Evidence for a gender stereotype about psychology and its effect on perceptions of men's and women's fit in the field.

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]