The conflicting standards dilemma and gender: a mediating model of its affective implications and coping styles.
Women face both traditional and nontraditional standards for gender-appropriate behavior, and society values neither set of standards wholly. In the present study, the author defined this paradox as the Conflicting Standards Dilemma (CSD). Female participants (N = 255) provided descriptions of the levels of femininity and masculinity expected of them by 3 specific others (mother, father, partner) and 3 generalized others (men, women, society), completed a mood questionnaire, and completed a scale assessing 4 proposed coping styles. The results supported the existence of a CSD and partially supported an hypothesized association with negative affect. The author also found support for a mediational model in which coping style mediated the emotional impact of conflicting standards. The results indicated that societal expectations of women are complex and contradictory, and that this situation has a negative impact on women who have not developed adaptive coping styles.
Stroink
Mirella L
ML
Department of Psychology, York University, 4700 Keele Street, Toronto, Ontario, M3J 1P3, Canada. mstroink@yorku.ca
D000223:Adaptation, Psychological; D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D003220:Conflict, Psychological; D004644:Emotions; D005260:Female; D005783:Gender Identity; D006801:Humans; D008960:Models, Psychological; D009864:Ontario; D012044:Regression Analysis; D014930:Women / Q000523:psychology*