Exploring the dynamics of incongruent beliefs about women and leaders

People tend to have similar beliefs about leaders and men but dissimilar beliefs about leaders and women. A decrease in this perceived incongruity between beliefs about women and leaders might follow from perceived changes in either or both of these stereotypes. In two experiments we investigated the dynamics of this stereotype incongruity by examining cross-temporal perceptions of change in women’s roles and leadership demands. In Experiment 1, participants judged a target group (leaders, men, or women) in a specified year in the past, the present, and the future with regard to gender-stereotypic traits. In Experiment 2, participants evaluated the same target groups in a future society in which the role distribution between the sexes was described as traditional, same-as-today, or equal. Altogether our findings indicate that the perceived incongruity between the leader stereotype and the female stereotype is a dynamic phenomenon. Participants’ beliefs indicated erosion of the perceived incongruity between leaders and women because of a perceived change in women’s roles. We discuss the implications of these beliefs for future social change

Communion and agency judgments of women and men as a function of role information and response format

In past research, the presentation of men and women in the same social role has eliminated gender stereotypical ratings of greater agency and lesser communion in men compared with women (e.g., Eagly & Steffen, 1984). The social-role interpretation of such findings is challenged from the shifting-standards perspective, which suggests that the application of within-sex judgmental standards to men and women in roles may have masked underlying gender stereotypes (Biernat, 2003). To clarify this issue, 256 participants judged an average man or woman portrayed as an employee, homemaker, or without role information on agentic and communal traits. These judgments were given on subjective scales that were vulnerable to shifting standards (trait ratings) or on common rule measures that restrain shifting standards (estimates of test scores). As predicted from the shifting-standards perspective, judgments of greater agency in men than women disappeared in the presence of role information only on the subjective scales, which enabled shifts to within-sex standards. As predicted from the social-role perspective, judgments of greater communion in women than men disappeared in the presence of the homemaker role on both the subjective and common rule measures. We discuss the implications of these results for understanding judgments of role occupants’ agency and communion

Die Bedeutung von Informationen zur sozialen Rolle für die Reduktion geschlechtsstereotypen Urteilens: Ein methodisches Artefakt?

Die Forschung zur sozialen Rollentheorie hat durchweg gezeigt, dass die Vorgabe derselben Rolleninformation geschlechtsstereotype Persönlichkeitsbeurteilungen von Männern und Frauen reduziert. Die vorliegende Studie hinterfragt die rollentheoretische Erklärung dieser Befunde und untersucht, inwieweit die bisherigen Ergebnisse dadurch zustande kamen, dass Personen unterschiedliche Standards für Männer und Frauen bei ihren Beurteilungen anwendeten. Die Versuchspersonen verglichen Männer und Frauen in derselben Rolle, d.h. im Haushalt tätig, Vollzeit berufstätig oder nicht spezifiziert, hinsichtlich geschlechtsstereotyper Eigenschaften. Um einen Wechsel der Beurteilungsmaßstäbe zu verhindern, gaben die Versuchspersonen auf derselben Ratingskala an, ob das jeweilige Persönlichkeitsmerkmal bei einem/einer durchschnittlichen Mann/Frau mehr oder weniger ausgeprägt ist als bei einer durchschnittlichen Person des anderen Geschlechts. In Übereinstimmung mit der sozialen Rollentheorie wurden im Haushalt tätige Männer und Frauen sowie berufstätige Männer und Frauen ähnlicher bezüglich expressiver und instrumenteller Eigenschaften beurteilt als Männer und Frauen ohne Rolleninformation. Dieser Rolleneffekt war bei weiblichen Versuchspersonen stärker ausgeprägt als bei männlichen Versuchspersonen

Social role effects on gender stereotyping in Germany and Japan

Social role theory postulates that gender stereotypes are restrained for men and women observed in the same social role. Cultural differences in the valuation of communal attributes might moderate this effect. To examine this possibility, 288 participants (144 German, 144 Japanese) estimated the communal and agentic attributes of an average man or woman described in a male-dominated role, a female-dominated role, or without role information. We hypothesized and found that in Germany and Japan, participants perceived men as more agentic than women without role information and as similarly agentic in the same role. However, for communion, German and Japanese participants reacted differently. German participants perceived women as more communal than men without role information and in male-dominated roles and perceived men as more communal than women in female-dominated roles. Japanese participants perceived all targets as similarly communal, regardless of role or gender, suggesting that communion is generally expected in Japan

Gender stereotypes and the attribution of leadership traits: a cross-cultural comparison

In the present study we analyzed cultural variations of managerial gender typing, i.e., that managers are perceived as possessing traits that are part of the masculine stereotype. Management students of both sexes from three different countries—Australia, Germany, and India—estimated the percentage to which one of three stimulus groups, i.e., executives-in-general (no gender specification), male executives, or female executives, possesses person-oriented and task-oriented leadership traits. Participants also rated the importance of these characteristics for the respective group. Furthermore, another group of participants described themselves regarding the two types of traits and their importance for themselves. Altogether, the results indicate a less traditional view of leadership compared to previous findings, which is very similar in all three countries. Nevertheless, there exists an interculturally shared view of a female-specific leadership competence according to which women possess a higher person orientation than men. The self-descriptions of the female and male management students regarding person- and task-oriented traits were found to be very similar

„Aus Gründen der Verständlichkeit ...“: Der Einfluss generisch maskuliner und alternativer Personenbezeichnungen auf die kognitive Verarbeitung von Texten

Gegen geschlechtergerechte Sprache wird häufig eingewandt, dass sie die Qualität und die kognitive Verarbeitung von Texten beeinträchtige. Um diese Annahme zu testen, lasen 86 deutschsprachige Teilnehmende drei verschiedene Versionen einer fiktiven Packungsbeilage eines Medikaments, die hinsichtlich der Form der Personenbezeichnung - generisches Maskulinum, Beidnennung mit Neutralisierung, Binnen-I - variierten. Es wurde erhoben, wie gut sich die Teilnehmenden an die Inhalte des Textes erinnerten und wie sie den Text im Hinblick auf verschiedene Merkmale der Textqualität bewerteten, d.h. Verständlichkeit, Güte der Formulierungen und Lesbarkeit. Weibliche Teilnehmende zeigten bei allen drei Textversionen eine ähnlich gute Erinnerungsleistung und bewerteten die verschiedenen Textversionen als gleichermaßen verständlich. Die männlichen Teilnehmenden unterschieden sich ebenfalls nicht bedeutsam in der Erinnerungsleistung für die drei Textfassungen, bewerteten die generisch maskuline Textfassung jedoch am besten. It is frequently argued that gender-fair language impairs processing of textual information. To test this assumption, 86 native speakers of German read three versions of a fictitious package leaflet that varied with regard to the personal nouns used: a generic masculine version and two gender-fair ones. Subsequently, participants answered questions about the content of the text and evaluated the text with regard to various criteria of textual quality. Female participants recalled a similar amount of details when answering questions on the generic masculine text and the gender-fair versions and they rated the intelligibility of all versions similarly. Male participants also recalled a similar amount of details in all three versions. However, concerning intelligibility they preferred the masculine generic text over the gender-fair versions