Gender and autistic personality traits predict perspective-taking ability in typical adults

Adopting another’s visual perspective is exceedingly common and may underlie successful social interaction and empathizing with others. The individual differences responsible for success in perspective-taking, however, remain relatively undiscovered. We assessed whether gender and autistic personality traits in normal college student adults predict the ability to adopt another’s visual perspective. In a task differentially recruiting VPT-1 which involves following another’s line of sight, and VPT-2 which involves determining how another may perceive an object differently given their unique perspective (VPT-2), we found effects of both gender and autistic personality traits. Specifically, we demonstrate slowed VPT-2 but not VPT-1 performance in males and females with relatively high ASD-characteristic personality traits; this effect, however was markedly stronger in males than females. Results contribute to knowledge regarding ASD-related personality traits in the general population and the individual differences modulating perspective-taking abilities.

Double-voicing at work : power, gender and linguistic expertise

'Double-voicing' means that when a person speaks, they have a heightened awareness of the concerns and agendas of others, which is reflected in the ways they adjust their language in response to interlocutors. The Russian philosopher Mikhail Bakhtin famously applied the concept of 'double-voiced discourse' to the world of literature, but just touched upon its relevance to everyday language. This book reveals how 'double-voicing' is an inherent and routine part of spoken interactions within educational and professional contexts. Double-voicing is closely related to the ways in which power relations are constructed between speakers, as it is often used by less powerful speakers to negotiate perceived threats from more powerful others. The book explores how women leaders use double-voicing more than men as a means of gaining acceptance and approval in the workplace. While double-voicing at times indexes a speaker's linguistic insecurity, the book argues that it can be harnessed to demonstrate linguistic expertise.

Double-voicing at work:power, gender and linguistic expertise

'Double-voicing' means that when a person speaks, they have a heightened awareness of the concerns and agendas of others, which is reflected in the ways they adjust their language in response to interlocutors. The Russian philosopher Mikhail Bakhtin famously applied the concept of 'double-voiced discourse' to the world of literature, but just touched upon its relevance to everyday language. This book reveals how 'double-voicing' is an inherent and routine part of spoken interactions within educational and professional contexts. Double-voicing is closely related to the ways in which power relations are constructed between speakers, as it is often used by less powerful speakers to negotiate perceived threats from more powerful others. The book explores how women leaders use double-voicing more than men as a means of gaining acceptance and approval in the workplace. While double-voicing at times indexes a speaker's linguistic insecurity, the book argues that it can be harnessed to demonstrate linguistic expertise.

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

Objectives: To disentangle the effects of physician gender and patient-centered communication style on patients' oral engagement in depression care. Methods: 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). Results: 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. Conclusions: 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. Practice implications: High patient-centeredness increases active patient engagement in depression care especially in gender discordant dyads. © 2014.

Susan Ehrlich, Miriam Meyerhoff and Janet Holmes (eds.). The Handbook of Language, Gender and Sexuality (2nd edition). Chichester, U.K.: Wiley Blackwell. 2014. 664 pp. Hb (9780470656426) US$195.00.

Book review

Do gender and year of study affect the ability of the theory of planned behaviour to predict binge-drinking intentions and episodes?

Background: The present study tested the utility of the theory of planned behaviour (TPB), augmented with anticipated regret, as a model to predict binge-drinking intentions and episodes among female and male undergraduates and undergraduates in different years of study. Method: Undergraduate students (N = 180, 54 males, 126 females, 60 per year of study) completed baseline measures of demographic variables, binge-drinking episodes (BDE), TPB constructs and anticipated regret. BDE were assessed one-week later. Results: The TPB accounted for 60% of the variance in female undergraduates' intentions and 54% of the variance in male undergraduates' intentions. The TPB accounted for 57% of the variance in intentions in first-year undergraduates, 63% of the variance in intentions in second-year undergraduates and 68% of the variance in intentions in final-year undergraduates. Follow-up BDE was predicted by intentions and baseline BDE for female undergraduates as well as second- and final-year undergraduates. Baseline BDE predicted male undergraduates’ follow-up BDE and first-year undergraduates’ follow-up BDE. Conclusion: Results show that while the TPB constructs predict undergraduates’ binge-drinking intentions, intentions only predict BDE in female undergraduates, second- and final-year undergraduates. Implications of these findings for interventions to reduce binge drinking are outlined.

Navigating equality:religious young women's perceptions of gender and sexuality equality

Equality has become an important concept within secular-liberal societies (Perrons 2005), with white, secular Western women interpellated as quintessentially embodying this equality (Gill and Scharff 2011; McRobbie 2011; Nayak and Kehily 2008). For religious organizations, the interacting spaces of gender and sexuality constitute two of the most contested terrains in rights-giving, and many religions are seen as less progressive regarding equality vis-à-vis other social institutions (Plummer 2003; Tosh and Keenan 2003; Weeks2007). Young religious women have to articulate how they fit into the contours of secular-liberal equality norms as religious subjects. This chapter will focus on how young religious women living in the UK made sense of equality in the context of their religion, focusing on attitudes to gender equality and sexuality equality.

Coping with uncertainty:gender and leadership identities in UK corporate life

Within corporate contexts, senior leaders must construct credible leadership identities if they are to demonstrate effectiveness in achieving business goals. This is a particular challenge for women, who have struggled historically to gain senior leadership positions. This chapter explores the identity struggles experienced by Karen, a woman Human Resources director within a management meeting as she delivers bad news about ‘company restructuring’ to her colleagues. Using Feminist Poststructuralist Discourse Analysis (FPDA), I show how this leader struggles to maintain a professionally competent identity as she negotiates the bad news. The analysis reveals that despite the demands of her role, Karen demonstrates extraordinary linguistic competence in managing her team within a turbulent business world that continues to remain inhospitable to female leaders.

Pathways to leadership:board independence, diversity, and the emerging pipeline in the US for women directors

In the wake of this decade's corporate scandals, crimes and excesses, improving the effectiveness of corporate governance in the United States has become a priority. An important influence on a board's effectiveness at monitoring is its members’ degree of independence from senior management. While the current definition of independence revolves around the absence of familial and economic connections between a firm and its directors, research suggests that this standard may be inadequate in ensuring independent oversight. Rather, diversity along racial, gender and other dimensions has been proposed as a potentially more effective standard for board independence. This is especially welcome news for women, who currently comprise 51 per cent of the US managerial workforce but only 14.8 per cent of the directors on boards of large, publicly traded US corporations. Some explain the current dearth of women board members by claiming that there are no qualified women available for board service and/or that women are not interested in board service. However, there is more anecdotal rather than empirical evidence on the issue. Surveying women at a women's leadership conference in Boston, this research investigates the extent to which women are currently involved in some type of board service and the extent to which women aspire to future board service. We find that women are currently more active in governance activities than prior research on corporate boards suggests and that they aspire to play a continued and expanded role in governance activities.

Lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans and queer psychology:an introduction

This exciting and engaging textbook introduces students to the psychology of lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans and queer lives and experiences. It covers a broad range of topics including diversity, prejudice, health, relationships, parenting and lifespan experiences from youth to old age. The book includes ‘key researcher’ boxes, which outline the contributions of significant individuals and their motivations for conducting their research in their own words. Key issues and debates are discussed throughout the book, and questions for discussion and classroom exercises help students reflect critically and apply their learning. There are extensive links to further resources and information, as well as ‘gaps and absences’ sections, indicating major limitations of research in a particular area. This is the essential textbook for anyone studying LGBTQ Psychology, Psychology of Sexuality or related courses. It is also a useful supplement to courses on Gender and Developmental Psychology.

Intolerance of ambiguity, gender stereotypes, and attitudes to sexuality

The premise of this thesis is that Western thought is characterised by the need to enforce binary classification in order to structure the world. Classifications of sexuality and gender both embody this tendency, which has been largely influenced by Judeo-Christian tradition. Thus, it is argued that attitudes to sexuality, particularly homosexuality are, in part, a function of the way in which we seek to impose structure on the world. From this view, it is (partly) the ambiguity, inherent in gender and sexual variation, which evokes negative responses. The thesis presents a series of inter-linked studies examining attitudes to various aspects of human sexuality, including the human body, non-procreative sex acts (anal an oral sex) and patterns of sexuality that depart from the hetero-homo dichotomy. The findings support the view that attitudes to sexuality are significantly informed by gender-role stereotypes, with negative attitudes linked to intolerance of ambiguity. Male participants show large differences in their evaluations of male and female bodies, and of male and female sexual actors, than do female participants. Male participants also show a greater negativity to gay male sexual activity than do female participants, but males perceive lesbian sexuality similarly to heterosexuality. Male bodies are rated as being less 'permeable' than female bodies and male actors are more frequently identified as being the instigators of sexual acts. Crucial to the concept of heterosexism is the assumption that 'femininity' is considered inherently inferior to 'masculinity'. Hence, the findings provide an empirical basis for making connections between heterosexism and sexism, and therefore between the psychology of women, and gay and lesbian psychology.

Business and social entrepreneurs in the UK:gender, context and commitment

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to investigate what sort of people become social entrepreneurs, and in what way they differ from business entrepreneurs. More importantly, to investigate in what socio-economic context entrepreneurial individuals are more likely to become social than business entrepreneurs. These questions are important for policy because there has been a shift from direct to indirect delivery of many public services in the UK, requiring a professional approach to social enterprise. Design/methodology/approach – Evidence is presented from the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM) UK survey based upon a representative sample of around 21,000 adults aged between 16 and 64 years interviewed in 2009. The authors use logistic multivariate regression techniques to identify differences between business and social entrepreneurs in demographic characteristics, effort, aspiration, use of resources, industry choice, deprivation, and organisational structure. Findings – The results show that the odds of an early-stage entrepreneur being a social rather than a business entrepreneur are reduced if they are from an ethnic minority, if they work ten hours or more per week on the venture, and if they have a family business background; while they are increased if they have higher levels of education and if they are a settled in-migrant to their area. While women social entrepreneurs are more likely than business entrepreneurs to be women, this is due to gender-based differences in time commitment to the venture. In addition, the more deprived the community they live in, the more likely women entrepreneurs are to be social than business entrepreneurs. However, this does not hold in the most deprived areas where we argue civic society is weakest and therefore not conducive to support any form of entrepreneurial endeavour based on community engagement. Originality/value – The paper's findings suggest that women may be motivated to become social entrepreneurs by a desire to improve the socio-economic environment of the community in which they live and see social enterprise creation as an appropriate vehicle with which to address local problems.

Equality, diversity and discrimination:a student text

This text is designed specifically for the increasing number of students taking modules in Equality andDiversity, including those taking the CIPD specialist elective Managing Diversity and Equal Opportunities module. The authors’ combined experience is used to offer a mixture of a strong practical focus and a clear academic approach to create a balance of theory and practice. This text is the only accessible, up-to-date and student-focused text in the market that specifically features this subject area. his text is designed specifically for the increasing number of students taking a module in Equality and Diversity. The text contains a range of features to aid student learning, including: - Learning objectives - at the beginning of each chapter summarising the content of the chapter - Tasks - interactive tasks to encourage students to research around the subject - Case studies - thought-provoking examples of practice - Legal cases - examples of legal practice - Key Points - at the end of each chapter, a summary of key issues raised in the chapter - Examples to work through - at the end of each chapter, mini case examples with questions to check students' understanding.

Gender comparisons of fat talk in the United Kingdom and the United States

This study compared different forms of body talk, including "fat talk," among 231 university men and women in central England (UK; n = 93) and the southeastern United States (US; n = 138). A 2 (gender) by 2 (country) repeated measures ANOVA across types of body talk (negative, self-accepting, positive) and additional Chi-square analyses revealed that there were differences across gender and between the UK and US cultures. Specifically, UK and US women were more likely to report frequently hearing or perceiving pressure to engage in fat talk than men. US women and men were also more likely to report pressure to join in self-accepting body talk than UK women and men. © 2010 Springer Science+Business Media, LLC.