Gender Differences in Response to Ambient Color, Task Complexity and Presence of Evaluative Others

Abstract

H a r r i s C o r p o r a t i on * Melbourne, Fla. ABSTRACT S i x t y -f o u r male and t h i r t y -t w o female s u b j e c t s each performed a CRT p u r s u i t t r a c k i n g t a s k i n Females recorded one o f t h e e i g h t c o n d i t i o n s created by combinations o f t a s k d i f f i c u l t y ( s i m p l e versus complex), e v a l u a t i v e audience presence versus absence, and w a l l c o l o r ( r e d versus green). s i g n i f i c a n t l y h i g h e r e r r o r scores, were l e s s aroused and more s e n s i t i v e t o ambient c o l p r than were t h e i r male counterparts. t r a c k i n g performance. t h e present research. Further, audience presence was found t o enhance male and i m p a i r female Results suggest t h a t d i f f e r e n t i a l s i n s u b j e c t m o t i v a t i o n may have a f f e c t e d According t o arousal theory, t h e r e i s an optimal l e v e l o f arousal f o r behavioral e ff i c i e n c y i n t h e performance o f a given t a s k (e:g. , Welford, 1976; Duffy, 1962). p r i a t e l y l o w arousal l e v e l s a r e associated w i t h slowed and/or o m i t t e d responses w h i l e overarousal i s c h a r a c t e r i z e d by commisive e r r o r s and disorganized response p a t t e r n s . An i n d i v i d u a l ' s l e v e l o f arousal has been r e p o r t e d t o be responsive t o changes i n complexi t y o f t h e experimental task (e.g. , Kahneman, 1973), ambient c o l o r (e.g., Plack and Shick, 1974), and t h e e v a l u a t i v e n a t u r e and/or presence o f o t h e r s (e.g. , Chapman, 1974). Such research r e v e a l s t h a t h i g h e r l e v e l s o f arousal a r e associated w i t h complex r a t h e r than simple tasks, w i t h r e d r a t h e r than green surroundings, and w i t h presence r a t h e r than absence o f an e v a l u a t i v e audience. Men and women have been found t o d i f f e r e nSinger (1978) has warned t h a t gender * Research conducted a t North C a r o l i n a S t a t e U n i v e r s i t y and supported, i n p a r t , by t r a i n i n g g r a n t funds provided by t h e National I n s t i t u t e o f Occupational S a f e t y and H e a l t h (No. 1-T15-OH-0701). v a t i o n a l v a r i a b l e s may confound the genderpsyc homo t o r performance r e F u r t h e r , Be1 1 , e t . a l . (1982) i n d i c a t e d t h a t physioMethods . Subjects -S i x t y -f o u r male and t h i r t y -t w o female i n t r o d u c t o r y psychology student volunteers (age range 17-49, mean 20.4) were employed. Each s u b j e c t was p a i d two d o l l a r s and those i nd i v i d u a l s who recorded t h e lowest t r a c k i n g e r r o r score i n each experimental group received an a d d i t i o n a l t e n d o l l a r bonus.Apparatus -A p u r s u i t t r a c k i n g t a s k employing a lOxl3cm CRT d i s p l a y was s i t u a t e d i n a 175xl75cm t e s t chamber, one w a l l o f which was p a i n t e d e i t h e r r e d o r green ( P i t t s b u r g h P a i n t s number "7165 and N7396, r e s p e c t i v e l y ) . I n the simple t...