Germany: Women rate the reputation of housewives considerably worse than men do

Das Ansehen von Hausfrauen in Deutschland – Eine quantitativ-empirische Analyse differenzieller Wahrnehmungen / The Prestige of Housewives in Germany—A Quantitative–Empirical Analysis of Differential Perceptions. Katrin Stache, Christian Ebner & Daniela Rohrbach-Schmidt. KZfSS Kölner Zeitschrift für Soziologie und Sozialpsychologie, Apr 12 2022. https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11577-022-00819-6

Abstract: The employment rate of women has increased markedly over the past decades, both internationally and in Germany, whereas the classic male breadwinner model is eroding. Against this background, using current survey data, the aim of this study is to examine the social prestige of the shrinking group of housewives whose main activity is domestic and family work. The analyses address, on the one hand, the question of how high their reputation is generally rated by the population in Germany and, on the other hand, whether the perceptions differ systematically by raters’ sociodemographic characteristics. The empirical findings show that the reputation of housewives in Germany is generally rated higher than that of the unemployed and of those in helper jobs but lower than for those in professional jobs at the skilled level. Moreover, the assessments of housewives’ prestige vary significantly according to the social group (birth cohort, level of education, labor force participation, gender) to which the respondents belong. Further analyses of interaction effects also reveal a differentiated interaction of the gender variable with the other structural group characteristics. The paper concludes with a detailed discussion of the results and an outlook on future research.

We found that change in self-reported sexual orientation was not reflected in genital arousal, providing tentative support for the notion that self-reports may overestimate change in sexual orientation

Stability and Change in Sexual Orientation and Genital Arousal over Time. Dragos C. Gruia, Luke Holmes, Jaime Raines, Erlend Slettevold, Tuesday M. Watts-Overall & Gerulf Rieger. The Journal of Sex Research, Apr 12 2022. https://doi.org/10.1080/00224499.2022.2060927

Abstract: Longitudinal work suggests that sexual orientation can change over time in men and women. These studies, however, may be susceptible to the bias of self-report. The current study therefore examined self-reported sexual orientation in addition to an objective correlate: genital arousal to erotic videos showing males or females. For 52 men (19 heterosexual, 19 bisexual, 14 homosexual) and 67 women (31 heterosexual, 18 bisexual, 18 homosexual), these measures were taken twice, with approximately 1 year between sessions. For self-reported sexual orientation, women reported lower relative stability (weaker correlation) than men over time, even though women did not change more overall (no stronger mean difference) than men between sessions. Bisexual individuals reported lower relative stability and more mean change than heterosexual and homosexual individuals. For genital arousal, across all groups, response patterns were correlated over time to a similar extent and showed little difference between sessions. Moreover, change in self-reported sexual orientation did not correspond with the change in genital arousal, regardless of sex. Perhaps self-reports overestimate changes in sexual orientation, since these changes were not reflected in physiological sexual response.

Discussion

The present study examined: (a) the correlation of self-reported sexual orientation and arousal over time, (b) the mean change in orientation and arousal over time, and (c) the link between change in self-reported sexual orientation and change in sexual arousal. Before addressing any effects of time, it is worth examining the results by session. In general, patterns of sexual arousal in the present study were in agreement with those previously reported (Raines et al., 2021; Rosenthal et al., 2011). That is, heterosexual and homosexual men showed a strong preference for their preferred sex, while bisexual men, as a group, showed arousal to both sexes. Across sexual orientations, women showed arousal both to the same sex and other sex; however, homosexual women showed a slight tendency in arousal toward the same sex. One unexpected result was found in Session 1, where bisexual women showed somewhat less bisexual arousal than heterosexual women, if not homosexual women. It is unclear why this pattern occurred, and it was no longer the case in Session 2 (Figure 3).

With respect to relative stability (correlation) of self-reported sexual orientation over time, our results were similar to those found in a previous longitudinal study (Savin-Williams et al., 2012): (1) sexual orientation was relatively stable, overall, as suggested by the correspondence between sessions, (2) women, in general, showed lower relative stability than men, and (3) bisexuals, irrespective of sex, reported lower relative stability than other sexual orientations. For sexual arousal we also found overall relative stability, but it was weaker than for sexual orientation. Moreover, a sex difference in relative stability was only apparent in one of the two measures of arousal, and no significant differences in relative stability were found between bisexuals and monosexuals.

With respect to change (mean difference), for self-reported sexual orientation, our results were somewhat in agreement with previous work, but not entirely so (Mock & Eibach, 2012; Ott et al., 2011; Savin-Williams et al., 2012): (1) even though we did not find directional change over time, on average, there was non-directional change in participants’ sexual orientations, (2) even though women did not exhibit more non-directional change than men, the difference was in the predicted direction, and (3) bisexual individuals changed non-directionally more than other sexual orientations. Regarding mean change in sexual arousal, our results only partially mirrored findings for sexual orientation: (1) non-directional mean change in sexual arousal occurred, on average, but (2) women did not change more than men, and (3) bisexual individuals did not change more than monosexuals. In sum, 5 out of 6 of our predictions related to relative stability and to change were confirmed for self-reported sexual orientation, whereas only 2 out of 6 were fully confirmed across measures of genital arousal.

Taken together, the current data were able to largely replicate previous findings with respect to self-reported sexual orientation, but this was not reflected in sexual arousal. There are several ways in which we can interpret the lack of change in arousal: One interpretation is that the assessment of physiological sexual arousal is subject to more measurement error than self-reports, which could weaken any true patterns in arousal (i.e., correlation, mean change). An alternative interpretation is that longitudinal patterns observed in self-reports provide an over-estimation of the actual change in self-reported sexual orientation. This is not to say that change in sexual orientation does not exist, but rather that change may be rarer than suggested by self-report. Finally, it may be that change in self-reported sexual orientation truly happens subjectively but is not reflected by any corresponding change in physiological responses. Limited support for this assumption comes from one of our null findings, which indicated that change in self-reported sexual orientation was unrelated to change in sexual arousal.

Other limitations of this work need to be considered. It may be that with our sample, the proportion of individuals who exhibited a change in sexual arousal (or orientation) is simply too small to detect any reliable patterns. For instance, we can see in Figures 3a and 3b that bisexual men responded more to their less-arousing sex at the second visit, even though this difference between sessions was not statistically significant. Our lab was forced to close during the COVID-19 pandemic, which meant we were unable to bring back as many participants as originally planned. Despite this limitation, we believe the current findings are informative and may be used as a basis for future longitudinal studies of sexual arousal, which could employ larger participant cohorts.

In addition, due to the intrusive nature of the procedure, which is unavoidable for research on genital arousal, our study may have suffered from self-selection bias, and we simply do not know how patterns would look in those who do not participate. Furthermore, our study does not inform how patterns may change over longer periods, over and above 1 year, and future research could investigate this.

Another worthwhile avenue for future research may be to include pupillary responses to sexually explicit stimuli as an alternative measure of sexual arousal (Attard-Johnson et al., 2021). Even though previous work suggests that genital arousal and pupil dilation tend to show comparable findings (Rieger et al., 2015), the latter produces more noise and smaller effects, on average, and therefore require more participants. Still, including both genital arousal and pupil dilation would be ideal in future longitudinal studies of sexual arousal.

Research could also examine relative stability and change in both self-reported sexual orientation and sexual arousal during specific developmental periods (e.g., before, during, and after puberty), if this were ethically justifiable. Further, one may examine the precise reasons why some individuals exhibit change in their self-reported sexual orientation or sexual arousal. For instance, fear of rejection, discrimination, and cultural norms are a few of the factors that might influence change in self-reported sexual orientation, while exposure to new sexual experiences might contribute to changes in sexual arousal.

Conclusion

In this study, we followed up men and women of varying sexual orientations over time, examining their self-reported sexual orientation and objectively assessing their genital arousal to sexually explicit stimuli. We found that, on average, change in self-reported sexual orientation was more likely to be reported than change in genital arousal in both men and women, and that among all sexual orientations, bisexual individuals were the most likely to report any change. Furthermore, we found that change in self-reported sexual orientation was not reflected in genital arousal, providing tentative support for the notion that self-reports may overestimate change in sexual orientation.

Pakistan’s per capita GDP would have been an average of about $718 per year higher had the country not undertaken the effort to produce a nuclear weapon = per capita GDP being 27.8 percent lower over the 25-year weapons-development period

The Economic Cost of a Nuclear Weapon: A Synthetic Control Approach. Anthony Mayberry. SSRN Apr 6 2022. http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.4065001

Abstract: This study estimates the economic effects of nuclear weapons development efforts in Pakistan using synthetic control group methods. Pakistan started its nuclear weapons program in 1972 and conducted its first test in 1998. This paper focuses on the growth impacts during the 1973 to 1997 period, before Pakistan established itself as a nuclear power. I create a synthetic control group for Pakistan using Per capita Gross Domestic Product (GDP) from the 1950 to 1972. The impact of the nuclear weapons development program is measured as a treatment dummy for the years 1973-1997 in a Difference-in-Difference model. I find that Pakistan’s per capita GDP would have been an average of about $718 per year higher had the country not undertaken the effort to produce a nuclear weapon. This equates to per capita GDP being 27.8 percent lower on average over the 25-year weapons-development period. Results are robust to several alternative specifications, including country exclusion, sparse synthetic controls, non-outcome characteristics as predictors of GDP, and in-space placebo experiments of differing specifications.

Keywords: Sanctions, Nuclear Weapons, Synthetic Control, Economic Growth

JEL Classification: F5, O4, F51

Too hunky to help? Boys in the socially self-confident profile had significantly higher mean levels of prosocial behavior beliefs toward other boys compared to boys in the socially precarious profile

Too hunky to help: A person-centered approach to masculinity and prosocial behavior beliefs among adolescent boys. Matthew G. Nielson, Diana L. Jenkins, Ashley M. Fraser. Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, April 3, 2022. https://doi.org/10.1177/02654075221084697

Abstract: Boys’ beliefs about prosocial behavior toward other boys may be negatively affected by masculine norm adherence, and there is evidence that early adolescence is a time when boys feel heightened levels of pressure from multiple sources (e.g., friends, family, and self) to adhere to masculine norms like emotional restriction (e.g., appearing stoic and uncaring). However, the relation between boys’ masculinity and their prosocial behavior beliefs is likely further affected by boys’ social competency. Generally, boys’ social competency is positively associated with prosocial behavior, but this is not the case for “tough” boys (boys who adhere to many traditionally masculine norms). We expected that analyzing the relation between early adolescent boys’ pressure to adhere to masculine norms and boys’ unique social profiles (created using adherence to masculine norms and aspects of social competency) would further illuminate boys’ patterns of prosocial behavior beliefs toward other boys. A latent profile analysis estimated profiles of masculinity and social competence among 260 early adolescent boys (59% White, Mage = 11.45 years old, Rangeage = 10–12) in the southwestern U.S. Three profiles emerged which we labeled socially precarious (50%), socially self-confident (41%), and socially avoidant (9%). R3Step and BCH procedures indicated that higher levels of felt pressure from all three sources resulted in a significantly higher likelihood of being in the socially precarious profile compared to the socially self-confident profile and that boys in the socially self-confident profile had significantly higher mean levels of prosocial behavior beliefs toward other boys (M = 3.22) compared to boys in the socially precarious profile (M = 3.01). Overall, this study encourages the socialization of social competency while simultaneously discouraging the perpetuation of certain masculine norms among adolescent boys.

Keywords: Early adolescence, gender identity, latent profile analysis, parents, peers, prosocial