Gender, Stereotypes, and Social Theories

These flashcards cover key concepts related to gender, stereotypes, and social theories, providing definitions and examples where applicable.

Matilda effect

Women scientists’ contributions are often credited to men.

Stereotype

Belief about a group.

Prejudice

Negative or positive feelings toward a group.

Discrimination

Behavior based on group membership.

Gender microaggressions

Subtle, often unintentional slights based on gender.

Identity privilege

Unearned advantage based on social identity.

Social stratification

Hierarchical organization of social groups.

Gender essentialism

Belief that gender differences are innate and fixed.

Sexual complementarity

Men and women have inherently different, complementary traits.

Gender verification testing

Procedures to confirm a female athlete’s sex.

Hostile sexism (HS)

Negative attitudes toward women who challenge traditional roles.

Benevolent sexism (BS)

Positive but patronizing attitudes toward women in traditional roles.

Ambivalent sexism

Combination of hostile and benevolent sexism.

Paternalism

Treating women as weak and needing protection.

Gender differentiation

Belief men and women are inherently different.

Heterosexuality (in sexism context)

Beliefs that reinforce male-female roles.

System justification theory

People justify existing social hierarchies, even if unfair.

Intersectionality

Multiple social identities combine to shape experiences.

Social dominance theory

Societies maintain hierarchies where some groups dominate others.

Gender similarities hypothesis

Men and women are similar on most psychological traits.

Meta-analysis

Statistical method combining multiple studies.

Effect size

Quantifies the magnitude of a difference between groups.

Draw-a-Scientist test

Task revealing implicit gender stereotypes about scientists.

Role incongruity

Mismatch between gender stereotypes and social role.

Think-manager-think-male paradigm

Leadership and STEM roles are implicitly associated with men.

Agency

Traits like assertiveness, independence; stereotypically male.

Communion

Traits like warmth, cooperation; stereotypically female.