Did You See What I Saw? Gender Differences in Perceptions of Avenues to Prestige Among Adolescents

• NCJ Number: 193002
• Journal: Sociological Inquiry Volume: 71 Issue: 4 Dated: Fall 2001 Pages: 437-454
• Author(s): J. Jill Suitor; Staci A. Minyard; Rebecca S. Carter
• Date Published: 2001
• Length: 18 pages
• Publication Format: Article
• Publication Type: Report (Study/Research)
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

This study used data from 1,796 college students to explore gender differences in perceptions of avenues to prestige during adolescence.

Abstract

Students who were attending seven large universities during the 1997-98 academic year provided information on the ways in which adolescents in their high schools had gained prestige with peers. The findings indicated that the gender-specific avenues to adolescent prestige that Coleman (1961) reported in "The Adolescent Society" almost 40 years ago continued to play a major role in prestige hierarchies in the 1990's. With the exception of a greater emphasis on participation in sports, girls continued to accrue prestige in high schools primarily through the same mechanisms used by their mothers, focusing on academic achievement, physical attractiveness, and sociability. Boys also apparently continued to accrue prestige much as did their fathers, with the heaviest emphasis on participation in sports. Of greater importance for the focus of the current study was the finding of substantial differences in men's and women's perceptions of avenues to prestige for adolescents. The findings provided consistent support for the hypothesis that the patterns of difference in perception between genders would reflect the greater traditionalism in attitudes generally found among men than women. In all cases in which men's and women's reports diverged, men's reports revealed greater adherence to traditional gender-role attitudes; for example, men were much more likely than women to believe that boys gained prestige through "macho" or risky behaviors, such as sexual activity, fighting and bullying, drugs and alcohol, partying, and being the "class clown." Further, men were less likely than women to report that girls gained prestige through nontraditional means, such as sports and grades and intelligence. Finally, men were more likely to report that girls gained prestige through physical attractiveness. 2 tables, 5 notes, and 76 references