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An experimental method for assessing gender biases was used to compare Republicans’ and Democrats’ ratings of moral violations in the domains of justice vs. respect for authority. Four experimental conditions of a text-based survey instrument manipulated the gender of the protagonist and the location of the first instance of gender information in single-sentence moral violation vignettes. Results were consistent with the theoretical time course of neurolinguistic gender priming and the hypothesized influence of implicit stereotypes on moral judgments. Republicans demonstrated a gender bias in ratings of authority violations by rating violations committed by girls and women as worse when compared to a pronoun only condition. Democrats demonstrated the opposite bias by rating authority violations committed by boys and men as worse when compared to violations committed by girls and women. No significant bias was found for any of the justice violation conditions for either Republicans or Democrats. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Legacy media contribute to gendered depictions of culinary themes by associating meat with masculinity, influencing social realities. The current research examines whether similar gendered representations can be found on social media, reinforcing gendered patterns in food consumption. Using content analysis, we examine how men and women tweet about the (non-)consumption of meat. Results confirm gender stereotypes: men tweet more about meat and are more likely to hold negative attitudes toward vegetarianism and veganism. These expressions may reinforce gendered meat consumption patterns, where men continue to choose meat over more healthy and sustainable options. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We investigated the effects of gender stereotype violations within the context of teaching during the COVID-19 pandemic as well as whether social penalties for violating gender stereotypes in this domain are moderated by trait levels of gender system justification. Participants (N = 254) rated four hypothetical teaching scenarios where target sex (male or female teacher) and reason for refusal to return to in-person teaching (advocating for one's self vs. advocating for others) were manipulated. Results showed that as predicted, participants with high levels of gender system justification rated self-advocating female teachers least favorably. Unexpectedly, participants with low levels of gender system justification rated self-advocating male teachers least favorably. Implications for gender stereotype violation are discussed as well as implications for those teaching during the COVID-19 pandemic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Bodybuilding is often considered more appropriate for men than for women. Previous research has shown that knowledge of a target's involvement in bodybuilding influences interpersonal judgments. The present study examined whether this is also the case for women with competitive-type bodybuilder physiques. Participants (N = 263) were shown photographs of women who competed professionally in different categories of bodybuilding (i.e., bikini, figure, and bodybuilding/physique). Participants were then asked to make a series of judgments on the basis of the photos alone. It was found that the degree of muscularity of the targets shaped participants' estimates of perceived outcomes and of the targets' traits in non-bodybuilding domains (e.g., expected positive life outcomes, gender role traits, and sexual orientation). Both men and women apparently considered moderate to high levels of muscularity in women targets as violations of gender norms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The current research explored the gender stereotype about psychology and its effect on perceptions of people's fit in the field. Across six studies (N = 1,516), results showed that participants believed that women represent the majority of people in both the major and profession of psychology. Also, participants associated psychology more strongly with femininity than masculinity and assigned more feminine and less masculine traits to people studying psychology than to people studying a stereotypically masculine career. In terms of fit within the field, participants rated psychology as less likely to meet the needs of men compared to women, especially after learning that the field was majority women. Overall, the studies provide evidence for an association between femininity and psychology and suggest that the stereotype affects perceptions of men's and women's fit within the field. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present study sought to examine the role of sexual identity and exposure to stereotypes of feminism on women's self-identification as a feminist, endorsement of feminist attitudes, and intention to engage in collective action. Participants (N = 312; all women) disclosed their sexual identity as either heterosexual or non-heterosexual (sexual minority) and were randomly assigned to one of three conditions: exposure to positive stereotypes of feminists, to negative stereotypes of feminists, control condition (no exposure to stereotypes). Results showed stark differences between heterosexual and sexual minority women, with sexual minority women scoring significantly higher on self-identification as feminist, feminist attitudes, and collective action intentions. Exposure to positive stereotypes of feminists increased feminist self-identification regardless of sexual identity. Exposure to negative stereotypes reduced self-identification with feminism, and lower identification mediated the path between negative stereotyping and collective action. Implications of these findings for the advancement of women's rights movements are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Research based on system justification theory has shown that women’s self-perceptions may be altered by the motivation to justify the system and its inequalities. Self-perceptions being built on past experiences, the present study aimed to explore how system justification motivation induced through a system dependency manipulation may alter both women’s recall of autobiographical memories and their behavior. Women who were led to feel highly dependent on the social system perceived themselves as more competent and recalled memories of higher competence in the verbal domain compared with the negatively stereotyped scientific domain. Women’s behavioral choices (between doing a verbal or a math exercise) also revealed a higher preference for the gender stereotype–consistent verbal exercise in the high–system dependency condition, as compared with the low–system dependency condition. These results suggest that gender stereotypes may not only satisfy self- or group-serving motivation but also the need to perceive the system in a positive light. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Women are still underrepresented at the highest management levels. The think-manager-think-male phenomenon suggests that leadership is associated with male rather than female attributes. Although styling has been shown to influence the evaluation of women’s leadership abilities, the relevant specific features have been left remarkably unaddressed. In a 2 × 2 × 2 × 2 (skirt/pants, with/without jewelry, loose hair/braid, with/without makeup) between-subjects design, 354 participants evaluated a woman in a photograph. Women with makeup, pants, or with jewelry were rated as more competent than women without makeup, with skirts, or without jewelry. A combination of loose hair and no makeup was perceived as warmest, and women with loose hair were more likely to be hired than those with braids. In sum, even subtle changes in styling have a strong impact on how women’s leadership abilities are evaluated. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Prior work has shown that women use gender stereotypes to excuse their stereotypic failures, and doing so incurs negative costs. This study examined if the audience who witnesses a woman using such a stereotypic excuse also incurs costs in the form of increased gender stereotype endorsement. Male and female participants reviewed a survey supposedly completed by a female target who recently took a math exam. In this survey, the female target either performed well or poorly on the exam, and when asked to explain her performance, either invoked a gender stereotype as an excuse (e.g., women are worse at math than men) or not. The results indicated that men (but not women) showed greater gender stereotype endorsement after reading about a female target that invoked a stereotypic excuse. These results suggest that when women use a gender stereotype as an excuse, they may unintentionally cause some observers to increase their endorsement of gender stereotypes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We explored the concurrent and subsequent cognitive consequences of the experience of gender counter-stereotypic emotions. Participants experiencing gender counter-stereotypic emotions were expected to display less emotional expression and demonstrate poorer cognitive performance when in the public condition than when in the private condition. Seventy-one women and 66 men completed an anger- or sadness-inducing task privately or publicly. Participants completed two cognitive tasks: one during and one after the emotion-induction task. Participants exhibited poorer performance during and following gender counter-stereotypic emotions only in the public condition. Direct evidence for greater suppression of gender counter-stereotypic emotions in the public conditions was not obtained. These results suggest that the same public emotional events may be differentially cognitively depleting depending on one’s gender, potentially contributing to the perpetuation of stereotypes. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

We integrate system justification and social role theory to explain how observers’ system justification and target employees’ gender interact to predict observers’ expectations of targets’ sportsmanship citizenship behaviors. In contrast with social role theory predictions, observers did not expect greater levels of sportsmanship from women compared to men. Yet observers expected more sportsmanship from women (a) when observers were ideologically motivated by gender-specific beliefs (gender-specific system justification; Study 1) and (b) when system justification was cued experimentally (Study 2). A heretofore-unexamined aspect, observers’ ideology, modifies their expectations of sportsmanship citizenship across target genders. This has implications for system justification, social role, and organizational citizenship theoretical perspectives. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

According to the Spatial Agency Bias (SAB), more agentic groups (men) are envisioned to the left of less agentic groups (women). This research investigated the role of social status in shaping the spatial representation of gender couples. Participants were presented pairs consisting of one male and one female target who confirmed gender stereotypes. The status of the targets in each pair was systematically varied (high-status vs. low-status job). Participants chose the target order (female/male vs. male/female) they preferred. In line with gender-status expectations (male: high-status, female: low-status), a male in a high-status job led to a spatial arrangement that favored the male/female order, regardless of the status of the female target. The female/male order was favored only when the female had a high-status job and the male a low-status job. No SAB occurred for pairs in which both targets displayed low-status jobs. The implications of status for the SAB are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Past work has shown that female role models are effective buffers against stereotype threat. The present research examines the boundary conditions of this role model effect. Specifically, we argue that female role models should avoid expressing doubt about their math abilities; otherwise they may cease to buffer women from stereotype threat. For men, a non-doubtful male role model should be seen as threatening, thus harming performance. A doubtful male role model, however, should be seen as non-threatening, thus allowing men to perform up to their ability in math. To test this reasoning, men and women were exposed to either an outgroup or ingroup role model who either expressed doubt or did not. Participants then took a math exam under stereotype threat conditions. As expected, doubtful ingroup role models hurt women, but helped men's performance. Outgroup role models' expressed doubt had no differential effect on performance. We also show that expressions of doubt take on a different meaning when expressed by a female rather than a male role model. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This research examined how third party statements impact the evaluation of male and female politicians caught in a scandal (i.e., extramarital affair). Governor's sex was crossed with three types of support statements: third party supportive (TPS), third party non-supportive (TPNS), and governor self-supportive (GSS). In Experiment 1, a female politician was evaluated more positively than a male politician. The TPS and the GSS conditions were both evaluated more positively than the TPNS condition. Experiment 2's design was similar to Experiment 1's, except it involved multiple affairs. In Experiment 2, participants used the third party's statements as an information source and thus reduced their use of gender stereotypes in the TPS and TPNS conditions compared to the GSS condition. We also found that male respondents gave more negative evaluations of the female governor than female respondents. Implications for the gender stereotype and social influence literatures are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The stereotypical depiction of men and women and of ethnic minority groups in advertisements is problematic because studies have shown that repeated exposure to selective portrayals of particular groups can lead to viewers adopting distorted beliefs about those groups. The current study examined the contemporary portrayal of men and women and of ethnic minority groups in New Zealand television advertisements. Over 3,000 advertisements were coded. Men and women were less often depicted in stereotypical roles than has previously been reported. However, White actors dominated the screen with Maori and Pacific Island people only being proportionally represented in advertisements that presented negative stereotyping. The findings were similar for Asians whose portrayal also appeared to be stereotypical. The authors call for more equitable appearances of women and ethnic minority groups. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Recent studies on the malleability of gender stereotypes show that they are flexible, dynamic structures that change with the passage of time. In a study, we examined perceptions about men and women of the past, present, and future in Spain and focused on the influence of an important demographic variable on these perceptions: the population size of people's location of residence. Results showed that people perceived an increase in similarity of men and women from the past to the present and from the present to the future. In less-populated locations, however, men and women were more gender stereotyped and, consequently, still perceived to be further from equality than those in more populated areas. We concluded that the study of dynamic gender stereotypes benefits from extensive research in populations that vary in their demographic characteristics and shows the importance of recent movements in rural areas supporting women's participation in the modernization process. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

In the current study, we examined the effects of women's suppressing negative gender stereotypes while interacting with a male confederate. Compared with control participants, those who suppressed negative thoughts about women's ability experienced less self-confidence, lower self-esteem, and were more nonverbally submissive during the interaction, particularly if they were high in stigma consciousness (Pinel, 1999). These findings illustrate the negative intra- and interpersonal consequences of stigma suppression. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present study tested the prediction that male teachers are judged more harshly than female teachers for engaging in heterosexual intercourse with a student. One-hundred and eighty-seven adults (116 women, 71 men) evaluated a hypothetical newspaper article describing an alleged student-teacher relationship as part of a 2 (Gender Dyad: Male Teacher/Female Student or Female Teacher/Male Student) × 2 (Initiator: Student or Teacher) between-subjects design. As expected, a reverse sexual double standard was revealed, in which participants judged situations involving male teachers more harshly than they judged situations involving female teachers, but only when the sexual contact was teacher-initiated. Participants also believed that male students received more social benefits from the sexual contact than did female students. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article focuses on the gender role stereotypes among Iranian adolescents. Gender is a critical component of an individual's identity. It refers to the socially constructed aspects of variations between women and men. However, the term gender has been extended to refer, at the symbolic level, to cultural stereotypes of masculinity and femininity. Thus, gender roles are the socially constructed behavioral expectations for men and women. Researches indicate that there are gender differences in occupational choices and that the sexual dimension of the occupation and the sex-appropriateness or inappropriateness of the occupation has strong effects on person perception. Empirical evidence indicates the possibility that pressures to behave in sex-appropriate ways intensify during adolescence, especially for girls. These findings indicate that many of the gender differences between adolescent boys and girls result from acceleration in their socialization to behave in stereotypically masculine and feminine ways, respectively.

ABSTRACT. In a sample of 204 Israeli university students, the author examined the relationship between gendered personality dispositions and 2 aspects of gender role attitudes: occupational sex typing and gender role stereotypes. Evaluations of occupational gender attributes were the least sex typed among participants in the androgynous group. At the same time, contrary to expectations, the participants in the undifferentiated and sex-typed groups had relatively stereotyped perceptions of occupations. However, no relationship was found between gendered personality disposition and stereotyped perceptions of gender roles. Regardless of gendered personality disposition, the women, compared with the men, had more liberal attitudes toward gender roles. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Handwriting samples in both English and Urdu from 30 donors were judged for masculinity-femininity by 25 judges (both judges and donors were adult Pakistanis, bilingual and literate in both Urdu and English). Inferences about gender were made reliably and accurately in both Urdu and English. Levels of accuracy (about 68%) were similar to those reported in studies of handwriting in English. Judged gender of handwriting was significantly stable across the two languages studied. These effects are relevant for the study of gender roles and gender stereotyping in assessment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article tests the hypothesis that perceived threat from out-group causes an ethnocentric reaction toward the out-group in an inter-group conflict of interest. Realistic Group Conflict theorist have focused on ethnocentrism as the expression of negative attitudes and hostility, it was predicted that ethnocentrism would be expressed in terms of increased dislike for the outgroup. An ethnocentric reaction in response to threat and power in terms of increased intergroup/out-group differentiation along positive sex role stereotype dimensions was predicted in which the out-group would be perceived to be more masculine and less feminine than the in-group. It was felt that these all female groups would wish to emphasize their femininity in comparison with another female group when threatened. Sixty groups of Canadian female undergraduates participated in a simulation in which pairs of groups represented two parties in a dispute over five tracts of land. The pairs were given opposing matrices containing numbers that represented their client's differing preferences for 10 divisions of each tract. Subjects then had to negotiate a favorable settlement for their client through written messages. The results provide experimental support for the central Realistic Conflict Theory hypothesis that perceived threat to the attainment of valued group goals motivates an ethnocentric reaction toward an out-group.

The article investigates the enlightenment effect that effectively reduce behavior apathy in studies of altruism. The authors' extended the enlightenment effect paradigm to reducing socially desirable responses in attitude assessment. The authors hypothesized that educating the respondents about socially desirable responses in attitude assessment before they took an attitude test would reduce such responses when they took the test. Ninety-six Hong Kong Chinese students (42 men, 54 women) in evening senior high school served as subjects. Subjects in both groups filled out a 24-item questionnaire. Each item in the questionnaire depicts a traditional sex-stereotyped belief. Results suggest that the enlightenment procedure influenced female subjects only. Although the enlightenment effect reduced the tendency toward socially desirable response among the female subjects, it had no effect on the male subjects' responses. This sex difference may be due to the greater susceptibility to social influences among Chinese women and men.