One-On-One to Group Situations
Study By:
Alana Worotko
Mia Hultgen
Psychology of Gender Differences
Course #222
Dr. Mills
How many times have you been in a conversation where one of your friends complains about how much their partner changes when they get around a bunch of other people after being alone together…too many. We decided to study just what these behavior changes actually are, and how they differ from male to female. Whether it be the amount of attention each partner pays to their significant other, or the frequency of their bad language we felt that there was going to be some kind of transformation that would occur. We also believed that many of these changes would be gender related, and our results would back that statement up. However, we also felt that it was crucial to begin our study with more open speculations, and limit it at a later point.
THEORY/HYPOTHESES:
The theory that our group decided to base our study off of was the following:
The interaction of a couple is affected by the social environment and the people which they are surrounded by.
This theory is quite broad to begin with, but we did narrow it down through our hypotheses. This was accomplished by looking not only at the couple together, but also analyzing, separately, the differences we believe occur on the male side and the female side. There are many generalizations made about the behaviors of males and females when one partner is surrounded by a group of their same sex friends. So, we felt it necessary to look more directly at those stereotypes/generalizations and prove them right or wrong. Subsequently, our hypotheses transpired as:
COMBINED HYPOTHESIS:
If a couple moves from a one-on-one environment to a group setting consisting of EITHER all of the female’s same-sex friends, or all of the male’s same-sex friends, then the behavior of each partner will change, but each in different ways.
NULL HYPOTHESIS:
If a couple moves from a one-on-one environment to a group setting consisting of EITHER all of the female’s same-sex friends, or all of the male’s same-sex friends, then the behavior of each partner will change, but NOT in different ways.
MALE:
If a couple moves from a one-on-one environment to a group setting consisting of only the male’s same-sex friends, then his behavior will change towards his girlfriend in a more noticeably negative way.
FEMALE:
If a couple moves from a one-on-one environment to a group setting consisting of only the female’s same-sex friends, then her behavior will change only slightly as anyone’s (who went from a one-on-one to a group setting) would change.
TECHNIQUE:
Once we determined our theory and hypotheses we decided to use the survey/questionnaire technique to gather our field information. Two different survey/questionnaires were placed on the internet, one for the female and one for the male. They each contained:
-56 survey questions
1-5 answer scales
1 = least likely/least often
5 = most likely/most often
-7 Open-ended questions
The male survey/questionnaire looked at how the males felt their behavior and their girlfriends behavior changed in a one-on-one setting and a group setting composed of: 1) all her female friends and 2) all his male friends.
The female survey/questionnaire looked at how the females felt their behavior and their boyfriends behavior changed in a one-on-one setting and a group setting composed of: 1) all her female friends and 2) all his male friends.
The survey (which is included) covered behaviors such as affection, relaxation, swearing, joking, etc., and the questionnaire examined each partner’s feelings of comfort, embarrassment, and apprehensions.
METHOD:
Our method of collecting this data was through a sample group of 25 males and 42 females. However, the only background information on those in our sample came from 2 of the survey questions:
1) Gender?
2) Age?
Because of such the possibility of such a broad “type” of person we felt this would give us good “random” sample. But, we did realize after the results came in that we in fact did NOT get a very random group, being that most of those persons that took the surveys were our friends. Once this conclusion was reached within our group we looked at all the other possible errors that could have occurred through our method and technique of data collection:
-Misreading of the answer scale
-Different interpretations of the various questions
-Greater female response
-People responding based on stereotypes/generalizations, rather than experience
-Majority of answers came from same “type” of person (i.e. not much variation)
We kept in mind the possibility of these categories coming into play throughout this study, but overall there was not much that could be done. So, we just felt it necessary to include this information before the discussion of results so one can bare them in mind. However, we are confident that they did not cause too much deviation to the results/conclusions.
HIGHLIGHTS/DATA ANALYSIS:
There were a few statistics that were extremely interesting to consider:
The males stated:
-a 50% DECREASE (most likely/most often response) in showing their girlfriend affection when they go from a personal setting to a group setting with only HER female friends.
-an overall INCREASE of 20% (3-5 response) in swearing when they move to an all male friends setting from a personal setting
-a 44% DECREASE (most likely/most often response) in paying attention to their girlfriend when they move to an all male friends setting from a personal setting.
-a 32% DECREASE (most likely/most often) in talking to their girlfriend when they move from an all male friends setting from a personal setting.
-a 32% DECREASE (most likely/most often) in relaxing in front of her female friends after being alone with just her.
-12% of males NEVER talk about what is going on in their lives in front of their girlfriend’s female friends while 24% will in front of their male friends and 56% will in a one-on-one setting.
-a 64% DECREASE (most likely/most often) in their girlfriend talking about what is going on in her life in front of his male friends.
-there was NO CHANGE in their girlfriends joking around with them in front of either all male friends, or all female friends.
-there was NO CHANGE in their girlfriends swearing whether it be in a personal setting or an all male setting, and only a 4% INCREASE in the swearing of their girlfriends around her female friends.
-a 32%DECREASE (most likely/most often) in their girlfriends paying attention to them when they move to an all female friends setting from a personal setting.