Chapter 05 - Contents and Origins of Gender Stereotypes

Gender Stereotypes

Shared beliefs about the traits, qualities, and tendencies assocaited w/ diff sex categories - assigns qualities to people based on appearance

Generalization

The tendency to assume that a new member of a category has the same qualities as other category members

How can categories be useful?

They cimplify a complex social world and help to organize information

Trait dimensions

Beliefs about personality characteristics

Role behaviors

Beliefs about what women and men typically do

Occupations

Beliefs linking sex categories w/ diff kinds of work

Physical appearance

Beliefs about bodies, presentation, and visible characteristics

Communion

An orientation toward others that emphasizes warmth, connection, and concern for relationships

Agency

An orientation toward the self that emphasizes independence, assertiveness, competence, and

achievement.

Communion traits

Warmth, connection and compassion, agreeableness, emotional sensitivity

Agency traits

Competence and independence, assertiveness, competitiveness, leadership and effectiveness

Stereotype Content Model

Asserets that communion and agency are separate dimensions that can coexist rather than opposite ends of one continuum

High, moderately high

Women are commonly stereotyped as ____ in communion and _____ in agency

High

Men are commonly stereotyped as especially ______ in agency

Caring, emotionally supportive roles

What kind of roles are communal stereotypes typically found in?

Leadership, competition, status-oriented roles

What kind of roles are agentic stereotypes typically found in?

Gendered

Occupations can be ________ when they are assocaited w/ communal or agentic qualities

nurturance, affection, and agreeableness

Many cultures associate women with what traits?

Independence, dominance, and adventurousness

Many cultures associate men with what traits?

Repeated representation of each gender/gender stereotypes within ads can make gender-role associations feel normal or expected

How can advertising perpetuate gender stereotypes?

Women are wonderful effect

The tendency for people to view stereotypes about women more favorably than they view stereotypes about men and, accordingly, to view (traditional, gender-conforming) women very positively

Traditional

Positive stereotypes apply most strongly to women who fit ________ gender roles

Nontraditional

Women in __________ roles may be judged as hostile or less likeable

Subgroups

Dividing a broad social category into smaller, more specific subcategories when people do not fit the overall group stereotype

Unique

Counter-stereotypic people in subgroups may be classified as __________ rather than changing the main stereotype

Think manager think male

Leadership stereotypes have historically overlapped more strongly with stereotypes of men than women - makes men seem like a more natural fit for leadership

Explicit stereotypes

Gender-related beliefs that people can consciously report

Implicit stereotypes

Automatic gender associations that can operate outside conscious awareness or control

subconscious

Implicit stereotypes are ______________ that may operate outside awareness

Evolutionary psychology theory

Some sex-differentiated psychological tendencies are proposed to reflect recurrent ancestral selection pressures - modern stereotypes may reflect perceptions of these evolved tendencies

Social role theory

The theory that gender stereotypes stem from people’s observations of the social-occupational roles that women and men typically perform - infer trairts by observing social roles that women and men occupy

Biosocial constructionist

An account proposing that biological sex differences interact with ecological and social differences to produce divisions of labor, which then shape gender roles and stereotypes

Stereotypes can also communicate expectations about what women and men shoul dbe like/how they should act

How can stereotypes do more than simply describe what people are believed to be like?

Prescriptions

Traits people believe a sex should display, such as warmth for women or self-reliance for men - conformity can bring social approval

Proscriptions

Traits people believe a sex should not display, such as arrogance for women or emotional vulnerability for men - violations can trigger backlash

Status incongruity hypothesis

The proposal that people receive backlash when their behavior violates the status expectations attached to their gender - helps preserve traditional links between gender and status

Agentic women

According to the status incongruity hypothesis, _____________ can be penalized for appearing “too dominant” relative to feminine expectations

Men

According to the status incongruity hypothesis, _____________ can be penalized for displaying traits associates with low status or femininity

Stereotype threat

Concern about confirming a negative stereotype about one’s social group, which can interfere with performance - People may feel anxiety about confirming a negative stereotype about their group

Self-fulfilling prophecy

A process in which expectations about another person influence behavior toward that person in ways that elicit stereotype-consistent behavior

Self-fulfilling prophecy cycle

Percpiever begins with stereotype → treats target according to stereotype → target responds to stereotype-aligned treatment → confirms perciever’s expectations

Generic beliefs

• Describe categories as wholes.

• Example structure: “Women are friendly.”

• Do not specify proportions or numbers.

• Can persist without close contact with data

Statistical beliefs

• Refer to numbers, proportions, or comparative averages.

• Example structure: “Women score higher on average.”

• Can be compared directly with empirical estimates.

• Most accuracy research focuses on this type

Direction accuracy

Accuracy regarding the direction of a sex difference - asks whether people correctly identify which group scores higher on average

Discrepancy accuracy

Accuracy regarding the specific size and direction of a sex difference - compares the believed sex difference w/ the observed size

Rank-order accuracy

Accuracy in judging the relative ordering of group differences across multiple traits or behaviors - still doesnt establish accuracy for every specific stereotype

Assessed by comparing the ordering of stereotyped differences w/ observed differences

How is rank order accuracy assessed?

direction

Some cognitive stereotypes correctly predict the _________ of observed average sex differences

magnitude

Estimates can still miss the actual _________ of differences

Different methods of recording and collecting information can yeild different estimates, and shape conclusions about stereotype accuracy

What are the challenges of properly definining the reality of gender stereotypes (observing and recording behavior based on functional definitions)?

Individualistic

______________ cultures emphasize autonomy, independence, and personal

goals.

Collectivistic

_______________ cultures emphasize interdependence, group solidarity, and

relational obligations.

cultural values

Gender stereotype content can therefore vary with _______________

Broad gender stereotypes

____________ show substantial cross-cultural similarity

dominant

A recurring pattern is that culturally valued traits are often attributed to the _______________ sex category