Socialisation In Relation To Public Toilet Visits And Gender
Introduction:
It is a widely held belief that women visit public toilets in groups. Studies of high order primates have shown that females commonly group together within communities. An evolutionary perspective would support the view that females are more likely to find strength in numbers. In Victorian times, women formed female groups for companionship, support and relief from their isolation (Filene, 1986). The view at that time was that women were helpless and in need of protection. This attitude continues today, according to Garside and Klimes-Dougan (2002), whose study of the socialisation of emotions showed that fathers are likely to promote fear-response behaviour in their daughters while punishing this same behaviour in their sons. It was suggested by the Garside and Klimes-Dougan study that the differing approaches to socialisation begin early in development and continue throughout one’s lifetime. In research on farmers markets by Dowdy et al (2004), it was concluded that “females are more sociable than males” (pp 75). The reasoning was that females were socialised to be at ease in these situations. This reasoning is further emphasised by a gender study by Coleman and Thomson (2002), who propose that “… females inspire confidence in each other with very social and positive interaction” (Coleman & Thomson, 2002, pp 5).
Aim:
The aim of this study is to investigate whether or not females are more sociable than males, by observing group sizes of both genders when visiting public toilets.
Hypothesis:
It is hypothesised that females will be shown to frequent public toilets in groups of greater than one more often than males.
Method:
Participants - The participants totalled 243 people: 113 males and 130 females of unknown ages who were in the Agora at La Trobe University. The participants were unaware of their involvement in this observational study.
Materials - Recording sheet.
Procedure - Two observers located at a discrete distance from the Agora toilet entrances at La Trobe University’s Bundoora campus, observed and recorded the number and size of each single sex group that entered the toilets. The observations and recordings were carried out on two separate occasions, the first between 11:50 and 12:20, and the second between 13:00 and 13:40, on weekdays during the academic semester.
Results:
Female and male groups of one or more served as the dependent variable. The results are presented in percentage of female groups and male groups, which were calculated with regards to number of females or males within each gender group. There was a main effect of gender of participants in consideration to group size.
Of the 110 groups of females (fig. 1 & 2) observed, 94 (85.45%) were in groups of one, 12 (10.91%) were in groups of two, and 4 (3.64%) were in groups of three. Of the 110 groups of males (fig. 1 & 3) observed, 107 (97.27%) were in groups of one and 3 (2.73%) were in groups of two. No groups larger than those of three for females and two for males were observed entering the toilets during the observation periods.
The distribution of data shows a strong asymmetrically positive skew (fig. 1). This indicates a strong propensity of both females and males for going to the toilet alone. The range of scores for females was three and for males, two. The mean for females (M=1.182) was higher than that for males (M=1.027). The standard deviations were: females 0.473 and males 0.164.
Overall, there was a ratio (fig. 4) of 5:1 for female to male groups of two or more visiting the Agora toilets. Therefore, there exists an 83.33% probability that a single sex group of two or more people going to the toilet at the Agora will be a group of females.
Discussion:
The results support the hypothesis that females frequent public toilets in groups of greater than one more often than males. Analysis of these results in conjunction with the investigative research lead to several possible conclusions as to why this is so.
Firstly, an evolutionary perspective may lead to the conclusion that this behaviour is a remnant of evolutionary history (Lewin, 1999); that female group behaviour, having helped in survival and reproduction, is carried on in an innate psychological process that has evolved over time.
Secondly, if the social learning theory is applied to Garside and Klimes-Dougan’s (2002) study, it could be argued that, from a behaviourist perspective, modern environmental factors (like crime, for example) drive fathers to foster fear in their daughters but not in their sons, with this learnt response leading to greater numbers of ‘vulnerable females’ grouping together when in ‘dangerous areas.’
Yet it is argued that by employing a combination of both evolutionary and behavioural perspectives a more satisfactory conclusion can be reached than that which either theory separately can afford. Thus, it is argued that the grouping together of females is a behavioural process that has developed throughout time. In turn, these group experiences, in which females derived great benefit from each other’s company (Filene, 1986; Coleman & Thomson, 2002), have acted as positive reinforcement, consequently leading females to group together more frequently than males and become “more sociable than males” (Dowdy et al. 2004).
However, the findings of this study are inconclusive and require further research, as the observational and wholly quantitative nature of the study, as well as the sample size, location, limited time and ethical considerations, all served as limitations in our research. The results suggest that there may be grounds for further research but that this would require a qualitative component and would need to be conducted with a much broader sample of the population.
References:
1. Coleman, C. & Thomson, S. (2002). Gender Study: Final Paper. Canton, NY: St. Lawrence University.
2. Dowdy, Justin P. et al. (2004). The Social and Economic World of Farmers Markets [Electronic version]. Radford, VA: Department of Sociology & Anthropology Radford University.
3. Filene, Peter G. (1986). Him/Her/Self – Sex roles in Modern America 2nd ed. Baltimore, MD: Johns Hopkins University Press.
4. Garside, Rula Bayrakdar & Klimes-Dougan, Bonnie. (2002). Socialization of discrete negative emotions: Gender difference and links with psychological distress [Electronic version]. Sex Roles, 47 (3/4), 115-128.
5. Lewin, Roger. (1999). Human Evolution: An Illustrated Introduction 4th ed. Cambridge, MA: Backwell Science Inc.
Research Team:
Adrian Entwistle, Elvan Ertekin, Jennifer Grigg, Camille Rose and ME!!!
It is a widely held belief that women visit public toilets in groups. Studies of high order primates have shown that females commonly group together within communities. An evolutionary perspective would support the view that females are more likely to find strength in numbers. In Victorian times, women formed female groups for companionship, support and relief from their isolation (Filene, 1986). The view at that time was that women were helpless and in need of protection. This attitude continues today, according to Garside and Klimes-Dougan (2002), whose study of the socialisation of emotions showed that fathers are likely to promote fear-response behaviour in their daughters while punishing this same behaviour in their sons. It was suggested by the Garside and Klimes-Dougan study that the differing approaches to socialisation begin early in development and continue throughout one’s lifetime. In research on farmers markets by Dowdy et al (2004), it was concluded that “females are more sociable than males” (pp 75). The reasoning was that females were socialised to be at ease in these situations. This reasoning is further emphasised by a gender study by Coleman and Thomson (2002), who propose that “… females inspire confidence in each other with very social and positive interaction” (Coleman & Thomson, 2002, pp 5).
Aim:
The aim of this study is to investigate whether or not females are more sociable than males, by observing group sizes of both genders when visiting public toilets.
Hypothesis:
It is hypothesised that females will be shown to frequent public toilets in groups of greater than one more often than males.
Method:
Participants - The participants totalled 243 people: 113 males and 130 females of unknown ages who were in the Agora at La Trobe University. The participants were unaware of their involvement in this observational study.
Materials - Recording sheet.
Procedure - Two observers located at a discrete distance from the Agora toilet entrances at La Trobe University’s Bundoora campus, observed and recorded the number and size of each single sex group that entered the toilets. The observations and recordings were carried out on two separate occasions, the first between 11:50 and 12:20, and the second between 13:00 and 13:40, on weekdays during the academic semester.
Results:
Female and male groups of one or more served as the dependent variable. The results are presented in percentage of female groups and male groups, which were calculated with regards to number of females or males within each gender group. There was a main effect of gender of participants in consideration to group size.
Of the 110 groups of females (fig. 1 & 2) observed, 94 (85.45%) were in groups of one, 12 (10.91%) were in groups of two, and 4 (3.64%) were in groups of three. Of the 110 groups of males (fig. 1 & 3) observed, 107 (97.27%) were in groups of one and 3 (2.73%) were in groups of two. No groups larger than those of three for females and two for males were observed entering the toilets during the observation periods.
The distribution of data shows a strong asymmetrically positive skew (fig. 1). This indicates a strong propensity of both females and males for going to the toilet alone. The range of scores for females was three and for males, two. The mean for females (M=1.182) was higher than that for males (M=1.027). The standard deviations were: females 0.473 and males 0.164.
Overall, there was a ratio (fig. 4) of 5:1 for female to male groups of two or more visiting the Agora toilets. Therefore, there exists an 83.33% probability that a single sex group of two or more people going to the toilet at the Agora will be a group of females.
Discussion:
The results support the hypothesis that females frequent public toilets in groups of greater than one more often than males. Analysis of these results in conjunction with the investigative research lead to several possible conclusions as to why this is so.
Firstly, an evolutionary perspective may lead to the conclusion that this behaviour is a remnant of evolutionary history (Lewin, 1999); that female group behaviour, having helped in survival and reproduction, is carried on in an innate psychological process that has evolved over time.
Secondly, if the social learning theory is applied to Garside and Klimes-Dougan’s (2002) study, it could be argued that, from a behaviourist perspective, modern environmental factors (like crime, for example) drive fathers to foster fear in their daughters but not in their sons, with this learnt response leading to greater numbers of ‘vulnerable females’ grouping together when in ‘dangerous areas.’
Yet it is argued that by employing a combination of both evolutionary and behavioural perspectives a more satisfactory conclusion can be reached than that which either theory separately can afford. Thus, it is argued that the grouping together of females is a behavioural process that has developed throughout time. In turn, these group experiences, in which females derived great benefit from each other’s company (Filene, 1986; Coleman & Thomson, 2002), have acted as positive reinforcement, consequently leading females to group together more frequently than males and become “more sociable than males” (Dowdy et al. 2004).
However, the findings of this study are inconclusive and require further research, as the observational and wholly quantitative nature of the study, as well as the sample size, location, limited time and ethical considerations, all served as limitations in our research. The results suggest that there may be grounds for further research but that this would require a qualitative component and would need to be conducted with a much broader sample of the population.
References:
1. Coleman, C. & Thomson, S. (2002). Gender Study: Final Paper. Canton, NY: St. Lawrence University.
2. Dowdy, Justin P. et al. (2004). The Social and Economic World of Farmers Markets [Electronic version]. Radford, VA: Department of Sociology & Anthropology Radford University.
3. Filene, Peter G. (1986). Him/Her/Self – Sex roles in Modern America 2nd ed. Baltimore, MD: Johns Hopkins University Press.
4. Garside, Rula Bayrakdar & Klimes-Dougan, Bonnie. (2002). Socialization of discrete negative emotions: Gender difference and links with psychological distress [Electronic version]. Sex Roles, 47 (3/4), 115-128.
5. Lewin, Roger. (1999). Human Evolution: An Illustrated Introduction 4th ed. Cambridge, MA: Backwell Science Inc.
Research Team:
Adrian Entwistle, Elvan Ertekin, Jennifer Grigg, Camille Rose and ME!!!
posted by Assignment Nerd at 12:36 pm
1 Comments:
University: La Trobe
Subject: Psychology A
Semester: 1, 2006
Mark: 9/10
Comments: Group assignment.
Sorry I don't know how to put the graphs in. If anyone would help me out that would be lovely.
I think men who go to public toilets together more often than not go for sex. University campus toilets are notorious for gay sex. I told the only guy in our group that if he was by himself checking out men who enter the toilets in the early morning he may be picked up and, as we were only allowed to observe and not interact, I banned him from doing the number recording!
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