dawn england | Middlesex University (original) (raw)

Papers by dawn england

Research paper thumbnail of Gendered interactions and their consequences: A dynamical perspective

Research paper thumbnail of Preservice Teacher Perceptions of the Online Teaching and Learning Environment during COVID-19 Lockdown in the UAE

Education Sciences

This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative... more This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY

Research paper thumbnail of An Exploration of Gender-related Characteristics, P eer Interactions, and Psychosocial Adjustment

Research paper thumbnail of An Exploration of Environmental Influences on Elementary School Attainment in Rural Guatemala

Increasing elementary school attainment globally remains a key focus for improving internationall... more Increasing elementary school attainment globally remains a key focus for improving internationally child development (UNESCO, 2010), and for girls in particular (UNICEF, 2015). This dissertation was designed to test and explore specific areas to target to improve educational attainment for rural indigenous communities using a mixed-methods approach (i.e., quantitative survey of 264 mothers and qualitative interviews with 37 of those mothers 3.5 years later) with a Mayan community in Camanchaj, Guatemala. The first study was designed to examine the educational trajectories available to children in this community (e.g., dropping out, graduating 6 th grade) by age, grade, and gender, and identified risks and vulnerabilities for educational attainment. The second study was a logistic regression to examine maternal factors that predict the likelihood of a child graduating from elementary school or dropping out in this community, above and beyond covariates of poverty and health and found that maternal education predicted educational attainment for both boys as girls as well as maternal beliefs about the importance of school for getting a job, which was particularly strong predictor for boys. The third study probed findings from Studies 1 and 2 using Experiential Thematic Analyses and Frequency Analyses to examine processes and cognitions involved in a child's graduating elementary school, dropping out, and community beliefs and attitudes regarding education and gender equality. Findings highlight the need for interventions that are contextually and culturally appropriate and that consider complex and interacting factors of poverty, health, and gender inequality as well as maternal and community-level attitudes and beliefs to promote elementary school attainment globally. DEDICATION This dissertation is dedicated to the babies that made this possible: To Maya who brought me her mama, to Jeannette who gave me a reason to return to this community time and time again, and finally to Lucy who slept on my chest while I wrote.

Research paper thumbnail of Gender-Based Relationship Efficacy Questionnaire

Research paper thumbnail of ‘It's not that we hate you’: Understanding children's gender attitudes and expectancies about peer relationships

British Journal of Developmental Psychology, 2011

Widespread gender segregation, evident throughout elementary school, seems to imply that girls an... more Widespread gender segregation, evident throughout elementary school, seems to imply that girls and boys have negative feelings and thoughts about one another, and classic theories of inter-group processes support this idea. However, research has generally overlooked children's feelings and perceptions about gender-related interpersonal interactions. This paper investigates the nature of children's attitudes about same-and other-gender peers, and explores how those attitudes relate to the expectancies and beliefs children hold about same-and other-gender peer interactions. Children (N = 98 fifth graders) completed questionnaires assessing their global liking of own-and other-gender peers (Yee & Brown, 1994), positive and negative attitudes about ownand other-gender peers, and outcome expectancies related to interacting with own-and other-gender peers. Results indicated that rather than being characterized by out-group negativity, children's inter-group gender attitudes are best characterized by an in-group positivity bias. Children's positive and negative affective attitudes were also significantly associated with outcome expectancies. In contrast, global liking of own-and othergender peers was less predictive of outcome expectancies. Thus, the greater specificity of the affective attitude measures appeared to be a more predictive and potentially fruitful gauge of children's feelings about own-and other-gender peers. Results are discussed in terms of the need for finer grained and more extensive studies of children's gender-related feelings and cognitions about own-and other-gender peers. Children's membership in social groups, such as gender, plays an important role in how they relate to other people. In fact, the mere act of categorizing oneself and others into social groups changes the nature of interpersonal perceptions and behaviours (Tajfel &

Research paper thumbnail of The student experience of student-to-teacher feedback

Research paper thumbnail of Quantifying gender norm resistance

Research paper thumbnail of Relationship Efficacy and School Attitudes Questionnaire

Research paper thumbnail of From the Sleeping Princess to the World-Saving Daughter of the Chief: Examining Young Children’s Perceptions of ‘Old’ versus ‘New’ Disney Princess Characters

Social Sciences

Both popular and academic discourse has noted progressive change in the gender role portrayals of... more Both popular and academic discourse has noted progressive change in the gender role portrayals of much-loved Disney princess characters. However, at present, little is known about children’s recognition of such changes, or of their interpretation of princesses’ gendered behavior. This study therefore asked 131 8–9-year-old UK children to attribute various feminine and masculine characteristics to ‘princesses’ both before and after watching an ‘old’ (Sleeping Beauty) versus ‘new’ (Moana) Disney princess movie. Post-movie they were also asked to attribute these characteristics to the princess characters (Aurora and Moana respectively) and were assessed on their labelling of thirteen popular female characters as ‘princesses’. Results showed that whilst children recognized the largely feminine versus androgynous gendered profiles of Aurora versus Moana respectively, viewing a ‘newer’ Disney movie did not change their perception of ‘princesses’ more broadly. Moreover, a large proportion ...

Research paper thumbnail of The Influence of Gender-Based Relationship Efficacy on Attitudes Toward School

Research paper thumbnail of Gender-identity typologies are related to gender-typing, friendships, and social-emotional adjustment in Dutch emerging adults

International Journal of Behavioral Development

The current study examined emerging adults’ gender identity and its link with several gender-rela... more The current study examined emerging adults’ gender identity and its link with several gender-related and social outcomes, by using a novel dual-identity approach that was originally developed in children. Dutch emerging adults between 18 and 25 years old ( N = 318, Mage = 21.73, SD = 2.02; 51% female) indicated their similarity to the own-gender group and the other-gender group to assess gender identity. They completed questionnaires assessing gender-typed behavior (internalized sexualization, toughness, emotional stoicism) and attitudes (i.e., sexism); friendship efficacy and ability; and social-emotional adjustment. Cluster analysis on the gender-identity items revealed four gender-identity types: (a) feeling similar to one’s own gender, but not to the other gender (Own-GS); (b) feeling similar to both one’s own and the other gender (Both-GS); (c) feeling dissimilar to one’s own gender (Low-Own-GS); and (d) feeling similar to neither gender (Low-GS). Own-GS and Low-GS adults were ...

Research paper thumbnail of Exploring dual gender typicality among young adults in the United States

International Journal of Behavioral Development

The goal of the current study was to better understand the development of gender typicality in yo... more The goal of the current study was to better understand the development of gender typicality in young adulthood by applying the dual-identity approach to gender typicality, previously developed with children, to a university sample. Participants (n ¼ 215, M age ¼ 20.20 years; 62% female) were asked to rate their perceived similarity to both own-and other-gender peers. They also completed questionnaires assessing sexist attitudes, internalized sexualization (females), adherence to male-typed behaviors in the context of interpersonal relationships (males; adherence to physical toughness and restrictive emotional expressivity), gender-based relationship efficacy, friendships, self-esteem, social self-efficacy, and social anxiety. Results indicated that self-perceived gender typicality involves comparisons to both gender groups, and that meaningful typologies can be created based on similarity to ownand other-gender groups. As with children, results indicated that identifying with one's own gender was advantageous in terms of low social anxiety and relationships with own-gender peers. For adults who identified with both own-and other-gender peers, we identified additional social benefits (i.e., efficacy and friendships with other-gender peers). Further, we identified a downside to owngender typicality: individuals who identified only with their own gender had more sexist attitudes than those who identified with the other gender. Findings support the viability of the dual-identity approach in young adults, and have implications for researchers assessing gender typicality across development.

Research paper thumbnail of Outcome Expectancies Measure

Research paper thumbnail of Perceived Similarity to Gender Groups Measure

Research paper thumbnail of The Rise of the Androgynous Princess: Examining Representations of Gender in Prince and Princess Characters of Disney Movies Released 2009–2016

Social Sciences

Previous quantitative research examining Disney movies has highlighted that whilst prince charact... more Previous quantitative research examining Disney movies has highlighted that whilst prince characters display largely balanced gender profiles, princesses exhibit biased gender role portrayals—performing mostly feminine characteristics, rarely participating in rescue behavior, and concluding movies in romantic relationships with the prince. However, such research, as well as public commentary, has also suggested that princess characters in movies released across the 2000s and 2010s may have more positive gender role portrayals. This study aimed to test these assertions by utilizing content coding analysis to examine the behavioral characteristics, rescue behavior, and romantic conclusions of prince and princess characters in five iconic Disney films released between 2009 and 2016 (The Princess and the Frog, Tangled, Brave (released under Pixar), Frozen, and Moana). Comparisons were also made with earlier titles to assess historical changes. Results showed that princesses in “2000s to...

Research paper thumbnail of Gender-Based Interaction Outcome Expectancies Measure

Research paper thumbnail of A Dual Identity Approach for Conceptualizing and Measuring Children's Gender Identity

Child Development, 2016

The goal was to test a new dual identity perspective on gender identity by asking children (n = 4... more The goal was to test a new dual identity perspective on gender identity by asking children (n = 467) in three grades (Mage = 5.7, 7.6, 9.5) to consider the relation of the self to both boys and girls. This change shifted the conceptualization of gender identity from one to two dimensions, provided insights into the meaning and measurement of gender identity, and allowed for revisiting ideas about the roles of gender identity in adjustment. Using a graphical measure to allow assessment of identity in young children and cluster analyses to determine types of identity, it was found that individual and developmental differences in how similar children feel to both genders, and these variations matter for many important personal and social outcomes.

Research paper thumbnail of The Correlates and Consequences of Tomboyism: An Exploration of Gender-related Characteristics, Peer Interactions, and Psychosocial Adjustment

Research paper thumbnail of Gender Role Portrayal and the Disney Princesses

Sex Roles, Feb 10, 2011

The popular Disney Princess line includes nine films (e.g., Snow White, Beauty and the Beast) and... more The popular Disney Princess line includes nine films (e.g., Snow White, Beauty and the Beast) and over 25,000 marketable products. Gender role depictions of the prince and princess characters were examined with a focus on their behavioral characteristics and climactic outcomes in the films. Results suggest that the prince and princess characters differ in their portrayal of traditionally masculine and feminine characteristics, these gender role portrayals are complex, and trends towards egalitarian gender roles are not linear over time. Content coding analyses demonstrate that all of the movies portray some stereotypical representations of gender, including the most recent film, The Princess and the Frog. Although both the male and female roles have changed over time in the Disney Princess line, the male characters exhibit more androgyny throughout and less change in their gender role portrayals.

Research paper thumbnail of Gendered interactions and their consequences: A dynamical perspective

Research paper thumbnail of Preservice Teacher Perceptions of the Online Teaching and Learning Environment during COVID-19 Lockdown in the UAE

Education Sciences

This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative... more This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY

Research paper thumbnail of An Exploration of Gender-related Characteristics, P eer Interactions, and Psychosocial Adjustment

Research paper thumbnail of An Exploration of Environmental Influences on Elementary School Attainment in Rural Guatemala

Increasing elementary school attainment globally remains a key focus for improving internationall... more Increasing elementary school attainment globally remains a key focus for improving internationally child development (UNESCO, 2010), and for girls in particular (UNICEF, 2015). This dissertation was designed to test and explore specific areas to target to improve educational attainment for rural indigenous communities using a mixed-methods approach (i.e., quantitative survey of 264 mothers and qualitative interviews with 37 of those mothers 3.5 years later) with a Mayan community in Camanchaj, Guatemala. The first study was designed to examine the educational trajectories available to children in this community (e.g., dropping out, graduating 6 th grade) by age, grade, and gender, and identified risks and vulnerabilities for educational attainment. The second study was a logistic regression to examine maternal factors that predict the likelihood of a child graduating from elementary school or dropping out in this community, above and beyond covariates of poverty and health and found that maternal education predicted educational attainment for both boys as girls as well as maternal beliefs about the importance of school for getting a job, which was particularly strong predictor for boys. The third study probed findings from Studies 1 and 2 using Experiential Thematic Analyses and Frequency Analyses to examine processes and cognitions involved in a child's graduating elementary school, dropping out, and community beliefs and attitudes regarding education and gender equality. Findings highlight the need for interventions that are contextually and culturally appropriate and that consider complex and interacting factors of poverty, health, and gender inequality as well as maternal and community-level attitudes and beliefs to promote elementary school attainment globally. DEDICATION This dissertation is dedicated to the babies that made this possible: To Maya who brought me her mama, to Jeannette who gave me a reason to return to this community time and time again, and finally to Lucy who slept on my chest while I wrote.

Research paper thumbnail of Gender-Based Relationship Efficacy Questionnaire

Research paper thumbnail of ‘It's not that we hate you’: Understanding children's gender attitudes and expectancies about peer relationships

British Journal of Developmental Psychology, 2011

Widespread gender segregation, evident throughout elementary school, seems to imply that girls an... more Widespread gender segregation, evident throughout elementary school, seems to imply that girls and boys have negative feelings and thoughts about one another, and classic theories of inter-group processes support this idea. However, research has generally overlooked children's feelings and perceptions about gender-related interpersonal interactions. This paper investigates the nature of children's attitudes about same-and other-gender peers, and explores how those attitudes relate to the expectancies and beliefs children hold about same-and other-gender peer interactions. Children (N = 98 fifth graders) completed questionnaires assessing their global liking of own-and other-gender peers (Yee & Brown, 1994), positive and negative attitudes about ownand other-gender peers, and outcome expectancies related to interacting with own-and other-gender peers. Results indicated that rather than being characterized by out-group negativity, children's inter-group gender attitudes are best characterized by an in-group positivity bias. Children's positive and negative affective attitudes were also significantly associated with outcome expectancies. In contrast, global liking of own-and othergender peers was less predictive of outcome expectancies. Thus, the greater specificity of the affective attitude measures appeared to be a more predictive and potentially fruitful gauge of children's feelings about own-and other-gender peers. Results are discussed in terms of the need for finer grained and more extensive studies of children's gender-related feelings and cognitions about own-and other-gender peers. Children's membership in social groups, such as gender, plays an important role in how they relate to other people. In fact, the mere act of categorizing oneself and others into social groups changes the nature of interpersonal perceptions and behaviours (Tajfel &

Research paper thumbnail of The student experience of student-to-teacher feedback

Research paper thumbnail of Quantifying gender norm resistance

Research paper thumbnail of Relationship Efficacy and School Attitudes Questionnaire

Research paper thumbnail of From the Sleeping Princess to the World-Saving Daughter of the Chief: Examining Young Children’s Perceptions of ‘Old’ versus ‘New’ Disney Princess Characters

Social Sciences

Both popular and academic discourse has noted progressive change in the gender role portrayals of... more Both popular and academic discourse has noted progressive change in the gender role portrayals of much-loved Disney princess characters. However, at present, little is known about children’s recognition of such changes, or of their interpretation of princesses’ gendered behavior. This study therefore asked 131 8–9-year-old UK children to attribute various feminine and masculine characteristics to ‘princesses’ both before and after watching an ‘old’ (Sleeping Beauty) versus ‘new’ (Moana) Disney princess movie. Post-movie they were also asked to attribute these characteristics to the princess characters (Aurora and Moana respectively) and were assessed on their labelling of thirteen popular female characters as ‘princesses’. Results showed that whilst children recognized the largely feminine versus androgynous gendered profiles of Aurora versus Moana respectively, viewing a ‘newer’ Disney movie did not change their perception of ‘princesses’ more broadly. Moreover, a large proportion ...

Research paper thumbnail of The Influence of Gender-Based Relationship Efficacy on Attitudes Toward School

Research paper thumbnail of Gender-identity typologies are related to gender-typing, friendships, and social-emotional adjustment in Dutch emerging adults

International Journal of Behavioral Development

The current study examined emerging adults’ gender identity and its link with several gender-rela... more The current study examined emerging adults’ gender identity and its link with several gender-related and social outcomes, by using a novel dual-identity approach that was originally developed in children. Dutch emerging adults between 18 and 25 years old ( N = 318, Mage = 21.73, SD = 2.02; 51% female) indicated their similarity to the own-gender group and the other-gender group to assess gender identity. They completed questionnaires assessing gender-typed behavior (internalized sexualization, toughness, emotional stoicism) and attitudes (i.e., sexism); friendship efficacy and ability; and social-emotional adjustment. Cluster analysis on the gender-identity items revealed four gender-identity types: (a) feeling similar to one’s own gender, but not to the other gender (Own-GS); (b) feeling similar to both one’s own and the other gender (Both-GS); (c) feeling dissimilar to one’s own gender (Low-Own-GS); and (d) feeling similar to neither gender (Low-GS). Own-GS and Low-GS adults were ...

Research paper thumbnail of Exploring dual gender typicality among young adults in the United States

International Journal of Behavioral Development

The goal of the current study was to better understand the development of gender typicality in yo... more The goal of the current study was to better understand the development of gender typicality in young adulthood by applying the dual-identity approach to gender typicality, previously developed with children, to a university sample. Participants (n ¼ 215, M age ¼ 20.20 years; 62% female) were asked to rate their perceived similarity to both own-and other-gender peers. They also completed questionnaires assessing sexist attitudes, internalized sexualization (females), adherence to male-typed behaviors in the context of interpersonal relationships (males; adherence to physical toughness and restrictive emotional expressivity), gender-based relationship efficacy, friendships, self-esteem, social self-efficacy, and social anxiety. Results indicated that self-perceived gender typicality involves comparisons to both gender groups, and that meaningful typologies can be created based on similarity to ownand other-gender groups. As with children, results indicated that identifying with one's own gender was advantageous in terms of low social anxiety and relationships with own-gender peers. For adults who identified with both own-and other-gender peers, we identified additional social benefits (i.e., efficacy and friendships with other-gender peers). Further, we identified a downside to owngender typicality: individuals who identified only with their own gender had more sexist attitudes than those who identified with the other gender. Findings support the viability of the dual-identity approach in young adults, and have implications for researchers assessing gender typicality across development.

Research paper thumbnail of Outcome Expectancies Measure

Research paper thumbnail of Perceived Similarity to Gender Groups Measure

Research paper thumbnail of The Rise of the Androgynous Princess: Examining Representations of Gender in Prince and Princess Characters of Disney Movies Released 2009–2016

Social Sciences

Previous quantitative research examining Disney movies has highlighted that whilst prince charact... more Previous quantitative research examining Disney movies has highlighted that whilst prince characters display largely balanced gender profiles, princesses exhibit biased gender role portrayals—performing mostly feminine characteristics, rarely participating in rescue behavior, and concluding movies in romantic relationships with the prince. However, such research, as well as public commentary, has also suggested that princess characters in movies released across the 2000s and 2010s may have more positive gender role portrayals. This study aimed to test these assertions by utilizing content coding analysis to examine the behavioral characteristics, rescue behavior, and romantic conclusions of prince and princess characters in five iconic Disney films released between 2009 and 2016 (The Princess and the Frog, Tangled, Brave (released under Pixar), Frozen, and Moana). Comparisons were also made with earlier titles to assess historical changes. Results showed that princesses in “2000s to...

Research paper thumbnail of Gender-Based Interaction Outcome Expectancies Measure

Research paper thumbnail of A Dual Identity Approach for Conceptualizing and Measuring Children's Gender Identity

Child Development, 2016

The goal was to test a new dual identity perspective on gender identity by asking children (n = 4... more The goal was to test a new dual identity perspective on gender identity by asking children (n = 467) in three grades (Mage = 5.7, 7.6, 9.5) to consider the relation of the self to both boys and girls. This change shifted the conceptualization of gender identity from one to two dimensions, provided insights into the meaning and measurement of gender identity, and allowed for revisiting ideas about the roles of gender identity in adjustment. Using a graphical measure to allow assessment of identity in young children and cluster analyses to determine types of identity, it was found that individual and developmental differences in how similar children feel to both genders, and these variations matter for many important personal and social outcomes.

Research paper thumbnail of The Correlates and Consequences of Tomboyism: An Exploration of Gender-related Characteristics, Peer Interactions, and Psychosocial Adjustment

Research paper thumbnail of Gender Role Portrayal and the Disney Princesses

Sex Roles, Feb 10, 2011

The popular Disney Princess line includes nine films (e.g., Snow White, Beauty and the Beast) and... more The popular Disney Princess line includes nine films (e.g., Snow White, Beauty and the Beast) and over 25,000 marketable products. Gender role depictions of the prince and princess characters were examined with a focus on their behavioral characteristics and climactic outcomes in the films. Results suggest that the prince and princess characters differ in their portrayal of traditionally masculine and feminine characteristics, these gender role portrayals are complex, and trends towards egalitarian gender roles are not linear over time. Content coding analyses demonstrate that all of the movies portray some stereotypical representations of gender, including the most recent film, The Princess and the Frog. Although both the male and female roles have changed over time in the Disney Princess line, the male characters exhibit more androgyny throughout and less change in their gender role portrayals.