Women are the primary users of health information in general, and this seems to be true online as well. Baker et al (2003) found that male odds of using the internet for health information were about half of female odds (Inconsistent with Pew/Internet, 2005). Pennbridge et al (1999) found that about 60% of health site users were women, in the same year that women first made up 50% of the total online community (according to Cline and Haynes, 2001).
Those who grew up with the internet are probably most affected. Gray et al (2005) found that most adolescents (US and UK sample, 11-19) had used the internet for health information, but maintained skepticism about the credibility of internet sources. Cotten and Gupta (2004) report that age, education, and income -- not gender -- are greatest discriminants of using the internet for health information (as opposed to health-information seeking offline).
(see comments for excerpt from Gupta & Cotten)
Okay, so a three-part series probably demonstrates that this caught my interest better than any three sentence summary I could give. When my father was diagnosed with leukemia, my mother threw herself whole-heartedly into researching it. She also spent a lot of energy researching her mother's cancer, and my sister's CFIDS. Health research (especially into alternative treatments) is a major interest for my mother. So, it's really no wonder that I tend to look at it as a feminine pursuit. Myself, I probably get my 80-85% of my health information online. I do end up looking for my own information a fair amount of the time, because it's unusual for me to find a doctor with any experience treating transsexuals.
Thursday, January 31, 2008
Wednesday, January 30, 2008
Health Information Pt 2: Sources for men
A Pew/Internet survey (2005) estimated that 10% of online adults looked for health information each day. 75% of men use the internet to get health and medical information (compared to 85% of women in this survey). This number is surprisingly high, given a number of studies that indicate that men rely heavily on their doctors and wives for health information. This may be because men distrust sources such as books, articles, and personnel at health food stores and gyms (Worsley, 1989).
Levinson et al (2005) found that men were more likely than women to rely on their doctor for both knowledge and decision making about their health, while McCaughan and McKenna (2007) found that men's partners researched cancer for them after diagnosis. After a heart attack, men were more satisfied with their doctor's briefing than women were, according to Stewart et al (2004). Stewart did find that these men wanted more information about one topic: sexual function.
I had another one of those "fuck you, Google" moments. You know, when you search for X, and it says "Did you mean Y?" where Y is stereotypical? In this case, I searched for "health seeking gss men" (GSS: General Social Survey) . I got "Did you mean health seeking gay men?"
So. For heart attack and cancer, men rely on their doctors and wives for information, but 75% of them are on the internet looking for something. Something they don't feel they're getting complete information about from their doctors. And this is a change from the 1990's. Hm. Viagra was approved in the U.S. in 1998. Just sayin'
Levinson et al (2005) found that men were more likely than women to rely on their doctor for both knowledge and decision making about their health, while McCaughan and McKenna (2007) found that men's partners researched cancer for them after diagnosis. After a heart attack, men were more satisfied with their doctor's briefing than women were, according to Stewart et al (2004). Stewart did find that these men wanted more information about one topic: sexual function.
I had another one of those "fuck you, Google" moments. You know, when you search for X, and it says "Did you mean Y?" where Y is stereotypical? In this case, I searched for "health seeking gss men" (GSS: General Social Survey) . I got "Did you mean health seeking gay men?"
So. For heart attack and cancer, men rely on their doctors and wives for information, but 75% of them are on the internet looking for something. Something they don't feel they're getting complete information about from their doctors. And this is a change from the 1990's. Hm. Viagra was approved in the U.S. in 1998. Just sayin'
Tuesday, January 29, 2008
Health Information Pt 1: Sources for women
Carolina Petrini of comScore surveys told CNN Money (2008) that "traditionally, women have relied on friends, family or a significant other for health-related information, including sexual health and contraception." Results released this month indicate that women are using the internet (60%) more than their friends (51%) to collect information about birth control, according to a new comScore survey. 82% of women asked medical professionals.
Petrini's assessment is consistent with Warner and Procaccino (2004), who looked specifically at women looking for "women's health information" -- but this seems to be a demographic difference, rather than a change in women's behavior. ComScore's sample was taken from women on the internet, while Warner's sample was approached in public libraries. ComScore's sample was aged 18-44, while Warner's sample's age median was near 45.
Warner and Procaccino found that women's top choices for information were:
I was really surprised that I couldn't find another survey about where adult women get their health information, since Warner and Procaccino is so not comparable. There are plenty of studies suggesting that teenagers get their (incredibly bad) information from friends -- and suggesting that they're starting to use the internet to find this information. This would strike me as a great thing, except for the fact that comScore found 35% of women were counting User-Generated Content as as health resource. That's just as bad as asking your friends; worse, because you don't know anything about the reliability of the person who wrote it.
I have fear, but I saw an interview with Penn Jillette on TV that gives his more optimistic view. Children raised in an internet culture will never expect to accept information as accurate. Jillette believes that the next generation will be much better than we are at detecting bullshit. I hope for his sake that he's right; he's got a daughter.
Petrini's assessment is consistent with Warner and Procaccino (2004), who looked specifically at women looking for "women's health information" -- but this seems to be a demographic difference, rather than a change in women's behavior. ComScore's sample was taken from women on the internet, while Warner's sample was approached in public libraries. ComScore's sample was aged 18-44, while Warner's sample's age median was near 45.
Warner and Procaccino found that women's top choices for information were:
- Doctor - 100%
- Book (medical/health) - 94%
- People with same condition - 89.4%
- Family or friends - 87.3%
- Nurses/Other medical professionals - 86.2%
- Pharmacist's drug information - 80%
- Website - 75.2%
I was really surprised that I couldn't find another survey about where adult women get their health information, since Warner and Procaccino is so not comparable. There are plenty of studies suggesting that teenagers get their (incredibly bad) information from friends -- and suggesting that they're starting to use the internet to find this information. This would strike me as a great thing, except for the fact that comScore found 35% of women were counting User-Generated Content as as health resource. That's just as bad as asking your friends; worse, because you don't know anything about the reliability of the person who wrote it.
I have fear, but I saw an interview with Penn Jillette on TV that gives his more optimistic view. Children raised in an internet culture will never expect to accept information as accurate. Jillette believes that the next generation will be much better than we are at detecting bullshit. I hope for his sake that he's right; he's got a daughter.
Monday, January 28, 2008
Back-page headlines
A Canadian article leads with the headline: "Women offenders more likely to commit property crimes than men" (Prince George Citizen, 2008). The article is based on a new report from Statistics Canada (2008)) which found that 47% of females accused of a crime by Canadian police were accused of property crime, compared to 39% of males accused by police. One in five persons accused by police were female in this study.
In Green Bay, Mick Hager (2008) comments that "Income gap, not gender gap, explains differences." Differences in men's and women's income is based on differences in work habits (according to "research"), claims Hager, a "business author and professional speaker." Hager says he'd like to join in the lawsuit when employers "openly discriminating" against women are found.
While looking for a topic this morning, both of these small-time pieces caught my eye - the first because the headline was so misleading, and the second because the premise was just wrong and offensive. First: the StatsCan study shows that female offenders are more likely to be property criminals than male offenders. Or at least, that they're less likely to be arrested for non-property crimes. I suspect there's a serious reporting bias. How many men are going to call the cops when their girlfriend threatens them?
As for Hager, long-time readers of Difference Blog will recognize that I'm a big fan of pointing out alternate explanations for income disparities. Negotiation skills are a major factor (7/31/07, 4/13/07), and absenteeism explains some of the gap, too (12/18/06). However, the most damning evidence in favor of a pay gap, in my mind, is that women earn 80% of what men as soon as 1 year out of college (4/24/07)
In Green Bay, Mick Hager (2008) comments that "Income gap, not gender gap, explains differences." Differences in men's and women's income is based on differences in work habits (according to "research"), claims Hager, a "business author and professional speaker." Hager says he'd like to join in the lawsuit when employers "openly discriminating" against women are found.
While looking for a topic this morning, both of these small-time pieces caught my eye - the first because the headline was so misleading, and the second because the premise was just wrong and offensive. First: the StatsCan study shows that female offenders are more likely to be property criminals than male offenders. Or at least, that they're less likely to be arrested for non-property crimes. I suspect there's a serious reporting bias. How many men are going to call the cops when their girlfriend threatens them?
As for Hager, long-time readers of Difference Blog will recognize that I'm a big fan of pointing out alternate explanations for income disparities. Negotiation skills are a major factor (7/31/07, 4/13/07), and absenteeism explains some of the gap, too (12/18/06). However, the most damning evidence in favor of a pay gap, in my mind, is that women earn 80% of what men as soon as 1 year out of college (4/24/07)
Friday, January 25, 2008
Differences in "productivity"
The Telegraph (UK 2008) reports on a study released ahead of print today on the website of the Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine. "Gender and variation in activity rates of hospital consultants" found that female doctors in Britain's National Health Service saw about 20% fewer patients per year than male doctors. This finding led the Telegraph to call women "less productive", a phrase not appearing in the article. The article does conclude, however, that "feminization of the profession could lead to reduced productivity over time." The study controlled for the doctors' specialties, but not for hours worked or time spent on teaching or administration. The authors, in quotes to the newspaper, seem to espouse different theories for the disparity, with Nick Freemantle blaming work-life balance and Karen Bloor suspecting more time spent answering patient questions.
I have a suspicion that people react differently to male and female doctors, and that probably influences the time-per-patient. I've been told, although I haven't looked it up, that both men and women are more comfortable talking about medical issues with women -- which is why women are preferred hires for medical phone lines. (There's a couple posts in that sentence alone.) Now, I'm a little suspicious of the quotes provided in the Telegraph article. Did the guy really say "they're home with the kids" and the woman really say "they're more caring"? I'm almost certainly reading too much into it, but I'm curious whether the scientists are really espousing different theories, or whether the reporter divided the quotes up that way as journalistic license.
I have a suspicion that people react differently to male and female doctors, and that probably influences the time-per-patient. I've been told, although I haven't looked it up, that both men and women are more comfortable talking about medical issues with women -- which is why women are preferred hires for medical phone lines. (There's a couple posts in that sentence alone.) Now, I'm a little suspicious of the quotes provided in the Telegraph article. Did the guy really say "they're home with the kids" and the woman really say "they're more caring"? I'm almost certainly reading too much into it, but I'm curious whether the scientists are really espousing different theories, or whether the reporter divided the quotes up that way as journalistic license.
Thursday, January 24, 2008
To Dye for
It is anecdotally obvious that men dye their hair less often than women. What research is available to documennt this difference? A press release from the American Cancer Society (1999) cites a study by Elizabeth Holly on the link between hair dye and non-Hodgkin's lymphoma: in both the disease and control groups, 56% of women had a history of hair coloring, compared to 9-10% of men. In an article about dyeing to cover grey, Elizabeth Jardina (2004) claims that men make up 10% of the American market for hair dye, citing the marketing firm American Demographics.
Phooey. I couldn't find anything about recreational hair dyeing -- although I had no idea that there was a supposed link between hair dye and cancer. Most of the articles about hair coloring are about cancer, and they span forty years. The folks at L'Oreal are doing a good job of keeping this hushed up. If I don't post tomorrow, they probably got to me.
Phooey. I couldn't find anything about recreational hair dyeing -- although I had no idea that there was a supposed link between hair dye and cancer. Most of the articles about hair coloring are about cancer, and they span forty years. The folks at L'Oreal are doing a good job of keeping this hushed up. If I don't post tomorrow, they probably got to me.
Wednesday, January 23, 2008
Hormones and Alzheimer's Disease
More women than men are diagnosed with Alzheimer's Disease (AD), according to Larry W. Baum (2005). Baum's review focuses on conflicting data from hormone replacement therapy (HRT) in retrospective and prospective studies: in retrospective studies, HRT seems to lower AD risk for women, but increased it in large prospective studies. One theory that Baum suggests is that HRT use was determined by patient interview in the retrospective studies; AD patients might have forgotten their drug history. Independently tested connections between HRT and stroke risk seem the most likely explanation. Microinfarcts (tiny, undetected strokes) may double AD risk.
Roberta Brinton thinks the issue isn't strokes, but timing. Brinton told Tom Siegfried (writing for Nature, 2007): "You have to treat these cells in the brain at a time when they are healthy". In Brinton's studies (Zhao et al, 2005; Chen et al, 2006) applying estrogen to healthy cells showed a protective effect. Once the cells started to deteriorate, however, the estrogen made that decline faster.
It's been over a year since we've discussed Alzheimer's ("Senior moments" 2006). Honestly, I probably avoid the topic. I'm terrified of it, and I suffer terrible Med student syndrome when I try to research it. I'm convinced I can actually hear my brain dying. Now, some of the studies suggest (but don't test) a protective effect of testosterone that explains the lower rates in men. As discussed in "Senior Moments", the difference in AD rates is not entirely explained by mortality gap. Although testosterone is clearly not an acceptable option for most women, I find any reassurance that my risk is low comforting, especially when they say that reduced estrogen could increase it.
Roberta Brinton thinks the issue isn't strokes, but timing. Brinton told Tom Siegfried (writing for Nature, 2007): "You have to treat these cells in the brain at a time when they are healthy". In Brinton's studies (Zhao et al, 2005; Chen et al, 2006) applying estrogen to healthy cells showed a protective effect. Once the cells started to deteriorate, however, the estrogen made that decline faster.
It's been over a year since we've discussed Alzheimer's ("Senior moments" 2006). Honestly, I probably avoid the topic. I'm terrified of it, and I suffer terrible Med student syndrome when I try to research it. I'm convinced I can actually hear my brain dying. Now, some of the studies suggest (but don't test) a protective effect of testosterone that explains the lower rates in men. As discussed in "Senior Moments", the difference in AD rates is not entirely explained by mortality gap. Although testosterone is clearly not an acceptable option for most women, I find any reassurance that my risk is low comforting, especially when they say that reduced estrogen could increase it.
Tuesday, January 22, 2008
Mental Health and Religious Attendance
Maselko and Buka (2008) published findings this month that they suggest indicate a benefit in continuous religious practice for women. Maselko said "Everyone has some spirituality, whether it is an active part of their life or not whether they are agnostic or atheist or just ‘non-practicing.’" (EurekAlert, 2008). The study found that women who had changed their attendance at religious services (whether stopping or starting) had an increased risk of mental health and substance abuse problems. Conversely, men whose attendance changed had a decreased risk. Maselko attributes the health decline in women to a loss of social support.
The "change in attendance" results are consistent with "non-attendance" results found by Strawbridge et al (2001). Strawbridge also found decreased mental health outcomes for men and increased for women correlated with religious attendance. However, Strawbridge notes that general longevity and physical health behaviors correlate positively with religious service attendance in both men and women.
I didn't attend church services as a kid. My family was pagan. I did tag along to some Christian services and Sunday school in first and second grade (age 6-7), but it wasn't a positive social experience, so I didn't keep it up. Actually, when I think about religion and spirituality, I rarely think of other people. It's always felt like a very private thing to me, which I think is related to having been brought up thinking that solitary practioners were the norm.
For more on religious differences, see January 2007: 1 & 2.
The "change in attendance" results are consistent with "non-attendance" results found by Strawbridge et al (2001). Strawbridge also found decreased mental health outcomes for men and increased for women correlated with religious attendance. However, Strawbridge notes that general longevity and physical health behaviors correlate positively with religious service attendance in both men and women.
I didn't attend church services as a kid. My family was pagan. I did tag along to some Christian services and Sunday school in first and second grade (age 6-7), but it wasn't a positive social experience, so I didn't keep it up. Actually, when I think about religion and spirituality, I rarely think of other people. It's always felt like a very private thing to me, which I think is related to having been brought up thinking that solitary practioners were the norm.
For more on religious differences, see January 2007: 1 & 2.
Monday, January 21, 2008
Australian Drinking Debate
The Herald-Sun (AU, 2008) reports that the Australian National Health and Medical Research Council's (NHMRC) new drinking guidelines "for low-risk drinking" cut men's recommended limit in half. The suggested limit of two "standard drinks" per day is equal to the recommended limit for women, and the Winemakers Federation of Australia (WFA) is up in arms. The NHMRC's new guidelines are "simplified" from 12 guidelines to three - one for adults, one for adolescents, and one for pregnant women. The WFA says that the new guidelines ignore gender differences in many factors related to alcohol consumption, as well as evidence that suggests that moderate drinking may have many health benefits.
As much as I hate to admit it, I think the WFA is right here. A single guideline for men and women for alcohol consumption doesn't make a lot of sense. Difference Blog has looked at alcohol a few times, and the differences in how men and women process alcohol seem pretty robust -- even when controlling for weight and body size. Does a government agency have more of a responsibility to be accurate or fair?
As much as I hate to admit it, I think the WFA is right here. A single guideline for men and women for alcohol consumption doesn't make a lot of sense. Difference Blog has looked at alcohol a few times, and the differences in how men and women process alcohol seem pretty robust -- even when controlling for weight and body size. Does a government agency have more of a responsibility to be accurate or fair?
Friday, January 18, 2008
Height and Legs
The site UKDating.com compiled the "seeking" information from 40,000 women's dating profiles to make a profile of "the perfect man." The Daily Mail (UK, 2008) claims that height was the most important attribute, specifying that "Mr. Right" should be at least 5'10". Good looks came in second to height. Perhaps the importance of height contributes to short men's greater tendency towards violent suicide (New Scientist, 2008).
Several UK papers call the survey a counterpoint to recent research on the attractiveness of long legs. This comparison is incorrect, however, because Sorokowski and Pawlowski (2008) rated leg-to-body ratio attractiveness on both men and women. Sorokowski and Pawlowski had 118 women and 100 men rate the attractiveness of 7 men and 7 women in photographs, height-matched but with the images manipulated to change leg length. Legs 5% longer than average were most attractive; legs 15% longer than average were too long (±15% was the greatest variation tested). Pawlowski suggests that longer legs signal health, making them attractive on an evolutionary basis. It seems the author himself may be a "leg man"; Pawlowski (2001) theorizes that fat deposits on women's hips and buttocks evolved to counterbalance pregnancy.
The news articles give the average height of a Polish woman at 5'4" with an inseam of 29". I'm probably only 5'3.5", and I think my real inseam is probably a 28", but I tend to wear a 30" because I like a little slouch at the ankle. Also, no one sells a 28". "Big and Tall" stores are everywhere; "Short and Slim" -- let alone "Short and Hippy" -- men's clothes are almost impossible to find, which is a frequent point of complaint in the FTM communities. Testosterone, time, and exercise has melted away most of my hips, but the bone structure remains, making it extremely hard to find clothes that fit. Seriously, buying jeans is enough to make me consider violent suicide.
Several UK papers call the survey a counterpoint to recent research on the attractiveness of long legs. This comparison is incorrect, however, because Sorokowski and Pawlowski (2008) rated leg-to-body ratio attractiveness on both men and women. Sorokowski and Pawlowski had 118 women and 100 men rate the attractiveness of 7 men and 7 women in photographs, height-matched but with the images manipulated to change leg length. Legs 5% longer than average were most attractive; legs 15% longer than average were too long (±15% was the greatest variation tested). Pawlowski suggests that longer legs signal health, making them attractive on an evolutionary basis. It seems the author himself may be a "leg man"; Pawlowski (2001) theorizes that fat deposits on women's hips and buttocks evolved to counterbalance pregnancy.
The news articles give the average height of a Polish woman at 5'4" with an inseam of 29". I'm probably only 5'3.5", and I think my real inseam is probably a 28", but I tend to wear a 30" because I like a little slouch at the ankle. Also, no one sells a 28". "Big and Tall" stores are everywhere; "Short and Slim" -- let alone "Short and Hippy" -- men's clothes are almost impossible to find, which is a frequent point of complaint in the FTM communities. Testosterone, time, and exercise has melted away most of my hips, but the bone structure remains, making it extremely hard to find clothes that fit. Seriously, buying jeans is enough to make me consider violent suicide.
Thursday, January 17, 2008
Gender Difference #1: How you "do" sexual orientation?
Lisa Diamond (Psychology and Gender Studies, Univ. Utah) made news this week with her research demonstrating that women with a bisexual identity did not identify as heterosexual or lesbian after ten years (EurekaAlert 2008, links to full article.) However, the news stories don't mention that Diamond's work is published in a special issue of the journal Developmental Psychology all about "sexual orientation across the lifespan."
However, Diamond's work is extremely specific to women. J. Michael Bailey suggests that Diamond's work corroborates his own findings that "women don't do sexual orientation the same way men do" (ABC news, 2008). Diamond is quoted in the same article as saying: "this is not to say that bisexual men 'don't exist' -- a claim that some researchers have made, but with which I disagree -- but simply to say that we need separate studies of male bisexuality in order to determine its own unique features."
Diamond spoke in favor of the penile plethysmograph study in Benedict Carey's infamous "Gay, Straight, or Lying" article (NYT 2005), which is enough to get her a spot on the Dan4th "enemies list". Except that I'm not finding the hole in these studies (pun intended). While I don't particularly like the results, I haven't found a problem with the methodology that would explain the incredibly consistent findings that women's sexuality is just different than men's. I have no argument against these studies except for "your statistics fail to match my experience." Which is (a) not an argument and (b) not entirely true. However, I startled the hell out of my sleepy boyfriend this morning by musing out loud that "I can't imagine all those guys sucking dick just to get girls."
However, Diamond's work is extremely specific to women. J. Michael Bailey suggests that Diamond's work corroborates his own findings that "women don't do sexual orientation the same way men do" (ABC news, 2008). Diamond is quoted in the same article as saying: "this is not to say that bisexual men 'don't exist' -- a claim that some researchers have made, but with which I disagree -- but simply to say that we need separate studies of male bisexuality in order to determine its own unique features."
Diamond spoke in favor of the penile plethysmograph study in Benedict Carey's infamous "Gay, Straight, or Lying" article (NYT 2005), which is enough to get her a spot on the Dan4th "enemies list". Except that I'm not finding the hole in these studies (pun intended). While I don't particularly like the results, I haven't found a problem with the methodology that would explain the incredibly consistent findings that women's sexuality is just different than men's. I have no argument against these studies except for "your statistics fail to match my experience." Which is (a) not an argument and (b) not entirely true. However, I startled the hell out of my sleepy boyfriend this morning by musing out loud that "I can't imagine all those guys sucking dick just to get girls."
Wednesday, January 16, 2008
HIV disclosure rates
Julianne Serovich studies how HIV patients deal with informing their families about their infections. Serovich et al (2005) found that men with HIV were most like to disclose their status to a mother or sister. Serovich et al predicted (from their results) that about 50% of HIV-positive men's mothers would be told about their son's infection within 10 months of diagnosis. Serovich et al (2007) looked at similar data for women, and found that about 67% of mothers would hear about their daughter's infection within 6 months of diagnosis. AIDSmap.com points out that social support is thought to have an impact on clinical outcomes for HIV/AIDS. However, despite their higher rates of disclosure to family, and less advanced infections, women score lower on health-related quality of life measures, according to Cederfjall et al (2001).
This could be due to family reactions, or to cultural factors. 68% of the women in Serovich 2007 were African-American, but the men in Serovich 2005 were 86% Caucasian. 57% of the men and 41% of the women had at least some college education. All of the men were gay; no sexual orientation data is given about the women. In short, these groups differ on a lot more factors than their gender, and differences in disclosure rates or quality of life could reflect any of these differences. As I mentioned in November, fear of social stigma seems to affect the testing rates in African-American populations.
Shit, HIV infection figures make me angry -- I feel so helpless to do anything about it. I get tested annually, and I talk to young, fresh-faced, volunteers twice a year about how to do safer sex outreach, but ... well, I'm white, most of them are white, and most of the places that they're going to do outreach are filled with gay white men. And I don't know what to do to change that.
So far, all of my HIV tests have come back negative, and I do what I can to keep it that way. However, in 1996, when I was diagnosed with herpes, I made the decision to tell my mother about it pretty quickly. I'm still never sure if that was a good idea or a bad one.
This could be due to family reactions, or to cultural factors. 68% of the women in Serovich 2007 were African-American, but the men in Serovich 2005 were 86% Caucasian. 57% of the men and 41% of the women had at least some college education. All of the men were gay; no sexual orientation data is given about the women. In short, these groups differ on a lot more factors than their gender, and differences in disclosure rates or quality of life could reflect any of these differences. As I mentioned in November, fear of social stigma seems to affect the testing rates in African-American populations.
Shit, HIV infection figures make me angry -- I feel so helpless to do anything about it. I get tested annually, and I talk to young, fresh-faced, volunteers twice a year about how to do safer sex outreach, but ... well, I'm white, most of them are white, and most of the places that they're going to do outreach are filled with gay white men. And I don't know what to do to change that.
So far, all of my HIV tests have come back negative, and I do what I can to keep it that way. However, in 1996, when I was diagnosed with herpes, I made the decision to tell my mother about it pretty quickly. I'm still never sure if that was a good idea or a bad one.
Tuesday, January 15, 2008
Emergency!
It is well known that the Boy Scout's motto is "Be Prepared." It's not as well known that this is the Girl Scout's motto as well. According to a survey taken last October, men are more likely to report that they are prepared for a disaster than women (Sun Herald, 2008): 36% of men vs 22% of women reported that they were "well-prepared" or "extremely prepared." Men and women also answered very differently on the a question about what item they would carry from their homes in case of emergency: 39% of men vs. 27% of women said they would grab financial documents first. 32% of women vs. 14% of men said they would save family or wedding photos first.
What people say they would do may not match up with what they actually do. Although no gender differences are extractable from these stories, Time's "What to Save From a Fire" (2007) (by Amanda Ripley) documents some of the choices made by those displaced by the California wildfires last fall. New Orleans' Times-Picayune also published Hurricane evacuation tips (2007).
I don't normally encourage indulging in the kind of heart-wrenching pathos that reading the two articles above inspires... I expected to have a "but" clause in that sentence. Nope, I don't encourage it. I know that I heard the "what would you save from a fire" game a lot in college. It was one of those "deep" questions that was supposed to reveal a lot about you. I also recall that I didn't answer it often. My family had gone through a house fire 3 months into my freshman year of college. The firefighters noticed the small bookcase of photo albums in the kitchen and threw it (through the window) into the front yard. I'm glad they did. Of course, a single house fire isn't comparable to your entire neighborhood being displaced; my family was able to get enormous support from the neighbors.
Personally: I keep my financial records and my irreplaceable photographs online. I've still lost data, but it's a solution I can live with.
What people say they would do may not match up with what they actually do. Although no gender differences are extractable from these stories, Time's "What to Save From a Fire" (2007) (by Amanda Ripley) documents some of the choices made by those displaced by the California wildfires last fall. New Orleans' Times-Picayune also published Hurricane evacuation tips (2007).
I don't normally encourage indulging in the kind of heart-wrenching pathos that reading the two articles above inspires... I expected to have a "but" clause in that sentence. Nope, I don't encourage it. I know that I heard the "what would you save from a fire" game a lot in college. It was one of those "deep" questions that was supposed to reveal a lot about you. I also recall that I didn't answer it often. My family had gone through a house fire 3 months into my freshman year of college. The firefighters noticed the small bookcase of photo albums in the kitchen and threw it (through the window) into the front yard. I'm glad they did. Of course, a single house fire isn't comparable to your entire neighborhood being displaced; my family was able to get enormous support from the neighbors.
Personally: I keep my financial records and my irreplaceable photographs online. I've still lost data, but it's a solution I can live with.
Monday, January 14, 2008
Big year for Gender Differences
According to an EurekAlert press release (2008), two gender difference stories made the "top ten" list by popularity (measured by total web hits) in 2007:
At #4,Rose et al's (2007) study on "co-rumination" (excessively talking about problems) in adolescents found that teenaged girls increased their anxiety and depression through complaining to friends while boys did not.
At #10, an unpublished study from the University of Alberta; Sonya Thompson (2007) surveyed 13 and 14 year olds about their history of accessing "sexually explicit media." Rural boys were the most frequent users, with 90% of boys and 70% of girls saying they had accessed such materials at least once.
I was (at first) surprised that I hadn't covered either of these stories last year. On the other hand, these are both stories with very little "wow" factor, at least to me. Boys are more likely to admit to looking at porn. Girls are more likely to be depressed. Now, I wonder what happens when girls complain about the lack of good porn?
At #4,Rose et al's (2007) study on "co-rumination" (excessively talking about problems) in adolescents found that teenaged girls increased their anxiety and depression through complaining to friends while boys did not.
At #10, an unpublished study from the University of Alberta; Sonya Thompson (2007) surveyed 13 and 14 year olds about their history of accessing "sexually explicit media." Rural boys were the most frequent users, with 90% of boys and 70% of girls saying they had accessed such materials at least once.
I was (at first) surprised that I hadn't covered either of these stories last year. On the other hand, these are both stories with very little "wow" factor, at least to me. Boys are more likely to admit to looking at porn. Girls are more likely to be depressed. Now, I wonder what happens when girls complain about the lack of good porn?
Friday, January 11, 2008
Occupational Personality: No Difference?
"There is no such thing as an `average' male or `average' female," says Dr Ray Glennon (Stuff, 2008) of psychometric firm SHL. Analysis of results from the firm's popular occupational personality questionnaire (OPQ) (n = 6,215, 42% women) found "near-identical responses from men and women, with none of the traditional gender stereotypes" (NZHerald, 2008). (Actual results do not appear to be published at this time).
Ones and Anderson (2002) found some gender differences on the OPQ in British university students, with largest effect sizes on the "Active" and "Data Rational" scales. The "Active" scale is supposed to measure "how much people enjoy physical activities, particularly of a strenuous nature both in and out of work", while the "Data Rational" scale is supposed to measure "‘how much people enjoy working with numbers and facts, looking for trends in data and conducting quantitative analyses." However, in further analysis, Ones and Anderson (2003) caution that the OPQ's validity may be weak, and should be re-examined.
The "gender stereotypes" that Glennon describes in his interviews with New Zealand papers are not the ones that I think were uncovered by Ones and Anderson, and wouldn't be the stereotypes that I'd be likely to name first. On the other hand, I may not be a typical observer in this regard. Glennon appears to focus on "lead" vs "follow" stereotypes, and I'm pleased, but unsurprised, to discover no differences in desire in that regard. The "numbers" vs. "people" stereotypes, which seem to be supported by the British study, strike me as more deeply ingrained and troubling stereotypes. Since Glennon says responses were "near-identical", but doesn't say where the differences were, it's impossible to determine whether these stereotypes were confirmed or not.
Ones and Anderson (2002) found some gender differences on the OPQ in British university students, with largest effect sizes on the "Active" and "Data Rational" scales. The "Active" scale is supposed to measure "how much people enjoy physical activities, particularly of a strenuous nature both in and out of work", while the "Data Rational" scale is supposed to measure "‘how much people enjoy working with numbers and facts, looking for trends in data and conducting quantitative analyses." However, in further analysis, Ones and Anderson (2003) caution that the OPQ's validity may be weak, and should be re-examined.
The "gender stereotypes" that Glennon describes in his interviews with New Zealand papers are not the ones that I think were uncovered by Ones and Anderson, and wouldn't be the stereotypes that I'd be likely to name first. On the other hand, I may not be a typical observer in this regard. Glennon appears to focus on "lead" vs "follow" stereotypes, and I'm pleased, but unsurprised, to discover no differences in desire in that regard. The "numbers" vs. "people" stereotypes, which seem to be supported by the British study, strike me as more deeply ingrained and troubling stereotypes. Since Glennon says responses were "near-identical", but doesn't say where the differences were, it's impossible to determine whether these stereotypes were confirmed or not.
Thursday, January 10, 2008
The tears incident
I'll bet that Barack Obama cries sometimes, as does Bush, as does McCain. The only person I suspect does not cry is Mitt Romney — though he probably has hired some very talented people to cry for him. -- Matt Schultz, Cedarburg, Wisconsin
Hillary Clinton's tears (Youtube) are being widely credited for her 2-point win in New Hampshire (CNN). Polls in the days just previous had favored Obama by 4 to 7 percentage points. Gloria Steinem, in a letter in the New York Times praises Clinton's "courage to break the no-tears rule". Fred Hallmon, in a letter to the Boston Metro, calls it "emotional blackmail" and quips that "there's no crying in politics" (a headline shared by dozens of bloggers over the past two days). Blogger Kelvin Wade points out a couple of examples of men in politics crying: presidential candidate Ed Muskie's tears in 1972 (which didn't work for him) and Bill Clinton's "trembling bitten lower lip" (which did).
Carrie Lane (2007) suggests two theories for why women may have evolved to cry more easily than men. The most commonly cited figure for differences between male and female crying frequency is Frey et al (1983), who found that women cried 5.3 times per month on average, nearly four times more often than men's average rate of 1.4 incidences monthly.
I should have written about this yesterday, I suppose, but I didn't even hear about it until yesterday afternoon, and I didn't take it that seriously -- until I saw that all the Op-Eds this morning were about it. I mean, I didn't see how this was news. Maybe it's because I can't recall a single time where I thought I was going to cry and had any control over stopping it. Either I cry or I don't. I am constantly surprised by the treatment of tears as a voluntary act.
Wednesday, January 9, 2008
Hot feminist sex
Cabanasloth pointed out a study that was noted in Salon.com's (2007) year-end roundup last month. Rudman and Phelan (2007) found that both men and women whose partners self-identified as feminist had also expressed greater sexual satisfaction in their relationships. Interestingly, self-identification as a feminist showed no correlation with sexual satisfaction for either men or women, although feminists were more likely to partner with other feminists.
Rudman and Phelan offer their results as refutation of "negative feminist stereotypes (i.e., that feminists are single, lesbians, or unattractive)." As noted last June ("Being Feminist",6/29/07) women are more likely to ascribe these negative beliefs to other women than to endorse them personally.
That last sentence was so frustrating to write that I decided to wrap up for the day. Maybe I'm crazy, but this sounds more like a Theory of Mind issue than a feminism issue. It's not what I think that's important, but what I think you think. Actually, now that I put it that way, that sort of sounds like how I ran most of my life. I'm still fairly sensitive to other people's opinions, but since I don't have access to them, it's not what they're actually thinking, but what I am guessing they're thinking. That's so meta. I think.
Rudman and Phelan offer their results as refutation of "negative feminist stereotypes (i.e., that feminists are single, lesbians, or unattractive)." As noted last June ("Being Feminist",6/29/07) women are more likely to ascribe these negative beliefs to other women than to endorse them personally.
That last sentence was so frustrating to write that I decided to wrap up for the day. Maybe I'm crazy, but this sounds more like a Theory of Mind issue than a feminism issue. It's not what I think that's important, but what I think you think. Actually, now that I put it that way, that sort of sounds like how I ran most of my life. I'm still fairly sensitive to other people's opinions, but since I don't have access to them, it's not what they're actually thinking, but what I am guessing they're thinking. That's so meta. I think.
Tuesday, January 8, 2008
Stereotype threat
During my vacation, a reader recommended Mixing Memory's (MM) take on stereotype threat, and recent attempts to find practical solutions. The most promising results MM reports come from Catherine Good. Good et al (2007) found that men and women performed equally well under normal conditions (when gender wasn't mentioned). When the test takers were reassured that the test was gender-fair, women performed significantly better -- consistently better than the men. Good's website on reducing stereotype threat (.org) (with Steven Stroessner) also notes that even moving the order of questions may make a difference. Collecting demographic data about gender and race after the testing questions made a significant difference in women's scores, according to analysis by Danaher and Crandall (in press).
Here's my concern about most stereotype threat interventions: framed politely, they're placebos. The tests are not being pre-screened for gender (or racial) fairness, but by assuring people that they are, they get closer. This actually sort of makes my head spin. If we tell people they're gender fair, they will be, but if we don't, they won't be? Much like if we advertise that there are women at math conferences, women will be more likely to come to math conferences.
I asked the readers of my personal LJ in November whether they thought recommending placebos was ever appropriate. I was shocked to find that 75% said yes, it was. Even more shocking were findings by Sherman and Hickner (ScienceDaily, 2008) that 45% of Chicago internists report having used placebos with their patients. Maybe there really isn't any harm in tricking people into feeling better.
Here's my concern about most stereotype threat interventions: framed politely, they're placebos. The tests are not being pre-screened for gender (or racial) fairness, but by assuring people that they are, they get closer. This actually sort of makes my head spin. If we tell people they're gender fair, they will be, but if we don't, they won't be? Much like if we advertise that there are women at math conferences, women will be more likely to come to math conferences.
I asked the readers of my personal LJ in November whether they thought recommending placebos was ever appropriate. I was shocked to find that 75% said yes, it was. Even more shocking were findings by Sherman and Hickner (ScienceDaily, 2008) that 45% of Chicago internists report having used placebos with their patients. Maybe there really isn't any harm in tricking people into feeling better.
Monday, January 7, 2008
Dimorphism: takes two
Steve Chenoweth is suggesting a radical idea: females may also be targeted by sexual selection. Chenoweth has been studying sexual dimorphism in Australian fruit flies (Drosophila serrata), in both laboratory-manipulated and wild-caught populations. Contrary to the common perception of males as the evolutionary scratchpad, Chenoweth's team found that females, not males, responded to sexual selection (ScienceDaily, 2008). Chenoweth published last year (with Foley et al, 2007) that although both male and female Drosophila melanogaster use pheromones (created from the same base compound) to attract mates, the genetic control of these pheromones seems to be different for males and females.
An interesting gender difference noted by Chenoweth is in the difference between mate-selection traits between male and female fruit flies. Chenoweth et al (2006) found what they called "exaggerated male traits" -- traits that led to sexual selection even when they were exerting negative survival selection. In contrast, Chenoweth et al (2007) found that male sexual selection was a "stabilizing" rather than "directional" influence. The researchers admit that the male flies may be using different markers of fecundity than were manipulated.
Wait, so females choose the exaggerated male form, but males prefer a realistic body type? Well, I guess there are differences between fruit flies and humans. I'm back from two weeks in Vegas, and I've seen enough exaggerated female form to last me several months. I recognize that I'm falling prey to a culturally-informed anthropomorphic world-view here, but I'm having a really hard time with believing that any male's tastes, of any species, have stabilizing effects. I find this a nonsensical statement, but maybe I'm not giving the fruit flies enough credit?
An interesting gender difference noted by Chenoweth is in the difference between mate-selection traits between male and female fruit flies. Chenoweth et al (2006) found what they called "exaggerated male traits" -- traits that led to sexual selection even when they were exerting negative survival selection. In contrast, Chenoweth et al (2007) found that male sexual selection was a "stabilizing" rather than "directional" influence. The researchers admit that the male flies may be using different markers of fecundity than were manipulated.
Wait, so females choose the exaggerated male form, but males prefer a realistic body type? Well, I guess there are differences between fruit flies and humans. I'm back from two weeks in Vegas, and I've seen enough exaggerated female form to last me several months. I recognize that I'm falling prey to a culturally-informed anthropomorphic world-view here, but I'm having a really hard time with believing that any male's tastes, of any species, have stabilizing effects. I find this a nonsensical statement, but maybe I'm not giving the fruit flies enough credit?
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