This study examined whether negative stereotypes about feminists serve as a barrier to self‐identifying as a feminist. College women were exposed to positive stereotypes about feminists, negative stereotypes about feminists, or were not exposed to stereotypes about feminists (control condition) in a between‐participants design. Women who read a paragraph containing positive stereotypes about feminists were twice as likely to self‐identify as feminists as women in the control condition or the condition in which they read a paragraph containing negative stereotypes about feminists. Women exposed to positive feminist stereotypes had greater nontraditional gender‐role attitudes and performance self‐esteem compared to the no‐stereotype‐control condition.

Seventy-seven undergraduates, primed for autonomous or controlled motivation, were videotaped and physiologically monitored during a stressful interview and subsequent speech. Interview videotapes were coded for behavioral measures of threat response; speech videotapes were coded for performance. It was hypothesized that relative to controlled motivation, autonomous motivation would decrease interview threat response and enhance speech performance, and that threat response would mediate the effect of motivation on performance. Results support the prediction across measures of verbal, paralinguistic, smiling, vocal fundamental frequency, and cardiovascular response. Autonomously primed participants continued to show less cardiovascular threat throughout the later speech and gave better speeches. Finally, speech performance was mediated by interview threat response. Results demonstrate that relative to controlled motivation, autonomous motivation lowers threat response, which enhances performance.

This study examined the reactions of 207 undergraduate women (mean age=20.6, 91.3% White) from a Northeastern U.S. university to a scenario in which a feminist or non-feminist woman did or did not indicate that gender discrimination was the reason that she was passed over for a leadership role. Participants rated the feminist woman as less a victim of discrimination and as more of a complainer than the non-feminist woman. Participants also had a more positive impression of the woman and rated her as less of a complainer when discrimination was certain or ambiguous than when there was little evidence of discrimination. Discussion considers how a feminist label may lead to discounting the possibility of gender discrimination.

Objective The present investigation sought to examine the simultaneous effects of anxiety sensitivity and pain-related anxiety on fear and anxious responding to a 10% carbon dioxide enriched air challenge. Methods Participants included 247 adults (53% women; age M = 21.91 years, SD = 8.41) recruited from the community. At the laboratory, participants were administered a structured clinical interview, completed a battery of self-report measures, and underwent a 10% carbon dioxide enriched air challenge. Results Both anxiety sensitivity and pain-related anxiety were significantly and uniquely predictive of post-challenge panic attacks, total post-challenge panic attack symptoms, and intensity of cognitive panic attack symptoms. Anxiety sensitivity, but not pain-related anxiety, also was predictive of post-challenge physical panic symptoms. The observed significant effects for both anxiety sensitivity and pain-related anxiety were evident above and beyond the variance accounted for by gender, age, current level of non-specific bodily pain, and negative affectivity. Neither anxiety sensitivity nor pain-related anxiety was significantly predictive of change in anxiety focused on bodily sensations or heart rate. Conclusion Results suggest that anxiety sensitivity and pain-related anxiety, although related to one another, may be independently important variables underlying fear reactivity to bodily sensations.

This investigation is a preliminary examination of sexual orientation as a social vulnerability for experiencing HIV/AIDS-related stigma, specifically concerns about disclosure and public attitudes. Participants were 36 heterosexual men and 82 gay men with HIV/AIDS. Consistent with prediction, a heterosexual sexual orientation was significantly associated with HIV/AIDS disclosure concerns. This effect was evident after controlling for various demographic variables, CD4 T-cell count, time since HIV diagnosis, self-esteem, and coping styles. Also, as predicted, similar levels of enacted stigma were evident regardless of sexual orientation. Further work is needed to understand the process of HIV/AIDS disclosure for heterosexual men with this illness and to differentiate the experience of HIV/AIDS-related stigma among gay and straight men with HIV/AIDS.