GENDER DIFFERENCES IN SELF ESTEEM

Gender Differences in Self Esteem

Gender Differences in Self Esteem

Method

Participants

There were 97 students (16 male and 81 female) enrolled in undergraduate psychology course at James Madison University. Our sample consisted of 2 freshmen, 36 sophomores, 39 juniors, and 20 seniors. The students received partial course credit for participating and were treated in accordance with the “Ethical Principles of Psychologists” (American Psychological Association, 1992).

Materials and Procedure

After obtaining consent, we distributed two versions of a hypothetical introductory psychology syllabi:; a brief version (n = 47) and a detailed version (n = 50). The syllabi contained the same general information but differed in their amount of detail.

The brief version of the syllabus was two pages long and contained the teacher's name (to maintain gender neutrality) and contact information, course objectives, the name of the textbook, a brief description of course assignments; a grade distribution, a brief statement of course policies, and a calendar listing when assignments were due. The detailed version, which was six pages long, included more information about each item. The detailed syllabus mentioned the types of questions that were meant to be asked. Similarly, the calendar on the short syllabus listed only due dates for assignments, the detailed syllabus listed which chapters the teacher would cover each day and which chapters would appear on exams.

After students had reviewed the syllabi, we distributed a survey that contained 26 items. The first four items asked questions about syllabus content (e.g., How many exams are there?), which allowed us to determine whether students had attended to the syllabus. The next 14 items consisted of qualities from the Teacher Behavior Checklist (TBC; Buskist et al., 2002). We included the top 10 qualities that students from Buskist et al.'s study rated as representative of master teachers (6 of which faculty also placed in their top 10 list) and 4 qualities that faculty, but not students, included in their top 10 list. Students rated on a four-point Likert-type scale (1 = very unlikely, 4 = very likely). The next five items asked participants to rate on a four-point Likert-type scale (1 = strongly disagree, 4 = strongly agree) whether (a) they would take this course, (b) they would recommend this course to others, (c) they would take another course from Dr. Edwards, (d) this course seemed difficult, and (e) Dr. Edwards seemed difficult. Finally, participants answered three demographic questions.

Results

At least 88% of participants in ...