Gender Traits and Cognitive Appraisal in Young Adults: The Mediating Role of Locus of Control

Abstract

The present study examined the relationships between masculine and feminine traits, measured using the Bem Sex-Role Inventory (BSRI), and the way young adults appraise events (i.e., as threats or as challenges). We hypothesized that the locus of control (LOC)—i.e., individuals’ perceived control over the events that affect them—mediated these relationships. We tested these assumptions on two student samples from the French-speaking part of Switzerland (N =123 and N =504). Regression analyses demonstrated that, as expected, agentic masculine traits were positively related to challenge appraisals, and negatively to threat appraisals. LOC mediated these relationships, but most strongly among female participants. A different pattern was found for femininity. Feminine traits were positively related to increased challenge appraisals, but only in female participants of Sample 2. They were also related, in some cases, to increased threat appraisals. Furthermore, in line with previous research, LOC did not mediate the relationship between feminine traits and cognitive appraisal. Overall, the present results confirm that masculine and feminine stereotypical traits differ in their consequences for the way young adults appraise events in their everyday life

The Relationship Between Levels of Stress and Academic Performance Among University of Nairobi Students

“…Locus of control has been associated with stress experience (Zotovic, 2004;Sarrasin. Mayor & Faniko, 2014).…”

“…The intrinsic factors include age (Monteiro, Bolagun, & Oratile, 2014), gender (Chen, Wong, Ran & Gilson, 2009;Dughters, Gorka, Matuslewicz & Anderson, 2013).) and locus of control (Sarrasin, Mayor & Faniko, 2014;Lecic-Tosevski, Vukovic & Stepanovic (2011). The extrinsic factors may include level of study (Alzahem, Van der Molen, & De Boer, 2013), course of study (Nakalema & Senyonga, 2013;Gokul & Jayalakshmi, 2016) among others.…”

Why Do Employees’ Perceptions of their Organization's Change History Matter? The Role of Change Appraisals

“…Our results also revealed that women reported lower threat and harm appraisals than did men. This is somewhat surprising because although only a small number of studies have examined the relationship between gender and cognitive appraisals (Eaton & Bradley, 2008;Ptacek, Smith, & Zanas, 1992;Sarrasin, Mayor, & Faniko, 2014), these studies indicate that women are more likely to report greater levels of stress and are more likely to appraise events as threatening and less challenging than men. One possible explanation for our finding that women reported less threat and harm than men may be explained through considering gender role expectations rather than just biological gender.…”

Mobile device-based mindfulness intervention promotes emotional regulation during anticipatory stress

“…Traditionally, femininity is higher in women than in men and masculinity is higher in men than in women. Research shows that femininity is related to higher threat appraisal (resources assessed as lacking to face the stressor) and masculinity to higher challenge appraisal (resources assessed as sufficient to face the stressor) [32]. For this reason, notably, men are less affected by social-evaluative threat [23].…”