Role-Model Influence: Effects of Sex and Sex-Role Attitude in College Students

Abstract

College students, evenly divided by sex, rated the degree of influence of six or eight people on choice of a college and a career. Sex-role attitude was also assessed. In the first of two experiments, the sexes showed different patterns of influence as did the sex-role attitude groupings. Experiment 2, using only college seniors and matching the sexes on the attitude scale, again found that females were more influenced by female models in their choice of career than were males. However, no effect of sex-role attitude appeared. In neither experiment was there a main effect of sex on the choices. Results were discussed in terms of the particular importance of female models for female students.During the past two decades there have been increasing attempts by researchers to identify and explore variables associated with career development in women of various ages. Because the behaviors associated with career aspirations, commitment, and achievement have traditionally been sex typed as masculine, much of the literature has focused on the sex-role aspects of these behaviors.One of the variables that has been explored regarding sex-typed behavior in general and vocational behavior in particular i s the -~

The Influence of Media Role Models on Gay, Lesbian, and Bisexual Identity

“…This finding is not surprising considering that The L Word primarily featured lesbian characters, whereas Will and Grace featured gay male characters. Indeed, our results corroborate previous findings that people are more likely to be influenced by same-sex role models (Basow & Howe, 1980;Giuliano et al, 2007;Lockwood, 2006;Ochman, 1996).…”

“…Indeed, the notion that a role model's similarity to an individual is an important predictor of the role model's influence has been confirmed by a variety of studies demonstrating that people are more influenced by role models of the same gender or race (Basow & Howe, 1980;Giuliano, Turner, Lundquist, & Knight, 2007;Karunanayake & Nauta, 2004;Lockwood, 2006). Taken together, these findings suggest that GLB individuals may be more influenced by GLB media role models than by heterosexual media figures due to the GLB role models' similar identities.…”

“…In short, Dobinson and Young and Kivel and Kleiber identified a number of ways in which GLB individuals interact with the media in such a way that increases their comfort with their GLB identity. Although past research has suggested possibilities for the manner in which the media may influence GLB individuals (Basow & Howe, 1980;Boon & Lomore, 2001;Karunanayake & Nauta, 2004;Lockwood, 2006;Matthews, 2005;Ochman, 1996;Wohlford et al, 2004) and has qualitatively examined the influence of the media on GLB subgroups such as lesbians (Dobinson & Young, 2000) and GLB youth (Kivel & Kleiber, 2000), there is a dearth of empirical research that has systematically examined the influence of the media on GLB individuals' identities. The purpose of the current investigation was to address this gap by examining the relationship between the media and GLB identity in depth, with a particular focus on the influence of media role models on GLB identity.…”

Entrepreneurship and role models

“…They serve as role models. A role model is a common reference to individuals who set examples for others to be emulated, and who may stimulate or inspire others to make (career) decisions and achieve certain goals (Shapiro et al, 1978;Basow and Howe, 1980;Wright et al, 1997). The relevance of role models becomes evident in the popular business press that is littered with references to the alleged influence, names (elicited by numerous polls) and speeches of entrepreneurial role models.…”

Honor Our Role Models

“…In addition, there is biologic plausibility and validation from other studies. [2][3][4][5] Although the temporal relationship is uncertain (students may have chosen their careers and then sought out role models), this is unlikely to explain fully the strong association between role models and career choice.…”