Poster 2003 Stander Symposium University of Dayton - Feminist Identity and Thoughts about Assertiveness

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  • 8/9/2019 Poster 2003 Stander Symposium University of Dayton - Feminist Identity and Thoughts about Assertiveness

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    Feminist Identity and

    Attitudes TowardAssertiveness :

    Karolyn J. BudzekUniversity of Dayton

    Explaining the Association

    Between Sex-role Orientation

    and Assertive Behavior.

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    Abstract

    Assertiveness has been correlated with many aspects of positive

    mental health. Assertive people often are more likely to be extroverted

    and have high self-esteem. A strong, positive relationship has been

    established between assertive behavior and a masculine sex-role

    orientation. The cause of this strong relationship is not clear. Women

    with a high level of feminist identity score high on measures of

    assertiveness, which may be due to their high level of gender-related

    self-esteem. Further, highly feminine women may perceive assertive

    behaviors as unfeminine, and thus are less likely to act assertively.

    The current study uses a series of self-report questionnaires to test

    these constructs. I expect to find a positive relationship between

    masculinity and assertiveness, and I hypothesize that, when attitudes

    toward assertiveness and feminist identity are controlled, the

    relationship between masculinity and assertiveness is reduced.

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    Introduction

    Assertiveness has been found to negatively

    correlate with many mental health problems,

    including depression and low locus of control(Rolon, 1999).

    Several studies suggest a strong, positive

    relationship between masculinity and assertive

    behavior(e.g. Nix, Lohr, & Stauffacher, 1981).

    The cause of this strong relationship, however, is

    not clear.

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    Introduction continued

    Women with a high level of feminist identity

    often score high on measures of assertiveness(Finlay & Scheltema, 1999).

    The perceived value of assertive behavior

    often influence assertive behavior.

    Feminine women may perceive assertivebehaviors as unfeminine, and thus are less likely

    to act assertively (Gervasio & Crawford, 1989).

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    Hypotheses

    A positive relationship will be found between

    masculinity and assertive behavior.

    No relationship will be found between femininity

    and assertive behavior.

    These two relationships will be reduced when

    feminist identity and attitudes toward

    assertiveness are statistically controlled.

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    Method

    A series of self-report questionnaires were administered

    to female undergraduates (N=79) at a private, Midwestern

    university. Ages ranged from 18 to 22, (M=19.4, SD=1.09). Ninety-

    two percent of the participants were Caucasian, 4% Hispanic, 4%African-American.

    Sex role orientation

    Attitudes toward assertiveness

    Feminist identity

    Assertive behaviors

    Additionally, a close friend of the participant reported the subjects

    assertive behaviors.

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    Descriptive Statistics for Study Measures__________________________________________________________________

    Variable Mean SD Min. - Max.

    __________________________________________________________________

    Self-ratedAssertiveness 132.97 15.47 97 - 167Partner-ratedAssertiveness 136.12 15.65 101 - 175

    Masculine Sex-Role Orientation 94.16 14.81 62 - 128

    Feminine Sex-Role Orientation 98.65 14.64 62 - 127

    Feminist Identity: PassiveAcceptance 27.00 5.59 15 - 40

    Feminist Identity: Revelation 29.03 5.83 11 - 40Feminist Identity: Embeddedness 20.10 4.70 10 - 29

    Feminist Identity: Synthesis 21.13 4.56 13 - 35

    Feminist Identity: Active Commitment 18.85 4.27 11 - 29

    Negative Thoughts about Assertiveness 43.88 4.41 31 - 54

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    Zero-Ordered Correlations Between Sex- Role Orientation,

    Assertiveness, Feminist Identity, and Assertive Thoughts__________________________________________________________________

    Masc. Femi. Self- Partner-SRO SRO Assert. Assert.

    __________________________________________________________________

    Masculine Sex-Role --Feminine Sex-Role .119 --

    Self-report Assertiveness .402** .157 --

    Partner-reportAssertiveness .069 -.098 .090 --

    Feminist Identity: PassiveAcceptance -.102 -.172 -.143 -.014

    Feminist Identity: Revelation .204 .278* .315** -.115

    Feminist Identity: Embeddedness .129 .243* .135 -.164

    Feminist Identity: Synthesis -.115 -.029 -.001 -.130

    Feminist Identity: Active Commitment -.019 .146 .067 -.103

    Negative Thoughts about Assertiveness .023 .159 .005 .027

    Note. * p < .05. **p < .01.

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