Gender disparities in social and personality psychology awards from 1968 to 2021

Gender disparities persist in academic psychology. The present study extended previous investigations to social and personality psychology award recipients. We collated publicly available data on award winners (N = 2700) from 17 international societies from 1968 to 2021. Features of the award, including year given, type of award, seniority level, whether the award was shared with more than one winner, and gender/sex of the recipient were coded. Overall, men were more likely to be recognized with awards than women, but the proportion of awards won by women has increased over time. Despite this increased share of awards, women were more likely to win awards for service and teaching (which are generally viewed as less prestigious) rather than research contributions. These differences were moderated by year - women were more likely to win service or teaching awards, compared to research awards, after 1999 and 2007, respectively. Women were more likely to win awards at postgraduate/early career levels or open to all levels compared to senior awards. Findings suggest that women’s greater representation in academic psychology in recent years has not been accompanied by parity in professional recognition and eminence

Why people misunderstand sexism

Sexism and misogyny are not perfect synonyms. As well as being reviled, women are revered as the moral, refined, but weaker sex who need and deserve men's reverence and protection. This latter, warm, paternalistic representation of women is known as benevolent sexism (BS). Though it is affectionate, BS is counterproductive to gender equality in well-documented ways and tends to go hand-in-hand with misogyny. Research paints a less clear or complete picture of people's understanding of BS: do people 'get' what it is and what consequences it has? In the present thesis, I show that for the most part people do not understand BS, and that their misunderstanding springs precisely from the warmth of BS. Thus, perceptions of warmth, which are known to play a central role in social cognition, also play a central role in masking the structure and function of sexism. Eight studies use observational, correlational, and experimental methods to examine the role of warmth in concealing the functions of BS. Three studies provide evidence that warmth influences women's (under)reactions to experiences of benevolent sexism (Ch. 2). Together, Studies 1 (n = 297), 2 (n = 252), and 3 (n = 219) indicated that although women recall experiencing benevolent (vs. hostile) sexism more often, they protest it less often, because they see it as warm. In Study 4 (n = 296, Ch. 3), men who portrayed benevolently sexist behaviours toward women (vs. hostile and control behaviours) toward women were seen as lower in hostile sexism (HS) and more supportive of gender equality. In Study 5 (n = 283, Ch. 3) men high (vs. low) in BS attitudes were seen as lower in HS, more supportive of gender equality, and much lower in a wide array of known correlates of BS. The pattern of results largely showed that people erroneously perceive men high (vs. low) in BS as less likely to support outcomes which are antagonistic to women's interests (e.g. justification of domestic violence), and more likely to support outcomes in women's interests (e.g. gender specific collective action). In Study 6 (n = 211, Ch. 3), the causal role of warmth was established by experimentally manipulating the warmth of protagonists' attitudes toward women. Study 7 (n = 263, Ch. 4) conceptually replicated and extended the findings of Study 6 by manipulating a man's apparent trait warmth (whether he was a warm or cold personality) rather than his warmth toward women specifically. A final study (Study 8, n = 198, Ch. 4) investigated the influence of warmth on perceptions of BS more closely by orthogonalizing men's apparent trait warmth and the warmth of their attitudes toward women specifically (e.g., a man could be warm generally, but have cold attitudes toward women). In keeping with a Gestalt understanding of warmth, findings suggest that trait and attitudinal warmth combine additively and multiplicatively to influence perceptions of BS, albeit the influence of attitudinal warmth may be more proximal. In concert, these findings demonstrate that the warm affective tone of BS, particularly when displayed by men, masks its ideological functions. A final chapter discusses implications for theories of consent and legitimacy in social systems, for theories of person perception, for future research in gender relations, and for applications of that research, for example in efforts to raise consciousness about the misleading dynamics of sexism

Gender Differences in Professional Psychology Awards

Gender bias persists in academic psychology. The present study extended previous investigations to professional award recipients. We collated publicly available data on award winners (N = 2701) from 17 national and international personality and social psychology societies from 1968 to 2021. Features of the award including year given, type of award, seniority level, shared with more than one winner, and gender/sex of the recipient were coded. Overall men were more likely to be recognized with professional awards than women, but the proportion of awards won by women has increased over time. Despite an increased share of awards, women were more likely to win awards for service and teaching rather than research contributions. These differences were moderated by year - women were more likely to win service or teaching awards, compared to research awards, after 2000 and 2007, respectively. Women were more likely to win awards at postgraduate/early career levels or open to all levels compared to senior awards. Findings suggest that women’s greater representation in academic psychology in recent years has not yet led to parity in professional recognition and eminence

The Misandry Myth: An Inaccurate Stereotype About Feminists’ Attitudes Toward Men

In six studies, we examined the accuracy and underpinnings of the damaging stereotype that feminists harbor negative attitudes toward men. In Study 1 (n = 1,664), feminist and nonfeminist women displayed similarly positive attitudes toward men. Study 2 (n = 3,892) replicated these results in non-WEIRD countries and among male participants. Study 3 (n = 198) extended them to implicit attitudes. Investigating the mechanisms underlying feminists’ actual and perceived attitudes, Studies 4 (n = 2,092) and 5 (nationally representative UK sample, n = 1,953) showed that feminists (vs. nonfeminists) perceived men as more threatening, but also more similar, to women. Participants also underestimated feminists’ warmth toward men, an error associated with hostile sexism and a misperception that feminists see men and women as dissimilar. Random-effects meta-analyses of all data (Study 6, n = 9,799) showed that feminists’ attitudes toward men were positive in absolute terms and did not differ significantly from nonfeminists'. An important comparative benchmark was established in Study 6, which showed that feminist women's attitudes toward men were no more negative than men's attitudes toward men. We term the focal stereotype the misandry myth in light of the evidence that it is false and widespread, and discuss its implications for the movement

The Misandry Myth : An Inaccurate Stereotype About Feminists’ Attitudes Toward Men

In six studies, we examined the accuracy and underpinnings of the damaging stereotype that feminists harbor negative attitudes toward men. In Study 1 (n = 1,664), feminist and nonfeminist women displayed similarly positive attitudes toward men. Study 2 (n = 3,892) replicated these results in non-WEIRD countries and among male participants. Study 3 (n = 198) extended them to implicit attitudes. Investigating the mechanisms underlying feminists’ actual and perceived attitudes, Studies 4 (n = 2,092) and 5 (nationally representative UK sample, n = 1,953) showed that feminists (vs. nonfeminists) perceived men as more threatening, but also more similar, to women. Participants also underestimated feminists’ warmth toward men, an error associated with hostile sexism and a misperception that feminists see men and women as dissimilar. Random-effects meta-analyses of all data (Study 6, n = 9,799) showed that feminists’ attitudes toward men were positive in absolute terms and did not differ significantly from nonfeminists'. An important comparative benchmark was established in Study 6, which showed that feminist women's attitudes toward men were no more negative than men's attitudes toward men. We term the focal stereotype the misandry myth in light of the evidence that it is false and widespread, and discuss its implications for the movement