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William J. Swift

This experiment was designed to investigate differences in the perceptions of male models based on their race and the presence or absence of eyeglasses. Participants were 39 men and 73 women. Participants randomly received sealed questionnaire packets containing a three part survey and one of eight pictures depicting a White or Black male with or without eyeglasses. Contrary to expectations, model race overall did not affect the assessments of intelligence. The presence of eyeglasses did impact these assessments. Overall, glasses wearers were rated as higher in intelligence than non-glasses wearers. Additionally, Black eyeglass wearers were rated more positively than Whites. The findings support past research indicating that first perceptions are largely based on surface traits and often take the form of negative biases and stereotypes.

Men’s and Women’s Reactions to Hypothetical Emotional and Sexual Infidelities of their Partners

Jessica Gifford

College students (n = 80) completed a four section survey consisting of demographic questions, the Rosenberg Self-Esteem scale, and two scenarios, each followed by 23 statements designed to determine participants’ perceived blaming and coping styles. Each participant read one scenario depicting a sexual affair and one depicting an emotional affair. Within these scenarios, participants were randomly assigned to a truthfulness condition; half depicting a confession and half concealment. The findings indicate that when confronted with emotional affairs, women expressed greater likelihood of externalizing blame and displaying emotional and mature coping styles than did men. Additionally, women’s self-esteem was not related to self-blame or use of immature coping styles. Among men, self-esteem was strongly related to coping and blaming styles.

Volunteers (n = 120) were randomly assigned to one of two free-recall memory tasks. One task included 25 concrete words and the other, 25 abstract words of similar familiarity. Words within the tasks were presented individually on index cards for five seconds each. As hypothesized, women recalled more words and reported using a larger variety of recall strategies than did men. However, men required less time to recall the words they remembered. Also as expected, a larger number of concrete words were recalled than abstract words. These results confirm past findings and provide positive support for the saying, "slow and steady wins the race".

Two hundred ninety-eight college students completed a survey packet containing one of three relationship scenarios involving committed couples who differed in sexual orientation (heterosexual, gay male, and lesbian partners). Each of these scenarios was paired with either a harsh family argument against the couples’ marital reunion or the couples’ positive reasons for their marriage. Results showed that the gay male and lesbian couple scenarios elicited higher levels of homophobia and less support for the couples’ marital union than did the heterosexual couple scenario. This was especially true for the men, who were found to be more homophobic and less supportive of homosexual couples than the women. Marriages of lesbian couples were more supported than were gay male unions.

Recognizing Child Abuse: Perceptions of Abusive Behaviors as Effected by Parent and Child Sex

Students (n = 110) were randomly assigned to reading one of four scenarios, depicting either father/son, father/daughter, mother/son, or mother/daughter interactions. The interactions presented the dyads as rushed, the child as uncooperative, and the parent as angry and physically harsh. Participants then completed measures designed to assess blame attributions (child or situational), tolerance of parental harshness, and personal experiences. Results indicated that tolerance of parental harshness was lowest in mother/daughter dyads. Correlational analyses also showed that for the mother/daughter scenarios, the three blame measures were intercorrelated. For the other conditions, only specific aspects of blame were intercorrelated. Discipline experiences also differentially influenced perceptions of the dyadic interactions.

Elizabeth A. Gainer

Reactions to depictions of couples varying in sexual orientations and age disparities were examined. There was 160 participants from a small suburban state college. The participants read one of four marital union scenarios, rated the union acceptability, and completed various attitude scales. Results indicated that heterosexual and lesbian unions were viewed more negatively than gay male unions. Additionally, older heterosexual women involved with minors were viewed more negatively than older heterosexual men similarly involved. Traditional gender role attitudes were also associated with less acceptance of gay and lesbian unions and homophobia. Finally, men tend to be more homophobic than women. The finding that the gay unions were viewed more positively than heterosexual unions may reflect the expectation of deviant behavior from gay men and not from heterosexuals. Also clear was the double-standard regarding ages of acceptable partners for women and men.

Michelle Parrish & Shara Puglisi

College students (n = 240), half of whom were women, completed a series of measures designed to assess attitudes toward rape and perceptions of blame. Students were randomly assigned to reading one of four scenarios depicting a dating couple consuming alcoholic or nonalcoholic beverages and a rapist expressing remorse for or denial of his actions. Participants also completed a rape myth acceptance scale, measures of scenario-victim blame, and evaluated punishment recommendations for the scenario-rapist. Men were found to be more accepting of rape myths, to have fewer rape-related experiences, and to blame the victim more than women. The presence of alcohol was found to increase victim blame and decrease the severity of punishment recommendations for both sexes. The results are consistent with past research and suggest concern for common dating practices of college students.

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