences of identity and minority stress are both intersectional and located within specific social ecological contexts, which has important implications for research, clinical practice, and advocacy.
Agency Penalties From Taking Parental Leave for Women in Men-Dominated Occupations: Archival and Experimental Evidence
Organizations have started more progressively using and offering family benefits including parental leaves to address the issues of balancing work and family life. Although such leaves are fundamental for supporting, attracting, and retaining women, we examine whether such leaves may also inadvertently affect women's careers in occupations that overly value masculine traits, unless managed carefully. Drawing on the literature on gender stereotypes (micro factors) and occupation gender type (macro factors), we argue that longer (vs. shorter) parental leaves negatively affect women's work outcomes (i.e., annual income, salary recommendation, hireability, and leadership effectiveness) in men-dominated but not in women-dominated occupations because it lowers perceptions of women's agency. We find support for our hypotheses across three studies in the Australian context with an archival data set and two experiments. Our work shows that men-dominated organizational structures reinforce traditional gender stereotypes, whereas such reinforcement does not happen in women-dominated organizational structures. Our research equips leaders and organizations with insights into the unintended negative consequences of parental leave for women. This understanding serves as a crucial first step in developing strategies and programs to mitigate these effects, thereby supporting women in men-dominated occupations and fostering more inclusive and healthy workplaces.
Mother Like Mothers and Work Like Fathers: U.S. Heterosexual College Students' Assumptions About Who Should Meet Childcare and Housework Demands
Many U.S. women report balancing competing demands for labor within the family and the workplace. Prior research has found that young adult heterosexual U.S. women are still anticipating doing the majority of their future family's childcare and housework, though they hold more progressive gender role attitudes than in the past. The aim of the present study was to investigate the assumptions of 176 heterosexual college students in the U.S. ( age = 20.57, 88.64% European American, 51.70% ciswomen, 48.30% cismen) about how childcare and housework should be balanced in the context of work responsibilities. Participants were asked to rate their level of agreement with two items about working mothers and childcare and working fathers and household care, and provided open-ended responses to explain their justifications for their rating. Open-ended responses were thematically coded. Results revealed that most participants wanted mothers to have the choice to work but considered childcare a limiting problem that (primarily) mothers should solve. Similarly, participants believed that working full-time did not excuse a husband from helping with chores, however they did not express concerns with the term "helping" which implies that the husband would not hold any primary responsibility. Overall, the findings suggest the importance for educational and policymaking interventions and future research to highlight practices that support and encourage the role of men in addressing childcare and household needs.
Teaching College in the Time of COVID-19: Gender and Race Differences in Faculty Emotional Labor
The COVID-19 pandemic placed new teaching demands upon faculty that may have exacerbated existing race and gender disparities in the amount of emotional labor they perform. The present study surveyed 182 full-time tenured and tenure-track faculty from three small private liberal arts colleges to examine the effect of social and professional statuses on emotional labor (i.e., managing the expression of emotions to meet job requirements) during the emergency switch to remote instruction in spring 2020. Ordinary least squares (OLS) regression revealed that white cisgender men performed less emotional labor than Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) cisgender men, BIPOC cisgender women, and white cisgender women and gender non-conforming (GNC) faculty. Student demands for special favors fully mediated the relationship between intersectional race and gender identity and self-directed emotional labor and partially mediated its relationship with student-directed emotional labor. We conclude that the status shield afforded white cisgender men by their race and gender protected them from student demands that would have required them to engage in as much emotional labor as faculty with other intersectional race and gender identities during the pandemic. We discuss considering differences in emotional labor when making personnel decisions.
Unmarried Black Women's Sexual Socialization: The Role of Dating, Motherhood, and Intimate Partner Violence Across Media Types
The terms single and singlehood conflate marital (e.g. divorced, widowed, and never married) and relationship (e.g. partnered or not) statuses, complicating researchers' understandings of their unique impact on women's lives. Despite qualitative research demonstrating unmarried and unpartnered statuses have distinct implications for women's sexual socialization, little quantitative research has explored these differences. To address this gap, the current project surveyed 506 unmarried Black women ( = 33.02) to explore how common singlehood experiences (dating, motherhood, and intimate partner violence [IPV]) moderated associations between respondents' media use (television, social media, movies, and magazines) and relationship beliefs. This project focused on Black women because of their high rates of unmarried status and the pervasiveness of media stereotypes of their singlehood. Hierarchical linear regressions and the PROCESS model were used to test two-way interactions of media and singlehood experiences. Ecological systems and cultivation theories guided analyses. Across the dependent variables, media types were differentially associated with measures of relationship beliefs and these associations were differentially moderated by singlehood experiences. Weekly television was the most consistent predictor of relationship beliefs and experience with IPV was the most consistent moderator of associations. Women without partners, children, or experiences of IPV exhibited significant associations between media and relationship beliefs while their more experienced peers did not, suggesting singlehood experiences and media work together to shape unmarried Black women's sexual socialization, though more work is needed to determine how. Results illuminated key differences between groups of unmarried Black women, complicating current understandings of single status and challenging how singlehood is conceptualized in sexual socialization research.
"A Fire in my Belly:" Conceptualizing U.S. Women's Experiences of "Mom Rage"
"Mom rage" is a term growing in popularity that refers to the anger or rage that women experience as they make their way through motherhood. This study focuses on the maternal anger experiences of 65 mothers in the U.S. to explore how women describe and come to understand their experiences with "mom rage." Mothers in the study shared both their perceptions of "mom rage" experiences and their understanding of the personal and social implications of their anger. Findings demonstrated that women framed their experiences of "mom rage" in five ways: , and . Two additional themes highlighted how women's understanding of their "mom rage" experiences were grounded in identifying and . Study findings provide insight into the emotional complexities of navigating motherhood in the U.S. Implications for destigmatizing and supporting women through motherhood, as well as limitations and directions for future research, are discussed.
It Takes Two to Tango: Links Between Traditional Beliefs About both Men's and Women's Gender Roles and Comfort Initiating Sex and Comfort Refusing Sex
Traditional gender roles dictate rigid rules and standards prescribing which behaviors, thoughts, and feelings are considered masculine and feminine within sexual contexts, and thus internalizing these beliefs (higher traditional gender ideology) may influence sexual attitudes. Prior theorizing has primarily focused on how women's traditional beliefs about women's gender roles (traditional femininity ideology) and men's traditional beliefs about men's gender roles (traditional masculinity ideology) influence their sexual assertiveness. Yet, men can hold traditional beliefs about women, and women can hold traditional beliefs about men, and these beliefs should have important implications for sexual assertiveness. We addressed this gap by testing how both heterosexual women's ( = 389) and men's ( = 393) traditional masculinity and femininity ideologies associate with their reported comfort initiating sex and comfort refusing sex in their relationships. When accounting for both sets of beliefs, women's traditional beliefs about men's and women's roles interacted to predict comfort initiating sex, but not comfort refusing sex. Men's traditional beliefs about men's roles predicted less comfort refusing sex, and their traditional beliefs about women's roles predicted less comfort initiating sex. This novel research underscores the importance of considering beliefs about both sets of traditional gender roles for understanding people's sexual attitudes.
Gendered Mental Labor: A Systematic Literature Review on the Cognitive Dimension of Unpaid Work Within the Household and Childcare
With this literature review, we provide a systematic overview on and working definition of mental labor in the context of unpaid work-an inherent cognitive component of daily routines primarily related to domestic or childcare tasks. Our methodology followed PRISMA guidelines, and 31 full-text articles were included. Articles were peer-reviewed and published in social science, sociological, and psychological journals. The studies applied quantitative and qualitative methodological approaches including, interviews, online surveys, observations of family routines, time estimates, and experiments. The samples covered a wide age range, consisting mostly of U.S. American or European middle-class women and men (married or in a relationship). Predominantly, the articles show that women perform the larger proportion of mental labor, especially when it comes to childcare and parenting decisions. Further, women experience more related negative consequences, such as stress, lower life and relationship satisfaction, and negative impact on their careers. We offer an integrative theoretical perspective to explain the gendered distribution of mental labor and cognitive load. We consider theoretical and practical implications of these findings for reducing gender inequality in mental labor in the context of unpaid work within the household and childcare.
Gendered Impact of Caregiving Responsibilities on Tenure Track Faculty Parents' Professional Lives
Navigating a career while raising a family can be challenging, especially for women in academia. In this study, we examine the ways in which professional life interruptions due to child caregiving (e.g., opportunities not offered, professional travel curtailed) affect pre- and post-tenure faculty members' career satisfaction and retention. We also examine whether sharing caregiving responsibilities with a partner affected faculty members' (particularly women's) career outcomes. In a sample of 753 tenure track faculty parents employed at a large research-intensive university, results showed that as the number of professional life interruptions due to caregiving increased, faculty members experienced less career satisfaction and greater desire to leave their job. Pre-tenure women's, but not pre-tenure men's, career satisfaction and intention to stay were negatively affected when they experienced at least one professional life interference. Pre-tenure men's desire to stay in their job and career satisfaction remained high, regardless of the number of professional life interferences they experienced. Sharing parenting responsibilities with a partner did not buffer the demands of caregiving on pre-tenure women's career outcomes. Our work highlights the need to consider the varied ways in which caregiving affects faculty members' careers, beyond markers such as publications, and how institutions can support early career stage women with family-friendly practices.
The Impact of COVID-19 on U.S. Computer Science Faculty's Turnover Intentions: The Role of Gender
The COVID-19 pandemic has been challenging for college faculty, with evidence that it has the potential to exacerbate pre-pandemic gender inequities in work demands (Tugend, 2020). The impact of the pandemic may be particularly difficult for women in male-dominated STEM fields such as computer science that pose additional challenges and had high attrition rates among women faculty pre-pandemic (NSF, 2019; Weisgram & Diekman, 2017). The present study examined the mechanisms through which gender may have implications for changes in turnover intentions due to the pandemic among computer science faculty, with a focus on changes in work-family conflict and workplace attitudes. A total of 317 tenure-line and non-tenure line computer science faculty across the U.S. (54.26% women, 49.84% tenured) completed a survey that included items examining whether the pandemic changed work-family conflict, work-related attitudes (job satisfaction, sense of belonging, burnout), and turnover intentions. Results of analyses indicated that identifying as a woman indirectly predicted larger increases in turnover intentions due to the pandemic, through increased work-family conflict, burnout at work, and decreased feelings of job satisfaction. The results suggest that the pandemic has the potential to increase women's attrition from computer science faculty positions, further exacerbating their underrepresentation.
The G-NORM Scale: Development and Validation of a Theory-Based Gender Norms Scale
Gender norms are increasingly recognized as important modifiers of health. Despite growing awareness of how gender norms affect health behavior, current gender norms scales are often missing two important theoretical components: differentiating between descriptive and injunctive norms and adding a referent group. We used a mixed-methods approach to develop and validate a novel gender norms scale that includes both theoretical components. Based on qualitative data, the theory of normative social behavior, and the theory of gender and power, we generated a pool of 28 items. We included the items in a baseline questionnaire among 3,110 women in Odisha, India as part of a cluster randomized controlled trial. We then ran exploratory factor analysis which resulted in 18 items. Using a second wave of data with the same sample, we evaluated psychometric properties using confirmatory factor analysis and structural equation modeling. The analysis resulted in two subscales with nine items each, "descriptive gender norms" and "injunctive gender norms." Both subscales represent high internal validity with Cronbach's alpha values of 0.81 and 0.84 and the combined scale has an alpha of 0.87. The G-NORM, gender norms scale, improves on existing measures by providing distinct descriptive and injunctive norms subscales and moving beyond individual attitudes by assessing women's perceptions of community-level gender norms.
Something to Prove? Manhood Threats Increase Political Aggression Among Liberal Men
Manhood is a precarious state that men seek to prove through the performance of masculine behaviors-including, at times, acts of aggression. Although correlational work has demonstrated a link between chronic masculine insecurity and political aggression (i.e., support for policies and candidates that communicate toughness and strength), experimental work on the topic is sparse. Existing studies also provide little insight into men-liberal or conservative-are most likely to display increased political aggression after threats to their masculinity. The present work thus examines the effects of masculinity threat on liberal and conservative men's tendency toward political aggression. We exposed liberal and conservative men to various masculinity threats, providing them with feminine feedback about their personality traits (Experiment 1), having them paint their nails (Experiment 2), and leading them to believe that they were physically weak (Experiment 3). Across experiments, and contrary to our initial expectations, threat increased liberal-but not conservative-men's preference for a wide range of aggressive political policies and behaviors (e.g., the death penalty, bombing an enemy country). Integrative data analysis (IDA) reveals significant heterogeneity in the influence of different threats on liberal men's political aggression, the most effective of which was intimations of physical weakness. A multiverse analysis suggests that these findings are robust across a range of reasonable data-treatment and modeling choices. Possible sources of liberal men's heightened responsiveness to manhood threats are discussed.
Mothers' Domestic Responsibilities and Well-Being During the COVID-19 Lockdown: The Moderating Role of Gender Essentialist Beliefs About Parenthood
The present work investigates how the increased domestic responsibilities created by the Spring 2020 lockdown of the COVID-19 pandemic in Norway and gender ideologies relate to the well-being of mothers with elementary school children. In June 2020, we conducted a cross-sectional online study including current and retrospective measures with 180 mothers ( = 39.96 years, = 6.11) of elementary school children across Norway. First, in line with earlier research on the strain of the pandemic on parents, and especially mothers, we found that Norwegian mothers' well-being during the lockdown significantly declined compared to before the lockdown (both measured retrospectively). Furthermore, mothers' well-being after the Spring 2020 lockdown did not immediately return to pre-lockdown levels. Finally, we predicted that gender ideologies (i.e., essentialist beliefs about parenthood) would exacerbate the negative impact of increased domestic responsibilities (i.e., childcare and housework) on mothers' well-being (i.e., hypothesis). As predicted, for mothers who more strongly endorsed the belief that mothers are instinctively and innately better caretakers than fathers, perceptions of increased domestic responsibilities were associated with lower well-being post-lockdown. These findings point to the specific challenges mothers face in times of crisis, and the importance of addressing and confronting seemingly benevolent ideologies about motherhood that place additional burdens on women.
A Longitudinal Dyadic Study of Six Leisure Activities in Swedish Couples During the Transition to Parenthood
Parents are not only caregivers to their children; they also have leisure routines that can impact their own well-being. However, little is known about how leisure activities change within the context of a couple during the transition to parenthood. This study uses latent growth curve models and data from the Swedish Pregnancy Panel to examine how often 918 first-time, heterosexual couples participated in six leisure activities from around pregnancy week 19 to one year postpartum. Compared to fathers, mothers less frequently exercised and listened to news, and more frequently read newspapers, spent time for themselves, and spent time with friends. Over time, mothers increased their frequency of praying to God and decreased spending time for themselves and with friends. Fathers decreased frequency of exercise. Within couples, there was a positive correlation between mothers' and fathers' frequency of engaging in leisure activities, although most changes over time were not associated. Our finding that two individuals within a couple may change their leisure activities independently of each other during the transition to parenthood can help healthcare professionals and researchers prepare expectant couples for upcoming changes (or lack thereof) and promote parent well-being. Our findings also highlight the possibility that in contexts with more state support for families, parenthood may not exacerbate gender gaps in leisure.
Feminine Gender Role Discrepancy Strain and Women's Self-Esteem in Daily and Weekly Life: A Person x Context Perspective
Social pressures to adhere to traditional feminine roles may place some women at risk of experiencing gender role discrepancy strain, when they behave, think, or feel in ways discrepant from feminine gender role expectations. The current research examines how person-level propensity to experience feminine gender-role discrepancy strain-feminine gender role stress (FGRS)-and contextual experiences of discrepancy strain-feeling less feminine in daily or weekly life-combine to undermine women's self-esteem. After completing measures of FGRS, undergraduate women reported their feelings of femininity and self-esteem each day for 10 days (Study 1, = 207, 1,881 daily records) or each week for 7 weeks (Study 2, = 165, 1,127 weekly records). This repeated assessments design provided the first tests of whether within-person decreases in felt-femininity were associated with lower self-esteem, particularly for women who were higher in FGRS. Both higher FGRS and within-person decreases in daily/weekly felt-femininity were associated with lower self-esteem, but higher FGRS combined with daily/weekly decreases in felt-femininity predicted the lowest self-esteem (a person x context interaction). These results illustrate the importance of considering how person-level predispositions and contextual experiences of gender-role discrepancy strain combine to influence self-relevant outcomes for women.
Mothering Ideology: A Qualitative Exploration of Mothers' Perceptions of Navigating Motherhood Pressures and Partner Relationships
Good mother ideology refers to beliefs that women are only 'good' mothers if they adhere to the tenets of dominant parenting discourse, such as intensive mothering ideology, which prioritizes children's needs and child-raising above all else. Undergirded by this ideology, mothers' attempts to navigate the transition to motherhood are fraught with pressures, and the transition is associated with negative health outcomes for mothers and children; yet existing research gives little attention to the quality or dynamics of the partner relationship as part of this transition. The current study examined motherhood pressure and the impact on partner relationships through individual, semi-structured interviews with 19 mothers living in Australia who were 18 years or older in a heterosexual relationship with at least one child under the age of five. Thematic analysis revealed four key themes: discourses on motherhood: criticisms of mothers and internalised guilt; transformation of identity; entrenchment of gender roles through childrearing; and positive relationship dynamics: supportive fathers and challenging gender roles. This study contributes to the larger body of literature highlighting the complexity of dominant mothering ideology and its entanglement with and impact on partner relationships. Further, this study includes mothers' perceptions of how they navigate these pressures within the relationship with their partner and the family unit. These findings have implications for programs to support mothers and other caregivers, as well as challenge unrealistic standards for motherhood.
Nuanced Longitudinal Effects of Domains of Perceived Gender Similarity on Adolescent Peer Victimization
Gender similarity is an indicator of perceived fit with own-gender peers and other-gender peers and is strongly correlated with indicators of adolescent adjustment, including negative peer interactions. Although gender similarity is generally studied as a composite variable, evidence is increasing that peer victimization might be uniquely related to specific domains of gender similarity such as appearance or interests. A better understanding of the specific factors that motivate peer victimization will likely aid in intervention efforts. We analyzed five domains of own- and other-gender similarity (feelings, actions, appearance, preferences, time spent with peers) for adolescents, and explored whether they uniquely predicted negative peer interactions including general peer victimization (e.g., pushing/hitting) and experiencing or perpetrating gender-based peer victimization (e.g., anti-gay name-calling) over time. With 407 adolescents (14-17 years old, = 15.42, 50% girls, 52% White) from two timepoints that were six months apart, we first conducted MANOVAs at T1 to assess gender differences in peer victimization experiences. Next, we conducted logistic regression path analyses to model the relation between gender similarity and peer victimization over time. Adolescents reported unique outcomes for different domains of gender similarity with girls focused on appearance and boys focused on not spending time with girls. We discuss how girls' and boys' experiences of gender similarity may be differentially informed by androcentric culture and how different expressions of gender uniquely provoke negative peer attention.
"There's No Sewing Classes, There's No Bedazzling Seminars": The Impact of Masculinity on Social Connectedness and Mental Health for Men Living in Inner-Regional Australia
Regional Australian masculinities are typified by 'traditional' values (e.g., stoicism, self-reliance) known to restrict social connectedness. Thus, these masculinities have been implicated in worsening men's mental health. What remains unclear, however, is how men living in communities (i.e., townships on the fringes of major cities) might uniquely experience masculinity, social connectedness, and mental health. We interviewed 29 boys/men and one non-binary participant ( = 43.77 years) living in the Macedon Ranges (an inner-regional Australian community). Using reflexive thematic analysis, we generated three themes. Participants described inner-regional masculinities as traditional and rigid, and attributed the Macedon Ranges' comparatively high suicide rate to these masculinities. Conversely, migration from the neighbouring city of Melbourne was implicated in introducing more inclusive masculinities to the area that conflicted with existing masculine norms. Thus, Macedon Ranges men were framed as ultimately lacking a cohesive community identity. Proximity to Melbourne was described as encouraging local men to commute daily for work instead of working locally, thereby further weakening community identity. Overall, these phenomena were implicated in damaging the psychosocial wellbeing of local men via reducing social connectedness. Because men's mental illness is so pervasive within regional Australian communities, these findings have direct implications for policymakers. Namely, policies need to acknowledge that masculinities directly influence mental health and that inner-regional masculinities are impacted by unique place-based considerations distinct from men living in other regional communities.
Gendered Division of Digital Labor in Parenting: A Qualitative Study in Urban China
The gendered division of domestic labor is a key topic in gender and family studies. While there has been extensive discussion of time use and the division of physical, emotional, and mental labor in housework and childcare within couples, the division of digital labor in the family has not been systematically examined. Drawing on qualitative data obtained from 147 parents in 84 urban Chinese families, this study reveals prominent gender differences in digital labor in parenting by comparing urban Chinese mothers' and fathers' use of digital technology and media in searching for parenting information, maintaining online communication with teachers, and shopping online and using online education services for their children. The findings demonstrate an unequal division of digital labor in urban Chinese families, in which mothers shoulder most of the digital labor in parenting. This study enriches the feminist literature by demonstrating the mutual construction of gender and digital technology in the domestic sphere and highlighting a new form of domestic labor divided between husbands and wives in the digital age. This study challenges liberating and progressive myths surrounding digital technology and calls for academic reflection and public attention on its constraining and exploitative implications for women.
Gender Stereotypes and Peer Selection in STEM Domains Among Children and Adolescents
Gender stereotypes are harmful for girls' enrollment and performance in science and mathematics. So far, less is known about children's and adolescents' stereotypes regarding technology and engineering. In the current study, participants' ( = 1,206, girls = 623; 5-17-years-old, = 8.63, = 2.81) gender stereotypes for each of the STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) domains were assessed along with the relation between these stereotypes and a peer selection task in a STEM context. Participants reported beliefs that boys are usually more skilled than are girls in the domains of engineering and technology; however, participants did not report gender differences in ability/performance in science and mathematics. Responses to the stereotype measures in favor of one's in-group were greater for younger participants than older participants for both boys and girls. Perceptions that boys are usually better than girls at science were related to a greater likelihood of selecting a boy for help with a science question. These findings document the importance of domain specificity, even within STEM, in attempts to measure and challenge gender stereotypes in childhood and adolescence.
Men's Discomfort and Anticipated Sexual Misclassification Due to Counter-Stereotypical Behaviors: the Interplay between Traditional Masculinity Norms and Perceived Men's Femininization
The present research examines men's self-conscious discomfort while imagining performing counter-stereotypical (traditionally feminine) behaviors as compared to stereotypical (traditionally masculine) behaviors, as a function of traditional masculinity endorsement and perceived social changes in men's gender norms (men's feminization) in two distinct cultural populations (U.S. Americans and Kosovan Albanians). Experiment 1 ( = 192, U.S.) confirmed prior findings by showing that men, as compared to women, experienced more self-conscious discomfort when imagining performing counter-stereotypical (vs. stereotypical) behaviors. Experiments 2 ( = 292, U.S.) and 3 ( = 191, Kosovo) focused solely on heterosexual men and experimentally manipulated perceived social changes in men's gender norms. Results showed that the men's feminization condition, as compared to a control or masculinity conditions, decreased self-conscious discomfort when imagining performing feminine behaviors among men who endorsed a lower versus higher level of traditional masculinity. Experiment 3 further indicated that this effect was driven by lowered expectations of being misclassified as gay. We discuss the relevance of these findings for both the gender and sexual prejudice literature.
Parenting Practices and Authenticity in Mothers and Fathers
We explored the relationship between parenting practices and the experience of subjective authenticity in the parenting role. Based on work showing that authenticity responds to violations of broad social expectations, we predicted that mothers would feel more authentic than fathers. We also predicted, however, that parenting practices that conflicted with broad gender norms would differentially predict authenticity for mothers and fathers. We tested this prediction in a single study of U.S. parents recruited from an internet research panel service ( = 529). Parents completed online measures of authenticity and parenting practices on three separate occasions. We assessed the within-person association between parenting practices and parent-role authenticity. Authoritarian parenting practices negatively predicted parent-role authenticity for mothers, whereas permissive practices negatively predicted parent-role authenticity for fathers. Authoritative practices positively predicted authenticity regardless of parent gender, and, overall, women felt more authentic in the parenting role than men. These findings contribute to emerging theoretical perspectives on authenticity and gender role congruence and highlight how different parenting practices relate to the well-being of mothers and fathers.
No Room of her Own: Married Couples' Negotiation of Workspace at Home During COVID-19
The current study examined the right to a professional workspace and separation between private and public within the home as an arena of gendered negotiation and struggle between spouses working from home during the COVID-19 crisis. Using a qualitative, inductive approach based on grounded theory, we conducted in-depth interviews with fifteen professional couples in Israel about their experiences with working from home and the division of labor and space between spouses. Our analysis revealed three key issues related to these experiences: the division of physical workspace between the spouses, the division of work time (compared to home time), and bodily-spatial aspects of the infiltration of workspace into home through the Zoom camera. The patterns described here suggest that the gendered power relations between spouses working from home are reproduced through an unequal negotiation of space and time in the home, so that in practice, men's work was prioritized in spatio-temporal terms, whereas women's workspace and time was more fragmented and dispersed throughout the home and day. These findings illuminate women's right to workspace in the home as an issue of gender equality that has been amplified by the current global pandemic, and how gendered divisions of space and time serve to reproduce the gender order.
Emphasizing the Communal Demands of a Leader Role Makes Job Interviews Less Stressful for Women But Not More Successful
The cultural construal of leadership as masculine impedes women's attainment of leader roles. This research examined whether adding feminine demands to a leader role relieved the greater stress experienced by women than men in a job interview for a leadership position and considered the processes that mediated women's less favourable interview outcomes. In a hiring simulation, management students ( = 209; 112 women, 97 men) interviewed for a leader role framed by either stereotypically feminine or masculine role requirements. As shown by the stress biomarker salivary cortisol, the feminine role framing alleviated women's, but not men's, physiological stress response during the interview. However, under both masculine and feminine role framing, women, compared with men, reported lesser fit, expected poorer interview performance, appraised greater threat relative to challenge, and evaluated their performance less favourably, as did external raters. An additional vignette study ( = 305; 189 women, 111 men, 5 diverse) found that the feminine role framing increased the leader role's communal demands but still conveyed strong agentic demands not different from those of the masculine role. In conclusion, although a feminine role framing alleviated women's physiological stress response, it did not change their less favourable outcomes, as indicated by participants' self-reports and others' reports.