Social Psychology and Gender

1
Social Psychology and Gender

• Principle Applications in the Real World

2
Topics for Discussion

• Social Comparison Theory and Body Image
• Attractiveness and Performance Evaluations
• Marriage and Health

3
Social Comparison Theory

• Festinger (1954)
• We have a need to evaluate our opinions and
  abilities
• We compare ourselves with other people as a
  source of information for evaluating ourselves
• More likely when objective information is
  unavailable
• Similar others offer a more informative
  comparison

4
Social Comparison Theory

• Accuracy, Inspiration, or Ego-Boost?

But what happens when we are constantly
confronted with upward comparison that is
unattainable?
5
Social Comparison Body Image
Thin Ideal unrealistically slender body type
disseminated through the media as the standard of
attractiveness for women -------------------------
--------------
Avg. woman 54, 140 lbs, size 14 Avg. TV
actress 57, 100 lbs, size 8
6
Social Comparison Body Image

• Greater media exposure related to greater body
  dissatisfaction and desire for thinness and
  increased eating disorder symptomology
• Viewing thin models leads to decreases in
  self-esteem and lower satisfaction with
  weight/body image
• ________________________________
• Media images function as detrimental upward
  comparisons for women

7
Social Comparison Body Image

• Downward social comparison
• Exposure to overweight individuals does not
  improve self-esteem or body image satisfaction
• Peers who are thin and
• heavy have same experimental effects as media
  images

8
Social Comparison Body Image

• Hollywood Moms
• Average actress loses baby weight in 2 months
• Avg. women takes 6 12
  months

9
Social Comparison Body Image

• What about men?
• Smaller difference between ideal and achievable
  body
• Many heavy-set male characters on television

10
Social Comparison Body Image

• Mens magazines and media focus on affluence,
  muscularity, and virility
• Increased viewing of TV and music videos
  decreased acceptance of real body, increased
  sexual dysfunction and risk taking behavior
• Consequences excessive exercise,
  supplement/steroid abuse, and
  unsafe sexual practices

11
Social Comparison Body Image

• Summary
• We make comparisons with others to evaluate
  ourselves
• Media images display unrealistic images as
  standards of attractiveness
• Media consumption contributes to negative effects
  on body image and unhealthy behaviors

12
Physical Attractiveness and Performance
Evaluations

• Beauty is a greater recommendation than any
  letter of introduction
• Aristotle
• Rarely do great beauty and great virtue dwell
  together
• Petrarch

13
Physical Attractiveness and Performance
Evaluations

• What is beautiful is good (Dion,
  Bercheid Walster, 1972)
• Traits like sociability, extraversion, happiness
  and assertiveness are attributed more to the
  attractive
• What about intelligence?

14
Physical Attractiveness and Performance
Evaluations

• Blonde or Brunettes?
• Men judged blondes to be less intelligent than
  either redheads or brunettes
• Women did not differ in their judgments of
  intelligence based on hair color

Weir Fine-Davis, 1989
15
Physical Attractiveness and Performance
Evaluations

• Does attractiveness affect intelligence?
• Attractive children rated as more intelligent
  than unattractive children
• Attractive kids earned higher grades and
  achievement scores
• Note Teachers made these ratings and
  assigned grades any problem?

16
Physical Attractiveness and Performance
Evaluations
Perceptions of Intelligence Related Attributes By
Gender and Attractiveness
Attractiveness appears to help women and hurt men
in perceptions of intelligence
(Chia, et al, 1998)
17
Physical Attractiveness and Performance
Evaluations

• Attractive women rated less qualified and were
  less likely to be recommended for hire to high
  status positions than unattractive women

Youre Hired?
18
Physical Attractiveness and Performance
Evaluations

• Attractive men and women are seen as being less
  causal in achieving their position of status
  than unattractive colleagues

19
Physical Attractiveness and Performance
Evaluations

• Are we doomed?
• Attractiveness effects diminished with knowledge
  of past performance

20
Physical Attractiveness and Performance
Evaluations

• Summary
• Attractive children seen as more intelligent
• Attractive women seen as less competent
• Attractiveness decreases attributions of personal
  responsibility for achievement
• These effects can be reduced with knowledge of
  past performance

21
Marriage and Health

• Are we better off getting married or staying
  single?
• Who gets more of the benefit from marriage, men
  or women?

22
Marriage and Health

• Men benefit more from marriage
• Troubled relationships are more detrimental for
  women than men

23
Marriage and Health

• Why might men benefit more from marriage?
• Social Support
• Health Behaviors
• Household management

24
Marriage and Health

• Women are also more affected by marital conflict
• Cardiovascular
• Stress response
• Mental health and depression

25
Marriage and Health

• Why the difference in impact of interpersonal
  conflict?
• Relationship power
• Gender roles

26
Marriage and Health

• Why the difference in impact of interpersonal
  conflict?
• Relationship power wives are subordinate to
  husbands and more vulnerable to relationship
  breakdown

27
Marriage and Health

• Why the difference in impact of interpersonal
  conflict?
• Gender roles women are more interpersonally
  oriented, emotion-focused and feel responsible
  for relationship functioning

28
Marriage and Health

• Summary
• Marriage offers health benefits
• Married men benefit more than married women
• Women suffer more from marital conflict

29
Conclusions Principles of psychology can have
different implications for men and women in the
real world

• Media images are detrimental for womens and
  mens body image and health
• Physical attractiveness can influence perceptions
  of intelligence and work-related competence
• Marriage offers more benefits for men than women