4th Gender and Diversity Research Day at RPTU

On doing research through feminist lenses

Dr. Clara Mendoza-Lera (Department of Natural and Environmental Sciences, iES, Environmental Physics Group, Stream Biogeochemistry Team Leader Lecture/presentation)

Pursuing a career in STEM requires work and dedication, it is a creative process that can often be frustrating and challenging. For diverse researchers there is an additional aspect to work around. STEM and academia mirror the patriarchal structures of the society, shaping whose knowledge is prioritized and whose perspectives are marginalized, where decision-making, recognition, and authority have historically favored white cis men and influenced research agendas and institutional cultures. Here, combining current research with my research on diversity in academia and my own experiences as biogeochemist, I will talk about how my career in STEM has been shaped by growing awareness of how academia is influenced by social structures, particularly those linked to gender, power and colonialism. Over time, adopting an intersectional feminist perspective helped me to critically reflect on my own position and role as diverse researcher, and on the ways academic structures and culture shape our experience and performance in STEM; while also encouraging me to recognize my own responsibility as a role model.

The overlooked consequences of physical femininity threat in women: Evidence from three experimental studies

Helena Wesnitzer & Melanie C. Steffens (Departments of Psychology)

In social psychological research, femininity is often portrayed as a stable and biologically grounded identity, whereas masculinity is conceptualized as a fragile social status and has inspired extensive research. However, the central role of appearance in women's constructions of femininity challenges this assumption. Across three experiments (N = 688), the present research examined women's psychological responses to physical femininity threat, operationalized as false feedback generated by an artificial intelligence indicating that an uploaded facial photo had been analyzed as below average in feminine appearance. Consistent with our hypotheses, threatening femininity feedback was associated with increased anxiety, anger, and shame as well as decreased positive affect, indicating strong emotional responses to a perceived threat to women's physical femininity. We found no evidence for the expected changes in self-esteem, guilt, or public discomfort. Exploratory analyses in Main Study I suggested that the femininity threat made women feel less feminine and less attractive, which in turn was linked to more negative psychological responses. In Main Study II, this pattern was found only among women who generally evaluated their appearance less positively. Overall, our findings suggest that femininity threats targeting women's appearance elicit meaningful emotional distress. Future research should broaden gender threat research beyond masculinity and recognize the central role of appearance in women's experiences of femininity.

Lokita, 16, dead - On the connection between mobility, space and agency in the Dardenne brothers' migration cinema

Lars Henk (Department of Cultural and Social Sciences, Institute for Foreign Language Philologies, Romance Studies)

The lecture examines TORI ET LOKITA (2022) by Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne as a cinematic reflection of fragile participation in the context of flight and migration. The central thesis is that the Dardenne brothers depict social marginalization primarily through spatial arrangements and forms of restricted mobility: The protagonist Lokita moves through "non-places" that do not allow for stable social relationships and therefore no social participation. Drawing on Hannah Arendt, Michel Agier and Marc Augé, the chapter interprets these spaces as "deserts" of social worldlessness in which refugees are deprived of their agency. The marijuana plantation in particular, where Lokita works to obtain forged residence papers, functions as a controlled space that reduces Lokita's movements to predetermined paths and systematically restricts her ability to act. In contrast, the mobility of her 'brother' Tori appears in the short term as an attempt to regain social proximity, solidarity and agency without being able to overcome the structural power relations. The aesthetic design - such as long takes and the fixation on Lokita's face - ultimately also involves the audience in this experience of powerlessness and denied participation.

White, skinny, and androgynous: Narrow prototypes of nonbinary people

Z. Ferguson (Department of Psychology, Working Group Social and Economic Psychology)

Gender non-affirmation microaggressions (e.g., identity denial, misgendering) predict negative mental and health outcomes. People have strong prototypes (typical representations) of cis-gender and binary transgender people, and are more likely to engage in identity denial when targets don't conform to gender prototypes. Overall, nonbinary people perceived as having less valid identities than binary trans and cisgender men and women, which may place them at heighten risk for identity denial. This mixed-methods project documented nonbinary prototypes and consequences of non-prototypicality for nonbinary people's experiences. In Study 1, participants (50% LGBTQ+, 50%cisgender-heterosexual) pictured and described a nonbinary person. Through qualitative coding, a consistent prototype emerged that was not moderated by participant identity. Study 2 examined consequences of non-prototypicality. Participants (majority cisgender-heterosexual) viewed either a prototypical or non-prototypical nonbinary target. Non-prototypical targets were less likely to be recognized as nonbinary and more likely to be misgendered. However identity and autonomy denial outcomes showed mixed results. Study 3: Nonbinary participants rated their self-perceived and societally-defined prototypicality. Both measures of predicted greater in-group ties to the LGBTQ+ community. Additionally, self-perceived prototypicality predicted greater well-being but also more frequent interpersonal microaggressions and healthcare discrimination. Taken together, while prototypicality inconsistently predicted outcomes in an experimental design, gathering data on the lived experiences of nonbinary people themselves revealed a clearer pattern. Additionally, there appears to be both positive and negative consequences of being perceived as prototypical of a stigmatized group. Finally, it's imperative that we consider both in-group and out-group perspectives when it comes to research on societal biases.

Pedagogical relationships & boundaries in the context of single-sex and mixed-gender physical education

Isabel Neto Carvalho (Department of Social Sciences, General Education with a focus on School Pedagogy)

The relational aspect of teacher-student interactions is classified as a powerful part of school learning, but also as "an unresolved educational and school policy issue of the first order" (Herrmann & Oswald 2022: 8).

On the one hand, the discourse suggests that pedagogical relationships need to cross boundaries in order to be perceived as successful by the actors. References to the students' lifeworld and an associated increase in affective elements in professional practice (previously referred to as pedagogical eros) open up learning horizons and make school a "home place". At the same time, professional theories postulate that the demand for such openings of school in school-related pedagogy is risky because it further diffuses the boundaries towards a familiarization of school and leads to the dissolution of boundaries in teacher action if this is charged with diffuse references to action. Professional action and pedagogical relationship work are thus subject to increased demands if it remains open where the pedagogical tact ends or "permissiveness" (Wernet 2003) and a practice of action that is sensitive to differences is required to a greater extent. This makes the topic of relationship work in schools and lessons precarious, insofar as it is always associated with balancing acts for teachers.

The lecture takes these balancing acts as a starting point and asks from a gender-theoretical perspective how teachers shape pedagogical relationships as "border crossers". First of all, the tension between the necessity of crossing boundaries on the one hand and the limitations of professional action on the other is addressed. How does this pedagogical balancing act manifest itself in particularly vulnerable teaching-learning settings? Due to the physical exposure, the difficult opportunities for students to withdraw and the unstructured space of the sports hall, PE lessons appear to be a place where relationships are particularly precarious (e.g. Hunger & Böhlke 2017). From a praxeological perspective (Reckwitz 2003) and based on observation protocols collected as part of a research workshop on the topic of "gender and school", the article shows how teachers shape pedagogical relationships by crossing boundaries or even dissolving them. Closeness is created through practices of communitization, through which, for example, complicit practices of masculinity (Connell 1999) come to the fore in relation to pedagogical practices, gender stereotypes are reproduced or even sexualized dissolution of boundaries occurs.

Literature:

Connel, R. W. (1999). The made man. Construction and crisis of masculinity. Opladen: Leske and Budrich.

Hunger, I. & Böhlke, N. (2017). On the limits of shame. A qualitative study on (shame-) transgressive situations in physical education from the perspective of students. Forum Qualitative Social Research / Forum: Qualitative SocialResearch, 18(2), Art. 2, nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:0114-fqs170227. FQS http://www.qualitative-research.net/

Reckwitz, A. (2003). Basic elements of a theory of social practices. A social theoretical perspective. Journal of Sociology, 32 (4), 282-301.

Wernet, A. (2003). Pedagogical permissiveness. School socialization and pedagogical action beyond the question of professionalization. Opladen: Leske and Budrich.

Building Inclusive Entrepreneurial Ecosystems: The Role of Network Density in Supporting People with Disabilities

Jurgita Butkevičienė (Vilnius University; Visiting scholar of RPTU) & Miklos Kozma (Corvinus University of Budapest)

The inclusion of people with disabilities in entrepreneurial activity has gained increasing attention in global policy agendas and international entrepreneurship research. While entrepreneurial ecosystem theory emphasizes the importance of interconnected actors, institutions, and resources in fostering entrepreneurial activity, it has only recently begun to address questions of social inclusion and equitable access to entrepreneurial opportunities. This gap raises an important question: how can entrepreneurial ecosystems evolve to better support entrepreneurs with disabilities?

This study examines the role of network density in enabling more inclusive entrepreneurial ecosystems. Drawing on a systematic literature review of 189 peer-reviewed articles indexed in the Web of Science and Scopus databases, we analyze the literature through the lens of the nine attributes of thriving start-up communities.

The findings highlight that dense formal and informal networks are essential for creating inclusive opportunity structures for people with disabilities. Beyond traditional ecosystem actors such as investors, universities, and incubators, the analysis reveals the importance of idiosyncratic actors, including family members, friends, social enterprises, and advocacy organizations. These actors contribute to symbiotic relationships that foster trust, resource sharing, and social support within the ecosystem.

Based on these insights, we propose a conceptual model of inclusive entrepreneurial ecosystems where network density plays a crucial role in fostering collaboration among various participants. International connections broaden ecosystem opportunities by providing access to global markets and reinterpreting disability as a valuable source of diversity, resilience, and innovation in entrepreneurship.

Keywords: entrepreneurial ecosystem; network density; people with disabilities; entrepreneurship; inclusive entrepreneurial ecosystem

Scaling the Field: Computational methods, knowledge structures, and the challenges of generalization in communication research

Felipe Barreto-Storandt (Department of Psychology, IKM Group - Communication Psychology)

Can the adoption of computational methods help communication research in underrepresented countries gain broader international recognition? Or does it risk erasing the very contextual information that makes that research valuable? This question is approached through several interrelated studies.

The first studies establish an empirical baseline. Analyzing COVID-19 communication research across Brazilian and international journals, and extending that analysis to twenty years of publication patterns across Latin America and international outlets, both studies consistently find that communication research is geographically structured, topically divergent, and contextually embedded. The self-reinforcing organization of scientific fields where established methodological norms, theoretical approaches, and publication practices accumulate visibility and establish the grounds for what constitutes excellence in research lead to research developed outside those structures struggling to achieve presence in the broader field regardless of its merit.

These findings are then used as a point of departure to interrogate computational methods directly, examining whether the tools increasingly used to study communication at scale are equipped to handle the contextual complexity of countries outside the norms reveal. Preliminary findings raise fundamental questions about validity and generalizability that point toward an ever present tension at the heart of contemporary communication research.

As computational methods become further embedded in scientific practice, the question is no longer simply whether they can accommodate this diversity, but whether their rapid institutionalization can lead to hardening existing structural gaps into the infrastructure of science itself, making them progressively harder to challenge or reverse.

Little Evidence for Binegativity in the Dating Context: A Study with Heterosexual Young Adults from Germany

Dirk Kranz (Department of Psychology, Social Psychology Unit)

A common stereotype about bisexual people is that they are hypersexual and promiscuous and therefore unable or unwilling to commit to long-term romantic relationships, preferring short-term sexual relationships instead. Female bisexuality, in particular, is sexualized by heterosexual men, who believe, for example, that bisexual women are just looking for threesomes - a fantasy that is actually their own. Using a vignette approach, four studies examined how heterosexual women and men perceived potential other-gender dating partners identifying as either bisexual or heterosexual. The participants were young adults from Germany (total N = 1,273; 18-35 years; 59% women). Studies 1a and 1b used an in-person bar scenario, Study 2a and 2b an online dating app scenario. The main dependent variables were interest in a short-term versus long-term relationship. None of the studies provided clear evidence for binegativity in the dating context: decreased interest in long-term relationships with bisexual versus heterosexual targets and, particularly among male participants, increased interest in short-term versus long-term relationships with bisexual targets. The discussion centers on the appropriateness of the method (vignette approach), the selectivity of the sample (high proportion of students), and, of course, the validity of the original hypothesis. Perhaps bisexuality is less stigmatized in the context of dating nowadays than was previously thought.

How Team Communication Affects Perceptions of Inclusion in Human-AI versus Human-Only Teams

Sophie Heß, Tanja Rabl; Department of Business Studies and Economics

As artificial intelligence (AI) continues to evolve, AI team members are increasingly integrated into workplace teams as active virtual team members who both communicate with others and are addressed by others. This development raises an important question for diversity and inclusion research: How does team communication shape whether individuals feel included when one of their team members is an AI team member? Building on social penetration theory and contrasting expectancy violations theory with the computers as social actors paradigm, this study examines how social-oriented and task-oriented team communication affect team members' perceived inclusion in human-AI compared to human-only teams. Perceived inclusion is the extent to which individuals experience both belongingness and uniqueness within a group. We argue that social-oriented communication strengthens perceived inclusion by providing relational cues of acceptance, warmth, and recognition, thereby supporting both belongingness and uniqueness. Task-oriented communication may also foster inclusion by coordinating contributions and signaling that team members' ideas are valued, but its effect should be weaker because it offers fewer direct cues of interpersonal connection. We further propose that these effects may depend on team composition, because AI team members may introduce a distinct social context in which team communication is interpreted and evaluated. The study uses a 2 × 2 × 2 experimental between-subjects design, manipulating social-oriented communication, task-oriented communication, and team composition using scenario descriptions and chat logs. By linking human-AI teaming with inclusion research, the study contributes to understanding how inclusive communication can be designed in future workplaces.

Not All Men? Why Progressive Views Seem Rare (But Aren't)

Lea L. Lorenz, Amy Bentz, Kolya Eßer, Dirk Kranz, Melanie C. Steffens (Departments of Psychology, Social, Environmental and Economic Psychology)

Pluralistic ignorance refers to a systematic misperception: Individuals privately reject a norm but mistakenly assume that most others accept it. This discrepancy between personal beliefs and perceived group norms can sustain attitudes and behaviors that are, in reality, less widely endorsed. Regarding gender norms, men may personally hold more progressive views (i.e., supporting gender equality, rejecting the financial provider role) while believing that other men endorse more traditional norms. This misperception can contribute to the persistence of rigid masculinity ideals. In the present research, we investigated pluralistic ignorance regarding two central masculinity norms: the expectation to be the provider and opposition to gender equality. We further tested an online intervention designed to reduce this misperception by providing accurate normative information about other men's attitudes. Results showed clear evidence of pluralistic ignorance: men overestimated the endorsement of traditional norms among their peers. Importantly, the intervention successfully reduced these misperceptions, aligning perceived norms more closely with actual attitudes. These findings support the idea of pluralistic ignorance as a key mechanism in maintaining traditional masculinity norms. By correcting misperceived norms, interventions may weaken the social pressures that sustain these ideals. We also discuss conditions under which pluralistic ignorance might be occurring, such as during masculinity threat (i.e., experienced distress for not meeting conventional masculine gender expectations). Addressing pluralistic ignorance may thus be a promising pathway for promoting more flexible and inclusive conceptions of masculinity.

Longitudinal analyses of men's communal engagement during the transition to fatherhood: The roles of workplace, partner dynamics and gender-related beliefs

Elena Gehringer & Melanie C. Steffens (Departments of Psychology, Social, Environmental, and Economic Psychology, RPTU University Kaiserslautern-Landau, Landau, Germany)
Colette van Laar (Center for Social and Cultural Psychology, University of Leuven, Leuven, Belgium)

Background: Although gender equality has advanced in many domains, men's participation in care work remains limited, reflecting persistent asymmetries in gender role change. The transition to fatherhood represents an opportunity for change, as contemporary fatherhood ideals increasingly emphasize care-oriented traits. Understanding what motivates men's communal engagement is therefore crucial.

Objective: Embedded in a broader project on the psychological dynamics of men's transition to fatherhood, this study aims to identify predictors of fathers' parental leave-taking by bringing together factors from multiple research domains within one longitudinal framework, thereby providing a more comprehensive analysis of the role of these factors.

Method: This Registered Report draws on longitudinal data from 113 first-time fathers, collected approximately three months before birth as well as four and twelve months postpartum. This allows us to examine how expectations and contextual factors relate to fathers' later caregiving behavior. We examine predictors of parental leave-taking across three key domains that are often studied separately: (1) workplace climate (e.g., support, anticipated career consequences), (2) partnership dynamics (e.g., partner support, maternal gatekeeping), and (3) gender-related beliefs (e.g., fatherhood attitudes and male role prototypes). In addition, we explore whether discrepancies between fathers' prenatal intentions and fathers' actual involvement after birth play a role. To do so, we first analyze each domain separately to assess its contribution to fathers' leave-taking (both whether leave is taken and its duration). We then compare and integrate key predictors across domains in a combined model to identify which factors are most strongly associated with fathers' engagement in care work.

"Russian-German" young people and religious education

Constanze Elisabeth Kelava (Department of Cultural and Social Sciences, Institute for Protestant Theology)

Religious and social pluralism significantly characterizes the current migration society in Germany. While religious education discourses are increasingly taking interreligious diversity into account, intra-religious and intra-confessional diversity within Christianity often remains a "blind spot". This applies in particular to religious imprints in the context of post-Soviet migration. The migrants of post-Soviet emigration, often referred to in public discourse as "Russian-German", represent a significant group in Germany's pluralistic religious landscape. Their religiosity is often - though not exclusively - rooted in free-church evangelical milieus and has historically served as a central point of reference for cultural identity.

The dissertation project, the current status of which will be presented on the poster, focuses its research interest on religious transmission and identification processes of "Russian-German" youths in the field of tension between different socialization instances such as family, community, school and media. Particular attention is paid to the development of their religious identity in the interplay of different affiliations, identity dimensions and family migration experiences.

The research design of the study follows the grounded theory methodology and relies on biographical-narrative interviews with young people as a data basis. The qualitative approach makes it possible to reconstruct subjective meaning-making processes and individual identity constructions beyond standardized categories. The article makes intra-religious diversity within migrant lifeworlds visible and aims to make an empirical contribution to diversity- and migration-sensitive religious education.

Lots of little mosquito bites - the result of everyday discrimination

Silja Bornhöft (Department of Psychology, WG Social Psychology)

People experience discrimination in everyday life for various reasons. The e-learnings developed in the Social Psychology working group on topics such as: Racism, benevolent sexism, non-binary, body shaming, mental illness, and many more, invite participants to experience, understand and actively shape diversity. With the help of scientific input, for example in the form of explanations of terms, personal experiences of those affected and concrete recommendations for action for respectful interaction with fellow human beings, participants should be sensitized to discrimination and thus also reduce prejudice and discriminatory behavior. The poster presentation will focus more on the non-binary module, as this was developed by me. Some of the e-learning courses are currently being evaluated and revised in final theses and participants are being sought for the associated studies.

Project "Ageing Smart - Designing spaces intelligently" Presentation of the overall project and sub-projects

Denis Knobe (Department of Spatial and Environmental Planning, Research Group Urban Sociology)

The project "Ageing Smart - Designing spaces intelligently" addresses the baby boomers born between 1955 and 1969. As they gradually enter retirement age, municipalities are required to create age-appropriate residential locations and care structures. In an integrated approach, the researchers are therefore bringing together spatial planning and supply-side approaches as well as the views of baby boomers and local authorities for the first time. The aim is to develop a data-supported system that serves as a decision-making aid for public stakeholders in their planning processes. The project therefore sheds light on the specific needs of a very specific age cohort, but also takes into account the diversity within this heterogeneous group. The project has been running since 2021 and consists of 10 sub-projects, 7 of which belong to the Department of Spatial and Environmental Planning at RPTU (Kaiserslautern site) as well as a research group from the Department of Mathematics, Fraunhofer IESE and DFKI.

How does gender affect German and Spanish speakers' noun conceptualization?

John C. Borges Gamboa (Department of Social Sciences, Research Group Psycholinguistics & Language Development)

Boroditsky et al. (2003) report an experiment that asked German and Spanish speakers to describe in their native language objects such as bridge (masculine in Spanish; feminine in German) and key (vice-versa). Participants used adjectives such as hard, sturdy for objects that were masculine in their language, and lovely, elegant for feminine objects, presumably showing that the object's gender affected its conceptualization. Unfortunately, however, their full experiment was never published. In our work, we conceptually replicate the study, considering additionally the impact of age on the perception of these nouns.

Participants were German (n=36), Spanish (n=40), and English (n=40) speakers, categorized as younger (18-25 years old) and older (56-85 years old). They described (in an online experiment) 54 words (27 feminine in German and masculine in Spanish; 27 vice-versa) with the first three adjectives that came to their mind. We expected German and Spanish speakers, but not English speakers (because English does not assign genders to objects), to produce descriptions aligned with gender, and modulated by age, given older adults' greater experience and less flexible semantic networks (Cosgrove et al., 2023).

German and English adjectives were preliminarily annotated (subjectively) on a 5-point scale (from "Strongly masculine" to "Strongly feminine") and statistically tested. The preliminary results showed no effect of noun's gender (failing to replicate the original experiment), but an age effect, suggesting that younger and older adults do conceptualize objects differently. For the event, we will analyze the data using annotations from a large language model, to reduce annotation subjectivity.

Literature:

Boroditsky, L., Schmidt, L., & Phillips, W. (2003). Sex, syntax and semantics. In D. Gentner & S. Goldin-Meadow (Eds.), Language in mind: Advances in the study of language and thought (pp. 61-78). Boston Review.

Cosgrove, A. L., Beaty, R. E., Diaz, M. T., & Kenett, Y. N. (2023). Age differences in semantic network structure: Acquiring knowledge shapes semantic memory. Psychology and Aging, 38(2),87-102.