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CAMPBELL
LEAPER RESEARCH INTERESTS AND CURRENT PROJECTS
Practical Implications of Research Program |
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Professor Leaper's research has been
featured on televisoin and radio; and in magazine and newspaper
articles. |
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As a research fellow at Shortly after joining the faculty at UCSC, Professor Leaper carried out a set of studies funded by a grant from the National Institute of Mental Health. More specifically, these studies investigated parental gender-typing in families with a preschool-age child. Leaper considered aspects of the interactive context as moderators of gender typing. Relevant factors that were examined included the following: child gender, type of toy, parent gender, marital status, parent attitudes, maternal employment, and ethnicity. (For publications that emerged from this project, see the following: Leaper, Leve, Strasser, & Schwartz, 1995; Leaper & Gleason, 1996; Leaper & Valin, 1996; Tenenbaum & Leaper, 1997; Tenenbaum & Leaper, 1998; Leaper, 2000a.) One of Professor Leaper's former doctoral students, Harriet Tenenbaum, looked at the possible influences of parents' attitudes and behaviors on gender-related variations in pre-teen children's science and computer learning. Dr. Tenenbaum arranged parents to teach their fifth- or seventh-grade child in various tasks. One set of tasks included demonstrations of physical science phenomena; a second set involved computer programming; and a third set concerned interpersonal dilemmas. Dr. Tenenbaum's dissertation findings indicated gender effects on parents' teaching language during the science tasks (see Tenenbaum & Leaper, 2003.) Professor Leaper and Harriet Tenenbaum completed a meta-analytic review of the research literature on the effects of parents' gender schemas on children. Their findings indicate an overall effect of parents' gender cognitions that vary in magnitude depending on the type of parent schema and the type of child outcome (see Tenenbaum & Leaper, 2002.) Leaper has worked with former doctoral student Laura Sabattini to examine differences in young adults' perceptions of the parenting styles of mothers and fathers who are classified as either traditional or egalitarian. The findings indicate especially strong differences between the ratings of traditional and egalitarian fathers (compared to differences between the ratings of traditional and egalitarian mothers). (See Sabattini & Leaper, 2004.) Doctoral student Carly
Friedman (formerly Raasch) and Professor Leaper has a
chapter
on "Parenting Girls and Boys" in Marc Bornstein's second edition of the
Handbook of Parenting (see Leaper, 2002).
Also, he has a chapter on "The Socialization of Gender" in Joan Grusec and Paul Hastings' Handbook
of
Socialization (se Leaper &
Friedman,
2007). (For another article on parental gender-typing, also see Leaper
& Bigler, 2004.) |
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Gender-Related Self-Concepts, Stereotypes, Attitudes, and Perceptions of Sexism During the course of his research projects on parental gender typing, Leaper and his students devised the Attitudes Toward Gender (ATG) Questionnaire. The ATG assesses the respondent's attitudes toward equal rights and roles for women and men. (It is adapted from Spence & Helmreich's Attitudes Toward Women Scale.) Both English and Spanish version of the ATG Questionnaire are available on the ATG web page. A more recent version of the ATG, known as the Pacific Attitudes Toward Gender (PATG) Scale (Vaillancourt & Leaper, 1997), is also available. The PATG is an eclectic combination of items from various gender attitudes questionnaires including Leaper's own ATG. It can be accessed through the PATG web page. The possible influence of parents' gender schemas on their children was recently investigated in a meta analysis with Harriet Tenenbaum. Their quantitative review indicated a significant and sizable association between parents' gender schemas and various child outcome measures (see Tenenbaum & Leaper, 2002). In collaboration with University of Kentucky Assistant Professor Christia Brown, Professor Leaper is working on a new project designed to investigate adolescent girls' and young women's self-concepts, their awareness of sexism, coping, and their academic achievement (see Leaper & Brown, 2008; Brown & Leaper, in preparation). One doctoral student, Melanie Ayres, is focusing on how girls and women cope with sexism (see Ayres, Friedman, & Leaper, under review). Another student, Carly Friedman (formerly Raasch), is examining if and how sexual-minority women experience discrimination (Friedman, Ayres, & Leaper, in preparation). And a third student, Diana Arias, is considering factors related to women's feminist identity (see Arias & Leaper, under review). Finally, a new student, Rachael Robnett, is planning to examine social identity and gender development.(For other studies related to
gender self-concepts, stereotypes, and attitudes, see the following: Daniels,
Sincharoen, & Leaper, 2005; Leaper
& Bigler, 2004; Smith
&
Leaper,
2006; Tenenbaum
& Leaper, 2003.) |
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Gender
Typing in Friendships and Peer Relationships Former graduate student Tara Smith and Dr. Leaper collaborated on a study
examining adolescent girls' and boys' perceptions of their gender
typicality, peer pressure, peer acceptance, and self-worth (see Smith
&
Leaper,
2006).
They presented model whereby peer acceptance partially mediated the
association between perceived gender typicality and self-worth. One
implication of
the research is that peer rejection may be the most relevant factor
linking
gender nonconformity and adjustment. Further support for this notion
was
seen in another study with former graduate student Elizabeth Daniels
(see Daniels
& Leaper, 2006). They found that peer acceptance mediated the
association between athletic participation and adolescents' self-esteem
one year. There was full mediation for girls and partial mediation for
boys--possibly reflecting the greater importance of peer acceptance for
girls participating in traditionally male-dominated pursuits. (For
reviews
related to gender and peer relations, see Leaper,
1994; Leaper
& Anderson, 1997; Leaper
&
Friedman,
2007; Leaper
& Smith, 2004; Leaper
& Ayres, 2007). |
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Leaper has devised various
classification systems for coding communication strategies. First, he
developed the Psychosocial
Processes Coding Scheme (PPCS) to analyze the expressions of
both assertion and affiliation during social
interactions. The PPCS can be used in sequential analyses in order to
detect communication patterns between speakers. It includes categorical
classifications of communication acts, such as collaboration
(high assertion and high affiliation), control (high
assertion and low affiliation), oblige (high affiliation
and low assertion), and withdraw (low affiliation
and
low assertion). (See Leaper, 1986; Leaper,
1991; Leaper,
Leve, Strasser,
&
Schwartz, 1995; Leaper,
Tenenbaum, & Shaffer, 1999.) In addition, Leaper devised the Psychosocial Processes Rating Scales (PPRS) that assess levels of Interpersonal Affiliation and Personal Assertion on separate 7-point rating scales (see Leaper, 2000). The Psychosocial Processes Rating Scales can be found on the PPRS web page. More recently, two other communication coding schemes were developed. The Interpersonal Negotiation Coding Scheme (INCS) classifies communication strategies as either self-emphasizing, other-emphasizing, collaborative, or withdrawing. The INCS is based on Robert Selman's Interpersonal Negotiation Strategies (INS) Interview and his theoretical model of perspective-taking. The Interpersonal Negotiation Coding Scheme is summarized on the Interpersonal Negotiation Coding Scheme web page. The Self Disclosure and Listener Support Codes classify speakers' personal disclosures as well as the level of overt verbal support provided by the listeners. The coding scheme is based on the system used in Leaper, Carson, Baker, and Holliday's (1995) study. These codes are located on the Self Disclosure and Listener Support Codes web page. For other articles on
language and gender, see the following: Leaper,
1987; Leaper,
Anderson, & Sanders, 1998; Leaper,
1995; Leaper
& Bigler, 2004; Leaper
& Smith, 2004; Leaper & Ayres,
2007. |
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Leaper and his students performed a content analysis of children's television programs. They compared the extent that female and male characters are represented in cartoons. Also, they compared the types of behaviors that female and male characters demonstrate as role models. (See Leaper, Breed, Hoffman, and Perlman, 2002.) |
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In collaboration with former doctoral students Elizabeth Daniels and Sirinda Sincharoen, Professor Leaper investigated the relation between athletic participation, gender, and self concept in children and adults. One study examined relations between gender, sport motives, and athletic identity among adolescents attending summer sports camps (see Daniels, Sincharoen, & Leaper, 2005). Another study involved a longitudinal investigation of sport participation, peer acceptance, and self-esteem among adolescent girls and boys (see Daniels & Leaper, 2006). More recently, Professor Leaper and University of Kentucky Assistant Professor Christia Brown examined adolescent girls' experiences with sexism regarding their athletic abilities (see Leaper & Brown, 2008). |
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One of Professor Leaper's
ongoing research interests concerns gender
inequities
in schools and academic achievement. In particular, he is interested in
social factors that contribute to gender inequities in science
achievement.
In one study, fathers were found to treat daughters and sons
differently
during science teaching tasks but not during non-science teaching tasks
(see Tenenbaum
& Leaper, 2003). Currently, Professor Leaper
is
working with University of Kentucky Assistant Professor Christia
Brown to assess
if and how adolescent girls' awareness of gender discrimination may
affect
their academic achievement. (See Leaper &
Brown, 2008; Brown
& Leaper, in preparation.) |
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Leaper and his students have been reviewing the research literature on gender differences in language and communication. To do this, they have been using meta-analytic techniques that examine overall effect sizes as well as various moderator variables. In the first meta-analysis, studies looking at parents' language behavior to their children were reviewed. Both parent gender (modeling) and child gender (differential treatment) effects on parents' total amount of talking, assertive/instrumental speech, and affiliative/supportive speech were considered. The analyses revealed systematic gender-related differences in language behavior. However, the effects were significantly larger depending on particular contextual variables such as the child's age and the activity setting. In these ways, the research lends support to both social cognitive and sociocultural approaches. (See Leaper, Anderson, & Sanders, 1998.) Another meta analysis examined moderators of gender effects in adults' conversational interruptions. A negligible effect size for gender was indicated across studies. However, when other factors were taken into account--such as the operatoinal definition and aspects of the interactive setting--small to medium effect sizes indicated a greater use of interruption among men than women. (See Anderson & Leaper, 1998.) Also, Leaper has completed a meta-analysis examining moderators of gender effects on talkativeness, affiliative, speech, and assertive speech in children (see Leaper & Smith, 2004) and adults (see Leaper & Ayres, 2007). |
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OF RESEARCH PROGRAM |
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For other information about Campbell
Leaper,
please go to his Home Page. |