Gender Stereotypes in Educational Software for Young Children

Children are increasingly being exposed to educational technology at school. In response to this, the International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE) drafted a set of technology standards for teachers (ISTE, 2002) that specifically states that teachers should empower all students and support diversity. This content analysis of educational software for preschoolers was designed to look at gender representations and stereotyping. The results demonstrated significantly more male characters than female characters in preschool educational software, which makes it difficult for teachers to address gender diversity and suggests that girls are not as valued as boys are. Male characters were also more likely than female characters to exhibit several masculine-stereotypical traits. In addition, female characters more than male characters exhibited counterstereotypical behaviors, yet were more gender stereotyped in appearance.     

Sex Bias in Research Design

Feminist criticisms of selected aspects of research methods in psychology are presented. Data relevant to sex bias in topic selection, subject selection and single-sex designs, operationalization of variables, testing for sex differences, and interpretation of results are reviewed. Suggestions for achieving more "sex fair" research methods are discussed in terms of a more meticulous application of scientific method and an awareness of the sometimes subtle ways in which a sexist culture influences the research process.     

The Effect of Clear Evaluation Criteria on Sex Bias in Judgments of Performance

Previous research indicates that the work of women is often devalued rela- tive to that of men. Two experiments tested the hypothesis that such sex bias appears when judges follow ambiguous guidelines or criteria in making evalua- tions, but not when they tollow clear evaluation guidelines. In each experiment, male and female undergraduates evaluated a performance that was attributed to either a man or woman (an intellectual test performance in Experiment I; an artistic craft object in Experiment 11). Subjects followed either clear, explicit evaluation criteria or vague, ambiguous criteria. As predicted, female subjects Lyaluated the "female's" performance less favorably than the "male's" only when. criteria were vague. In contast, male subjects showed little evidence of sex bias, regardless of the criteria they followed. Discussion centers upon: (1) possible cognitive processes underlying the observed effects of clear criteria; and (2) potential practical applications designed to alleviate sex bias in naturalistic settings.     

Beliefs About the Disconfirmability of Stereotypes: The Stereotype Disconfirmability Effect1

Two studies examined people's beliefs about the relative disconfirmability of out‐group and in‐group stereotypes. In Study 1 (n= 56), Hispanics and White non‐Hispanics judged the in‐group and out‐group stereotypes in terms of the ease with which they could be dis‐confirmed. The results indicated that strongly, ethnically identified participants believed the out‐group stereotype to be more difficult to disconfirm than the in‐group stereotype. The second study with 73 White participants examined their beliefs about the disconfirmability of the White and African American stereotypes. The results indicated that participants higher in prejudice believed the African American stereotype is more difficult to disconfirm than the White stereotype to a greater degree than participants lower in prejudice. The results suggest that disconfirmability beliefs comprise a distinct construct thai may contribute to the difficulty of changing out‐group stereotypes.     

The Employment Interview: The Role of Sex Stereotypes in the Evaluation of Male and Female Job Applicants in the Netherlands1

This field study focused on the influence of sex stereotypes in the evaluation of male (N=38) and female (N=21) job applicants in the Netherlands. The employee selection process for higher-level technical and academic jobs in real life situations was studied, with special attention to the assessment of applicants by members of selection committees. It was demonstrated that, according to the job interviewers, the ideal applicant had more masculine than feminine traits. Males and females were regarded as having the same qualifications for the job, but because male applicants were assessed as having more masculine characteristics and female applicants more feminine characteristics, the male applicants were accepted more often. The job interviewers acted according to a fit model: The applicant most similar in traits to the ideal applicant was hired for each job.     

性别刻板印象之性别效应研究

1 引言 性别刻板印象(gender stereotype)是社会生活中为人们广泛接受的对男性和女性的固定看法。而人们对于典型的男性或女性是什么样子的看法,会影响我们的觉知,并在评价他人的行为时造成偏差。     

Attributional Bias in Counselors' Diagnoses: The Effect of Resources1

Three experiments were conducted to test a model of attributional bias in counseling diagnosis. The model predicted that (a) available helping resources influence diagnostic attributions and (b) this effect is mediated by the effect resources have on the diagnostician's perception of his or her helping role. In each experiment, undergraduates served as diagnosticians in a simulated referral agency. Referral resouces for half of the subjects were oriented toward dealing with personal problems; resources for the other half were oriented toward dealing with situational problems. In referring each client, subjects indicated whether they perceived the problem to lie with the client (a dispositional atrribution) or with his social environment (a situational attribution). As predicted, subjects with person-oriented resources were more likely to perceive clients' problems to be dispositional than were subjects with situation-oriented resources. Results of Experiment 3 indicated that this effect was mediated by the influences resources had on subjects' perception of their helping role.     

Effects of Anticipated Interaction,Sex, and Homosexual Stereotypes on First Impressions1

The effects of anticipated interaction on liking were examined, with the person being evaluated sometimes being presented as a member of a negatively stereotyped group. The stereotype studied was that associated with male homosexuals. The standard effect of anticipated interaction causing increased liking was obtained when females rated either a homosexual or a non- homosexual male and when males rated a nonhomosexual male. When males anticipated interacting with a homosexual male, however, they rated him less favorably than did males who did not anticipate interacting with him. It was also found that both males and females liked the stimulus person less and attributed stereotypic traits to him more when he was homosexual than when he was not. These latter effects were stronger for males than for females.     

The Effect of Target Age on the Activation of Gender Stereotypes

Two studies investigated the impact of target age on gender stereotyping. Study 1 examined whether the attribution of gender-stereotypical traits to unfamiliar individuals varies as a function of target and participant age. Adults and children (ages 8–10 years) viewed photographs of men, women, boys, and girls and rated each pictured individual on the possession of masculine, feminine, and gender-neutral personality traits. Both adult and child participants showed evidence of gender stereotyping. The strongest level of stereotyping was seen when adults rated child targets. Adults were particularly unwilling to attribute feminine characteristics to males. Finally, participants of both ages viewed adult targets (regardless of sex) as more masculine and less feminine than child targets. Study 2 examined the generality of the latter finding. Adult participants rated traditionally masculine and feminine traits on the likelihood of possession by adults versus children. Confirming the results of Study 1, feminine traits were believed to be more childlike/less adultlike than were masculine traits. Implications for gender-role development, socialization, and measurement are discussed.     

Sex Bias in Clinical Judgment: Later Empirical Returns

This paper updates an earlier review of research on sex bias in psychological evaluation and psychotherapy. The experimental analogue continues to dominate the literature and to return a resoundingly negative verdict. This evidence, however, is often discounted on the grounds of the analogue's transparency and clinical impoverishment. Naturalistic data have likewise failed to support claims of widespread sex bias, but have nonetheless whetted suspicions that gender and sex role attributes affect circumscribed clinical decisions. These correlational field studies are often dismissed, however, on the basis of their inadequate control for potential confounds. This empirical deadlock is discussed within the context of the sexual politics of research and of methodological preference in particular. The interpretive gerrymandering that has plagued this literature is linked to an unwillingness to be open about the sex role heritage of research strategies themselves and the deep personal and political investments at stake.     

Sex Bias in Counseling: A Reply and Critique

The social importance of the gender-bias issue in counseling implores that our beliefs about the issue be predicated on evidence rather than on ideological considerations.     

Sex Bias at Work: The Effects of Attentional and Memory Demands on Performance Ratings of Men and Women1

The present study examined the impact of attentional and memory demands on work performance ratings accorded men and women in traditionally male jobs. Of interest was whether sex discrimination would abate in the face of individuating and job-relevant work behavior even when the demands likely to be faced in actual work settings were taken into account. Two hundred and two subjects read a vignette depicting the work behavior of a male or female police officer and then rated the individual's work performance. The attentional demands imposed on subjects while reading the vignette and the amount of time elapsed prior to issuing the performance ratings were systematically varied. As predicted, men were evaluated more favorably than women when raters were faced with an additional task requiring attention and time pressures were made salient. Only when subjects were able to carefully allocate all of their attentional resources did sex bias in work performance ratings abate. Memory demands had no effects on work performance ratings. Gender-related work characterizations paralleled the performance ratings, providing support for the idea that sex stereotypes mediate discrimination in performance appraisal judgments. The theoretical and practical implications of these findings, as well as suggestions for future research, are discussed.     

Giving Credit Where Credit Is Due: A Case of No Sex Bias in Attribution1

This study examines the effects of informational cues on the attribution of success in a masculine task. Israeli managers (subjects) first evaluated the performance of a fictitious male/female manager and then attributed a cause to his/her success in attaining the managerial position. As predicted, performance evaluation affected the attribution and manager sex did not. An unexpected association between leadership style and attribution was found. Implications of these findings for female managers and for further research are considered.     

Accuracy and Bias in Stereotypes about the Social and Political Attitudes of Women and Men

In three experiments examining the accuracy of gender stereotypes about attitudes, male and female participants estimated the attitudes of men or women on items that had been administered in the General Social Survey to assess attitudes on social and political issues. Demonstrating moderate stereotypic accuracy were correlations between (a) participants' estimates of these attitudes and (b) the criterion attitudes of male and female survey respondents and sex differences in the criterion attitudes. Nevertheless, analyses of discrepancies between the estimated and criterion attitudes revealed a systematic bias by which participants consistently underestimated men's support for female-stereotypic positions on issues. Further analyses of these data suggested that this error rose from perceptions that men would oppose policies that favored women's interests. In contrast, perceived female group interest functioned as a cue to accuracy in estimating women's attitudes.     

防御性自尊大学生注意偏向对记忆偏向的影响

摘 要 为考查防御性自尊大学生注意偏向对记忆偏向的影响,本研究将被试分为训练组和控制组,训练组接受注意偏向训练,之后完成记忆任务。记忆任务中呈现中性和攻击性词汇,要求被试对词汇进行自由回忆。结果发现,控制组对攻击性信息存在着记忆偏向,而训练组对攻击性信息的记忆偏向消失。注意偏向训练可以即时性地改变防御性自尊大学生对攻击性信息的注意偏向,注意偏向可能是特质一致性记忆的原因之一。     

Sex and Race Bias in Employment Decisions: Black Women Considered

The purpose of this investigation was to explore sex and race discrimination in employment at the managerial level, with special focus on Black women.     

The Nature of Stereotypes II: A Multiple-Process Model of Evaluations1

A model integrating 3 theoretical perspectives regarding how stereotypes influence person perception was tested. The theories included evaluative extremity theories, assumed characteristics theory, and expectancy violation theory. Predictions were assessed by manipulating the ethnicity, personal appearance, and speech style of target job applicants. These applicants were rated by 109 judges. Results showed that: (a) Judges evaluated job applicants far more on the basis of their personal appearance and speech style than on the basis of their ethnicity; (b) the range of evaluations of African American applicants was larger than the range of evaluations of White applicants; and (c) overall, judges evaluated the African American applicants more favorably than the White applicants. Results strongly supported the model integrating the 3 theories. We discuss the applicability of the model to other research and naturalistic situations.     

Children's Gender Stereotypes About Math: The Role of Stereotype Stratification1

Women underperform on standardized math tests compared to men. However, girls perform as well if not better than boys in math. In this paper, it is proposed that this discrepancy may be explained in part by a process of stereotype stratification, in which targets of a negative in‐group stereotype view themselves as a member of a subgroup to which the stereotype does not apply. Two experiments with elementary‐school children provide support for this theory. In Study 1, girls placed advanced math pictures with males more often than basic math pictures. In addition, girls rated men as liking and as being better at math than women, but viewed boys and girls as being equal on these variables. In Study 2, girls were more likely to draw a man when told a story about an adult mathematician, but were more likely to draw a girl when told of a child mathematician. The social and educational implications of these findings are discussed.