Ambivalent Sexism, Interpersonal Relationships and Attributional Complexity of School Counselors in Istanbul

Year 2021, Volume: 11 Issue: 1, 323 - 339, 05.01.2021

Feyza Dinçer , Seyfi Kenan , Seval Erden Çınar

https://doi.org/10.18039/ajesi.687143

Abstract

Since school counselors became an internal part of the school system, they are responsible for promoting psychological and mental health of their students as well as providing guidance for them. In order to fulfill these responsibilities, school counselors are expected to have empathetic, inclusive, democratic, and egalitarian attitudes. As a repercussion of these required such attitudes, the school counselors are expected to treat every person equally regardless of their gender, race, and lifestyle, and not to discriminate people based on their attributions, and maintain healthy interpersonal relationships within the counseling settings. Thus, the aim of this research is to examine school counselors’ ambivalent sexism in the context of interpersonal relationships and attributional complexity. For this purpose, the relationships between interpersonal relationship dimensions (empathy, approval dependence, trust others, and emotional awareness), ambivalent sexism, and attributional complexity were analyzed. Ambivalent Sexism Inventory, Attributional Complexity Scale, and Scale of Interpersonal Relationship Dimensions were used as instruments. With a sample of 340 school counselors from Istanbul, our findings indicate that ambivalent sexism, interpersonal relationship dimensions, and attributional complexity are correlated with each other on different levels. Furthermore, we found some unexpected results such as a high level of sexism and a low level of empathy accompanied by positive causal relationships between ambivalent sexism and empathy and emotional awareness. In the end, the findings of this study essentially aspire to raise awareness about the issue of sexism among prospective and working school counselors in addition to stressing the need for boosting empathetic attitudes.

Keywords

Ambivalent sexism, attributional complexity, empathy, interpersonal relations, school counseling

Supporting Institution

-

Project Number

-

Thanks

-

References

• Allyn, R., & Treas, J. (2014). Attitudes toward women. In A.C. Michalos (Ed.), Encyclopedia of quality of life and well- being research. Dordrecht: Springer Science+Business.
• Baker, L.R. (1999). What is this thing called “Commonsense psychology”? Philosophical Explorations, 1, 3- 19.
• Bauman, L.C. & Karel, A. (2013). Encyclopedia of behavioral medicine. New York: Springer Science.
• Bongiorno, R., Langbroek, C., Bain, P.G., Ting, M., & Ryan, M.K. (2019). Why women are blamed for being sexually harassed: The effects of empathy for female victims and male perpetrators. Psychology of Women Quarterly, 20(10), 1-17.
• Buluş, M. (2001). Kişi algı ölçeğinin öğretmen adayları için güvenirlik ve geçerlik çalışması. Eurasian Journal of Educational Research, 5.
• Chapleau, K.M., Oswald, D.L., & Russell, B.L. (2007). How ambivalent sexism toward women and men support rape myth acceptance. Sex Roles, 57, 131–136.
• Dewey, J. (1927). The public and its problems. New York: Holt.
• Erden İmamoğlu, S. (2009). Kişilerarası İlişkiler. İstanbul: Yeni İnsan Yayınevi.
• Erikson, E. (1982). The life cycle completed. New York: Norton.
• Esen-Aygun, H. (2018). The relationship between pre–service teachers’ cognitive flexibility and interpersonal problem solving skills. Eurasian Journal of Educational Research, 77, 105-128.
• Fletcher, G.J.O., & Reeder, G. (1986). Attributional complexity: An individual differences measure. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. DOI: 10.1037/0022-3514.51.4.875.
• Foels, R.,& Reid, L.D. (2010). Gender differences in social dominance orientation: The role of cognitive complexity. Sex Roles, 62(9-10), 684-692.
• Graham, S., & Folkes, V.S. (1990). Attribution theory: Applications to achievement, mental health, and interpersonal conflict. New York and London : Taylor and Francis Group Psychlogy Press.
• Glick, P., & Fiske, S.T. (1996). The Ambivalent Sexism Inventory: Differentiating hostile and benevolent sexism. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 70(3), 491-512.
• Glick, P., & Fiske, S.T. (1997). Hostile and benevolent sexism: Measuring ambivalent sexist attitudes toward women. Psychology of Women Quarterly, 21(1), 119-135.
• Grubbs, J.B., Exline, J.J., & Twenge, J.M. (2014). Psychological entitlement and ambivalent sexism: Understanding the role of entitlement in predicting two forms of sexism. Sex Roles, 70, 209–220.
• Heider, F. (1958). The psychology of interpersonal relations. New York: John Wiley& Sons.
• Helgeson, V. S. (2009). Psychology of gender (3rd ed.). Upper Saddle River: Pearson Education, Inc.
• İmamoğlu, S. (2008). Genç yetişkinlikte kişilerarasi ilişkilerin cinsiyet, cinsiyet rolleri ve yalnızlık algısı açısından incelenmesi. (Yayımlanmamış Doktora Tezi). Marmara Üniversitesi, Eğitim Bilimleri Enstitüsü, Istanbul.
• Işık, R. (2008). The pedictors of understanding honor and attitudes toward honor related violance: Ambivalent sexism and system justification. (Unpublished Master Thesis). Middle East Technical University, The Graduate School of Social Sciences, Ankara.
• Kâgitçibaşi, Ç. (1990). Family and socialization in cross-cultural perspective: A model of change. In J. J. Berman (Ed.), Current theory and research in motivation, Vol. 37. Nebraska Symposium on Motivation, 1989: Cross-cultural perspectives (pp. 135-200). Lincoln, NE, US: University of Nebraska Press.
• King, W.C., Miles, E.W., & Kniska, J. (1991). Boys will be boys (and girls will be girls): The attiribution of gender role streotypes in a gaming situation. Sex Roles, 25, 607- 623.
• Klerman, G.L. (1989). The interpersonal model. In. J.J. Mann (Ed.), Models of depressive disorders (p. 45- 77). New York, NY: Plenum Press.
• Korkut, F. (1997). Rehberliğin ilkeleri ve demokrasi anlayışı. Ekonomik Yaklaşım, 8(27), 251- 258.
• Kuzgun, Y. (2008). Rehberlik ve psikolojik danışma. Ankara: Nobel.
• Lakshman, C. (2013). Biculturalism and attributional complexity: Cross-cultural leadership effectiveness. Journal of International Business Studies, 44, 922–940.
• Martinez, C., Paterna, C., Roux, P., & Falomir, J.R. (2010). Predicting gender awareness: The relevance of neo-sexism. Journal of Gender Studies, 19(1), 1-12.
• McGarty, C., Yzerbyt, V.Y., & Spears, R. (2002). Stereotypes as explanations: The formation of meaningful beliefs about social groups. Cambridge University Press; Cambridge.
• Miller L., Taha L., & Jensen E. (2013). From guidance to school counseling: New models in school mental health. In: Clauss-Ehlers C., Serpell Z., Weist M. (eds), Handbook of Culturally Responsive School Mental Health (p. 43- 56). New York, NY: Springer.
• Rogers, C. R. (1983). Empatik olmak değeri anlaşılmamış bir varoluş şeklidir. (F. Akkoyun, Çev.). Ankara Üniversitesi, Eğitim Bilimleri Fakültesi Dergisi, 16 (1), 103–123.
• Rotter, J.B. (1967). A new scale for the measurement of interpersonal trust. Journal of Personality, 35, 651-665.
• Ruth, L., & Nepier, J. (2014). Benevolent sexism. Encyclopedia of Quality of Life and Well-Being Research.
• Sakallı-Uğurlu, N. (2002). Çelişkili duygulu cinsiyetçilik ölçeği: Geçerlik ve güvenirlik çalışması. Türk Psikoloji Dergisi, 17(49), 47- 58.
• Sakallı-Uğurlu, N., Yalçın, Z.S., & Glick, P. (2007). Ambivalent sexism, belief in a just world, and empathy as predictors of Turkish students’ attitudes toward rape victims. Sex Roles, 57(11-12), 889-895.
• Stephan, W.G. (1989). Cognitive approach to stereotyping. In Bar- Tal et.al. (Ed.), Stereotyping and prejudice (p.37- 57). New York: Springer Science+ Media.
• Tam, K.P., Au, A., & Leung, A.K.Y. (2008). Attributionally more complex people show less punitiveness and racism. Journal of Research in Personality 42 (4), 1074–1081.
• Taşdemir, N., & Sakallı-Uğurlu, N. (2010). The relationships between ambivalent sexism and religiosity among Turkish university students. Sex Roles, 62 (7-8), 420–426.
• Yeşilyaprak, B. (2007). Eğitimde rehberlik hizmetleri. Ankara : Nobel.