Girls Are Good At STEM: Opening Minds And Providing Evidence Reduce Boys\u27 Stereotyping Of Girls\u27 STEM Ability

Girls and women face persistent negative stereotyping within STEM (science, technology, engineering, mathematics). This field intervention was designed to improve boys\u27 perceptions of girls\u27 STEM ability. Boys (N = 667; mostly White and East Asian) aged 9-15 years in Canadian STEM summer camps (2017-2019) had an intervention or control conversation with trained camp staff. The intervention was a multi-stage persuasive appeal: a values affirmation, an illustration of girls\u27 ability in STEM, a personalized anecdote, and reflection. Control participants discussed general camp experiences. Boys who received the intervention (vs. control) had more positive perceptions of girls\u27 STEM ability, d = 0.23, an effect stronger among younger boys. These findings highlight the importance of engaging elementary-school-aged boys to make STEM climates more inclusive

Gender Gap in Parental Leave Intentions: Evidence from 37 Countries

Despite global commitments and efforts, a gender-based division of paid and unpaid work persists. To identify how psychological factors, national policies, and the broader sociocultural context contribute to this inequality, we assessed parental-leave intentions in young adults (18–30 years old) planning to have children (N = 13,942; 8,880 identified as women; 5,062 identified as men) across 37 countries that varied in parental-leave policies and societal gender equality. In all countries, women intended to take longer leave than men. National parental-leave policies and women’s political representation partially explained cross-national variations in the gender gap. Gender gaps in leave intentions were paradoxically larger in countries with more gender-egalitarian parental-leave policies (i.e., longer leave available to both fathers and mothers). Interestingly, this cross-national variation in the gender gap was driven by cross-national variations in women’s (rather than men’s) leave intentions. Financially generous leave and gender-egalitarian policies (linked to men’s higher uptake in prior research) were not associated with leave intentions in men. Rather, men’s leave intentions were related to their individual gender attitudes. Leave intentions were inversely related to career ambitions. The potential for existing policies to foster gender equality in paid and unpaid work is discussed.Gender Gap in Parental Leave Intentions: Evidence from 37 CountriespublishedVersio

Gender Gap in Parental Leave Intentions: Evidence from 37 Countries

Despite global commitments and efforts, a gender-based division of paid and unpaid work persists. To identify how psychological factors, national policies, and the broader sociocultural context contribute to this inequality, we assessed parental-leave intentions in young adults (18–30 years old) planning to have children (N = 13,942; 8,880 identified as women; 5,062 identified as men) across 37 countries that varied in parental-leave policies and societal gender equality. In all countries, women intended to take longer leave than men. National parental-leave policies and women’s political representation partially explained cross-national variations in the gender gap. Gender gaps in leave intentions were paradoxically larger in countries with more gender-egalitarian parental-leave policies (i.e., longer leave available to both fathers and mothers). Interestingly, this cross-national variation in the gender gap was driven by cross-national variations in women’s (rather than men’s) leave intentions. Financially generous leave and gender-egalitarian policies (linked to men’s higher uptake in prior research) were not associated with leave intentions in men. Rather, men’s leave intentions were related to their individual gender attitudes. Leave intentions were inversely related to career ambitions. The potential for existing policies to foster gender equality in paid and unpaid work is discussed

Building, Betraying, and Buffering Trust in Interracial and Same-Race Friendships

Trust is theorized to be essential for close relationship functioning, and close friendships hold special promise for improving intergroup relations. This dissertation examines how trust (not mere liking) is attained, maintained, and regained between Black and White individuals as a function of closeness (inclusion of other in the self) in friendship contexts. Trust placed in outgroup (vs. same-race) friends is hypothesized to be shallower, asymmetric, and more vulnerable to disruption. In Study 1, a dyadic investigation over time, White and Black students who described interracial (vs. same-race) friendships initially reported less trust, closeness, stimulating companionship, reliable alliance, self-disclosure, perceived other disclosure, perceived help/support, and perceived understanding, followed by less perceived other disclosure and less contact a year later. Participants' initial trust and closeness (not liking) mediated these effects. Initial trust predicted fewer subsequent friend betrayals and greater closeness to an outgroup friend's racial group one year later. In Studies 2a and 2b, White and Black participants imagined a White or Black friend engaging in relational behaviors over time, sometimes including a betrayal. Black participants reported less cultural trust (not liking) after imagining a betrayal by a White (vs. Black) friend. No cultural trust gap emerged for White participants, or for Black participants who were high in subjective closeness or not betrayed. In Study 3, White and Black strangers completed either control or friendship-inducing closeness tasks in dyads before a prisoner's dilemma game that sometimes simulated a partner defection. After partner defections, Black participants reported lower trust (not liking) for White than Black partners, an effect partially mediated by negative other-directed affect, in the control condition. Black participants in the closeness condition and no-betrayal condition trusted White and Black partners equally, as did White participants. These studies (a) suggest that Black individuals trust ingroup more than outgroup individuals, particularly after betrayals, except when subjective closeness is high, and (b) underscore the centrality of trust (not liking) and closeness for successful interracial friendships

The innuendo effect: Hearing the positive but inferring the negative

Speakers can convey mixed impressions by providing only positive information. As a series of studies shows, when communicators omit information on a salient, relevant dimension of social perception, listeners make negative inferences about the target on that omitted dimension, despite directly receiving only positive information on another dimension (Studies 1 and 2a). These negative inferences mediated the effect of the innuendo manipulation on judgments about the target person's suitability for inclusion in one's group. Simulating communication, Study 2b participants read Study 2a's descriptions and showed this innuendo effect is stronger for descriptions of female as opposed to male targets in an academic domain. We discuss implications of innuendo for the communication and perpetuation of mixed impressions and their prevalence in descriptions of subordinate group members

Racial Attitude (Dis)Similarity and Liking in Same-Race Minority Interactions

Two studies investigate the relationship between racial attitude (dis)similarity and interpersonal liking for racial minorities and Whites in same-race and cross-race pairs. In nationally representative and local samples, minorities report personally caring about racial issues more than Whites do (Pilot Study), which we theorize makes racial attitude divergence with ingroup members especially disruptive. Both established friendships (Study 1) and face-to-face interactions among strangers (Study 2) provided evidence for the dissimilarity-repulsion hypothesis in same-race interactions for minorities but not Whites. For minorities, disagreeing with a minority partner or friend about racial attitudes decreased their positivity toward that person. Because minorities typically report caring about race more than Whites, same-race friendships involving shared racial attitudes may be particularly critical sources of social support for them, particularly in predominately White contexts. Understanding challenges that arise in same-race interactions, not just cross-race interactions, can help create environments in which same-race minority friendships flourish

An advantage of appearing mean or lazy: amplified impressions of competence or warmth after mixed descriptions

Three studies show that compensation effects do not require explicit comparisons. Descriptions of mixed valence on warmth/competence lead to more amplified impressions. Cold/competent (vs. warm/competent) descriptions lead to more competent impressions. Incompetent/warm (vs. competent/warm) descriptions lead to warmer impressions. Amplification extends our understanding of innuendo and compensation effects

Stereotyping by Omission: Eliminate the Negative, Accentuate the Positive.

Communicators, motivated by strategic self-presentation, selectively underreport negative content in describing their impressions of individuals and stereotypes of groups, particularly for targets whom they view ambivalently with respect to warmth and competence. Communicators avoid overtly inaccurate descriptions, preferring to omit negative information and emphasize positive information about mixed individual targets (Study 1). With more public audiences, communicators increasingly prefer negativity omission to complete accuracy (Study 2), a process driven by selfpresentation concerns (Study 3), and moderated by bidimensional ambivalence. Similarly, in an extension of the Princeton Trilogy studies, reported stereotypes of ethnic and national outgroups systematically omitted negative dimensions over 75 years—as anti-prejudice norms intensified— while neutral and positive stereotype dimensions remained constant (Study 4). Multiple assessment methods confirm this stereotyping-by-omission phenomenon (Study 5). Implications of negativity omission for innuendo and stereotype stagnation are discussed