Related Experiment Video
Updated: Oct 5, 2026

Protocol for Studying Extinction of Conditioned Fear in Naturally Cycling Female Rats
Published on: February 23, 2015
Changes in women's assertiveness in response to status and roles: a cross-temporal meta-analysis, 1931-1993
1Department of Psychology, San Diego State University, California 92182-4611, USA. jeant@umich.edu
Abstract:
Across two meta-analyses, American women's assertiveness rose and fell with their social status from 1931 to 1993. College women and high school girls' self-reports on assertiveness and dominance scales increased from 1931 to 1945, decreased from 1946 to 1967, and increased from 1968 to 1993, explaining about 14% of the variance in the trait. Women's scores have increased enough that many recent samples show no sex differences in assertiveness. Correlations with social indicators (e.g., women's educational attainment, women's median age at first marriage) confirm that women's assertiveness varies with their status and roles. Social change is thus internalized in the form of a personality trait. Men's scores do not demonstrate a significant birth cohort effect overall. The results suggest that the changing sociocultural environment for women affected their personalities, most likely beginning in childhood.
Related Concept Videos
Socioemotional Experience and Gender Development
Relationship Formation
Horney's Sociocultural Approach
Parenting Styles
Authoritarian Parenting
This style is strict and controlling, with little room for open dialogue. Authoritarian parents demand obedience and often enforce rules with minimal warmth. Children raised this way may lack social skills and initiative, usually comparing themselves to others unfavorably.
Authoritative Parenting
This...
Parental Influences on Gender Typing
Criticisms of the Evolutionary Perspective
Evolutionary psychology provides one explanation for these findings, suggesting...

