No abstract

In this paper, we use meta-analysis to analyze gender differences in recent studies of mathematics performance. First, we meta-analyzed data from 242 studies published between 1990 and 2007, representing the testing of 1,286,350 people. Overall, d = .05, indicating no gender difference, and VR = 1.08, indicating nearly equal male and female variances. Second, we analyzed data from large data sets based on probability sampling of U.S. adolescents over the past 20 years: the NLSY, NELS88, LSAY, and NAEP. Effect sizes for the gender difference ranged between −0.15 and +0.22. Variance ratios ranged from 0.88 to 1.34. Taken together these findings support the view that males and females perform similarly in mathematics.

Objectified body consciousness (OBC)—the tendency to view oneself as an object to be looked at and evaluated by others—has received recent attention as a possible vulnerability factor for depression and disordered eating. Although OBC generally is discussed in developmental terms, extant research has examined primarily the experiences of undergraduates and adults. Our goal in this study was to develop an age‐appropriate measure to allow study of OBC development during preadolescence and adolescence. We modeled the OBC‐Youth after McKinley and Hyde's (1996) OBC‐Classic to measure three components of OBC: body surveillance, body shame, and appearance control beliefs. The 14‐item scale contains modified vocabulary and syntax to make it appropriate for use with preadolescent and adolescent youth. Results indicate that the OBC‐Youth scale is a reliable, valid measure of OBC. Initial findings about the correlates of OBC in preadolescence are discussed.

Objectification theory posits that the tendency to view oneself as an object to be looked at and evaluated by others negatively affects girls', but not boys', subjective well‐being. Although it has been established that women self‐objectify more than men, research in this area has been limited to the study of adult college women. The aim in the current longitudinal study was to investigate the role of body shame and rumination in the link between self‐objectification and depression among a community sample of girls and boys at ages 11 and 13. Results indicated that adolescent girls reported higher levels of self‐objectification, body shame, rumination, and depression than boys. The findings support a model in which body shame and rumination mediate a direct relation between self‐objectification and depression among girls; developmentally, the gender difference in self‐objectification appears before the gender differences in rumination and depression.

Objectified body consciousness (OBC)-the tendency to view one's body as an object for others to look at and evaluate-is theorized to emerge during sexual maturation as adolescents, particularly adolescent girls, experience sexual objectification. Although OBC generally is discussed in developmental terms, research so far has examined primarily the experiences of undergraduates and adults. Our goal in this study was to examine early adolescent experiences with OBC and to explicitly test the idea that OBC is linked to experiences of sexual objectification, such as peer sexual harassment, that early adolescents face as their bodies reach maturity. We tested several structural models of OBC and its relation to puberty, peer sexual harassment, and negative body experience. The prevailing model supported OBC theory's premise that pubertal development and peer sexual harassment increase adolescent girls' tendency toward self-surveillance, which in turn leads to greater body shame. Several pathways in the model were not significant for boys.