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Can male nurses make nursing more appealing to young men? An experimental manipulation using counter-stereotypical role models

Ribbing, Rebecca LU (2020) PSPR14 20192
Department of Psychology
Abstract (Swedish)
The male nurse is still a rare occurrence. Considerable effort has been spent on attempts at increasing the presence of women in male-dominated agentic fields and much fewer efforts have been made to increase men’s presence in female-dominated communal fields. The present study tested if the appeal of nursing for 9th grade boys (and girls) could be increased by a counter-stereotypical male role model video manipulation. The aim was to investigate whether the manipulation could raise interest in nursing, expected social belongingness in nursing, perceived agentic goal affordance in nursing and perceived communal goal affordance in nursing, thus possibly reducing gender differences in career interest in the nursing profession. The... (More)
The male nurse is still a rare occurrence. Considerable effort has been spent on attempts at increasing the presence of women in male-dominated agentic fields and much fewer efforts have been made to increase men’s presence in female-dominated communal fields. The present study tested if the appeal of nursing for 9th grade boys (and girls) could be increased by a counter-stereotypical male role model video manipulation. The aim was to investigate whether the manipulation could raise interest in nursing, expected social belongingness in nursing, perceived agentic goal affordance in nursing and perceived communal goal affordance in nursing, thus possibly reducing gender differences in career interest in the nursing profession. The experimental manipulation included a video showing interviews with four male nurses describing their true experiences working as nurses. The sample consisted of 195 students; 43 girls and 49 boys in the experimental condition and 42 girls and 52 boys in the wait-list control condition. Contrary to expectations, the results showed that the experimental manipulation did not significantly raise the appeal of nursing for boys or girls, and it did not significantly affect any of the dependent variables in the hypothesized way. Results showed that a majority of boys valued agency over communion, replicating previous research. An explorative analysis showed that students who self-identified as ethnic minority expressed a higher interest in nursing and endorsed both agentic and communal goals to a higher extent when compared to students who identified as Swedish ethnicity. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
Ribbing, Rebecca LU
supervisor
organization
course
PSPR14 20192
year
type
H3 - Professional qualifications (4 Years - )
subject
keywords
Nursing, gender, social role theory, agency, communion, belongingness
language
English
id
9001610
date added to LUP
2020-01-23 09:26:35
date last changed
2020-01-23 09:26:35
@misc{9001610,
  abstract     = {{The male nurse is still a rare occurrence. Considerable effort has been spent on attempts at increasing the presence of women in male-dominated agentic fields and much fewer efforts have been made to increase men’s presence in female-dominated communal fields. The present study tested if the appeal of nursing for 9th grade boys (and girls) could be increased by a counter-stereotypical male role model video manipulation. The aim was to investigate whether the manipulation could raise interest in nursing, expected social belongingness in nursing, perceived agentic goal affordance in nursing and perceived communal goal affordance in nursing, thus possibly reducing gender differences in career interest in the nursing profession. The experimental manipulation included a video showing interviews with four male nurses describing their true experiences working as nurses. The sample consisted of 195 students; 43 girls and 49 boys in the experimental condition and 42 girls and 52 boys in the wait-list control condition. Contrary to expectations, the results showed that the experimental manipulation did not significantly raise the appeal of nursing for boys or girls, and it did not significantly affect any of the dependent variables in the hypothesized way. Results showed that a majority of boys valued agency over communion, replicating previous research. An explorative analysis showed that students who self-identified as ethnic minority expressed a higher interest in nursing and endorsed both agentic and communal goals to a higher extent when compared to students who identified as Swedish ethnicity.}},
  author       = {{Ribbing, Rebecca}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  note         = {{Student Paper}},
  title        = {{Can male nurses make nursing more appealing to young men? An experimental manipulation using counter-stereotypical role models}},
  year         = {{2020}},
}