1

Psychology 320: Gender Psychology

Lecture 49

2

Announcement

In order to attend a conference related to our class (Sex and Labour Trafficking in Canada) on Friday, March 4th, I will have to move my office hours this week to Wednesday, March 2nd. My office hours will be held at the same times: 11:30-12:30 and 3:30-4:30. If you would like to see me this week but are unable to attend at either of these times, please e-mail me.

3

Invitational Office Hour Invitations, by Student Number for for Wednesday, March 2nd

11:30-12:30, 3:30-4:30 Kenny 2517

10104073

13945084

60659083

61440087

74222068

4

Paper

Topic due date: March 11 (Option A or B, 2-3 sentence summary; send to David at dbking11@psych.ubc.ca).

Paper due date: April 1.

Option A: Application of gender psychology, conduct a psychobiography.

Option B: Appraise theory and research in gender psychology, discuss an area of ongoing debate regarding gender and/or sexuality.

5

Achievement:

1. Are there sex differences in responsiveness to evaluative feedback?

6

2. distinguish between an independent and an interdependent self-construal.

1. review research regarding sex differences in responsiveness to evaluative feedback.

By the end of today’s class, you should be able to:

3. discuss the relationship between self-construals and responsiveness to evaluative feedback.

7

Are there sex differences in responsiveness to evaluative feedback?

• A number of studies suggest that females are more strongly influenced by evaluative feedback than males.

8

• Study 1: Asked participants to complete a series of “challenging” cognitive tasks. After completion of half of the tasks, participants received positive or negative feedback.

Roberts and Nolen-Hoeksema, 1989, 1994

9

• Before and after feedback, asked participants to:

(a) estimate their productivity (i.e., how many cognitive tasks they had solved accurately).

(b) indicate how confident they were in their ability to solve the cognitive tasks.

(c) indicate how satisfied they were with their performance.

10

• Found that:

Males were more likely than females to exhibit a “self-promotional” tendency (e.g., overestimating their productivity).

Females’ self-efficacy and satisfaction ratings were more strongly influenced by feedback than males’ self-efficacy and satisfaction ratings.

Negative feedback had a greater influence on females’ self-efficacy ratings than positive feedback.

11

Cha

nge

in S

elf-

Effi

cacy

Changes in Self-Efficacy by Sex as a Function of Type of Feedback

(Roberts & Nolen-Hoeksema, 1989)

12

Cha

nge

in S

atis

fact

ion

Changes in Satisfaction by Sex as a Function of Type of Feedback

(Roberts & Nolen-Hoeksema, 1989)Males reported an increase of 7 points in their satisfaction after receiving negative feedback

13

• Study 2: Asked participants to give a speech to a group of three other students who were confederates. One of the confederates provided positive or negative feedback.

• Before feedback, asked participants to evaluate their expected performance on the speech. After feedback, asked participants to evaluate their actual performance on the speech.

14

females’ self-evaluations were more strongly influenced by feedback than males’ self-evaluations.

negative feedback had a greater influence on females’ self-evaluations than positive feedback.

• Found that:

15

Changes in Self-Evaluations by Sex as a Function of Type of Feedback

(Roberts & Nolen-Hoekema, 1994)

16

Johnson and Helgeson, 2002

• Assessed the self-esteem of bank employees before and after they received their annual performance review from their supervisor.

17

females’ self-esteem was more strongly influenced by feedback than males’ self-esteem.

negative feedback had a greater influence on females’ self-esteem than positive feedback.

• Found that:

18

Self-Esteem by Sex as a Function of Type of Feedback

(Johnson & Helgeson, 2002)

19

• Explanation for greater susceptibility of females than males to evaluative feedback: Sex differences in self-construals.

Self-construal (self-concept): A cognitive schema (i.e., organized knowledge structure) that contains beliefs about the self and controls the processing of self-relevant information.

20

Research has demonstrated that males are more likely than females to have an independent self-construal, whereas females are more likely than males to have an interdependent self-construal (Cross & Madson, 1997; Cross & Morris, 2003; Guimond et al., 2006)

21

X XX X SELFX X X X X

FATHER

FRIEND

FRIEND

CO-WORKER

SIBLING

MOTHER

STRANGER

STRANGERX X X X

X X X

X X

X

X X X X

X

X

Out-Group

In-Group

The Independent Self-Construal

22

X X SELF X X

FATHER

FRIEND

FRIEND

CO-WORKER

SIBLING

MOTHER

STRANGER

STRANGERX X X

X X

X

X

X X

X X

X

XX

X

X

X

Out-Group

In-Group

The Interdependent Self-Construal

Independent Self-Construal

Interdependent Self-Construal

Definition of self

Free from social context. Tied to social context.

Structure of self

Stable, bounded, unitary. Variable, flexible, fluid.

Primary tasksUniqueness, expression of

internal attributes, promotion of personal goals.

Fitting in, self-restraint, promotion of others’ goals.

Role of othersSelf-evaluation (i.e., social

comparison).Self-definition.

Basis of self-esteem

Ability to express oneself and one’s internal attributes.

Ability to restrain oneself and maintain harmony with others.

23

Independent Versus Interdependent Self-Construals (Markus & Kitayama, 1991)

24

Theorists maintain that social norms (i.e., gender role expectations) cultivate the independent self-construal among males and the interdependent self-construal among females.

25

Because relationships and collective goals are central to the interdependent self-construal, individuals with this self-construal are more responsive to evaluative feedback from others than are those with an independent self-construal.

26

Achievement:

1. Are there sex differences in responsiveness to evaluative feedback?