FLIRTATION.   Term Paper ID:24649 Click to get this paper

Essay Subject: As form of communication, related to sexuality, gender differences, jealousy, in workplace, school & on TV.... More...

10 Pages / 2250 Words 16 sources, 17 Citations, APA Format $40.00 Return to List of Papers

Paper Abstract: As form of communication, related to sexuality, gender differences, jealousy, in workplace, school & on TV. Paper Introduction: FLIRTATION AND SEXUALITY Introduction The subject of interpersonal flirtation and sexuality has been examined across a variety of situations such as the workplace or at school (Crano & Messe, 1995) and across a variety male/female behaviors (Dworetzky, 1995) in diverse populations such as young people, older people, neurotics and/or psychotics (Papalia & Olds, 1995; Sue, Sue & Sue, 1994). The purpose of this paper is to provide an overview of the most current research in this area. Flirtation and Communication A good deal of the general research in the area of flirtation has examined it in relation to the communication of sexually-related themes such as communicating that one is Text of the Paper: The entire text of the paper is shown below. However, the text is somewhat scrambled. We want to give you as much information as we possibly can about our papers and essays, but we cannot give them away for free. In the text below you will find that while disordered, many of the phrases are essentially intact. From this text you will be able to get a solid sense of the writing style, the concepts addressed, and the sources used in the research paper. Waitresses were perceived asstereotypically friendly and openly displayed cheerfulness in coffee shops. (1994). It was noted that both men andwomen felt that three requirements of providing good service were:friendliness, deference, and flirting. Human Nature, 7(3), 291-324. 8. Women doctors can experience poor relationships with nurses ifthey perceive nurses to flirt with male doctors. Dworetzky, J.P. & Messe, L.A. Social psychology: Principles andthemes of interpersonal behavior. AAD96-3 44) Juhem, P. Abrahams (1994) examined perceptual dimensions underlyingflirtatiousness judgments in a three-phased study. It was concluded that resultscontradicted the notion that double standards are a product of evolved sexdifferences. Psychology (4th ed.) St. Junior high students' perceptions regardingnonconsensual sexual activity. 3. (1995). (1994). Regarding double standards, findings revealed that both sexesadvocated sets of double standards that served the interests of their ownsex at the expense of the opposite sex. 319) Noting that flirtation signals may require experience to refinesignaling effectiveness, Moore (1995) conducted a field study to uncoverevidence for developmental differences in courtship behavior. Specific comparisons included emotional (anger),cognitive (blame), and behavioral components. Juhem (1995) stated that this criticism leads to the conclusion that, inhigh schools, the love relationship tends to be normalized by socialpressure to avoid mismatched partners and promote a logic of prestige. Human development (5th ed.) NY:McGraw-Hill. The social regulation ofemotions in jealousy situations: A comparison between Italy and theNetherlands. Societes Contemporaines,21, 29-42. (1995). Pringle (1996) examined flirting in terms of interpersonalrelationships between doctors and nurses. Flirting in the Workplace Hall (1993) examined flirting in terms of waiters and waitressesservice in restaurants. A total of 371 surveys (94% return rate) were completed and used fordata analysis. This because over 15 percent ofsurvey respondents incorrectly identified sexual harassment as flirting.Based on this response, Jordon (1996) concluded that middle school studentsin Ohio are at risk for being a victim or a perpetrator of sexualharassment as well as for other nonconsensual sexual behaviors. These were theareas of research pertaining to: flirtation as communication, flirtationand sexual jealousy, flirtation in the workplace, flirtation at school, andflirtation on the television. Several areas of the existing research were examined. In some work situations, both men and women can consider flirtingto be part of their job; this is especially true when the company ororganization utilizes stereotypically gendered labels for work roles, e.g.waitress or waiter. Specifically, Abrahamswas interested in determining: (1) the perceptual dimensions that underlieflirtatiousness judgments; (2) whether there were gender differences inthese dimensions; and (3) whether men and women vary in the degree to whichthey employ these perceptual dimensions in making their judgments offlirtatiousness. The results of Moore's (1995) study showed that girls used many ofthe same signals commonly exhibited by women in earlier studies. In the second experiment, 113 subjects (aged 18-49 years) were asked to imagine a situation in which they knew theirpartner had been sexually unfaithful. 1). & Niebrugge, J. (MicrofilmOrder No. 6. 7. Ten respondents, all female, reported havingexperienced discrimination on the basis of their sexual orientation. According to the tenets of evolutionary psychology, women are expected to use nondirect tactics to signal interest in a potential partner because their greater investment in the outcome requires the selection of a partner more willing, to invest resources in the relationship. Findings showed that female doctors had rather strainedrelationships with nurses, stating that at least some time in theircareers, nurses had treated them less well than male doctors. Women tend to feel somewhat more aggressive toward a flirtingrival than do men. Additionally, it was found that men and women usedidentical dimensions in assessing the flirtatiousness of the episodesemployed as stimuli. (1995). Interview data were collected from 19 waiters andwaitresses in five kinds of restaurants. Statistical analysis revealed that educational interventions areneeded for this age group. Summary and Conclusions This paper examined the current research on flirtation and sexuality. Courtship signaling and adolescents: 'Girls justwanna have fun'? 2. Sue, D., Sue, D. Therewere, however, striking differences, such as adolescent girls' morefrequent use of play or teasing behavior and the exaggerated form of manysignals. Zammuner, V.L. Double standards forsexual jealousy: Manipulative morality or a reflection of evolved sexdifferences? Smiling, deferring, and flirting: Doing gender bygiving "good service." Work and Occupations, 2 (4), 452-471. Methods used in Zammuner and Fischer's (1995) study involved theadministration of structured questionnaires to 3 1 Italian and 262 Dutchuniversity students, who were asked to attribute emotions to theprotagonist in vignettes. Specifically, both genders perceive another'sflirtation responses as a combination of sexual assertiveness, overtness,invitation, playfulness, nonverbalness, and unconventionality. Journal of Sex Research, 31(4), 283-292. In an even more current study, Paul, Foss and Baenninger (1996)examined the nature, foundations, and implications of gender-orienteddouble standards regarding sexual jealousy. Canadian Medical AssociationJournal, 154(11), 1657-1665. Jordon, T.R. Of 225 residents 186 (82.7 percent) returned a completedquestionnaire, and 5 percent of these were women. Journal of Sex Research, 32(4), 319-328. Another study very recent study of flirtation at school is Juhem's(1995) examination of the social determinants of love liaisons andflirtation practices in French high schools. Italy Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology, 26(2), 189-2 8.----------------------- 3 1976. These data were compared tosimilar work done with grown women during the construction of a catalog ofnonverbal courtship signals. In the first study 172 college students responded to questionnairesassessing jealousy reactions after exposure to two conditions to which theywere randomly assigned: (1) mild (flirting) transgressions; and (2) serious(cheating) transgressions. Findings were said to help to explain the process through whichwomen acquire and refine the nonverbal behaviors used in courtship. It was also found that respondents who utilized self-serving doublestandards did not perceive gender differences in jealous reactions, andthere was little gender difference in the judgments concerning jealousresponses. & Sue, S. At the level of higher education, Cook, Liuthkus, Risdon, Griffith,Guyatt and Walter (1996) who attempted to assess the prevalence ofpsychological abuse, physical assault, and discrimination on the basis ofgender and sexual orientation, and to examine the prevalence and impact ofsexual harassment in residency training programs. NWSA Journal, 7(1), 3 -53. It was suggested that such flirtationcould signify that it is acceptable to be openly homosexual. Subjects were 172 introductorypsychology students who completed one of two questionnaires: one measuredreaction to flirting and cheating, and the other examined standards forappropriate behavior and perceptions regarding the normal behavior of menand women. With a slight exception for perceptions ofinvitation, men and women judged the flirtation episodes similarly on theuncovered dimensions. Inother words, besides a mental and emotional self-expression, high-schoollove is a socially regulated exercise in status building. References Abrahams, M.F. Flirting with equality: Afeminist social commentary on the opposition to civil equality for lesbiansand gays. However, it was argued that the mobilization by gays and lesbians forfull civil rights frightens heterosexuals because this would challenge thetaking-for-granted of daily social relations where heterosexuals experiencesafety and empowerment. Crano, W.D. Paul, L., Foss, M.A. Understanding abnormal psychology(4th ed.) Boston: Houghton-Mifflin. Self-reportquestionnaires were administered to 225 residents in seven residencytraining programs at McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario, Canadaduring the academic year from July 1993 to June 1994. Based on an INDSCAL procedure and regression analyses completed onthe sorting data of 94 participants (47 men and 47 women), six perceptualdimensions underlying flirtatiousness judgments were found: sexualassertiveness, overtness, invitation, playfulness, nonverbalness, andunconventionality. Flirtation and Communication A good deal of the general research in the area of flirtation hasexamined it in relation to the communication of sexually-related themessuch as communicating that one is sexually available or interested incourtship. Sexual jealousy in youngwomen and men: Aggressive responsiveness to partner and rival. Given this, it was concluded that double standardsregarding sexual jealousy are a product of male-inspired attempts tocontrol women through enforced submission, rather than a reflection ofevolved behavioral propensities. Moore, M.M. More than one-third of the respondents (35percent) reported that they had engaged in sexual intercourse; 17 percentreported having been sexually coerced by a teenager; 19 percent reportedfeeling pressure from their friends to have sex; 7 percent reported havingbeen sexually coerced by an adult, and 6 percent reported having sexuallycoerced someone else. The content analysis was used to explain theambivalence felt by many heterosexuals about the struggle by homosexualsfor full civil equality. Televised flirting behavior between heterosexual andhomosexual/bisexual couples may be a way in which heterosexuals expressfear related to granting homosexual couples their full civil rights interms of romantic involvements. Methods inthe study involved covert observation of adolescent girls in mixed-gendersettings in order to document the number and type of facial expressions andgestures used to indicate interest in boys. In this regard, Moore (1995) states that: Ethological researchers have demonstrated that during courtship, women exhibit a constellation of subtle facial expressions and gestures commonly labeled flirting. Papalia, D.E. Students were said to have demonstrated lack of adequate knowledgeregarding nonconsensual sexual behaviors. (1995). Anticipation of social problems was said to beparticularly threatening in the areas of sexual and romantic involvement. Hall, E.J. (Doctoral Dissertation: The University ofToledo) Dissertation Abstracts International, 57(5-A), p. Pringle, R. FLIRTATION AND SEXUALITY Introduction The subject of interpersonal flirtation and sexuality has beenexamined across a variety of situations such as the workplace or at school(Crano & Messe, 1995) and across a variety male/female behaviors(Dworetzky, 1995) in diverse populations such as young people, olderpeople, neurotics and/or psychotics (Papalia & Olds, 1995; Sue, Sue & Sue,1994). Interestingly, however, nurses were more positive about womendoctors and denied treating male and female doctors differently; they evensuggested that they preferred working with women doctors. Contrary to popular stereotypes, women demonstrated moreaggression toward a flirting rival than men, and the strength of aggressivejealous reactions among women was stronger than predicted by conventionaldouble standards. (1993). The survey measured the following: (1) knowledge of nonconsensualsexual behaviors, (2) attitudes regarding nonconsensual sexual behaviors,(3) behavioral intentions regarding acting out certain nonconsensual sexualbehaviors toward others, and (4) locus of control regarding sexualharassment. & Baenninger, M. Residents' experiences of abuse, discrimination andsexual harassment during residency training. (1995). That flirtation isrelated to jealousy can be seen in Zammuner and Fischer's (1995) cross-cultural study of the communication of emotions in jealousy situations. Teenagers' love affairs. Methods involved collecting life-history interview data from 12 women doctors and focus group discussionwith nurses. Lengermann, P.M. AggressiveBehavior, 19(6), 4 1-42 . (1993). (1996). Analyses of collected data revealed the following major findings: a)the jealous individual's anger and blame were focused more on the partnerthan the rival, (b) mean anger and blame scores given the partner were wellmatched, (c) men were more inclined to think about aggressive actionagainst the rival while women were more emotionally and behaviorallyreactive to the rival; and d) jealousy was felt more acute in the seriouscondition than in the mild flirtation condition; however, flirtation wasassociated with jealous feelings. Flirting At School An interesting study of junior high school students' perceptionsregarding nonconsensual sexual activity was conducted by Jordon (1996) whoadministered a written survey to 395 junior high students from northernOhio. (1996). Paul: WestPublishing. If the couple then begin to go together, this criticism can increase. (1996). Moreover, they stated that they often performed a "job flirt."However, it was found that both waiters and waitresses were more likely toengage in "job flirts" in restaurants who cast the work role as"waitressing or waitering," than in restaurants who utilized differentkinds of titles for the role such as table servers. Men and women can experience jealousy when a partner flirts;however, indications are that women are likely to experience jealousy overflirtation more often than men. Interestingly, it was found that while bothsexes stated that they would feel sadness and anger in response to aflirtation incident, women were even more likely to have a jealous reaction than men. (1995). (p. Most of the respondents experienced sexual harassment, especially inthe form of sexist jokes, and unwanted flirtation.The most frequently cited reactions to this flirtation were said to beembarrassment, anger, and frustration. (3rd ed.) Homewood, ILL: The DorseyPress. Findings of the studywere said to show that discrimination on the basis of gender was common andwas experienced significantly more often by female residents than by maleresidents (p < . Nursing a grievance: Women doctors and nurses.Australia Journal of Gender Studies, 5(2), 157-168. 5. (1996). Paul, L., Foss, M.A. Flirtation and Sexual Jealousy One of the most researched areas in the flirtation literature hasbeen the relationship of flirtation to sexual jealousy. In terms of the poor behavior they said they received, female doctorscited instances of nurses doing less for them than for male doctors, notfollowing instructions, and being cool to them while flirting with maledoctors. Based on the reviewed studies, the following may be said tocharacterize the results observed in the most current research in thefield: 1. The purpose of this paper is to provide an overview of the mostcurrent research in this area. Perceiving flirtatious communication: Anexploration of the perceptual dimensions underlying judgments offlirtatiousness. 4. Specifically, it was posited that the television interactionsgenerally followed a pattern where: (1) the heterosexuals realize the"danger" of the homosexual's flirtation, and (2) respond negatively, thenreaffirm their heterosexuality. Cook, D.J., Liuthus, J.F., Risdon, C.L., Griffith, L.E., Guyatt, G.H.& Walter, S.D. Men and women tend to make the same kinds of judgements aboutflirtatious behavior. & Olds, S.W. Analyses of data showed that when oneflirts with another student who is not considered physically attractive byone's peers, peers become very critical. Flirtation and Television Examination of the recent literature turned up only one study offlirtation regarding television programs, this was a content analysis,conducted by Lengermann and Niebrugge (1995) of six prime-time televisionportrayals, 1986-1994, of flirtation between a heterosexual and a lesbianor bisexual woman. One recent study of flirtation and jealousy using a sample ofAmericans was conducted by Paul, Foss and Galloway (1993) who comparedjudgments about aggressive components of jealous reactions to the partnerand to the rival. Methods involved thecollection of survey data from six classes of first and second levels inFrench high schools, observation of extracurricular rendezvous, andinterviews (N = 5 respondents). & Galloway, J. & Fischer, A.H. There is a tendency for school-age adolescents to perceiveflirting as sexual harassment, and to criticize their peers who flirt withstudents who are not viewed as attractive; however, at the college level,flirting can often be mixed with other behaviors and used to sexuallyharass another. (1995). There is evidence that, at least for women, the body and facialgestures that signal flirtation are developed and refined over the years. If this paper is not what you are looking for, you can search again: Search for: or Click here to request an essay written just for you.