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Masculinity and femininity in the self and ideal self descriptions of university students in 14 countries.
Abstract
This chapter summarizes 2 large international research projects, one dealing with gender stereotypes across 25 countries and the second with masculinity and femininity in the self and ideal self descriptions of individuals across 14 countries. Both gender stereotypes and self/ideal self descriptions show similarities across countries as well as differences. In both studies, the cultural nature of the differences becomes evident only when the country results are scored for their affective meaning, on the dimensions of favorability, strength, and activity. Affective meaning differences tended to be larger in socioeconomically less developed countries; they were also positively correlated with G. Hofstede's Power Distance measure. Differences in gender stereotypes and in self-descriptions were unrelated to Hofstede's Masculinity scores, except that in countries high on Masculinity, both gender stereotypes and men's and women's self-descriptions were less differentiated than in countries lower on Masculinity. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
... Educated urban professionals, such as the scientists in this study, constitute the "Indian middle class." Discourse on modernity and individualism in this class is circumscribed by family ties (Belliappa, 2013). While the education of women is receiving greater attention, reflected in rising enrollments and growth in the number of educated women in the workforce, research shows continuity in the social normative structure that gives primacy to women's family roles (Patel and Parmentier, 2005). ...
... The four dimensions of Hofstede (2001) which are individualism-collectivism, power distance, uncertainty avoidance and masculinity-femininity have been used by many researchers to explain a wide range of cultural differences. In a large-scale cross-cultural study of gender-role beliefs (Best and Williams, 1994), gender roles were found to be more pronounced in countries that score higher on the cultural dimension of power distance (the extent to which people in the society accept unequal distribution of power). ...
... Since the 1990s, liberalization and the growing Hindu nationalist forces have revitalized the ideas of the role of Hindu piety, moralism with the central role of family as being central to the middle-class definition of Indianness (Nielsen and Waldrop, 2014;Radhakrishnan, 2011). The postcolonial notion of Indian culture is gendered as it gives primacy to family and a central role to women in the family (Belliappa, 2013). ...
Purpose
Since liberalization in the 1990s, India has witnessed a growth in the number of educated middle-class women in professions. However, there are few women in leadership positions and decision-making bodies. While the earlier notion of the ideal woman as homemaker has been replaced by one which idealizes women of substance, a woman’s role in the family continues to be pivotal and is even viewed as central in defining Indian culture. The purpose of this paper is to analyze how and to what extent gender inequalities are reproduced in the organizations employing educated professionals.
Design/methodology/approach
Based on the perspective that gender is socially constructed, this paper analyzes gender inequality in Indian organizations through semi-structured interviews of men and women scientists in two private pharmaceutical laboratories.
Findings
The findings show reproduction of a gendered normative order through two types of norms and practices: one, norms and practices that favor men and second, socio-cultural norms that devalue women in public spaces which help to maintain masculinity in the workplace. Although these practices might be found elsewhere in the world, the manner in which they are enacted reflects national cultural norms.
Originality/value
The paper highlights how various norms and practices enacted in the specific Indian socio-cultural context construct and maintain masculinity at workplace depriving opportunities to professional women which affect their rise to leadership positions.
... Examining gender role stereotypes among Chinese children, adolescents and tertiary students, Cheung (1996) maintained that in Chinese societies, the gender stereotypes were largely consistent with those found in western studies, with higher cross-cultural agreement for male stereotypes than female stereotypes. Best and Williams (1994) examined gender roles among tertiary students from 25 countries and concluded that there were more cross-cultural similarities than differences, although there were some minor variations which could be due to cultural variations. To sum up, in these studies based on student samples, there seemed to be broad similarities in gender roles across many different cultural groups. ...
... Their findings suggest that there might be cultural differences in the extent of gender differences but they did not elaborate on this issue. Best and Williams (1994) collected data from young men and women from Asian countries (India, Japan, Malaysia, Pakistan, Singapore), European countries (England, Finland, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands), North American countries (Canada, the United States), Nigeria and Venezuela, and found that the self concepts of males and females tended to be more highly differentiated in countries with high "power-distance." By power-distance was meant the extent to which people in the society accept unequal distribution of power. ...
... By power-distance was meant the extent to which people in the society accept unequal distribution of power. Best and Williams (1994) found that gender roles were more pronounced in countries higher on power-distance, for example, India, Singapore, Pakistan (Hofstede & Bond, 1984;Bond, 1996). ...
Using a combined student and community sample, the present study examined whether there were cultural differences in gender role stereotypes between Anglo-Australians and Chinese background immigrants and sojourners in Australia. In addition, cultural differences in the sex-based differentiation of gender roles were examined, along with an assessment of the possible mediating role of acculturation. Five-hundred and ninety participants (418 Anglo-Australians, 172 of Chinese background) from academic institutions and community groups in Melbourne, Australia were administered the Bem Sex Role Inventory (BSRI), an individual-level measure of gender roles. Factor analyses of the Bem items showed similar factor structures for the two cultural groups, despite differences on their country-level indices of masculinity (Hofstede, 1998). Further, Hofstede's proposal that sex differences in gender roles would be more pronounced in "masculine" societies was not supported, however both genders identified more strongly with masculine values/traits if they were Anglo-Australian in background, and with feminine values/traits if they were of Chinese origin. The possible role of acculturation in mediating these identifications was not established.
... However, empirical evidence does not support this conjecture: despite the existence of cross-cultural variations in stereotypical beliefs about gender roles (cf. Best & Williams, 1994;van de Vijver, 2007), respective studies typically show more egalitarian views in Germany as compared to, for example, the United States (Scott, 2008). It could also be speculated that the German educational system provides inferior opportunities for students to engage with modern technologies and systematically acquire computer skills (cf. ...
Information and communication technology (ICT) literacy represents an essential skill for adolescents to efficiently participate in a modern society. Previous research reported conflicting findings regarding gender differences in ICT literacy. Therefore, the aim of the present study was the exploration of cross-sectional and longitudinal gender effects on ICT literacy across a period of three years among a sample of German 15-year-olds (N = 13,943). The results showed that ICT literacy increased across the study period. Although gender differences in ICT literacy were negligible at age 15, small differences in favor of boys emerged at age 18. In contrast, gender differences in ICT confidence favored boys at age 15 but did not change subsequently. Hypotheses with regard to moderating effects of gender role orientations were not supported. Overall, the study found only small differences in ICT literacy between boys and girls. The small size of the observed effect does not warrant alarming conclusions regarding increasing disadvantages in ICT literacy for girls.
... As in self-report data, Asian and African cultures generally show the smallest sex differences, whereas European and American cultures show the largest. Best and Williams (1994) proposed that the magnitude of gen- der differences might be understood by correlating, at the level of cultures, differences in masculinity/femininity with cultural com- parison variables, such as gross domestic product per capita (GDP) and Hofstede's (2001) dimensions of culture. Costa et al. (2001) had hypothesized that Hofstede's Masculinity should be related to more pronounced sex differences, but no significant relation was found in that study. ...
This article was part of personality profiles of cultures project
... As in self-report data, Asian and African cultures generally show the smallest sex differences, whereas European and American cultures show the largest. Best and Williams (1994) proposed that the magnitude of gender differences might be understood by correlating, at the level of cultures, differences in masculinity/femininity with cultural comparison variables, such as gross domestic product per capita (GDP) and Hofstede's (2001) dimensions of culture. Costa et al. (2001) had hypothesized that Hofstede's Masculinity should be related to more pronounced sex differences, but no significant relation was found in that study. ...
To test hypotheses about the universality of personality traits, college students in 50 cultures identified an adult or college-aged man or woman whom they knew well and rated the 11,985 targets using the 3rd-person version of the Revised NEO Personality Inventory. Factor analyses within cultures showed that the normative American self-report structure was clearly replicated in most cultures and was recognizable in all. Sex differences replicated earlier self-report results, with the most pronounced differences in Western cultures. Cross-sectional age differences for 3 factors followed the pattern identified in self-reports, with moderate rates of change during college age and slower changes after age 40. With a few exceptions, these data support the hypothesis that features of personality traits are common to all human groups.
... As in self-report data, Asian and African cultures generally show the smallest sex differences, whereas European and American cultures show the largest. Best and Williams (1994) proposed that the magnitude of gender differences might be understood by correlating, at the level of cultures, differences in masculinity/femininity with cultural comparison variables, such as gross domestic product per capita (GDP) and Hofstede's (2001) dimensions of culture. Costa et al. (2001) had hypothesized that Hofstede's Masculinity should be related to more pronounced sex differences, but no significant relation was found in that study. ...
... Studying gender-role beliefs, power distance and masculinity-femininity turned out to be important. Best and Williams (1994) found in their largescale cross-cultural study of gender-role beliefs that gender roles were more pronounced in countries that score higher on the cultural dimension of power distance (the extent to which people in the society accept unequal distribution of power). Hofstede pointed out that more masculine societies strive for maximal distinction between how men and women are expected to behave. ...
The nature and size of culture and gender differences in gender-role beliefs, sharing behavior, and well-being were examined in five cultural groups in The Netherlands (1,104 Dutch mainstreamers, 249 Turkish-, 200 Moroccan-, 126 Surinamese-, and 94 Antillean– Dutch). Acculturative changes in gender-role beliefs and sharing behavior in the immigrant groups were also addressed. It was shown that more egalitarian gender-role beliefs and more sharing were associated with more well-being in all culture and gender groups. Cultural differences were larger for gender-role beliefs than for sharing behavior. Age, educational level, and employment accounted for half of the cultural differences in gender-role beliefs and well-being, but not in household-task and childcare behavior. First-generation immigrants reported more traditional gender-role beliefs than did second-generation immigrants.
Objectives. Developing a comprehensive model to understand intergroup relationship through integrating two constructs usually used to be examined discretely; self-stereotyping and stereotyping. Background. Today’s understanding of intergroup behavior is firmly grounded in concepts related to stereotypes. In literature, apparently, there are, two dominant approaches in studying stereotype’s effect on intergroup relations. The first approach focuses on the effect of dominant group’s stereotype on intergroup relation, while the second approach focuses on studying the impacts of self stereotyping on victims. Furthermore, minority groups’ self-sterotyping is considered to be derived from the dominant groups’ stereotype. As a result, the prevailing approaches are insensitive to the dynamics in self-stereotype and its implication to the intergroup relationship. In this article, it is claimed that the etiology of intergroup behavior could be better understood by considering a mutually interacting groups’ perspective. Methodology. Systematic approach of reviewing the prevailing literature pertaining to stereotyping and self-stereotyping and integrative analysis method to develop new perspective. Conclusion. Intergroup relation involves the interaction of two or more groups each of them having stereotypes regarding their own group and outgroup. Thus, in this paper, we argued that, the etiology of intergroup behavior cannot be adequately understood without employing the belief system of mutually interacting groups. Hence, we integrated self-stereotyping and other’s stereotypes and the behaviors that emerge during intergroup relations is predicted using the dynamics in the content/valence of minority group members’ self-stereotyping simultaneously with the dominant groups’ stereotype. The integration of these two approaches appears to offer the most adequate explanation for the complex nature of intergroup behavior.
This chapter, Chapter 7 of Communicating Across Cultures at Work 4th edition, explores cultural differences in a selection of important work activities, building on the understanding of communication, culture and cultural differences explained in earlier chapters. The work activities covered are negotiation (7.1), cooperation, coordination and knowledge sharing (7.2), working in groups and teams (7.3) and leadership and management, including mentoring, giving feedback, diversity leadership and international project
management (7.4).
This chapter, Chapter 4 of Communicating Across Cultures, 3rd edn., explores the effects of cultural differences on psychological constructs and processes underlying overt communication behaviour. The chapter shows that individuals’ values, motives, emotions, perceptions, beliefs, assumptions, expectations, attitudes, abilities, preferred styles of logic, learning and problem-solving and even their sense of ‘self’ differ from group to group and culture to culture. The chapter also shows how these differences affect how people interact at work.
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