ARTICLE

Yoder, J. D., Hogue, M. Newman, R., Metz, L. & LaVigne, T. (2003).  Exploring moderators of gender differences: Contextual differences in door-holding behavior.  Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 32, 1682-1686.


Previous research has indicated that moderator variables influence the role gender differences play in social behavior.  Yoder, Hogue, Newman, Metz, and LaVigne (2003) theorized that social context influences gender differences in door-holding behavior and that there are three possible explanations for such behavior. Door-holding could be an act of courtesy, of chivalry, or of benevolent sexism, a behavior which outwardly seems benign but is motivated by sexism. The purpose of this study was to determine if differences exist in such behavior in the context of everyday life situations compared with dating situations. The researchers hypothesized the courtesy theory would result in data showing equal numbers of men and women opening doors in both situations, the chivalry theory would result in data showing men consistently opening doors for women in both situations, and the benevolent sexism theory would result in data showing men opening doors for women more often in settings which emphasize masculinity and heterosexuality, such as dating situations. In this study, researchers observed the door-holding behavior of 404 college-aged female-male dyads on weekdays at seven everyday locations such as fast food restaurants, and 365 college-aged couples on weekend evenings at nine dating locations such as skating rinks. Only the actions of couples who demonstrated courtship behaviors were recorded at the dating locations, and only the actions of non-couple dyads were recorded at the everyday locations. The researchers would record the gender of the door-holder only when one person opened the door to allow the other person to go through first. The results of the study showed a statistically significant difference between the door-holding behaviors of female-male dyads in everyday life situations versus dating situations. In the observed everyday situations, women held doors open more often than men did. In the observed dating situations, men held doors open more often than women did. The researchers believe these results support their hypothesis that door-holding behavior is motivated by benevolent sexism. Studies of door-holding behavior that were conducted 20 years ago showed that men were most often the door-holders in both everyday and dating situations. The results of the current study suggest that the meaning of such behavior in everyday context has changed from a masculine behavior into a gender-neutral behavior. However, door-holding in the context of dating has retained its masculine motivation. Implications of the study suggest that future research of social behaviors should acknowledge and investigate the role of moderator variables.

GRADER'S FINAL COMMENT:
15/15
Nice conclusion!
Good methods summary.
Could add more to the background.