Psych of Women (CH 8-10)

What factors influence the degree to which women can sustain friendships?

When in school, girls are around other girls, and they can connect over common interests. As girls age, they stop meeting new potential girlfriends. Women may move to new locations , removing themselves from an existing network of female friends. Women's jobs and commuting to them may take up large amounts of time, reducing the time available for social activities. When women enter relationships and start having children, there's less time to dedicate to friendship

Describe what is meant by the second shift as well as the amount and types of labor that women are more likely than men to complete in mixed sex couples.

second shift: the phenomenon of women coming home from their jobs and doing another round of work in the home Women: - routine labor (tasks that have to be done frequently on a regular schedule) - Low-control labor (tasks in which the person doing them has little control over when and where they get done) Men: - Intermittent labor: tasks that are only done occasionally and there's usually some leeway as to when they need to get done - Mothers do about twice as much childcare as fathers do. - Women take on more mental load than men, such as planning and organizing.

Describe the double bind women encounter when seeking leadership roles and explain how negotiating this influences their leadership style.

"Think manager-think male" bias: the idea that the traits many people associate with leadership are agentic ones that are also associated with masculinity - Women are in a double bind, because agentic women are not seen as likeable. Ironically, women may actually be better leaders than men. • Transformational leader: a leader who inspires others, stimulates optimism and excitement about the future of the organization, and focuses on mentorship

Describe how common abortion is, who has abortions, the psychological outcomes associated with having an abortion, and consequences of being denied legal access to abortion.

- 59% of U.S. women obtaining abortions in 2014 were already mothers. Common reasons for having an abortion: • Desire to continue with education • Not being able to afford a baby • Not wanting to be a single mother • Having relationship problems - About 1 in 4 women will have an abortion by the age of 45. - Abortions are more common for poor women. - Women of all religions get abortions. - Over a third of abortions are due to failed contraception. - Women with disabilities can face pressure from family and healthcare providers to have an abortion. Post-abortion syndrome: a term used by anti-abortion advocates to describe a negative psychological reaction to abortion - Research has not supported the existence of this syndrome. - Having an unplanned pregnancy is a significantly stressful life event. - Being denied an abortion can increase anxiety, lower self-esteem, and lower life satisfaction.

Understand how women affect society's assignment of pay, including how the "social value" of what is perceived as women's work affects the wage gap.

- Dramatic increase in women's labor force participation in recent decades, Yet men's participation in family is not increasing Inequality of women in workforce - 5% of women are CEOs of fortune 500 companies and 18% of directors, producers in films are women - Impact on poverty rates - Economic necessity

Define the glass ceiling, the sticky floor, the glass cliff, and the glass escalator, and understand the implications of these concepts for women.

- Glass ceiling: an invisible barrier that keeps many women from rising to the highest levels of leadership The labyrinth: the twists, turns, and obstacles that women face in the workplace, which stymies all but the most exceptional women. - Sticky floor: the tendency for women to remain at the bottom of an organizational hierarchy in jobs that provide limited opportunities for advancement - Glass escalator: the tendency for men to be promoted to leadership positions very rapidly when they work in traditionally female-dominated fields

Identify the historical factors that contributed to the wage gap and the biased reasoning behind this, including which groups of women are particularly affected by the pay gap.

- In 2016, women working full-time in the U.S. earned 80.5% of what men earned. - The pay gap is more severe for women of color and women with disabilities. -On average, women in the U.S are paid 80% of what white men are paid - On average, black women are paid 63% of what white men are paid *Black women must work about 8 months extra to earn what white men earn in 1 year

Jealousy in Relationships

- Jealousy is sometimes considered a signal of passion. - Evoking jealousy may make women feel powerful and in control of their relationship. - Jealousy can be an excuse for violence and controlling behaviors.

Identify factors that promote risk for divorce and the positive and negative consequences of divorce for women

- Just under half of first marriages end in divorce within 20 years. - Marrying before age 25 and earning less than $25,000 per year are risk factors for divorce. - Black Americans are most likely to get divorced, followed by White and Latinx Americans, with Asian Americans least likely. - Divorce rate may have risen in the late 20th century because of women's increased access to resources - Divorce is beneficial to people in dysfunctional relationships ,but also has negative consequences for women (financial threat, decline in physical and mental health)

CONSEQUENCES OF INEQUITY

- Marital satisfaction and sexual satisfaction are lower if women perceive the division of labor as unfair. - Social norms within one's culture/community can influence perceptions of fairness. - Gratitude can mitigate feelings of unfairness. - Couples who desire equality and achieve it tend to have the happiest relationships. - Open conversations about the division of labor are associated with increased equity in both doing and organizing/managing tasks.

Compare different theories about what women and men want from romantic partners and summarize the major findings of research studies on what women and men want from different types of partners.

- Sexual strategies theory (SST) suggests that people prioritize characteristics that ensure reproductive success. - Men want young, physically attractive partners. - Women want older partners who have access to status and resources. - Some research studies have shown support for SST, but others have not. - Interest in a financially secure partner may have more to do with one's own access to power and resources rather than sex/gender. - Desired characteristics vary depending. on whether person is interested in short-or long-term relationship.

Summarize the common characteristics of dating scripts as well as research on online dating and hookups.

- Traditional dating scripts (e.g., men initiating dates) still persist among heterosexual couples. - Lesbians do not typically adhere to traditional gender roles in dating. - Individuals with disabilities may be assumed to be aromantic. - Romantic attention they receive can be inappropriate or intrusive, because they are assumed to be grateful for any attention at all. - Research. is mixed as. to whether online dating has better results than traditional dating. - Online profiles reduce people to two-dimensional displays of information. - Offers more choices, but it can be exhausting to sort through hundreds of profiles - Algorithms can eliminate poor fits, but are not effective in determining long- term relationship success. - Can be especially helpful for people looking for partners with certain identities, interests, or characteristics (e.g., age, sexual orientation, religion, etc. )

Differentiate between women's and men's journeys in workplace leadership and career trajectory, including the double standards of leadership and gender biases in how women and men leaders are evaluated.

- Unpaid work at work: women's communal contributions at work (e.g., notetaking, coordinating birthday celebrations, etc.) - "Disappears" because it is merely expected of women - Interferes with women's ability to contribute in ways that are more highly valued Glass cliff: the tendency for women to be promoted to leadership positions precisely when a company is in a precarious position or at risk of failure - Female leaders are often under greater scrutiny than their male counterparts.

Summarize the benefits of breastfeeding, barriers to breastfeeding, and the ways in which beliefs about breastfeeding affect women who both do and do not breastfeed.

- Women in positions of privilege are more likely to breastfeed. - Some research shows benefits of breastfeeding to both mother and child, but they are all based on correlational research and therefore confounded with privilege. - There are a number of barriers to breastfeeding, including embarrassment and stigma for breastfeeding in public, as well as discrimination in the workplace. - Pressure to breastfeed can make women who don't or can't feel like inadequate mothers.

Understand role enhancement theory, the second shift, the maternal wall, and how schedules affect working parents.

- Work-family conflict: occurs when work interferes with family obligations or family life interferes with work - Role enhancement theory: idea that people experience an increase in energy and well- being when they are engaged in multiple roles - Work-family enrichment: two- way process in which what happens at work benefits family life and what happens in the family benefits work - Work-family balance is often perceived as involving choices, but women's choices are significantly constrained. - Framing women's work decisions as a choice may lead to ignoring the structural factors that affect women's involvement at work. - Women spend more time on unpaid care work at home. Sandwich generation: individuals, primarily women, who are simultaneously caring for their children and their aging parents - Many workplaces, especially for low-income women, are very inflexible.

Lamaze guidelines for a healthy birth

1. Let labor begin on it's own 2. Move around during labor to promote pain relief 3. Bring a loved one or doula (a trained, paid professional) for support 4. avoid interventions unless medically necessary 5. try not to give birth on your back and push only when your body tells you it's ready 6. let mother and baby experience immediate skin-to-skin contact

Define identity shifting and provide examples

A conscious or automatic process of shifting one's worldview and/or cultural behaviors due to lack of power and privilege (Jackson, 2010; Jones et al., 2004)

Summarize the physical indicators of fertility and outline the ways fertility can be managed by those who wish to be pregnant, including those who are trans, lesbian, and disabled.

Bodily signs of fertility: - Slight increase in basal body temperature - Cervical mucus becomes more plentiful, slippery, and translucent. - Ovulation occurs about two weeks prior to menstruation. Lesbian couples have to decide whether to use sperm from a known or unknown donor. Transitioning can affect the fertility of transgender individuals. Many people assume that women with physical disabilities cannot have intercourse or get pregnant, but many do.

Identify the other types of committed romantic relationships that women have beyond marriage.

Cohabitation is common, often a precursor to marriage, though not always. Some research shows that a higher proportion of marriages preceded by cohabitation end in divorce. This appears to be changing based on more recent research.

Describe the different ways in which motherhood can adversely affect women's mood and functioning and how commonly women experience these symptoms.

Common post-partum mental health concerns: - Baby blues: the experience of crying, poor sleep, irritability, and anxiety after the birth of a baby - Post-partum depression: feelings of sadness, anxiety, exhaustion, guilt and worthlessness, and suicidal ideation lasting at least two weeks that can be experienced after giving birth - Post-partum anxiety: feelings after the birth of a child that include worry, a sense of dread, obsessive checking, difficulty sleeping, and other physical symptoms such as dizziness, nausea, and headaches

Compare and contrast how a reproductive justice approach to motherhood differs from an approach focused on individual choice.

Compared to reproductive justice, Stratified reproduction is the unequal situation in which those with more resources based on factors such as class, race, ethnicity, or migration status have greater autonomy and choice with regard to their ability to have and raise children

Restate the typical ways in which family roles change after women become mothers.

Gender roles within relationships tend to become more traditional after the birth of a child. • May not be the case for Black families A number of possible sources of inequality: - Fathers are unwilling to do as much as mothers expect. - Maternal gatekeeping: the process of mothers limiting how involved fathers are allowed to be in caring for children

cultural differences of friendship

Girls: More intimate More self-disclosure and emotional support Girls tend to have a few very close friends Boys: Less intimate Shared group activities Larger groups

Compare and contrast horizontal and vertical gender segregation and explain how gender segregation is related to the pay gap.

Horizontal occupational gender segregation: the tendency of men and women to cluster into different professions Causes: - Women tend to choose care work. The assumption that women are naturally caring may justify lower salaries. Care work pays less than other work, even controlling for education and experience. - Pay rates were set when employers assumed that women didn't need to financially support their families. Decreasing it: - Women and men with a four-year college degree are moving toward more integration (e.g., lawyers, physicians). - Considerably less integration for traditionally male- dominated, working-class positions (e.g., construction, plumbing) - Regardless of education, there's been less integration for women of color. - Salaries and prestige of male-dominated careers tends to decrease as women move into these jobs. Even when women and men work in exactly the same fields, men are typically paid more than women. Vertical occupational gender segregation: the tendency for men to hold positions with higher status, authority, and pay than women within any given field - When jobs require similar levels of education, those where men dominate tend to be higher paid (e.g., software engineers vs. teachers, janitors vs. maids). - The higher the number of women in a profession, the lower the salary of that profession.

Define infertility and describe the psychological consequences of infertility for women. Summarize methods by which infertility can be socially and medically managed as well as ethical dilemmas associated with medical management.

Infertility: an inability to become pregnant after 12 months of regular unprotected sexual intercourse - Note the heterosexist assumptions in this widely-accepted definition. - Approximately 1 in 10 women experience infertility. - About half seek medical intervention. - Age affects fertility in both women and men. Women with infertility often experience stress, grief, anger, shame, and anxiety. Social mothers: women who take on the motherhood role through social (rather than biological) means, including adopting, fostering, or becoming a stepmother Assisted reproductive technologies (ARTs): techniques for treating infertility, including IUI, IVF, and surrogacy Intrauterine insemination (IUI): a treatment for infertility by which washed and concentrated sperm are injected directly into the uterus at the time of ovulation In vitro fertilization (IVF): a treatment for fertility by which egg production is stimulated, several eggs are extracted, the egg is fertilized with sperm outside of the body, and one or more embryos are implanted after fertilization has taken place Surrogacy: a treatment for infertility in which one woman is contracted to bear a child for another woman - Some individuals choose to travel to other countries for fertility treatment, particularly a low-cost surrogacy. - Some people see this practice as exploitative, because of the power differential between wealthy people hiring poor surrogates. - Oftentimes, the women hired to be surrogates see it as a personal choice that can provide significant income not otherwise available to them.

Compare and contrast the experience of childbirth, including physical health risks, with pregnant women's expectations about childbirth.

Labor can take many hours or even several days. There are a number of possible medical interventions: - Induction: speeding up labor - Epidural: anesthesia administered to the base of the spine with a needle - Episiotomy: a cut between the vagina and anus to create a larger opening for delivery - Cesarean section: abdominal surgery to deliver the baby In some of the world's poorest areas, the lifetime risk of pregnancy-related death is 1 in 6. In the United States, infant and maternal mortality are rare, though significantly higher for Black women and infants.

describe where we learn romantic beliefs, and outline the impact of these beliefs on romantic relationships.

Many people believe that media portrayals have no effect on them, but research shows that clearly isn't true. Consuming more romantic media is associated with: - Unrealistic beliefs about relationships - Decreased satisfaction in viewers' romantic relationships - Greater conflict in romantic relationships

List some of the ways in which the transition to motherhood affects women's self-perceptions.

Many women experience a profound shift in identity when they become mothers. - Some women begin to look at themselves as mothers and feel as though they love their child more than anything - Some women experience a disconnect with their children and notice and increase in anxiety - Some women experience a loss of identity because they have to give up their own needs in order to take care of the child - Some women felt they were born to be mothers and had difficulty figuring out who how to define themselves as their children grew up - Lesbians may struggle over how to identify themselves and what to call themselves and be called by their children

Describe who gets married, how this has changed over time, and the cultural expectations for weddings and behaviors within committed romantic relationships, including different views about mate retention behaviors.

Mate retention behaviors: controlling behaviors that serve to keep a partner away from potential rivals and ensure the partner's fidelity - The vast majority of women get married at some point. - About half of women are married at any one time. - There is world-wide trend to delay marriage. - Men, on average, tend to be older when they marry. - As of 2015, same-sex couples can legally marry in the U.S. - Weddings often involve traditions that are rooted in traditional gender roles. - The wedding industry is a big business, as many people are willing to spend a lot of money on weddings.

Differentiate between miscarriage and stillbirth and summarize methods of coping with each.

Miscarriage: the experience of losing a pregnancy before the 20th week of gestation - Occurs in 1 in 6 pregnancies - Can lead to negative mental health as well as relationship problems Stillbirth: the death of a fetus after the 20th week of gestation - Occurs in approximately 1 in 100 pregnancies - Can be shocking and devastating, leading to considerable grief Women are encouraged to grieve, hold the child if they wish to, and perform whatever religious ceremony is appropriate

Recognize common romantic beliefs, describe where we learn these, and outline the impact of these beliefs on romantic relationships.

PRESCRIPTION Belief | Example - Partner is predestined | Your ideal partner is out there - Right away, you know | Love happens at first sight - Expression not necessary | Your ideal partner will just know what you're thinking/feeling - Sexual perfection | Sex with your soul mate is always easy and satisfying - Centerfolds preferred | Women should look like models to attract their (male) partners - Role of gender (or "real men") | men should always be taller, richer, more powerful, and older than their (female) partners - into a prince (from beast) | love can change a man into an ideal partner - pugilism = passion | fighting is a sign of love and passion - totally opposite values | love will overcome differences in values - incomplete without mate | your ideal partner completes you and fulfills your needs - often, actors = roles | actors are just like the characters they portray - not real/no effect | you're not affected by media portrayals of romance because you know they're not real

Summarize what is known about how pregnancy affects the body, women's views of their own bodies, and how others perceive and treat pregnant women.

Morning sickness: the experience of nausea and vomiting that many women experience during the first 12 weeks of pregnancy • Experienced by about 85% of pregnant women - Pregnancy can cause body image concerns in some women and transmen, but others experience pregnancy as freeing them from the thin ideal. - White, able-bodied, upper-middle-class women who are pregnant are generally treated with kindness and benevolent sexism. - Poor, single, Black, and/or teenaged women who are pregnant are often negatively stereotyped.

Define mother blaming and describe the ways in which mothers, particularly non-traditional mothers, are held responsible for children's experiences.

Mother blaming: the idea that mothers should be held responsible for the actions, health, behaviors, and well-being of their children - Pervasive in Western society, including in the history of psychology - More common toward mothers who don't conform to expectations for being a good mother (such as poor women, women of color, single women, women who use drugs while pregnant, etc.) Intensive parenting: the idea that parents, especially mothers, are expected to: - be fully immersed in the parenting experience - seek expert advice on how to parent - engage their children in cognitively stimulating activities in order to ensure optimal brain development - feel ultimately fulfilled in the role

Explain what happens to women's wages when they become mothers, and how this relates to men's wages when they become fathers.

Motherhood wage penalty: the tendency for (heterosexual) mothers to earn less than non-mothers do - Employers discriminate against mothers. The care work expected of mothers may limit their involvement at work. Mothers may switch to part-time or take time away from the workforce when children are young. In contrast, fathers outearn non-fathers (especially White men).

Identify the variables that contribute to a successful mentor/mentee relationship for women at work, and differentiate between a mentor and a sponsor.

Networking: a process through which people interact with those in or connected to their social networks in order to make contacts who can help them further their careers - May occur in informal settings that are unfriendly toward women (e.g., men's sports, strip clubs) - May occur after-hours when women are unavailable due to their household responsibilities Mentor: a person with more experience who can help and guide a person with less experience Sponsor: someone who advocates for a person in order to help that individual get a job or a promotion Amplification: when one woman repeats what another woman said and gives credit to the original speaker

Consider sources of power within relationships, including the principle of least interest, and describe factors that affect women's relational power and satisfaction within committed relationships.

Principle of least interest: the person who wants a relationship less has greater power within that relationship - Couples with equal levels of emotional involvement tend to be more satisfied and have longer relationships. - Women are often assumed to have more interest in relationships, though that isn't actually the case. - Power can also come from other sources, such as legal or biological rights to children (especially in same-sex couples), earning potential and status.

Compare relational aggression and bullying, describe how gender and power are related to the use of relational aggression, and summarize the consequences of relational aggression for those who are involved.

Relational aggression: damaging others' existing or potential relationships and/or social status • Girls/women are more likely to engage in relationship aggression, whereas boys/men are more likely to engage in physical aggression. • Generally, those who are socially powerful use relational aggression as a tool against those who are less powerful. Identity-based bullying: aggression directed toward people who are actual or perceived members of a devalued social group because of that group membership

Describe the term "reproductive justice."

Reproductive justice movement: a feminist movement centering around four basic rights: - To have children - To not have children - To parent one's children in a safe, healthy environment - To express one's sexual and gender identity free from oppression and fear

Understand gender biases in academia

Research from Eastern Washington found the following: - More is expected from female professors - Policies met with irritation or persistent nagging - Asked for more favors - Expected to be nurturing and gentle

ways girls and women tend to give and receive social support

Tend-and-befriend coping strategy: nurturing and protecting others in times of stress and developing social networks that facilitate these patterns - Evolutionary explanation for the why women both provide and draw on more social support than men Active constructive responding: a positive pattern of interacting that involves responding enthusiastically to a conversational partner and asking follow-up questions to prolong the conversation and sense of excitement Co-rumination: extensively discussing problems and dwelling on negatives in conversation with another person

Describe the process of adopting a child, the stressors involved for new adoptive parents, and the stressors involved for birth parents who make adoption plans for their children. How can new adoptive parents foster positive outcomes for themselves and their children?

There are several routes to adoption: - Public: via a state agency, often involves fostering, usually not newborns - Private: via an agency, often expensive, usually newborns - Independent: set up by the families involved with the help of a lawyer - International: occurs across national borders Stressors: - Adopting parents can feel pressure to be the perfect parents. - Birth mothers can experience negative mental health outcomes post-adoption, but this can be mitigated through an open adoption. fostering postive outcomes: - allowing contact between birth mother and adopted child - open communication - neither deny nor overstate the differences between themselves and their child (different race/ethnicity)

Robust investment model

This model illustrates factors that predict whether or not a couple will stay in a committed relationship. Concepts defined: - Investments: things expended on the relationships that cannot be recouped. Thus we want investment to be high (+) - Satisfaction level: how happy we are with our relationships. Thus we want satisfaction to be high (+) - Quality of Alternatives: are there other potential attainable partners out there. Thus, we want the perceived quality of alternatives to be low (-). Also, in terms of commitment. An individual has to be highly committed to the relationship (+). All these factors predict whether or not someone will stay in a relationship. So, if the investment is low or the satisfaction is low, it may predict someone is more likely to break up Detaching- the grief process - Shock/realization - Anger - Bargaining/substitution - Depression - Acceptance Above is the stages of grieving when people go through a breakup. It is important to note that men quickly go to the acceptance stage, while it takes women longer to go through each stage.

Outline the ways in which social identity affects the types of friends we make and our friendships with people who are different from us

We tend to form friendships with people who share our social identities and our interests. Especially true for people with socially privileged identities and in less diverse communities Women tend to center friendships on getting to know each other well, whereas men tend to center friendships on shared activities. Some variation emerging among research considering intersecting identities People tend to have more same-gender friends than other-gender friends.

Identify the two types of workplace harassment and explain how they affect women in a variety of contexts.

Two types of sexual harassment: - Quid pro quo harassment: occurs when a supervisor requests sexual favors in exchange for workplace benefits (e.g., a promotion) or to prevent negative events (e.g., being fired) - Hostile work environment: occurs when the atmosphere at a workplace is hostile, intimidating, and/or offensive Minority women are more likely to be harassed than White, heterosexual, non-immigrant, cis-gendered women. Heterosexist harassment: expressing a negative view toward sexual minorities - Harassment is more likely in hypermasculine environments.

Define voluntary childlessness, and describe how and under what conditions the motherhood mandate adversely affects women without children.

Voluntary childlessness: the choice not to have children - Childlessness (voluntary or otherwise) is on the rise, as is delaying having children. Motherhood mandate: the social pressure on women to become mothers - There are many stereotypes about childless women, such as that they cannot experience true happiness, but research does not support these claims. - Women who choose not to have children are often portrayed in the media as bitter career women or selfish individuals who don't care for others

Identify the challenges women face when negotiating a salary, including the double bind and how it affects women in the short- and long-term.

Women are in a double bind when it comes to negotiating salaries and benefits. Women tend to negotiate less than men, which has financial costs.When women do negotiate, they are evaluated more negatively.

Outline the benefits of being married.

Women: - intimacy - self-growth - self-esteem - self-understanding Men: - sexual satisfaction Both: - Companionship happiness - feeling loved - loving another

social support

a key benefit of friendship; a feeling of being cared for and having support and assistance from people around us, including family, friends, and romantic partners

Consensually non-monogamous (CNM) relationships

committed romantic relationships among partners who agree that they can have sexual and/or emotional commitments with other people

Polyamorous relationships

consensual romantic and/or sexual relationships with multiple partners

Dating scripts

descriptions of supposedly "normal" behaviors in the context of a date

Describe the social benefits of a strong friendship network

increased life satisfaction improve health and overall well-being Improve academic achievement Buffer the negative effects of discrimination

3 types of social support

informational: giving others advice or ideas to help people find strategies or resources to better cope with life events instrumental: others providing tangible assistance in terms of money, goods, or services emotional: when new feel nurtured and/or cared for by others

Main themes in the Dickens and Chavez (2018) article

managing interpersonal rejection, assimilation, confronting stereotypes, model Black citizen, and mixed feelings towards shifting

Polygamy

one husband having many wives; often tied to religious belief or cultural practices

comparable worth

the idea that jobs requiring the same education and skill and giving similar value should pay the same wage

THE ROLE OF GENDER IDEOLOGY IN INEQUITABLE DIVISIONS OF LABOR

• Gender deviance neutralization: the idea that when people act in a way that's gender atypical in one domain, they overcompensate by acting in a gender-stereotypical way in another domain - Explains why women who out-earn their male partners may do more domestic labor - May be less of an issue now than in the past - Gender role socialization also contributes to inequitable divisions of labor. - Daughters are encouraged to do more chores than sons are. - Egalitarian norms and laws in a country predict more equitable divisions of labor.

Compare and contrast different theories explaining how and why household labor is divided unequally as well as sociocultural expectations about gender that have affected these divisions.

• Relative resources theory: the person who brings more resources to the relationship gets to use those resources in order to avoid doing chores • Rooted in the idea of social exchange: the idea that economic models of trading goods and services apply to interpersonal relationships • Also related to time availability: the person with the most available time should do a larger proportion of the housework Thus, both the pay gap and the fact that many women reduce their hours of paid labor after having children contribute to inequitable divisions of labor.