The role of gender in the processing of dating scripts

Author

Krista M. Reed, Illinois State University
Lea T. Adams, Illinois State University

Periodical Title

Modern Psychological Studies

Volume

3

Number

2

Page Numbers

pages 4-15

Department

Dept. of Psychology

Publisher

University of Tennessee at Chattanooga

Place of Publication

Chattanooga (Tenn.)

Date

1995

Abstract

The issues under investigation were gender differences in either content or memory discrimination of dating scripts and general examination for differences in memory of typical and atypical events using the script pointer plus tag (SP+T) hypothesis. A total of 52 female and 54 male undergraduates participated. Subjects were enrolled in introductory psychology classes at a large midwest university and were primarily Caucasian, single, and between the ages of 18-21 years. In Phase 1 and Phase 2 of the study, items that would possibly occur in 4 different dating scenarios were generated and then rated for typicality. Males and females both generated and rated items similarly in the first 2 phases. In Phase 3, the taped dating stories were presented along with a single-item recognition test which included many of these typical and atypical events. Analyses showed that memory discrimination varied significantly with gender, F(1, 51) = 4.07, p < .05, and typicality, F(1, 51) = 395.80, p < .0001, and a significant gender x typicality interaction was found, F(1, 51) = 7.17, p < .01. Females displayed better memory discrimination overall, especially on atypical items. It was concluded that further investigation on possible gender differences in role, meaning, attention, and social norm affectation of dating scripts may explain differences in memory discrimination.

Subject

Psychology

Discipline

Psychology

Document Type

article

DCMI Type

Text

Extent

12 leaves

Language

English

Call Number

BF1 .M63 v. 3 no. 2 1995

Rights

http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/

Recommended Citation

Reed, Krista M. and Adams, Lea T. (1995) "The role of gender in the processing of dating scripts," Modern Psychological Studies: Vol. 3: No. 2, Article 2.
Available at: https://scholar.utc.edu/mps/vol3/iss2/2