1 / 14

Gender Differences in Walking Behavior on a College Campus

Explore how gender influences walking preferences, with a focus on group behavior, communication styles, and safety concerns among college students.

salim
Download Presentation

Gender Differences in Walking Behavior on a College Campus

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript

  1. Gender Differences in Walking Preferences Jenny Braun, Sarah J. Hickman, Jeremy Owens Hanover College 2005

  2. Introduction • Women’s bathroom • Groups of women walking to class • Do women travel in groups more often than men travel in groups?

  3. Research • People in Groups • People need interactions with others to feel a sense of belonging (Baumeister & Leary, 1995) • When in a group people feel less anxious and self-aware (Carron, Estabrooks, Prapavessis, & Hausenblas, 1999)

  4. Research (cont.) • Gender Differences in Groups • Women prefer closer proximity to each other than men (Barnard & Bell, 1984) • Females value communication with emotional support (Burelson, 2003 ) • Males value communication that maintains independence (Burelson, 2003 )

  5. Hypothesis • Women are more likely to walk in groups than men are

  6. Methods • Subjects were observed while they were walking to and from class • On a small, Midwestern college campus • Observer recorded the gender of every person and whether or not the person was traveling alone or in a group

  7. Results • 961 observations were collected • 60% of the total observations were female • 36% of females walked in a group • 30% of males walked in a group

  8. Percent Walking in Group Chi Square(1) = 3.60, p = .058

  9. Same Gender Walking in Group Chi Square(1) = 4.08, p = .043

  10. Discussion • Safety Concerns • Women may feel uncomfortable walking alone • Women alone are at greater risk than men for robbery and sexual assault • Men may feel more comfortable walking alone

  11. Discussion • Gender Roles • Male: agentic • Female: communal • Williams & Best, 198

  12. Future Research • Gather research via video camera • Gather more varied results • Observe in different locations • Urban vs. Rural • College-aged vs. Different Age Groups

  13. References Baumeister, R. F., & Leary, M. R. (1995). The need to belong: Desire for interpersonal attachment as a fundamental human motivation. Psychological Bulletin, 117, 497-529. Berdahl, J. L. & Anderson, Cameron. (2005). Men, women, and leadership centralization in groups over time. Group Dynamics: Theory, Research, and Practice, 9(1), 45-57. Burleson, B. R. (2003). The experience and effects of emotional support: What the Study of cultural and gender differences can tell us about close relationships, emotion and interpersonal communication. Personal Relationships, 10(1), 1-23. Carron, A. V., Estabrooks, P. A., Prapavessis, H., & Hausenblas, H.A. (1999). Reductions in the social anxiety of women associated with group membership: Distraction, anonymity, security, or diffusion of evaluation? Group Dynamics: Theory, Research, and Practice, 3(2), 152-160. Hjorthol, R. (2001). Gendered aspects of time related to everyday journeys. Acta Sociologica, 44(1), 37-49. Leary, M. R., Nezlek, J. B., Downs, D., Radford-Davenport, J., Martin J., & McMullen, A. (1994). Self-presentation in everyday interactions: Effects of target familiarity and gender composition. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 67 (4), 664-673.

  14. References (cont.) O'Neil, J. M., Helms, B. J., Gable, R. K., David, L., & Wrightsman, L. S. (1986). Gender-role conflict scale: College men's fear of feminity. Connecticut: Plentum Publishing Corporation. Rudman, L. A., Goodwin, S. A. (2004). Gender differences in automatic in-group bias: Why do women like women more than men like men? Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 87(4), 494-509. Sriram, N. (2002). The role of gender, ethnicity, and age in intergroup behavior in a naturalistic setting. Applied Psychology: An International Review, 51(2), 251-265. Timmers, M., Fischer, A. H., & M. A. S.R. (2003). Ability versus vulnerability: Beliefs about men's and women's emotional behaviour. The Netherlands: Psychology Press Ltd. Williams, J. E., & Best, D. L. (1990). Sex and psyche: Gender and self viewed cross-culturally. Newbury Park, CA: SAGE Publications.

More Related