Identity Development and Self-Esteem in Transgender Men: The Importance of Masculinity.

Because transgender people often suffer from concerns such as increased depression and anxiety, promoting positive and healthy mental well-being within this community is valuable. Two aspects of well-being that may be particularly relevant to the trans community are identity development and self-esteem. We hypothesized that a better overall transition experience (access to medical and psychological care, support from friends and family, etc.) would predict better identity development, individual self-esteem, and collective self-esteem in transgender men. This prediction was supported in a sample of 145 transmen from 15 different countries. Further exploratory analyses reveal that the direct effects of the transition process on identity development and individual self-esteem were significantly mediated by participants' perceived masculinity-but this mediation did not apply to collective self-esteem. We also found that when comparing overall transition experiences in the countries represented in our sample, the process was most positive in transmen from Australia and New Zealand, with experiences in the U.S., Canada, and Europe as less positive. Providing a supportive transition process and validating transmen's masculinity are important factors in paving the way for them to have healthy identity development and self-esteem.

Fear of Crime among Female North Korean Defectors in South Korea.

Although some studies have focused on immigrants' fear of crime in the United States, it is important to point out that the number of North Korean defectors to South Korea has rapidly increased since the 1990s. Therefore, understanding factors associated with fear of crime for North Korean immigrants, especially female defectors, is important for ensuring their successful transitions into South Korean culture. The present study used existing survey data from a sample of female North Korean defectors to explore factors related to fear of crime. Results indicate that the number of North Korean friends, language proficiency, and patriarchal attitudes toward gender were significant predictors of fear of crime for the North Korean female defectors. Findings are described and discussed as a potential source for policymaking to reduce North Korean immigrants' acculturative stress and fear of crime and to encourage smooth transitions into new cultures.

When It Is Not So Funny: Prevalence of Friendly Sexist Teasing and Consequences to Gender Self-Esteem.

This research investigates the phenomenon of "friendly" sexist teases (FSTs), which we define as playful intergroup teases that are based on the negative gender stereotypes that devalue one's gender group. We first employed a diary study to explore the prevalence of FSTs in college students' everyday life and found that this type of teasing tends to occur in social situations and often between close others. In a second study, we experimentally manipulated perceived closeness with the teaser. We predicted that individuals teased by someone with whom they shared a perceived closeness would interpret FSTs as playful fun; therefore, the tease would not have a negative psychological effect. We further predicted that those teased by someone less close would likely focus on the literal content of the sexist tease, resulting in negative consequences to gender self-esteem. Results supported these predictions and provided insight into the phenomenon of FSTs.

Forming impressions: effects of facial expression and gender stereotypes.

The present study of 138 participants explored how facial expressions and gender stereotypes influence impressions. It was predicted that images of smiling women would be evaluated more favorably on traits reflecting warmth, and that images of non-smiling men would be evaluated more favorably on traits reflecting competence. As predicted, smiling female faces were rated as more warm; however, contrary to prediction, perceived competence of male faces was not affected by facial expression. Participants' female stereotype endorsement was a significant predictor for evaluations of female faces; those who ascribed more strongly to traditional female stereotypes reported the most positive impressions of female faces displaying a smiling expression. However, a similar effect was not found for images of men; endorsement of traditional male stereotypes did not predict participants' impressions of male faces.

Warmth Trumps Competence in Evaluations of Both Ingroup and Outgroup.

Research from a number of social psychological traditions suggests that social perceivers should be more concerned with evaluating others' intentions (i.e., warmth) relative to evaluating others' ability to act on those intentions (i.e., competence). The present research examined whether warmth evaluations have cognitive primacy over competence evaluations in a direct reaction-time comparison and whether the effect is moderated by ingroup versus outgroup membership. Participants evaluated as quickly as possible whether warmth versus competence traits described photographs of racial ingroup versus outgroup members expressing neutral emotions. Responses supported the hypothesis that evaluations of warmth take precedence over evaluations of competence; participants were faster to evaluate others on warmth-related traits compared to competence-related traits. Moreover, this primacy effect was not moderated by racial group membership. The data from this research speak to the robustness of the primacy of warmth in social evaluation.