The increasing involvement of women in politics over past decades has highlighted distinct gender... more The increasing involvement of women in politics over past decades has highlighted distinct gender differences in positions on political issues (Eagly & Diekman, 2006; Vowles, 1993). More men than women tend to support issues such as longer prison sentences, while more women than men tend to support government spending on social welfare, health and education (Pratto, Stallworth & Sidanius, 1997). The gender gap in political issues often divides along the lines of conservative versus liberal, and right versus left, with men tending to be more conservative and right-wing, and women more liberal and left-leaning (Feather, 1977; McCue & Gopoian, 2000; Pratto et al., 1997; Rippl & Seipel, 1999; Sidanius & Liu, 1992). Women tend to be less supportive of military spending and involvement in war than men (Conover & Sapiro, 1993; Pratto et al., 1997; Sidanius & Liu, 1992), score lower on measures of prejudice and support for discriminatory policy (e.g., Altemeyer, 1998; Eagly, Diekman, Johannesen-Schmidt, & Koenig, 2004; Ekehammer, 1985), are less militaristic (e.g., Doty, Winter, Peterson, & Kemmelmeier, 1997; Heskin & Power, 1994; Pratto et al., 1997; Sapiro, 2001; Shapiro & Mahajan, 1986), hold less negative attitudes towards homosexuals (e.g., Eagly et al., 2004; Whitley & AEgisdottir, 2000), and generally hold less punitive attitudes (e.g., Ekehammer, 1985; Sears, Lau, Tyler, & Allen, 1980; Stack, 2000), to name but a few. These sex differences appear to translate into voting behaviour, with women seven points less likely to support George W. Bush than John Kerry in the 2004 US election, and 10 points less likely in 2000 (Center for American Women and Politics, 2004). This pattern is also evidenced in New Zealand with the support for Labour as the traditional party of the left comprising more than 55% women since 1993. In contrast, National party support comprises between 45% and 50% women, while women represent as little as 30% of those voting for the Act party, the most far-right of the elected parties (e.g., Banducci & Karp, 2000; Levine & Roberts, 2000; Vowles, 1993; 2004). These trends continued in 2005 (Young, 2005). In addition, support for New Zealand's anti-nuclear policy was stronger among women than men (Bain, 2005). Particularly promising as a potential explanatory factor in the range of socio-political sex differences is Social Dominance Orientation (SDO: Pratto, Sidanius, Stallworth, & Malle, 1994; Sidanius & Pratto, 1999), a relative newcomer to the pantheon of hot individual difference constructs in social psychology. According to Social Dominance Theory (SDT: Pratto et al., 1994; Sidanius, 1993; Sidanius & Pratto, 1999) post-industrial societies tend to develop group-oriented social hierarchies which assist in the maintenance of long-term human survival. In these hierarchies, intergroup conflict and oppression function to maintain the social system. Together with Right-Wing Authoritarianism (RWA, a syndrome of punitive and traditional social attitudes: Altemeyer, 1981; 1998) SDO is an important predictor of socio-political attitudes (Altemeyer, 1998; Sibley, Wilson & Duckitt, 2007). Unlike RWA, however, there is consistent evidence of a sex difference in SDO (Pratto et al., 1994; Sidanius & Pratto, 1999). One of the characteristics of contemporary hierarchical systems is that they are overwhelmingly 'andrarchical'--males tend to hold the lions' share of political power (Sidanius & Pratto, 1999) allowing males to act to maintain their privileged social position. It follows, then, that males should favour social systems that perpetuate hierarchies as they tend to occupy privileged positions in them. In other words there should be a sex difference with males endorsing anti-egalitarian beliefs more than females. Indeed, this 'invariance hypothesis' is a foundational hypothesis of SDT though, at the same time, the authors of SDT would argue that is all it is--an hypothesis open to refutation. …
As self-report measures of clinical constructs are increasingly administered to student populatio... more As self-report measures of clinical constructs are increasingly administered to student populations, it is important that the psychometric properties of such measures are investigated. Additionally, the response bias intrinsic in self-report responses requires further understanding. The factor structure and response bias of the Obsessive-Compulsive Inventory-Revised (OCI-R) is investigated in a subclinical sample of 282 female students from New Zealand. The present study adds to previous research by using not only standard confirmatory factor analysis but also hierarchical confirmatory factor analysis, in parallel with an investigation of response bias. The six-factor model provided the most appropriate fit to the data, with a single latent factor driving the six differential factors. Further support is provided for strong internal reliability of the OCI-R. Overall, subscales of the OCI-R were robustly unrelated to the response bias of impression management. ********** As research on Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD) continues to diversify, subclinical (particularly student) samples are being drawn on more frequently to inform our knowledge of this pathology. It has been found that subclinical OCD exhibits very similar, albeit lessened, symptoms to that of clinical OCD (Gibbs, 1996). Self-report measures provide a fast and convenient data collection method, and are therefore particularly useful in subclinical research. It is however important that the psychometric properties of employed measures are understood in this population, so that we can be confident of the validity of findings from this more readily accessible group. The aim of this study was to evaluate the psychometric properties and structure of a common measure of OCD. Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder is diagnostically characterised by the presence of obsessions such as pathological fear of harm associated with germs and contamination or violation of rules of symmetry, and of compulsive behaviours and mental acts that may include excessive washing or touching, checking and ordering (e.g., APA, 2000), and affects up to 3% of the population (Weissman, Bland, Canino, Greenwald, Hwu, & Lee, 1994). At the same time, OCD-like characteristics are also relatively common among the general population, meaning that individuals may display some (but not all) potentially debilitating symptoms characteristic of OCD without meeting the full criteria for a diagnosis of clinical OCD (see Gibbs, 1996, for a detailed review of research on OCD in nonclinical populations). Gibbs (1996) noted that a significant minority of the general population might be considered to display subclinical OCD, and that people who do so tend also to show elevated levels of anxiety and depression relative to normal controls (but lower than clinical OCD controls), as well as using qualitatively similar strategies for dealing with obsessive-compulsive symptoms. At the same time, an important difference in the symptom profile was the relative rarity of co-occurring obsessive and compulsive symptoms in comparison with samples with a diagnosis of clinical OCD (Gibbs, 1996). It has been argued that being able to identify such examples of subclinical OCD would allow early identification of those who might go on to develop full-blown OCD, and at the very least to treat symptoms even in those who do not (e.g., Morris, Morris, Blashfield, Rankupalli, Bradley, & Goodman, 1996/97; Zucker, Craske, Blackmore, & Nitz, 2006). The Obsessive-Compulsive Inventory-Revised (OCI-R; Foa et al., 2002) is an 18-item self-report measure designed to assess six subtypes of OCD; Checking, Washing, Hoarding, Obsessing, Cleaning, and Neutralising. The OCI-R was developed from the original 42-item Obsessive-Compulsive Inventory (OCI; Foa, Kozak, Salkovskis, Coles, & Amir, 1998) by way of exploratory factor analysis (Foa et al., 2002). The OCI-R improves on the OCI by eliminating the seemingly redundant 'frequency scale', and discarding 24 items. …
Although many social psychological researchers have tried to identify the antecedents of unethica... more Although many social psychological researchers have tried to identify the antecedents of unethical or immoral behavior, investigators have little considered the content of ethical beliefs that associate with important personality variables such as authoritarianism (B. Altemeyer, 1981, 1996) and social dominance orientation (SDO; J. Sidanius, 1993). Previous studies suggest that authoritarianism is associated with the rejection of relativistic standards for moral actions and--to a lesser extent--the idealistic belief that moral actions should not harm others (J. W. McHoskey, 1996). In the present study, 160 New Zealand University students completed measures of SDO (J. Sidanius), Right Wing Authoritarianism (RWA, B. Altemeyer, 1981), and two subscales of ethical ideology: Relativism and Idealism (D. R. Forsyth, 1980). As expected, SDO showed a negative relationship with Idealism, a belief that actions should not harm others. But, contrary to expectations, SDO showed no consistent association with relativism, a belief that the moralities of actions are not comparable. On the basis of those findings, people with high SDO might be described as "ruthless" in their pursuit of desirable goals and are indifferent about whether the morality of different actions can be compared or even matter.
The present studies provide support for a functional approach to instrumental and terminal values... more The present studies provide support for a functional approach to instrumental and terminal values and the value‐attitude‐behaviour system. Study 1 surveyed individuals’ human values, the type of meaning to which they prefer to attend in products (i.e. utilitarian or symbolic), and how they choose to evaluate the products (i.e. a piecemeal or affective judgement). The study found that individuals who favoured instrumental to terminal human values showed a predisposition to attend to the utilitarian meanings of products and make piecemeal judgements. In contrast, individuals who favoured terminal over instrumental values preferred symbolic meanings, affective judgements, and human values in general. Study 2 found that individuals who favoured instrumental to terminal values had stronger instrumental attitudes towards cars and sun‐glasses. The results suggest that: psychological functions are not limited to attitudes or human values but span the breadth of the value‐attitude‐behaviour system; that two such psychological functions are instrumental and expressive; and that instrumental and terminal values serve instrumental and expressive functions, respectively.
Measuring accurately an offender's present stage of change on offending-related need... more Measuring accurately an offender's present stage of change on offending-related needs may be important for determining match with Á and therefore selection into Á rehabilitation programmes. It is also essential testing empirically the dominant model of ...
Offenders' readiness to engage in changes that will reduce their risk of reoffending... more Offenders' readiness to engage in changes that will reduce their risk of reoffending is now recognized to be as important as the design and delivery of programmes that support such change. Interest is growing in both how to increase engagement in change processes, and how to ...
Hunting has a long history, and contentious recent past. We examined the relationship between agg... more Hunting has a long history, and contentious recent past. We examined the relationship between aggression and hunting attitudes, investigating the moderating role of sex. Two studies are presented—a psychometric evaluation of a unidimensional instrument for assessing hunting attitudes, which was then administered to a sample of general population participants to assess the relationship between aggression and hunting attitudes. Finally, university students completed measures of hunting attitudes and instrumental/expressive aggression. Men were more instrumentally aggressive than women and were more supportive toward hunting. The relationship between instrumental (but not expressive) aggression and hunting attitudes was moderated by sex—men’s hunting endorsement increased with instrumental aggression, while women’s endorsement of hunting decreased with increasing instrumental aggression. Expressive aggression was not predictive of hunting attitudes.
The increasing involvement of women in politics over past decades has highlighted distinct gender... more The increasing involvement of women in politics over past decades has highlighted distinct gender differences in positions on political issues (Eagly & Diekman, 2006; Vowles, 1993). More men than women tend to support issues such as longer prison sentences, while more women than men tend to support government spending on social welfare, health and education (Pratto, Stallworth & Sidanius, 1997). The gender gap in political issues often divides along the lines of conservative versus liberal, and right versus left, with men tending to be more conservative and right-wing, and women more liberal and left-leaning (Feather, 1977; McCue & Gopoian, 2000; Pratto et al., 1997; Rippl & Seipel, 1999; Sidanius & Liu, 1992). Women tend to be less supportive of military spending and involvement in war than men (Conover & Sapiro, 1993; Pratto et al., 1997; Sidanius & Liu, 1992), score lower on measures of prejudice and support for discriminatory policy (e.g., Altemeyer, 1998; Eagly, Diekman, Johannesen-Schmidt, & Koenig, 2004; Ekehammer, 1985), are less militaristic (e.g., Doty, Winter, Peterson, & Kemmelmeier, 1997; Heskin & Power, 1994; Pratto et al., 1997; Sapiro, 2001; Shapiro & Mahajan, 1986), hold less negative attitudes towards homosexuals (e.g., Eagly et al., 2004; Whitley & AEgisdottir, 2000), and generally hold less punitive attitudes (e.g., Ekehammer, 1985; Sears, Lau, Tyler, & Allen, 1980; Stack, 2000), to name but a few. These sex differences appear to translate into voting behaviour, with women seven points less likely to support George W. Bush than John Kerry in the 2004 US election, and 10 points less likely in 2000 (Center for American Women and Politics, 2004). This pattern is also evidenced in New Zealand with the support for Labour as the traditional party of the left comprising more than 55% women since 1993. In contrast, National party support comprises between 45% and 50% women, while women represent as little as 30% of those voting for the Act party, the most far-right of the elected parties (e.g., Banducci & Karp, 2000; Levine & Roberts, 2000; Vowles, 1993; 2004). These trends continued in 2005 (Young, 2005). In addition, support for New Zealand's anti-nuclear policy was stronger among women than men (Bain, 2005). Particularly promising as a potential explanatory factor in the range of socio-political sex differences is Social Dominance Orientation (SDO: Pratto, Sidanius, Stallworth, & Malle, 1994; Sidanius & Pratto, 1999), a relative newcomer to the pantheon of hot individual difference constructs in social psychology. According to Social Dominance Theory (SDT: Pratto et al., 1994; Sidanius, 1993; Sidanius & Pratto, 1999) post-industrial societies tend to develop group-oriented social hierarchies which assist in the maintenance of long-term human survival. In these hierarchies, intergroup conflict and oppression function to maintain the social system. Together with Right-Wing Authoritarianism (RWA, a syndrome of punitive and traditional social attitudes: Altemeyer, 1981; 1998) SDO is an important predictor of socio-political attitudes (Altemeyer, 1998; Sibley, Wilson & Duckitt, 2007). Unlike RWA, however, there is consistent evidence of a sex difference in SDO (Pratto et al., 1994; Sidanius & Pratto, 1999). One of the characteristics of contemporary hierarchical systems is that they are overwhelmingly 'andrarchical'--males tend to hold the lions' share of political power (Sidanius & Pratto, 1999) allowing males to act to maintain their privileged social position. It follows, then, that males should favour social systems that perpetuate hierarchies as they tend to occupy privileged positions in them. In other words there should be a sex difference with males endorsing anti-egalitarian beliefs more than females. Indeed, this 'invariance hypothesis' is a foundational hypothesis of SDT though, at the same time, the authors of SDT would argue that is all it is--an hypothesis open to refutation. …
As self-report measures of clinical constructs are increasingly administered to student populatio... more As self-report measures of clinical constructs are increasingly administered to student populations, it is important that the psychometric properties of such measures are investigated. Additionally, the response bias intrinsic in self-report responses requires further understanding. The factor structure and response bias of the Obsessive-Compulsive Inventory-Revised (OCI-R) is investigated in a subclinical sample of 282 female students from New Zealand. The present study adds to previous research by using not only standard confirmatory factor analysis but also hierarchical confirmatory factor analysis, in parallel with an investigation of response bias. The six-factor model provided the most appropriate fit to the data, with a single latent factor driving the six differential factors. Further support is provided for strong internal reliability of the OCI-R. Overall, subscales of the OCI-R were robustly unrelated to the response bias of impression management. ********** As research on Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD) continues to diversify, subclinical (particularly student) samples are being drawn on more frequently to inform our knowledge of this pathology. It has been found that subclinical OCD exhibits very similar, albeit lessened, symptoms to that of clinical OCD (Gibbs, 1996). Self-report measures provide a fast and convenient data collection method, and are therefore particularly useful in subclinical research. It is however important that the psychometric properties of employed measures are understood in this population, so that we can be confident of the validity of findings from this more readily accessible group. The aim of this study was to evaluate the psychometric properties and structure of a common measure of OCD. Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder is diagnostically characterised by the presence of obsessions such as pathological fear of harm associated with germs and contamination or violation of rules of symmetry, and of compulsive behaviours and mental acts that may include excessive washing or touching, checking and ordering (e.g., APA, 2000), and affects up to 3% of the population (Weissman, Bland, Canino, Greenwald, Hwu, & Lee, 1994). At the same time, OCD-like characteristics are also relatively common among the general population, meaning that individuals may display some (but not all) potentially debilitating symptoms characteristic of OCD without meeting the full criteria for a diagnosis of clinical OCD (see Gibbs, 1996, for a detailed review of research on OCD in nonclinical populations). Gibbs (1996) noted that a significant minority of the general population might be considered to display subclinical OCD, and that people who do so tend also to show elevated levels of anxiety and depression relative to normal controls (but lower than clinical OCD controls), as well as using qualitatively similar strategies for dealing with obsessive-compulsive symptoms. At the same time, an important difference in the symptom profile was the relative rarity of co-occurring obsessive and compulsive symptoms in comparison with samples with a diagnosis of clinical OCD (Gibbs, 1996). It has been argued that being able to identify such examples of subclinical OCD would allow early identification of those who might go on to develop full-blown OCD, and at the very least to treat symptoms even in those who do not (e.g., Morris, Morris, Blashfield, Rankupalli, Bradley, & Goodman, 1996/97; Zucker, Craske, Blackmore, & Nitz, 2006). The Obsessive-Compulsive Inventory-Revised (OCI-R; Foa et al., 2002) is an 18-item self-report measure designed to assess six subtypes of OCD; Checking, Washing, Hoarding, Obsessing, Cleaning, and Neutralising. The OCI-R was developed from the original 42-item Obsessive-Compulsive Inventory (OCI; Foa, Kozak, Salkovskis, Coles, & Amir, 1998) by way of exploratory factor analysis (Foa et al., 2002). The OCI-R improves on the OCI by eliminating the seemingly redundant 'frequency scale', and discarding 24 items. …
Although many social psychological researchers have tried to identify the antecedents of unethica... more Although many social psychological researchers have tried to identify the antecedents of unethical or immoral behavior, investigators have little considered the content of ethical beliefs that associate with important personality variables such as authoritarianism (B. Altemeyer, 1981, 1996) and social dominance orientation (SDO; J. Sidanius, 1993). Previous studies suggest that authoritarianism is associated with the rejection of relativistic standards for moral actions and--to a lesser extent--the idealistic belief that moral actions should not harm others (J. W. McHoskey, 1996). In the present study, 160 New Zealand University students completed measures of SDO (J. Sidanius), Right Wing Authoritarianism (RWA, B. Altemeyer, 1981), and two subscales of ethical ideology: Relativism and Idealism (D. R. Forsyth, 1980). As expected, SDO showed a negative relationship with Idealism, a belief that actions should not harm others. But, contrary to expectations, SDO showed no consistent association with relativism, a belief that the moralities of actions are not comparable. On the basis of those findings, people with high SDO might be described as "ruthless" in their pursuit of desirable goals and are indifferent about whether the morality of different actions can be compared or even matter.
The present studies provide support for a functional approach to instrumental and terminal values... more The present studies provide support for a functional approach to instrumental and terminal values and the value‐attitude‐behaviour system. Study 1 surveyed individuals’ human values, the type of meaning to which they prefer to attend in products (i.e. utilitarian or symbolic), and how they choose to evaluate the products (i.e. a piecemeal or affective judgement). The study found that individuals who favoured instrumental to terminal human values showed a predisposition to attend to the utilitarian meanings of products and make piecemeal judgements. In contrast, individuals who favoured terminal over instrumental values preferred symbolic meanings, affective judgements, and human values in general. Study 2 found that individuals who favoured instrumental to terminal values had stronger instrumental attitudes towards cars and sun‐glasses. The results suggest that: psychological functions are not limited to attitudes or human values but span the breadth of the value‐attitude‐behaviour system; that two such psychological functions are instrumental and expressive; and that instrumental and terminal values serve instrumental and expressive functions, respectively.
Measuring accurately an offender's present stage of change on offending-related need... more Measuring accurately an offender's present stage of change on offending-related needs may be important for determining match with Á and therefore selection into Á rehabilitation programmes. It is also essential testing empirically the dominant model of ...
Offenders' readiness to engage in changes that will reduce their risk of reoffending... more Offenders' readiness to engage in changes that will reduce their risk of reoffending is now recognized to be as important as the design and delivery of programmes that support such change. Interest is growing in both how to increase engagement in change processes, and how to ...
Hunting has a long history, and contentious recent past. We examined the relationship between agg... more Hunting has a long history, and contentious recent past. We examined the relationship between aggression and hunting attitudes, investigating the moderating role of sex. Two studies are presented—a psychometric evaluation of a unidimensional instrument for assessing hunting attitudes, which was then administered to a sample of general population participants to assess the relationship between aggression and hunting attitudes. Finally, university students completed measures of hunting attitudes and instrumental/expressive aggression. Men were more instrumentally aggressive than women and were more supportive toward hunting. The relationship between instrumental (but not expressive) aggression and hunting attitudes was moderated by sex—men’s hunting endorsement increased with instrumental aggression, while women’s endorsement of hunting decreased with increasing instrumental aggression. Expressive aggression was not predictive of hunting attitudes.
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