Sex roles and psychotherapy: A current appraisal.

Abstract

This article reviews the current status of research on the effects of sex role stereotypes on mental health judgments. Studies in this area have addressed three questions: (a) Are there different, sex-role-related standards of mental health for men and women? (b) Do violations of sex role norms result in adverse mental health judgments? (c) Do therapists set sex-role-related goals for their clients? It is concluded that sex role stereotypes are strong mental health cues for nonprofessionals, with violations of sex role norms leading to adverse mental health judgments, but that whereas professionals share the sex role stereotypes of their lay contemporaries, the professionals are unaffected by them in making mental health judgments and in setting therapeutic goals. This discrepancy between stereotypes and behavior may be due to any of three factors: the methodological limitations of the studies, actual differences in mental health between men and women, or normal attitude-behavior discrepancies.One of the more popular villains in contemporary psychology is the psychotherapist as a covert (if unwitting) agent of social control and the status quo (e.g., Hurvitz, 1973;Leifer, 1970;Szasz, 1961). This thesis has been most vigorously expounded by a number of feminist writers (e.g., American Psychological Association, 1975;Chesler, 1972; De Beauvoir, 1949/1967Tennov, 1975) who have charged that therapists define mental health in terms of sex role stereotypes and impose those stereotypes on their clients under the guise of therapy, thereby inhibiting rather than facilitating mental health. If true, these charges are indeed serious, for research has shown that overadherence to stereotyped sex roles is associated with psychopathology (e.g.,

Sex differences and sex-role stereotyping in clinical psychologists' reports: a research note

“…professionals share the sex-role stereotypes of their lay contemporaries, but are unaffected by them in making mental health judgements and in setting therapeutic goals (Whitley, 1979). In addition, the author of a review of both published and unpublished studies of sex bias in either counselling or psychotherapy pointed out that in published studies there is evidence for a small sex-bias against women, but the overall resul ts show an absence of bias against women (Smith, 1980).…”

Clinical Psychology: Individual Methods

“…For example, feminist therapies are designed to counter sex biases in traditional therapies (Waskow 1976, Loeffler & Fiedler 1979), but it is uncertain whether sex bias is real or more an artifact of analog studies. Research on the nature and extent of sex bias in therapy is not yet adequate to guide professional and public policy-making (Stricker 1977, Whitley 1979. NIMH recently spon sored a conference on the psychotherapy of women (Brodsky & Hare Must , m 1980), in part to stimulate more of the needed research.…”

Gender-fair psychotherapy in the United States: A possible dream?

“…Anecdotal and survey evidence lead us to believe that such bias continues to exist and it results in less effective therapy (Davidson & Abramovitz, 1980), but to prove it definitively has been more difficult (Heatherington, Mazzarella and Stetts, 1986;Steams et al, 1980). Evidence regarding the measured effects of therapists' attitudes, whether reportedly biased or gender-fair, has been mixed; it is replete with methodological problems as is the evidence for effectiveness of therapy generally (Garfield, 1986;Heatherington, Mazzarella and Stetts, 1986;Orlinsky & Howard, 1980;Smith, 1980;Whiteley, 1979). Some have argued that a therapist's values and expectations do not matter as long as she or he is aware and does not impose them (Smith, 1980;Whiteley, 1979).…”

“…Evidence regarding the measured effects of therapists' attitudes, whether reportedly biased or gender-fair, has been mixed; it is replete with methodological problems as is the evidence for effectiveness of therapy generally (Garfield, 1986;Heatherington, Mazzarella and Stetts, 1986;Orlinsky & Howard, 1980;Smith, 1980;Whiteley, 1979). Some have argued that a therapist's values and expectations do not matter as long as she or he is aware and does not impose them (Smith, 1980;Whiteley, 1979). It would seem equally probable based on other evidence, that choice of therapeutic goals and processes can be influenced by the therapist's expectations.…”

“…Several studies and critiques of studies through the seventies have acknowledged stereotypic views and biases against women on the part of helping professionals (Nickerson, 1978(Nickerson, , 1981(Nickerson, and 1986Whiteley, 1979) with males generally exhibiting greater sex bias and biased counseling styles (Estes, 1980;Nickerson, 1978). Male counselors surveyed demonstrated greater sex bias, whether by word or deed, and more restricted traditional occupational role conceptualization when working with or talking about female clients (Nickerson, 1978).…”