Examines whether feminine media stars idolized by adolescent girls provide a safe target of romantic love before girls start dating and become sexually active. Surveys of seventh and ninth grade Israeli girls indicate that idolizing feminine stars may be an intermediate step in a sequence that starts with idolizing females and continues to the…

Assessed the relative contribution of gender and gender role orientation to empathy and its development in 119 Israeli 8th and 11th graders. When the contribution of masculinity/femininity was covaried, empathy was found unrelated to gender. Findings are discussed in terms of socialization of emotions and gender role orientation. (SLD)