Sex differences: Differential access to power or sex-role socialization?

Research has established that women suffer more often than men from depression. Sex role socialization has been offered as one explanation for this sex difference, but traditional measures of female gender-related traits are not related to depressive symptoms. We argue that thus far research has failed to distinguish the traditional measure of female gender-related traits, communion, from another set of gender-related traits, unmitigated communion. Unmitigated communion is a focus on and involvement with others to the exclusion of the self. Unmitigated communion, but not communion, is related to psychological distress, including depressive symptoms, and accounts for sex differences in distress. We examine the relation of unmitigated communion to communion as well as other personality constructs and then describe the cognitive and behavioral features of unmitigated communion. We note the implications of unmitigated communion for physical and psychological well-being and speculate on possible origins.

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The Evolution of Culturally-Variable Sex Differences: Men and Women Are Not Always Different, but When They Are…It Appears Not to Result from Patriarchy or Sex Role Socialization

The Evolution of Sexuality - Evolutionary Psychology ◽

10.1007/978-3-319-09384-0_11 ◽

2014 ◽

pp. 221-256 ◽

Cited By ~ 10

Author(s):

David P. Schmitt

Keyword(s):

Sex Differences ◽

Sex Role ◽

Men And Women ◽

Role Socialization ◽

Sex Role Socialization

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Sex Differences in Predictability of Self-Disclosure for Instrumental and Terminal Values

Psychological Reports ◽

10.2466/pr0.1979.44.3.985 ◽

1979 ◽

Vol 44 (3) ◽

pp. 985-986 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Jerome Tobacyk

Keyword(s):

Sex Differences ◽

Sex Role ◽

College Females ◽

College Males ◽

Self Disclosure ◽

Role Socialization ◽

Rokeach Value Survey ◽

Terminal Values ◽

Sex Role Socialization ◽

Instrumental Values

The Rokeach Value Survey (Rokeach, 1973) and the Jourard Self-disclosure Questionnaire (Jourard, 1971) were administered to 31 college males and 56 college females. As hypothesized, terminal values were significantly better predictors of reported self-disclosure than instrumental values for females, while instrumental values were better predictors of self-disclosure than terminal values for males. These findings were attributed to the more general ‘expressive vs instrumental orientation’ of sex-role socialization which is thought to underlie the distinction between terminal vs instrumental values.

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Sex, Sex-Roles, and Irrational Beliefs

Psychological Reports ◽

10.2466/pr0.1987.61.2.631 ◽

1987 ◽

Vol 61 (2) ◽

pp. 631-638 ◽

Cited By ~ 6

Author(s):

Marilyn Coleman ◽

Lawrence H. Ganong

Keyword(s):

College Students ◽

Sex Differences ◽

Irrational Beliefs ◽

Sex Roles ◽

Sex Role ◽

The Other ◽

Role Orientation ◽

Sex Role Orientation ◽

Role Socialization ◽

Sex Role Socialization

Irrational beliefs have been related to a variety of psychological distresses, some of which are thought of more in relation to one sex than the other, i.e., depression, nonassertiveness, anger. However, Ellis did not assert that there were sex differences in irrational beliefs, and few researchers have examined the effect of sex-role socialization on irrational beliefs. The present study explored the effect of sex and sex-roles on irrational beliefs for a sample of 270 college students using the Irrational Beliefs Test and Bern's scale. While the study supports the belief that sex and sex-role are not unidimensional constructs, the data suggest that differences in sex-role socialization contribute to differences in adherence to irrational beliefs. It appears, however, that a feminine sex-role orientation is related to irrational beliefs. Although study is needed, clinicians are cautioned not to assume there are no sex or sex-role differences related to irrational thinking.

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