Peer Toy Play as a Gateway to Children’s Gender Flexibility: The Effect of (Counter)Stereotypic Portrayals of Peers in Children’s Magazines

Extensive evidence has documented the gender stereotypic content of children’s media, and media is recognized as an important socializing agent for young children. Yet, the precise impact of children’s media on the endorsement of gender-typed attitudes and behaviors has received less scholarly attention. We investigated the impact of stereotypic and counter-stereotypic peers pictured in children’s magazines on children’s gender flexibility around toy play and preferences, playmate choice, and social exclusion behavior (n?=?82, age 4–7 years-old). British children were randomly assigned to view a picture of a peer-age boy and girl in a magazine playing with either a gender stereotypic or counter-stereotypic toy. In the stereotypic condition, the pictured girl was shown with a toy pony and the pictured boy was shown with a toy car; these toys were reversed in the counter-stereotypic condition. Results revealed significantly greater gender flexibility around toy play and playmate choices among children in the counter-stereotypic condition compared to the stereotypic condition, and boys in the stereotypic condition were more accepting of gender-based exclusion than were girls. However, there was no difference in children’s own toy preferences between the stereotypic and counter-stereotypic condition, with children preferring more gender-typed toys overall. Implications of the findings for media, education, and parenting practices are discussed, and the potential for counter-stereotypic media portrayals of toy play to shape the gender socialization of young children is explored.     

Implicit open-mindedness: Evidence for and limits on stereotype malleability

Although stereotypes have traditionally been regarded as stable, research has documented their considerable malleability. One potential source of such malleability is intrusion into the stereotype of other concepts also activated when the stereotype is activated. In three experiments we assessed the extent to which stereotypes were influenced by stereotypic, stereotype-unrelated, or counter-stereotypic traits activated in a completely unrelated context immediately prior to stereotype measurement. Across experiments, priming of stereotype-unrelated traits increased their inclusion in the stereotype, whereas priming of counter-stereotypic traits had no effect in the subsequently assessed stereotype. In Experiment 3 we collected perceived dispersion measures and showed that although priming counter-stereotypic traits had no effect on overall characterization of the target group, it boosted perceptions of the group's variability. We accounted for these results by extending Higgins' (1989) Synapse Model of knowledge accessibility to the stereotype domain.     

Effects of sex role stereotyping among European American students on domestic violence culpability attributions

Effects of European American students' sex role stereotyping and domestic violence participants' race and relationship intimacy were examined for culpability attributions. In addition to a man's responsibility rating and a sentencing measure, five factors were identified from the dependent measures; these were Sympathy with Man, Incident as Abusive, Generalness of Incident, Seriousness of Incident, and Man as Abuser. Results indicated that sex role stereotyping was influential in culpability attributions, as those with traditional orientations showed a favorable bias toward the man, particularly a married man. Traditionalists provided a shorter sentence for the man and thought the incident less abusive when the woman was African American, in comparison to egalitarians. Both egalitarians and traditionalists expressed more sympathy toward the man when the woman was African American and married. Although we had anticipated higher culpability ratings for women involved in interracial relationships, we found that the European American man was thought less responsible when the woman was African American, but no differences emerged when the woman was European American. It is suggested future research examine the specific content of various stereotypic subtypes of actors involved in domestic violence and how these stereotypic subtypes bias culpability attributions.Appreciation is extended to an anonymous reviewer for helpful comments on an earlier version of this article.Portions of this research were presented at the 1994 biennial meeting of the American Psychology-Law Society, Santa Fe, NM.     

The Effects of Gender Stereotypic and Counter-Stereotypic Textbook Images on Science Performance

ABSTRACT

We investigated the effect of gender stereotypic and counter-stereotypic images on male and female high school students' science comprehension and anxiety. We predicted stereotypic images to induce stereotype threat in females and impair science performance. Counter-stereotypic images were predicted to alleviate threat and enhance female performance. Students read one of three chemistry lessons, each containing the same text, with photograph content varied according to stereotype condition. Participants then completed a comprehension test and anxiety measure. Results indicate that female students had higher comprehension after viewing counter-stereotypic images (female scientists) than after viewing stereotypic images (male scientists). Male students had higher comprehension after viewing stereotypic images than after viewing counter-stereotypic images. Implications for alleviating the gender gap in science achievement are discussed.     

Stereotypes and terror management: evidence that mortality salience enhances stereotypic thinking and preferences

If stereotypes function to protect people against death-related concerns, then mortality salience should increase stereotypic thinking and preferences for stereotype-confirming individuals. Study 1 demonstrated that mortality salience increased stereotyping of Germans. In Study 2, it increased participants' tendency to generate more explanations for stereotype-inconsistent than stereotype-consistent gender role behavior. In Study 3, mortality salience increased participants' liking for a stereotype-consistent African American and decreased their liking for a stereotype-inconsistent African American; control participants exhibited the opposite preference. Study 4 replicated this pattern with evaluations of stereotype-confirming or stereotype-disconfirming men and women. Study 5 showed that, among participants high in need for closure, mortality salience led to decreased liking for a stereotype-inconsistent gay man.     

Biased processing of stereotype-incongruency is greater for low than high status groups

Two studies assessed whether a stereotypic explanatory bias emerges primarily when members of low (compared to high) social status groups engage in behaviors inconsistent with group stereotypes. A preliminary study showed that male and female participants spontaneously showed more stereotypically biased explanatory processing of female stereotype-inconsistency (i.e., explanation of male-stereotypic behaviors performed by female compared to male actors) than male stereotype-inconsistency (i.e., explanation of female-stereotypic behaviors performed by male compared to female actors). The main experiment provided a manipulation of social status of target groups, and both external (i.e., situational) and internal (i.e., dispositional) explanations for stereotype-inconsistent behaviors were assessed. Results showed that external explanations for female stereotype-inconsistency were greater for targets described as low, not high in socioeconomic status. This research suggests that information processing is biased when members of a low status group engage in stereotype-inconsistent behaviors, whereas members of high status groups can engage in either stereotypic or counter-stereotypic behaviors without instigating biases in information processing.     

Children's Perception of Gender-Based Illusory Correlations: Enhancing Preexisting Relationships Between Gender and Behavior

The purpose of this study was to examine whether children would perceive an illusory correlation between gender and behavior above and beyond the actual relationship between the variables in the stimuli. Second and fourth grade children were presented with a series of pictures of men and women performing gender stereotypic, counter-stereotypic, and neutral behaviors. One gender (the high frequency gender) performed each behavior twice as often as the other gender. The children made higher frequency estimates for stimuli that matched their expectancies than for stimuli that were neutral or counter to their expectations. Further, they perceived a stronger relationship between gender and behavior for stimuli that were stereotypic for the high frequency gender than for neutral or counter-stereotypic stimuli.     

Attributions and Race Are Critical: Perceived Criticism in a Sample of African American and White Community Participants

The current investigation had two principal goals: (a) to examine whether attributions regarding the intentions underlying criticism from one’s relative predict perceived criticism from that relative and (b) to explore differences between African Americans and Whites in attributions and perceived criticism. A new measure, the Attributions of Criticism Scale, was employed in the present study to assess attributions of perceived criticism. Results showed that the attributions scale demonstrated good psychometric properties in a sample of African American (n = 78) and White (n = 165) community participants. As hypothesized, attributions were correlated with perceptions of criticism. When racial differences in attributions and perceived criticism were explored, results showed that African Americans made more positive attributions but also perceived more destructive criticism than Whites. No racial differences were observed on overall and constructive criticism, but there was some evidence to suggest that African Americans made more negative attributions than Whites. However, these results were inconsistent across recruitment method. Taken together, these findings suggest that positive and negative attributions are important factors in the perception of criticism and that mean levels of attributions and perceived criticism may differ by race. Possible explanations for effects as well as clinical implications and directions for future research are considered.     

MEDIA CONTRIBUTIONS TO AFRICAN AMERICAN GIRLS' FOCUS ON BEAUTY AND APPEARANCE: EXPLORING THE CONSEQUENCES OF SEXUAL OBJECTIFICATION

The media are dominated by images of women as sex objects whose value is based on their appearance. These portrayals can potentially limit girls' self-perceptions and influence their attitudes regarding the importance of appearance. However, relatively little is known about how African American adolescent girls are affected by these images. Using data from a survey of 176 African American adolescent girls (mean age = 15), this project examined associations between Black media use and African American girls' focus on beauty and appearance. Results suggest that both exposure to and identification with portrayals of Black women as sex objects contribute to African American adolescent girls emphasizing the importance of appearance in their own lives and for girls in general. When all the media variables were tested together in hierarchical regression analyses, identification with favorite television character, identification with more objectifying female music artists, and identification with less objectifying female artists emerged as the more consistent predictors of the outcomes examined. Findings are discussed in terms of their implications for girls' overall development.     

Exploring Risk in Early Adolescent African American Youth

Two studies were conducted to explore the degree to which single- and multiple-risk profiles were evident in samples of African American early adolescents in low-income inner-city, rural, and suburban schools. Study 1 examined early adolescent risk status (i.e., single, multiple) in relation to later adjustment in a representative sample (70% European American, 30% African American). Youth who experienced a single risk in early adolescence had moderately increased levels of school dropout and criminal arrests, whereas youth with multiple risks (i.e., combination of 2 or more risks) had significantly increased levels of school dropout, criminal arrests, and teen parenthood. Study 2 examined the extent to which single- and multiple-risk profiles were evident in cross-sectional samples of African American youth from low-income inner-city and rural areas. About one fourth of both the inner-city and rural samples of African American youth were composed of youth in the single-risk category. A significantly greater proportion of boys in the inner-city sample (20%) than boys in the rural sample (13%) experienced multiple risks. Girls across the rural and inner-city samples did not differ in terms of risk. Overall, more than 60% of African American youth in these two low-income samples did not evidence risk for later adjustment problems. Implications for research and intervention are discussed.     

Priming Mammies,Jezebels, and Other Controlling Images: An Examination of the Influence of Mediated Stereotypes on Perceptions of an African American Woman

This study examines how mediated portrayals of African American women influence judgments of African American women in social situations. Participants (N = 182) observed a mammy, jezebel, or nonstereotypic image on video. Participants then observed a mock employment interview involving either an African American or White woman. Participants completed measures of implicit and explicit racial prejudice. As hypothesized, participants associated the African American interviewee more quickly with negative terms (e.g., aggressive) than with positive terms (e.g., sincere). Also as hypothesized, when evaluating the job interviewee, participants who observed the jezebel stereotype video and the African American female interviewee responded more quickly to jezebel-related terms (e.g., sexual) than positive, negative, and mammy (e.g., maternal) terms. These results call for an expansion of the boundaries used in stereotype research and closer investigation of how mediated imagery might influence person perception.     

Framing discrimination: effects of inclusion versus exclusion mind-sets on stereotypic judgments

Three studies investigated how inclusion versus exclusion strategies differentially lead to stereotypic decisions. In inclusion strategies, suitable targets are selected from a list of candidates, whereas in exclusion strategies, unsuitable candidates are eliminated. Across 2 separate target domains (Study 1: male and female politicians; Studies 2 and 3: African American and European American basketball players), exclusion strategies, as compared with inclusion strategies, elicited higher levels of both sensitivity stereotyping (i.e., greater difficulty distinguishing among members of stereotyped groups) and criterion stereotyping (i.e., setting different decision thresholds for judging members of different groups; see M. R. Banaji & A. G. Greenwald, 1995). Thus, the strategy used during decision making can influence the final decision via 2 theoretically distinct stereotyping mechanisms.     

Gender, Female Traditionality, Achievement Level, and Cognitions of Success and Failure

Differences in ratings of initial expectancy of success, perceived scholastic ability, and causal attributions were assessed for male and female high school students for a simulated academic test. Subjects were also differentiated on their achievement level (i.e., under- and overachievement) and the traditionality of their career aspirations. As predicted, higher expectancies were found for high performance achievers and nontraditional females. Males generally made more attributions to lack of effort for failure, as did low performance achievers. Females and high performance achievers attributed success more to effort. Hypotheses concerning differential usage of luck and ability attributions were not supported. Although there was an overall trend for females to be more external, traditionality also mediated causal attributions for females.     

An Attribution Theory Analysis of Romantic Jealousy

Two studies examined the utility of attribution theory (B. Weiner, 1985, 1995) in explaining romantic jealousy responses. In Study 1, by varying hypothetical scenarios according to Weiner's attribution distinction (B. Weiner, 1995), 156 undergraduates perceived jealousy to increase when an unfaithful partner's interaction with interlopers was deliberate (i.e., personal causality), controllable, intentional, and without mitigating excuses. High trait jealousy amplified these ratings but did not affect the underlying attribution relationships. Reversing the attribution-to-jealousy linkage in Study 2, 128 participants from the general population recalled jealousy episodes in their lives, then made attributions for the events and categorized them using Weiner's dimensions (B. Weiner, 1985). Jealousy was more likely when the cause of a partner's indiscretion was perceived to be internal, controllable, and intentional—although not necessarily stable. The findings verify that attribution theory identifies blame conditions that trigger jealousy responses.     

Perspective taking and prejudice reduction: the mediational role of empathy arousal and situational attributions

This research was designed to examine whether perspective taking promotes improved intergroup attitudes regardless of the extent that stereotypic perceptions of outgroups are endorsed, as well as examining the mechanisms (attributional or empathy related) by which perspective taking motivates improved intergroup attitudes. Participants were presented with an interview segment where an African American interviewee discussed the difficulties experienced as a result of his membership in a negatively stereotyped group. Materials were presented in a 2 (perspective taking: other focused or objective focused) × 2 (target stereotypicality: confirming or disconfirming) between participants design. Findings revealed that the manipulation of target stereotypicality influenced subsequent stereotype endorsement; those exposed to a stereotype confirming target later endorsed more stereotypic perceptions of African Americans than did those exposed to a stereotype disconfirming target. However, perspective taking promoted improved intergroup attitudes irrespective of stereotypicality; those encouraged to adopt the perspective of the target later reported more favourable intergroup attitudes than did those who remained detached and objective listeners. Whereas empathy partially mediated the relation between perspective taking and intergroup attitudes, situational attributions were a stronger and more reliable mediator. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Body shape and size depictions of African American women in JET magazine, 1953-2006

Depictions of Caucasian women in the mainstream media have become increasingly thinner in size and straighter in shape. These changes may be inconsistent with the growing influence of African American beauty ideals, which research has established as more accepting of larger body sizes and more curvaceous body types than Caucasians. The present study looked at trends in the portrayal of African American women featured in JET magazine from 1953 to 2006. Beauty of the Week (BOW) images were collected and analyzed to examine body size (estimated by independent judges) and body shape (estimated by waist-to-hip ratio). We expected body sizes to increase and body shapes to become more curvaceous. Results revealed a rise in models' body size consistent with expectations, but an increase in waist-to-hip ratio, contrary to prediction. Our findings suggest that the African American feminine beauty ideal reflects both consistencies with and departures from mainstream cultural ideals.     

Shades of Sexualization: When Sexualization Becomes Sexual Objectification

Sexualization in mass media is a widespread phenomenon. Although sexualization and sexual objectification are often used as synonymous, they are two different concepts. Across two studies, we investigated how sexualization affects perceptions of women (Study 1) and men (Study 2) as sexual objects. Participants were asked to judge sexual objectification, competence, and sexiness of female and male models portrayed with different degrees of sexualization, namely, as Non-Revealing (dressed), merely Revealing (undressed), and Sexualized Revealing (undressed and provocative). The results of both studies showed that as the level of sexualization increased so did participants’ perceptions of the targets as sexual objects. However, the level of sexualization affected perceived competence and sexiness differently depending on the target’s gender. Male models’ competence decreased as the level of sexualization increased, whereas female models portrayed as merely Revealing and as Sexualized Revealing were judged as equally incompetent. Male targets’ sexiness was not affected by the level of portrayals’ sexualization, whereas Sexualized Revealing portrayals enhanced the perceived sexiness of female targets. Finally, in Study 2, the results showed that male targets in Sexualized Revealing portrayals were judged as less masculine. Our findings suggest that sexualization contributes similarly to the perception of both women and men as sexual objects but affects other variables depending on the target’s gender. Our work extends previous literature and informs us about the consequences that sexualization of men and women have on others’ judgments.     

Peer Victimization, Aggression, and Their Co-Occurrence in Middle School: Pathways to Adjustment Problems

An ethnically diverse sample of 6th-grade students completed peer nomination procedures that were used to create subgroups of students with reputations as victims, aggressors, aggressive victims, and socially adjusted (neither aggressive nor victimized). Self-report data on psychological adjustment, attributions for peer harassment, and perceived school climate were gathered. In addition, homeroom teachers rated participating students on academic engagement and students' grades were collected from school records. Victims reported the most negative self-views, aggressors enjoyed the most positive self-views, and aggressive victims fell between these two groups, although their psychological profile more closely resembled that of victims. However, all three subgroups encountered more school adjustment problems when compared to their socially adjusted classmates. Different pathways to school adjustment problems for aggressors and victims were examined. For victims, characterological self-blame for victimization and psychological maladjustment were the key mediators, whereas for aggressors, the significant pathway was mainly through perceived unfairness of school rules. Analyses by ethnicity revealed that African American boys were most likely to be perceived as aggressive and as aggressive victims and they were doing most poorly in school. Implications for intervention with subgroups of problem behavior youth and the particular vulnerabilities of African American adolescents were discussed.