Au pairs are rarely male: Norms on the gender perception of role names across English,French, and German

A list of role names for future use in research on gender stereotyping was created and evaluated. In two studies, 126 role names were rated with reference to their gender stereotypicality by English-, French-, and German-speaking students of universities in Switzerland (French and German) and in the U.K. (English). Role names were either presented in specific feminine and masculine forms (Study 1) or in the masculine form (generic masculine) only (Study 2). The rankings of the stereotypicality ratings were highly reliable across languages and questionnaire versions, but the overall mean of the ratings was less strongly male if participants were also presented with the female versions of the role names and if the latter were presented on the left side of the questionnaires.     

A short version of a spatial activity questionnaire

Newcombe, Bandura, and Taylor developed a questionnaire measuring participation in space-related activities. The activities were classified as masculine, feminine, or neutral in gender stereotyping. A short version of this questionnaire was developed based on an item analysis of the responses by 485 introductory psychology students (236 women and 249 men). The 10 masculine, 10 feminine, and 10 neutral items chosen for the short form were given to 60 subjects (28 women and 32 men), along with a measure of spatial performance (Piaget's water-level task). Reliabilities (by coefficient alpha) were .79, .77, and .75, for the masculine, feminine, and neutral activity subscales, respectively. As with the original scale, women had a greater preference than men for feminine activities, men had a greater preference than women for masculine activities, and women and men had an equal preference for neutral activities. Masculine activity preference was associated with better water-level performance, with the relationship significantly stronger for women (r=.50) than for men (r=.10). Uses for the questionnaire in research on sex-related differences in spatial performance are suggested.     

Stereotypes and crossed‐category evaluations: The case of gender and science education

A sample of UK adolescents (n = 1140), grouped by sex and liking of science, evaluated themselves, and girl and boy targets who did or did not like science, on masculine, feminine and gender non‐specific traits. Contrary to sociological concerns about the masculine image and appeal of science, those who liked science more rated themselves more positively on feminine and gender non‐specific—but not masculine—traits. The girl target was rated lower on feminine traits if she liked science, but the boy was rated higher on feminine traits if he liked science. Target ratings also showed in‐group enhancement based on liking of science, and a ‘black sheep’ effect: those who liked science less discriminated against the same‐sex target who liked science, especially on gender in‐group relevant traits. We argue that gender differences in science education should be attributed partly to subjective group dynamics and not solely to images of science.     

Implicit and Explicit Occupational Gender Stereotypes

This study was designed to compare implicit and explicit occupational gender stereotypes for three occupations (engineer, accountant, and elementary school teacher). These occupations represented the end points and middle of a masculine–feminine continuum of explicit occupational gender stereotypes. Implicit stereotypes were assessed using the Implicit Association Test (IAT), which is believed to minimize self-presentational biases common with explicit measures of occupational gender stereotypes. IAT results for the most gender stereotyped occupations, engineer (masculine) and elementary school teacher (feminine), were comparable to explicit ratings. There was less agreement with less stereotyped comparisons. Results indicated that accounting was implicitly perceived as more masculine than explicit measures indicate, which calls into question reports of diminishing gender stereotyping for such occupations.     

Perception of Occupational Gender Typing: A Replication on European Samples of Shinar's (1975) and Beggs and Doolittle's (1993) Studies1

College students' perceptions of the gender typing of 129 occupations were gathered from Spanish and French samples and compared with those reported by Shinar (1975) and Beggs & Doolittle (1993). Questionnaires were completed by 202 females and 158 males. As in the American studies, a continuum of the perception of occupations from feminine to masculine was replicated. The results indicate that (a) general mean ratings are closer to the masculine pole than to the feminine pole of the response scale, (b) European mean ratings are more gender‐neutral than are American mean ratings, (c) linear correlations between all four sets of ratings are very high, and (d) the linear association between French ratings and official employment figures for women in France is high.     

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.     

Effects of Gendered Language on Gender Stereotyping in Computer‐Mediated Communication: The Moderating Role of Depersonalization and Gender‐Role Orientation

This experiment examined what situational and dispositional features moderate the effects of linguistic gender cues on gender stereotyping in anonymous, text‐based computer‐mediated communication. Participants played a trivia game with an ostensible partner via computer, whose comments represented either prototypically masculine or feminine language styles. Consistent with the social identity model of deindividuation effects, those who did not exchange brief personal profiles with their partner (i.e., depersonalization) were more likely to infer their partner’s gender from the language cues than those who did. Depersonalization, however, facilitated stereotype‐consistent conformity behaviors only among gender‐typed individuals; that is, participants conformed more to their masculine‐ than feminine‐comment partners, and men were less conforming than were women, only when they were both gender‐typed and depersonalized.     

Sex-role identity,sex of other,and affective relationship as determinants of interpersonal conflict-management styles

Previous research in sex-role identity has explored behavioral differences in a variety of contexts. Only recently, however, have differences in interaction style been investigated. The study reported here was designed to assess behavioral differences in one important type of interaction: interpersonal conflict. Of 143 college students responding to the Bem Sex-Role Inventory (BSRI), a final sample of 57 subjects provided questionnaire data on five conflict-management modes in hypothetical conflicts with others who varied on factors of sex and affective relationship with respondent. Results of the MANOVA analysis suggested that feminine persons disapprove of competition more than persons of masculine and androgynous sex-role identification. The results further suggested that masculine persons may differentiate less between liked and disliked others in their competitive behavior than do feminine and androgynous persons. Finally, results suggested that conflicts with liked, as opposed to disliked, others are managed with less competition and more accommodation, collaboration, and compromise for all sex-role identity groups.     

Preferences for skill versus chance-determined activities: The influence of gender and task sex-typing

Three experiments tested the hypothesis that skill-chance activity preference by men and women is moderated by task sex relatedness. Men and women (total N = 368) opted to perform either skill or chance versions of masculine and feminine tasks, and then provided ratings of performance expectancy, importance of success, and perceptions of task characteristics. Results support the conclusion that men do not prefer skill and women chance as had been found previously, but rather that while men's skill preferences are higher than women's on a masculine taks, women prefer skill more than do men on a feminine task. Skill-chance preferences were primarily a function of the expectancy of success on skill tasks.     

ANOTHER LOOK AT THE EFFECTS OF APPEARANCE, GENDER, AND JOB TYPE ON PERFORMANCE-BASED DECISIONS

The present study attempted to replicate and extend Heilman and Stopeck's (1985a) Lack of Fit Model. Using the Lack of Fit Model's proposal that attractiveness enhances perceived gender characteristics, we examined the effects of attractiveness and performance evaluations of persons in jobs rated as masculine, feminine, and neutral. Results were not consistent with the Model and did not replicate the results of the earlier study. Instead, attractiveness emerged as an asset regardless of job type or gender of employee. Attractive men and women were given higher overall ratings in all three jobs. In addition, attractive ratings were related to masculinity–femininity ratings. These findings are discussed in light of demographic and attitudinal changes in the workplace.     

Gender,gender role,and body image

The relationship between gender role and body image was examined in this research. Females and males who differed in their gender roles (i.e., masculine, feminine, androgynous, or undifferentiated) completed the Body-Self Relations Questionnaire (B. A. Winstead & T. F. Cash, Reliability and Validity of the Body-Self Questionnaire: A New Measure of Body Image, paper presented at the meeting of the Southeastern Psychological Association, New Orleans, Louisiana, 1984) and a measure of self-esteem. Results indicated that feminine females evaluated their physical appearance less favorably than androgynous females, although physical appearance was equally important to both groups. The importance of the masculine component of gender role was reflected in the favorable body-image ratings of androgynous and masculine females in all domains (i.e., physical appearance, physical fitness, and physical health), and in the unfavorable ratings of feminine males in the physical fitness domain. Regression analyses to predict body-image ratings indicated that while self-esteem was an important predictor, it did not account for the relationships between gender, gender role, and body image. Implications of the findings for future research on the relationships between gender role, body image, and indices of mental health are discussed.The authors would like to thank the consulting editor for her invaluable comments on earlier drafts of this article.     

Processing grammatical gender of role nouns: Further evidence from eye movements

Two eye-tracking experiments investigated the effects of masculine versus feminine grammatical gender on the processing of role nouns and on establishing coreference relations. Participants read sentences with the basic structure My <kinship term> is a <role noun> <prepositional phrase > such as My brother is a singer in a band. Role nouns were either masculine or feminine. Kinship terms were lexically male or female and in this way specified referent gender, i.e., the sex of the person referred to. Experiment 1 tested a fully crossed design including items with an incorrect combination of lexically male kinship term and feminine role name. Experiment 2 tested only correct combinations of grammatical and lexical/referential gender to control for possible effects of the incorrect items of Experiment 1. In early stages of processing, feminine role nouns, but not masculine ones, were fixated longer when grammatical and referential gender were contradictory (Bruder _male–Sängerin _fem/brother–[female] singer). In later stages of sentence wrap-up there were longer fixations for sentences with masculine than for those with feminine role nouns. Results of both experiments indicate that, for feminine role nouns, cues to referent gender are integrated immediately, whereas a late integration obtains for masculine forms.     

Gender-atypical personality or sexual behavior: What is disgusting about male homosexuality?

Research consistently finds that homosexuality elicits strong feelings of disgust, but the reasons remain unclear. In the current research, we investigate responses to gay men who violate social norms governing the expression of gender and sexuality. Two hundred forty-three college undergraduates read a vignette about a gay male college student whose personality traits (masculine, feminine, or neutral) and sexual behavior (active vs. passive) varied and reported their affective responses to and cognitive appraisals of the target. The gay target who displayed a feminine personality elicited more disgust and was perceived as lower in gender role conformity than a gay man who displayed a masculine personality. Similarly, the gay target who assumed a passive sex role elicited more disgust and was perceived as lower in gender role conformity than a gay man who assumed an active sex role. The sexual behavior/disgust relationship was mediated by perceived gender role conformity.     

Sex role correlates of stress-prone type a behavior in college students

This study considered the direct and interactive relationships between three sex role variables and Type A/Type B behavior in college students of both sexes. As predicted, Type A college women were more masculine than Type B controls; Type A females were not less feminine, however, as had been expected. No relationship was found between masculine or feminine sex role behavior and Type A status in college men, consistent with the results of an earlier study. Both male and female Type As revealed weaker gender schemas than Type B controls. Analysis of the conjoint variation of all three sex role components revealed no relationships for either Type A or Type B men. Type A women presented an unusual asynchrony between these components in light of the expected positive relation between stereotyped sex role identity (femininity) and sensitivity to stereotyped differences between women and men (strong gender-schematic processing). Nontraditional female Type As, who were more masculine than feminine, demonstrated strong gender schemas. Traditional female Type As, more feminine than masculine, displayed weak gender schemas. Type B women did not display these unusual sex role linkages.     

Truck Driver or Nurse? The Impact of Gender Roles and Occupational Status on Children’s Occupational Preferences

Three experiments examined how US children perceive occupational status and gender roles. In Experiment 1, 107 6-to-12-year-olds rated the status and gender roles of 54 occupations. Feminine occupations were underrepresented among the perceived high status jobs. In Experiment 2, 28 6-to-8-year-olds, and in Experiment 3, 36 9-to-12-year-olds, reported their preferences for equally high status masculine and feminine occupations and low status masculine and feminine occupations. In both experiments, girls preferred feminine to masculine occupations and status only affected preferences for masculine occupations. The younger boys’ preferences were based on both variables, whereas older boys’ preferences were based on status. These findings imply that occupational status may influence boys’ vocational preferences more than pressure to conform to masculine gender roles.     

The influence of facial masculinity and voice pitch on jealousy and perceptions of intrasexual rivalry

The assessment of same-sex individuals as intrasexual competitors may depend in part on the perceived mate value of potential rivals. Men’s and women’s preferences for vocal and facial masculinity suggest that feminine women and masculine men may be perceived as more threatening intrasexual competitors. We tested the influence of men’s and women’s vocal and facial masculinity on preferences for who should accompany romantic partners on a weekend trip and on jealousy in response to imagined flirting. We found that men and women preferred their partners to be accompanied by people who had less masculine/feminine voices, and were more jealous in response to people who had relatively more masculine/feminine voices. Women, but not men, rated faces with exaggerated sex-typical characteristics as undesirable travel companions for their romantic partners and reported more jealousy in response to imagined flirting from such faces. We also found that participants who rated masculine male and feminine female stimuli as more attractive also perceived such stimuli as greater intrasexual threats, demonstrating individual differences in competition-related social perceptions. Our findings indicate that perceptions related to intrasexual competition are related to cues to underlying mate quality, which may aid in effective mate guarding.     

“Think Athletic Director, Think Masculine?”: Examination of the Gender Typing of Managerial Subroles Within Athletic Administration Positions

To examine the influence of gender stereotyping of administration positions in intercollegiate athletics, the present study evaluated the gender typing of managerial subroles by undergraduate and graduate sport management students from two northeastern universities in the U.S. (59 women, 189 men). Participants indicated importance of managerial subroles for the positions of athletic director, life skills coordinator, and compliance coordinator. Participants rated masculine managerial subroles as most important for athletic director, however feminine managerial subroles were rated of similar importance for both the life skills coordinator and the athletic director. There were no differences between women and men on evaluation of the importance of managerial subroles across all positions. Results of the current study provide some support for role congruity theory within athletic administration.