Social Perspectives on Gender

© 2005, John B. Pryor

Illinois State University

Gender Stereotypes Broverman et a. (1972)

Competency clusterCompetency cluster::

aggressive, direct, aggressive, direct, independent, active, independent, active, not emotional, not emotional, objective, worldly, objective, worldly, logical, dominant, logical, dominant, acts as a leader, acts as a leader, never criesnever cries

warmth-warmth-expressiveness expressiveness cluster:cluster:

gentle, tactful, quite, gentle, tactful, quite, religious, neat, religious, neat, aware of others’ aware of others’ feelings, easily feelings, easily expresses tender expresses tender feelings, enjoys art & feelings, enjoys art & literature, need for literature, need for securitysecurity

Describe a healthy, mature, sociallly competent

a) male, b) female, or c) adult (sex unspecified)

Healthy women are Healthy women are expected to be expected to be less:less:

independentindependent adventurousadventurous aggressiveaggressive competitivecompetitive

Healthy women are Healthy women are expected to be expected to be more:more:

submissivesubmissive easily influencedeasily influenced excitable in minor excitable in minor

crisescrises conceited about conceited about

their appearancetheir appearance

from Broverman, et al.

Consequences of stereotypes

at work Ideal managers are described as more male-like

(women no longer believe this in the U.S.) Stereotypes of people who earn more money involve

strong increases in positive male qualities (e.g., independence) moderate increases in negative male qualities (e.g., aggressiveness) and overall decreases in female qualities

Employees question the competency of female managers

Female leaders receive more negative non-verbal cues from groups members than men

Leadership Styles of Women and MenFrom Eagly, Johannesen-Schmidt, & Engen (2003)

•Women are more likely than men to be TRANFORMATIONAL LEADERS

-Transformational leaders communicate values, purpose,and importance of organization’s mission-Transformational leaders exhibit optimism & excitementabout goals-Transformational leaders examine new perspectives forsolving problems-Transformational leaders focus on the development andmentoring of followers

•Men are more likely than women to be TRANSACTIONAL or LAISSEZ-FARE LEADERS

Women's Earning in the US as a Percent of Men's Earnings

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

195119531955195719591961196319651967196919711973197519771979198119831985198719891991199319951997199920012003

Year

Percent

Gender Wage Gap Comparing USA to Selected European Countries

75.578 78 79 79 81 81 82 83

86 86 87 88 89 9195

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100

United States

Ireland

United Kingdom

Austria

Netherlands

FinlandGermany

Luxembourg

SwedenDenmarkSpain Greece FranceBelgium

ItalyPortugal

countries

percent

Reasons women expect lower salaries

Women expect to take more time off work (e.g. for child rearing)

Women place less importance on job outcomes than men

Women earn less in reality Women have lower self-confidence

in many achievement situations

Stereotypes are maintained even

when the evidence is conflicting.

Research by Deaux

Weiner’s Taxonomy

LUCK

TASKDIFFICULTY

ABILITY

EFFORT

EXTERNALINTERNAL

TEMPORARY

STABLE

ATTRIBUTIONS ABOUTPERFORMANCE

Why do womenfail?Why do women succeed?Why do menfail?Why do mensucceed?

“He’s skilled, she’s lucky”Swim & Sanna, 1996

Women generally do not score as high as men on

standardizedtests of math and

science competence.Why?

The Performance of Women on Masculine-Tasks is Influenced by

Stereotype Threat Stereotype Threat is being concerned about a

negative stereotype of your group. For example, women might be concerned about the stereotype that women are inferior in math.

This concern can lead to distress and distraction when stereotypes are thought to be relevant to performance

This distress can interfere with performance Some women are more conscious of group

membership (I.e., being a woman) than others

Schmader (2003)

Male & Female college students selected who scored 500-700 on quantitative part of SAT

Measured Collective Self-Esteem: e.g., “Being a woman/man is an important part of my self-image.”

Participants told either that their scores on a test would be compared to other students or that males and females would be compared--Gender Relevance Manipulation

Participants took math section of GRE

Gender Identification as a Moderator of Gender Identity Relevance Effects on Women's and Men's Math Performance (Schmader,

0

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

Men Women Men Women

Gender Identity Not Relevant Gender Identity Relevant

Math Test Performance

Low IdentifiedHigh Identified

Only significantMale/femaledifference

What are the actual gender differences in social behavior?

Eagly & Wood (1991)Nine sex differences in adults observed

across many studies:

1. Women are better at sending and receiving messages nonverbally.

2. Women conform to group pressure more than men.

3. Women act more friendly and agree more with other group members in small groups.

Eagly & Wood (1991)4. Men are more strictly task-oriented in

work groups.

5. All female groups typically perform better than all male groups.

6. Men are more likely to emerge as leaders in initially leaderless groups.

Eagly & Wood (1991)7. Men are more helpful in short-term

interactions with strangers.

8. Men behave more aggressively to others than women, particularly when the aggression brings about physical harm or pain.

9. Women report more life satisfaction and happiness than men.

Why do women

and men differ in

theirsocial

behaviors?

Three types of explanations of sex differences (Wood & Eagly,

2002)

Social constructionism - e.g., Eagly’s Social-Role Theory - sex differences are the products of arbitrary socialization experiences

Evolutionary psychology - sex differences are “hard-wired” - the results of evolutionary pressures

Biosocial theory - sex differences are emergent from biological differences (e.g., male size & female capacity to bear children), developmental experiences (e.g., socialization), and cultural factors

Analyses from 185 societies show male/female divisions of labor

Percent of male participation

Predominantly masculine activities: Hunting large land fauna (99.3%)

Quasi-masculine activities:House building (77.4%)

Swing activities:Care of small animals (35.9%)

Quasi-feminine activities:Cooking (8%)

Eagly’s Social-Role Theory ofsex differences in social behavior

Gender-RoleExpectations

Division of LaborBetween the Sexes

Sex-TypedSkills & Beliefs

Sex Differencesin Social Behavior

Analyses from 185 societies show male/female divisions of labor

QuickTime™ and aTIFF (LZW) decompressor

are needed to see this picture.