Pressures and pretense: Living with gender stereotypes

This study examines how people live with two gender stereotypes: (1) masculine/active and feminine/passive roles; and (2) masculine/emotional inexpressiveness and feminine/emotional expressiveness. Given the contrast between traditional gender stereotypes and the emergent feminist perspective, we expected that both men and women would experience pressures both to conform to and to deviate from the traditional stereotypes, although the pressures would be greater for women. A study of active/passive roles and specific emotions, with a sample of 141 men and women, revealed that both sexes felt such contradictory pressures, and that they actually were greater for women. Moreover, pressures were magnified in cross-sex interaction. Pretense was one way people consciously monitor feelings and manage interactions. A number of paradoxes emerged. The most dramatic is that both men and women experienced each other as demanding stereotypical behavior, yet both claimed self-motivation for change.The author thanks Lucile Duberman for her incisive suggestions, Nancy Leff for her valuable editorial assistance, and Anne Marie Fodera and Laura Mestress for their competent work as research assistants.     

Framing gender differences: Linguistic normativity affects perceptions of power and gender stereotypes

When unknown groups and equal status groups are compared by contrasting one group (“the effect to be explained”) against another (“the linguistic norm”), the group positioned as the norm is sometimes perceived as more powerful, more agentic, and as less communal. Such perceptions may contribute to status‐linked stereotypes, as group differences are spontaneously described by positioning higher‐status groups as the linguistic norm. Here, 103 participants considered gender differences in status to be larger and more legitimate and applied gender stereotypes more readily upon reading about gender differences in leadership that were framed around a male rather than a female linguistic norm. These effects did not generalize to 113 participants who read about gender differences in leisure time preferences framed around either norm. Jointly, these results suggest that the effects of linguistic framing on perceived group status and power and on group stereotypes generalize to domains where there are real differences in status, and contexts in which higher‐status groups are the default standard for comparison. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Evolution of gender stereotypes in Spain: traits and roles

The aim of this study is twofold: to determine whether (and how) gender stereotypes have changed over time through a comparison of two different sets of data collected in 1993 (N=1255) and 2001 (N=1255) from a representative sample of the Spanish population, and to examine the relation between gender traits and roles and its stability over time. In addition, special attention is paid to the psychometric properties of the measures of gender traits and roles used in the study. The content of gender stereotypes was found to remain stable over the target period of time, confirming the classical typology (a higher assignment of expressive-communal traits to women and of instrumental-agentic traits to men). The structure of the gender-role questionnaire allows us to distinguish between family-role and work-role stereotyping. Gender-role stereotyping shows a marked decline between 1993 and 2001, a result that contrasts with the stability of trait-role stereotyping. The fact that a very low correlation is observed at the two time points between these two components of gender stereotyping strongly suggests their independence.     

Challenging occupational stereotypes: Women's training roadshows and guidance at school level

The views that women and girls hold about themselves contribute to the segregation of women in the labour market. Women's Training Roadshows are an example of initiatives aimed at 'cultural interruption', in that they attempt to challenge occupational stereotypes. This paper evaluates the Cardiff Women's Roadshow from the schoolgirls' perspective and discusses the implications of the findings for careers guidance at school level.     

Adolescents' approval of peer and spousal retribution in their culture vs. other cultures: The role of group stereotypes

This study examined whether negative group stereotypes similarly affect adolescents' reasoning about peer and spousal retribution in interpersonal situations. Findings from cognitive domain theory, school violence, family violence, and group stereotyping and prejudice literatures were used to examine this. The sample of adolescents was drawn from northern and central Israel and consisted of 1,168 Arab and Jewish students (grades 7–11). A quasi‐experimental between‐subject design was used, in which the students in each grade were randomly assigned to one of two peer retribution scenarios and one of two spousal retribution scenarios. In each scenario, only the ethnicity of the peers and married couples depicted in the story was systematically altered. The study was a 2 (Arab/Jewish respondent) 2 (peer retribution scenarios) 2 (spousal retribution scenarios) factorial design. The findings provide evidence that Arab and Jewish students have negative stereotypes about one another; however, these group stereotypes did not affect their judgments and justifications about peer and spousal retribution. Jewish and Arab students judged peer retribution similarly, but differed in their judgments of spousal retribution. However, altering the ethnic background of the individuals in the scenarios did not affect respondents' judgments. This suggests that respondents in both groups did not base their judgments on negative stereotypes about the out‐group, but instead were focusing on the behavioural act itself. Overall, the vast majority of respondents condemned retribution based on moral, social conventional and personal reasons. This inquiry provides evidence that it was the number of justifications endorsed within a specific domain that distinguished Arab and Jewish respondents. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.     

Brain potentials reflect violations of gender stereotypes

Event-related brain potentials (ERPs) were recorded while 14 males and 14 females read sentences containing a reflexive pronoun that referred to a definitionally or stereotypically male or female antecedent noun. Pronouns that disagreed with the gender definition or gender stereotype of the antecedent elicited a large-amplitude positive wave. Violations of gender definitions elicited a larger positive wave than did violations of gender stereotypes. Furthermore, the positive wave elicited by stereotype violations persisted even when subjects judged these sentences to be acceptable. Finally, female subjects exhibited larger positivities than did male subjects, regardless of whether the gender mismatch involved a definitional or stereotypical antecedent. These results are taken to indicate that ERPs are sensitive to violations of gender-based occupational stereotypes and that the ERP response to stereotype violations is similar to the P600 effect elicited by a variety of syntactic anomalies.     

Occupational gender stereotypes and problem-solving in Italian adolescents

The first purpose of the study was to establish how Italian adolescents perceive jobs in the newly emerging economy sectors as well as more traditional jobs from gender-stereotyped and gender-segregated perspectives. The second purpose was to verify the role of problem-solving and gender in gender-role stereotyping. A total of 217 Italian high school students were involved. A questionnaire developed by Miller and Hayward was used to examine the students’ occupational gender-role stereotyping, segregation and interests. The Problem-Solving Inventory was administered to examine problem-solving. Adolescents perceived most jobs as being gender-stereotyped and -segregated. Female gender and problem-solving ability were associated with a reduced tendency to perceive jobs as gender-stereotyped.     

Images of occupations: Components of gender and status in occupational stereotypes

A multidimensional approach to occupational gender type was explored. In Study 1, participants' spontaneous images of various jobs were elicited. The attributes generated were used to develop a job images questionnaire employed in Study 2 on which participants rated a random sample of 100 occupational titles. Occupational images were primarily structured on two orthogonal dimensions: prestige and gender type. The multidimensional approach to occupational gender-type was supported in that important gender-related occupational attributes (masculine personality trait requirements and analytical skills) did not load on the gender-type factor, but did load highly on the prestige factor. Thus, even though the prestige and gender-type factors were orthogonal, specific gender-related attributes were related to perceived occupational prestige.     

Preschoolers' inferences about gender and emotion: The mediation of emotionality stereotypes

This study examined childrens' stereotypes about sex differences in emotionality. Thirty preschoolers were presented with hypothetical emotional situations and asked to indicate the gender of the expressor and reasons for their choice. Although fear was consistently associated with females, gender attribution was situation specific for anger and happiness. Examination of preschoolers' explanations for gender attributions revealed that females made greater use of sex-role and imagery categories than did males. Furthermore, a significant age difference in the use of categorical and noncategorical responses was reported, with younger children making a greater number of noncategorical explanations. Children who used imagery to mediate gender choice relied primarily on hair color and length as gender-specific cues.     

Theory of mind tasks and executive functions: A systematic review of group studies in neurology

A growing number of studies have been addressing the relationship between theory of mind (TOM) and executive functions (EF) in patients with acquired neurological pathology. In order to provide a global overview on the main findings, we conducted a systematic review on group studies where we aimed to (1) evaluate the patterns of impaired and preserved abilities of both TOM and EF in groups of patients with acquired neurological pathology and (2) investigate the existence of particular relations between different EF domains and TOM tasks. The search was conducted in Pubmed/Medline. A total of 24 articles met the inclusion criteria. We considered for analysis classical clinically accepted TOM tasks (first‐ and second‐order false belief stories, the Faux Pas test, Happe's stories, the Mind in the Eyes task, and Cartoon's tasks) and EF domains (updating, shifting, inhibition, and access). The review suggests that (1) EF and TOM appear tightly associated. However, the few dissociations observed suggest they cannot be reduced to a single function; (2) no executive subprocess could be specifically associated with TOM performances; (3) the first‐order false belief task and the Happe's story task seem to be less sensitive to neurological pathologies and less associated to EF. Even though the analysis of the reviewed studies demonstrates a close relationship between TOM and EF in patients with acquired neurological pathology, the nature of this relationship must be further investigated. Studies investigating ecological consequences of TOM and EF deficits, and intervention researches may bring further contributions to this question.     

Rigidity and flexibility of gender stereotypes in childhood: developmental or differential?

Previous research has shown that the early learning of male–female categories is characterized by rigid beliefs about stereotypic differences, but that once gender knowledge is well established, the beliefs become more flexible. Because most studies are cross‐sectional, it is not known if the early rigidity represents a normative transitional developmental stage that passes, or if early individual differences in rigidity continue into later childhood. To answer that question, analyses were performed on longitudinal data of 64 children who had been questioned about their gender concepts yearly from ages 5 to 10 years. Supporting a cognitive‐developmental approach, the findings showed that the period of rigidity was short‐lived whether rigidity began early or late or whether the level of peak rigidity was high or low. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

How to share a mind: Reconsidering the group mind thesis

Standard accounts in social ontology and the group cognition debate have typically focused on how collective modes, types, and contents of intentions or representational states must be construed so as to constitute the jointness of the respective agents, cognizers, and their engagements. However, if we take intentions, beliefs, or mental representations all to instantiate some mental properties, then the more basic issue regarding such collective engagements is what it is for groups of individual minds to share a mind. Somewhat surprisingly, this very issue has not received much attention in the respective debates and when it has, typically the outlook has been skeptical or outright negative. In this paper, I argue that it is epistemologically possible for a group of individuals to literally share a single mental unit. In particular, I will put forward and defend what I shall call the zombie conception of group minds.     

Facial expressions can inhibit the activation of gender stereotypes

ABSTRACT

Using faces as the priming stimuli, the present study explored the influence of facial expressions on the activation of gender stereotypes using a lexical decision paradigm. Experiment 1 explored the activation of gender stereotypes when the facial primes contained only gender information. The results showed that gender stereotypes were activated. In Experiment 2, the facial primes contained both gender category and expression information. The results indicated that gender stereotypes were not activated. Experiment 3 required the participants to make emotion, gender, or impression decisions concerning the facial primes before the lexical decision task. The results showed that gender stereotypes were not activated in emotion and impression decisions conditions, whereas stereotypes were activated in gender decisions condition. These finding suggest that facial expressions can inhibit automatic activation of gender stereotypes, unless the perceivers perform gender categorization processing to prime faces intentionally.     

The development of occupational sex-role stereotypes: The effects of gender stability and age

This study investigated occupational sex-role stereotypes of nursery school, kindergarten, third-grade, and sixth-grade children, and the effects of their acquiring gender constancy, specifically the concept of gender stability. Two types of occupational attitudes were assessed: (1) personal aspirations (PA) and (2) ideas about jobs men and women do. The latter were determined using the Occupations Survey (OS). Children chose stereotyped occupations for themselves even before they had a concept of gender stability. Boys' personal aspiration responses were more stereotyped than girls'. On the Occupations Survey, gender-stable nursery schoolers' responses were more stereotyped than those of the nonstable children; and a significant effect for age was found, with stereotyping decreasing among third graders and sixth graders. No sex differences were found on the OS. Differences in the two areas of occupational attitudes suggested two processes of learning sex roles. Social learning more readily accounts for the early stereotyped answers on the PA. Cognitive developmental theory is congruent with the OS scores of the nursery school children.     

Theory of mind and schizophrenia

A number of cognitive and behavioral variables influence the performance in tasks of theory of mind (ToM). Since two of the most important variables, memory and explicit expression, are impaired in schizophrenic patients, the ToM appears inconsistent in these patients. An ideal instrument of ToM should therefore account for deficient memory and impaired ability of these patients to explicitly express intentions. If such an instrument is developed, it should provide information that can be used not only to understand the pathophysiology but also to monitor patients.     

The group-member mind trade-off: attributing mind to groups versus group members

People attribute minds to other individuals and make inferences about those individuals' mental states to explain and predict their behavior. Little is known, however, about whether people also attribute minds to groups and believe that collectives, companies, and corporations can think, have intentions, and make plans. Even less is known about the consequences of these attributions for both groups and group members. We investigated the attribution of mind and responsibility to groups and group members, and we demonstrated that people make a trade-off: The more a group is attributed a group mind, the less members of that group are attributed individual minds. Groups that are judged to have more group mind are also judged to be more cohesive and responsible for their collective actions. These findings have important implications for how people perceive the minds of groups and group members, and for how attributions of mind influence attributions of responsibility to groups and group members.     

Bears are for boys: Metaphorical associations in young children's gender stereotypes

Objects may be gender typed by virtue of their use by or association with one sex or the other or because they embody qualities that show a nonliteral or metaphorical correspondence to characteristics of or beliefs about males and females. For Study 1, we developed the Gender Stereotyping Test, a sorting task with which we determined that 4-, 5-, and 7-year-olds make use of both types of information in assigning objects or qualities to each sex. Study 2 replicated results with a new group of 4-year-olds and found that children whose test scores indicated at least some knowledge of gender identity were more likely to gender type metaphorical, but not conventional, items than those whose scores failed to indicate stable and constant knowledge of gender identity. In Study 3, which used a truncated version of the sorting task, children at age 3 made minimal use of either type of information. Gender stereotypes are considered in terms of recent theories of metaphor as a conceptual mechanism by which what is known in or about one domain is projected to another domain for the purpose of understanding.