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.     

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.     

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.     

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.     

Gender stereotypes of parents with two-year-olds and beliefs about gender differences in behavior

A sample of British parents of two-year-olds was asked about gender-related adult roles, beliefs about gender differences in children's behavior, and whether they perceived their own child in terms of gender-specific behaviors. The majority of the children were perceived as conforming to gender stereotypes, and in particular, boys were seen this way by fathers. Parents cited as evidence behavior that corresponds closely to the content of adult sex role inventories. The parents were not positive about changes in the traditional gender-related work/child care division of labor.     

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.     

Same-sex and cross-sex siblings: Activity choices,roles, behavior,and gender stereotypes

Forty same-sex and cross-sex school-aged sibling pairs were observed in their homes during self-selected activities. The sex role learning index (SERLI) and a sex-typing room analysis were administered for the younger siblings, and maternal questionnaire information was obtained. Sibling gender constellation was associated with reliable differences in activity choices during the unstructured observations. Male dyads interacted less than other sibling groups, while older sisters in female dyads engaged in the most teaching. Older female siblings, regardless of the gender of the younger sibling, assumed the manager role frequently. Dyads containing an older girl also exhibited the greatest role asymmetrics. Affective differences related to gender constellation were also noted. Younger girls with older brothers and younger boys with older sisters evidenced the least gender stereotyping.     

Battered women in the criminal justice system: An analysis of gender stereotypes

Battered women charged with killing their abusers present a dilemma to the criminal justice system. Myths and stereo-types about women and battered women play a prominent role in the courtroom presentation of both defense and prosecution cases. While the prosecution may attempt to discredit the defendant for not living up to the standard of a ‘good woman’, the defense counters with an equally distorted portrayal of the defendant as ultra-feminine: the passive, helpless victim. Ten court cases of battered women charged with the death of their partners form the basis for a gender analysis of the social construction of the trial setting. This analysis includes the structure of the trial, the language of the trial interchange, the participants in the process, and the role the defendant played in her own defense.     

College student gender stereotypes: Expectations about the behavior of male subcategory members

Traditional research on gender stereotypes emphasized similarities among males in that all men were expected to exhibit stereotypic characteristics. Recent research described subcategories (family man, businessman, macho male) suggesting important differences among men. This study investigated college student expectations of similarities and differences among stereotypic male subcategories across five role characteristics: financial provider responsibilities, instrumental tendencies, assertiveness, familial responsibilities, and interpersonal tendencies. The white, middle-class students expected all men to take financial provider and familial responsibilities seriously, and to be assertive. As for differences, the family man and man in general were expected to be interpersonal, and the family man, businessman, and man in general were expected to be more instrumental than the macho male. Implications are discussed.     

A closer look at the complex structure of gender stereotypes

In the present paper an experimental design is introduced for the analysis of the conceptual categories used by subjects when stereotyping males and females. Subjects were asked to name as many familiar types of women and men as they could think of, and describe them in terms of various characteristic properties (e.g., traits, attitudes, interests, skills, and demographic features). The most frequently mentioned types were then sorted by a second sample according to their perceived similarity. Finally, a third group of subjects categorized the initial set of properties in terms of their relevance to either male or female types. Clustering and scaling analyses yielded a clear cut picture of the cognitive ordering principles underlying gender stereotypes. Distinct property clusters were found for the female and male types, underlining the important role of gender stereotypes in the knowledge base of the subjects.The authors would like to thank Kay Deaux for helpful comments on an earlier draft.     

Girls' math performance under stereotype threat: the moderating role of mothers' gender stereotypes

Previous research on stereotype threat in children suggests that making gender identity salient disrupts girls' math performance at as early as 5 to 7 years of age. The present study (n = 124) tested the hypothesis that parents' endorsement of gender stereotypes about math moderates girls' susceptibility to stereotype threat. Results confirmed that stereotype threat impaired girls' performance on math tasks among students from kindergarten through 2nd grade. Moreover, mothers' but not fathers' endorsement of gender stereotypes about math moderated girls' vulnerability to stereotype threat: performance of girls whose mothers strongly rejected the gender stereotype about math did not decrease under stereotype threat. These findings are important because they point to the role of mothers' beliefs in the development of girls' vulnerability to the negative effects of gender stereotypes about math.     

Pink or blue: Environmental gender stereotypes in the first two years of life

The physical environment of 120 girls and boys was compared in order to study the emergence of gender differences in infancy. Three age groups were investigated, 5, 13, and 25 months, with 40 children in each group. The quantity and types of toys, the colors and types of clothing, and the colors and motifs of the children's room were noted on a checklist by an observer who visited their homes. The results showed that boys were provided with more sports equipment, tools, and large and small vehicles. Girls had more dolls, fictional characters, child's furniture, and other toys for manipulation. They wore pink and multicolored clothes more often, had more pink pacifiers and jewelry. Boys wore more blue, red and white clothing. They had more blue pacifiers. Yellow bedding was more frequently observed in the girls' rooms, while blue bedding and curtains were more prevalent in the boys' rooms. Women were the predominant providers of toys for children. It thus seems that, nowadays, very early in their development, girls and boys already experience environments which are dissimilar. We may hypothesize that these differential environments will have an impact on the development of specific abilities and preferential activities in children.This research was supported by grants from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada, and FCAR, Québec. We thank France Frenette and Diane Mathurin for their assistance in the collection of data, and Tibie Rome-Flanders for her comments on a first draft of the paper.     

Undergraduates regard deviation from occupational gender stereotypes as costly for women

Studies from the 1970s have shown deviation from norms defining the gender-appropriateness of occupations to be costly for both women and men. Two hundred thirty undergraduates wrote open-ended stories and rated a stimulus person, Anne or John, who was described at the top of his/her class in medicine or one of four persistently gender-skewed fields: nursing, day care, electrical engineering, and electrician. Across all five occupations, negative imagery in stories about Anne and John in gender-incongruent occupations disappeared. However, when Anne succeeded in the two currently female-incongruent fields, raters treated her as a personal and social deviate by distancing themselves and by denigrating her role behaviors and personal traits, including her femininity. Parallel costs were not found for John nor were Anne's work-related qualities undermined. Undergraduates expect deviation from occupational gender-types in the 1990s to be personally costly for women, but not for men.The authors wish to thank Peggy Braam for her invaluable help with data collection and entry, and Arnold Kahn, John Zipp, Stephanie Riger, Lynne Berendsen, and Patricia Aniakudo. Parts of this paper were presented at the meetings of the Midwestern Psychological Association in Chicago in May 1993 and at the meetings of the American Psychological Association in Los Angeles in August 1994.     

Implicit stereotypes, gender identification, and math-related outcomes: a prospective study of female college students

This study examined the effects of gender identification and implicit and explicit gender stereotyping among undergraduate women enrolled in college-level calculus courses. Women's gender identification and gender stereotyping regarding math aptitude were assessed after the course's first midterm exam. Implicit, but not explicit, stereotyping interacted with gender identification to affect women's performance on their final exams and their desire to pursue math-related careers. Women who showed low gender identification and low implicit gender stereotyping performed best on the final exam, and women with high scores on both factors were the least inclined to pursue math-based careers. Implications for the underrepresentation of women in math and the hard sciences are discussed.     

The validity of role theory as an explanation of gender stereotypes: comment on Hosoda and Stone

Hosoda and Stone note that role theory leads to the prediction that changes in women's roles should be followed by changes in gender stereotypes; however, having described changes in roles and observed stability in stereotypes, they do not draw the conclusion that their results are inconsistent with role theory.     

Living alone,marital status,gender and health

Non-married people have generally been found to be less healthy than the married. It has been suggested that this difference may be brought about by the greater lack of social integration of those living alone. This hypothesis was tested by comparing the health of those living alone with those living with another person in the four non-married categories of never married, separated, divorced and widowed for women and men separately, initially controlling for age, education and income and subsequently adding five proximate indices of social integration. The person lived with was further categorized as an adult, cohabitee, child aged 4 or under, child aged 5 to 17, adult child, parent, relative or non-relative. The three indices of health were the 30-item General Health Questionnaire of psychological distress. a 15-item checklist of common physical symptoms and alcohol intake. The main differences obtained were that women living alone drank more alcohol than those cohabiting or living with a child aged 4 or under, and that widowers living alone were more psychologically distressed than those living with an adult child, even when social integration was controlled. The results suggested that living alone was not generally associated with poor health and so could not account for the difference between the married and non-married.     

Exposure to benevolent sexism and complementary gender stereotypes: consequences for specific and diffuse forms of system justification

Many have suggested that complementary gender stereotypes of men as agentic (but not communal) and women as communal (but not agentic) serve to increase system justification, but direct experimental support has been lacking. The authors exposed people to specific types of gender-related beliefs and subsequently asked them to complete measures of gender-specific or diffuse system justification. In Studies 1 and 2, activating (a) communal or complementary (communal + agentic) gender stereotypes or (b) benevolent or complementary (benevolent + hostile) sexist items increased support for the status quo among women. In Study 3, activating stereotypes of men as agentic also increased system justification among men and women, but only when women's characteristics were associated with higher status. Results suggest that complementary stereotypes psychologically offset the one-sided advantage of any single group and contribute to an image of society in which everyone benefits through a balanced dispersion of benefits.