Don’t laugh it off: Gender differences in perceptions of women’s responses to men’s use of sexist humor

AbstractAcross two studies, we examined how the reaction of a woman who was targeted by potentially disparaging sexist jokes by a male joke-teller affected men’s and women’s perceptions of the jokes, the woman who was told the jokes, and the male joke-teller. Participants viewed videos in which a man told sexist jokes to a woman who responded with amusement, offense, ambiguity, or nonverbal disapproval. We found that the woman’s reaction to the sexist humor affected the perceptions of both the male joke-teller and the woman. Our results suggest that expressing nonverbal disapproval may be an effective way to produce negative perceptions of a man telling sexist jokes (Study 1) and may increase positive perceptions of a woman who confronts them (Study 2). Further, expressing verbal offense may be an increasingly acceptable way of confronting sexist jokes, perhaps due to recent cultural shifts in perceptions of confronting sexism more generally (Study 2). Our findings offer reason to be optimistic about changing norms with regard to confronting sexist humor.

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Gender, Flexibility Stigma and the Perceived Negative Consequences of Flexible Working in the UK

Social Indicators Research ◽

10.1007/s11205-018-2036-7 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 151 (2) ◽

pp. 521-545 ◽

Cited By ~ 12

Author(s):

Heejung Chung

Keyword(s):

Gender Differences ◽

Work Life ◽

Working Time ◽

Work Life Balance ◽

Negative Consequences ◽

Life Balance ◽

Flexible Working ◽

Part Time ◽

Negative Perceptions ◽

The Uk

AbstractThis study examines the prevalence and the gender differences in the perceptions and experiences of flexibility stigma—i.e., the belief that workers who use flexible working arrangements for care purposes are less productive and less committed to the workplace. This is done by using the 4th wave of the Work-Life Balance Survey conducted in 2011 in the UK. The results show that 35% of all workers agree to the statement that those who work flexibly generate more work for others, and 32% believe that those who work flexibly have lower chances for promotion. Although at first glance, men are more likely to agree to both, once other factors are controlled for, women especially mothers are more likely to agree to the latter statement. Similarly, men are more likely to say they experienced negative outcomes due to co-workers working flexibly, while again mothers are more likely to say they experienced negative career consequences due to their own flexible working. The use of working time reducing arrangements, such as part-time, is a major reason why people experience negative career outcomes, and can partially explain why mothers are more likely to suffer from such outcomes when working flexibly. However, this relationship could be reverse, namely, the stigma towards part-time workers may be due to negative perceptions society hold towards mothers’ commitment to work and their productivity. In sum, this paper shows that flexibility stigma is gendered, in that men are more likely to discriminate against flexible workers, while women, especially mothers, are more likely to suffer from such discrimination.

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Vulnerability in the neighbourhood: A study of gender differences in perceptions of control

10.31235/osf.io/8nrgc ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Chloe Keel ◽

Rebecca Wickes ◽

Murray Lee ◽

Jonathan Jackson ◽

Kathryn Beiner

Keyword(s):

Gender Differences ◽

Collective Efficacy ◽

Administrative Data ◽

Perceived Control ◽

Environmental Context ◽

Neighbourhood Level ◽

Women’S Perceptions ◽

Neighbourhood Characteristics

Women perceive themselves as more vulnerable to crime than men, and report greater sensitivity to risk in their environmental context. This heightened sense of vulnerability is associated with women’s perceptions of control over victimisation. Yet, the specific features of neighbourhoods that foster perceptions of control are not well understood. Drawing upon administrative data and a survey of 80 neighbourhoods and 2,862 participants in Victoria, Australia, we test whether gendered neighbourhood-level inequalities or broader neighbourhood characteristics are associated with lower perceived control over victimisation for women. Results indicate that gendered neighbourhood inequalities are less important for women’s perceptions of control compared to men. However, women’s perceptions of control are lower than men’s in neighbourhoods with lower collective efficacy and higher disadvantage.

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Is it really just a joke? Gender differences in perceptions of sexist humor

Humor - International Journal of Humor Research ◽

10.1515/humor-2019-0033 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 33 (2) ◽

pp. 291-315

Author(s):

Tiffany J. Lawless ◽

Conor J. O’Dea ◽

Stuart S. Miller ◽

Donald A. Saucier

Keyword(s):

Gender Differences ◽

Social Power ◽

Normative Values ◽

Men And Women ◽

Disparagement Humor ◽

Lower Status ◽

Sexist Humor

AbstractBenign violation theory suggests humor mocking normative values is funny if the humor is non-threatening. Research suggests sexism toward women (versus men) is particularly threatening due to inequalities in social power. In Study 1, we examined whether men and women differ in how amused and offended they were by sexist humor. We predicted men would perceive sexist humor as more funny and less offensive than women would. In Study 2, we examined whether perceptions of threat were related to perceptions of sexist jokes. We predicted women would perceive more threat than men from sexist humor, which would lead to lower amusement and greater perceived offensiveness. Across both studies, jokes targeting women were perceived to be less funny, more offensive, and more sexist than jokes targeting men. Additionally, greater perceptions of threat were related to greater perceptions of jokes as offensive and sexist. However, women were not more threatened than men by sexist jokes. While these findings were not entirely consistent with our hypotheses, our findings suggest disparagement humor targeting lower-status groups is perceived more negatively than disparagement humor targeting higher-status groups and these perceptions may be inextricably rooted in threat posed to lower-status groups.

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Understanding Gender Differences in Media Perceptions of Hedonic Systems

Discrimination and Diversity ◽

10.4018/978-1-5225-1933-1.ch090 ◽

2017 ◽

pp. 1950-1964

Author(s):

Fiona Fui-Hoon Nah ◽

Brenda Eschenbrenner

Keyword(s):

Gender Differences ◽

Communication Technology ◽

Skill Levels ◽

Psychological Types ◽

Women's Participation ◽

Women’S Perceptions ◽

Information And Communication ◽

K 12 ◽

2D And 3D ◽

Affective Dimensions

As technology improves in hedonic and affective dimensions, women's interests in technology may increase. In this research, the authors are interested in understanding gender differences in media perceptions of hedonic systems. They draw upon Hunter-Gatherer Theory of Spatial Gender Differences and Jung's Theory of Psychological Types on Gender Differences to hypothesize differences in men's and women's perceptions of skill, challenge, telepresence, and satisfaction with online experiences in 2D versus 3D hedonic environments. The results of their experiment indicate that even though women perceive lower skill levels and greater challenge in using 2D and 3D hedonic systems than men, women's perceived sense of telepresence is higher than men in both 2D and 3D hedonic environments. In addition, women are more satisfied with 2D and 3D hedonic experiences than men. The authors' findings suggest that consistent with Jung's Theory of Psychological Types on Gender Differences, women's perceptions of hedonic systems are more positive than men and, hence, making technology intuitive, enjoyable, and fun to use can potentially increase women's participation in the information and communication technology workforce. Additionally, given that women perceive more challenge and skill issues in using technology but are more favorable toward hedonic systems than men, the authors suggest that the use of hedonic systems to support K-12 education systems, such as computer or serious gaming for education, can generate females' interests in technology at an early age.

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Understanding Gender Differences in Media Perceptions of Hedonic Systems

Journal of Database Management ◽

10.4018/jdm.2016070102 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 27 (3) ◽

pp. 23-37 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Fiona Fui-Hoon Nah ◽

Brenda Eschenbrenner

Keyword(s):

Gender Differences ◽

Communication Technology ◽

Skill Levels ◽

Psychological Types ◽

Women's Participation ◽

Women’S Perceptions ◽

Information And Communication ◽

K 12 ◽

2D And 3D ◽

Affective Dimensions

As technology improves in hedonic and affective dimensions, women's interests in technology may increase. In this research, the authors are interested in understanding gender differences in media perceptions of hedonic systems. They draw upon Hunter-Gatherer Theory of Spatial Gender Differences and Jung's Theory of Psychological Types on Gender Differences to hypothesize differences in men's and women's perceptions of skill, challenge, telepresence, and satisfaction with online experiences in 2D versus 3D hedonic environments. The results of their experiment indicate that even though women perceive lower skill levels and greater challenge in using 2D and 3D hedonic systems than men, women's' perceived sense of telepresence is higher than men in both 2D and 3D hedonic environments. In addition, women are more satisfied with 2D and 3D hedonic experiences than men. The authors' findings suggest that consistent with Jung's Theory of Psychological Types on Gender Differences, women's perceptions of hedonic systems are more positive than men and, hence, making technology intuitive, enjoyable, and fun to use can potentially increase women's participation in the information and communication technology workforce. Additionally, given that women perceive more challenge and skill issues in using technology but are more favorable toward hedonic systems than men, the authors suggest that the use of hedonic systems to support K-12 education systems, such as computer or serious gaming for education, can generate females' interests in technology at an early age.

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What Do the Managers Think of Us? The Older-Worker-Perspective of Managers’ Attitudes

International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health ◽

10.3390/ijerph18084163 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 18 (8) ◽

pp. 4163

Author(s):

Annette Meng ◽

Emil Sundstrup ◽

Lars L. Andersen

Keyword(s):

Gender Differences ◽

Older Workers ◽

Large Body ◽

Working Life ◽

Physical Work ◽

Group 14 ◽

Negative Perceptions ◽

Standard Classification ◽

Group 5

Background: Due to demographic changes, the need to prolong working life has become increasingly salient. Paradoxically, stereotyping and discrimination against workers based on their age can limit possibilities for a long working life. A large body of research has investigated attitudes towards older workers; however, less is known about differences across occupational groups as well gender differences. Aim: To compare perceptions of the managers’ perceptions of older workers between employees from mainly seated work and mainly physical work as well as men and women. Method: Data from 11,444 workers aged 50+ from the baseline questionnaire survey in the SeniorWorkingLife study were analyzed. Results: Across all groups, a larger proportion of the respondents indicated that their managers had more positive than negative perceptions of older workers. Respondents from the International Standard Classification of Occupations (ISCO) group 5–9 (mainly physical work) and women were less likely to point at both positive and negative perceptions than the ISCO group 14 (mainly seated work) and men, respectively. Conclusions: The results indicate that there are differences between those with mainly physical and mainly seated work as well as gender differences. More research is warranted to explore the nature of these differences and, in particular, attitudes towards older female and male workers, respectively.

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