Lesson 4

• Gender Stereotypes


  Generalized/Shared beliefs about the traits, qualities, and tendencies associated with different sex categories
• Generalization


  • Tendency to assume that a new member of a category has the same qualities as other category members
• Social categorization


  • Automatic categorization of people into social groups based on appearance or other distinguishing features
• Components of gender stereotypes


  • Trait dimensions
  • Role behaviors
  • Occupations
  • Physical appearance
• Stereotype Content Model


  Proposes that stereotypes about social groups fall along communion and agency dimensions
• Communion


  Includes warmth, connectedness, and kindness
• Agency


  Includes competence, assertiveness, and competitiveness
• "Women-Are-Wonderful" Effect


  People's tendency to view stereotypes about women more favorably than they view stereotypes about men
• Favorable stereotypes are for women conforming to traditional gender roles
• The "Women-Are-Wonderful" Effect does not necessarily offer women a route to social status and power
• The "Women-Are-Wonderful" Effect applies mostly to white, middle-class women
• Gender Subgroups


  Rates in distinct ways on communal and agentic dimensions
• Some researchers propose that subgroups are useful to combat gender stereotypes, increasing tendencies to view men or women as unique individuals
• Common stereotypes about transgender individuals

  • Deviant
  • Mentally ill
  • Disgusting
  • Confused
  • Gay
• There are overlaps between stereotypes about transwomen and transmen with that of cisgender men and women, respectively
• Limited research examines stereotypes of heterosexual women and men due to the assumption of heteronormativity in society, which considers heterosexual relationships as the norm
• Stereotypes of heterosexual individuals often mirror gender stereotypes
• Stereotypes for gay men and lesbian women


  • Flamboyant
  • Drag queen
  • Masculine
  • Feminine
  • Feminine
  • Normal
  • Butch
  • Feminine
  • Free spirited
  • Tomboy
  • Feminist
  • Promiscuous
• Stereotypes of bisexual people are more negative compared to heterosexual gay or lesbian individuals
• Binegativity


  Prejudicial attitudes towards bisexual individuals, with three dimensions: unstable identity, sexual irresponsibility, and hostility
• Biases against bisexual people exist among heterosexuals, gay men, and lesbian women
• Gender differences contribute to anti-bisexual bias, with greater bias prevalent against bisexual men
• Intersectionality Perspective


  Stereotypes about individuals with multiple subordinates status categories often have unique elements
• Prototypes


  The most typical cognitive representation of a given category
• Most powerful members of social groups serve as prototypes of those groups
• Lens-Based Account of Intersectional Stereotyping


  Perceivers have a repertoire of lenses in their minds — identity-specific schemas for categorizing others
• Characteristics of the perceiver and the social context determine which one of these lenses will be used to organize social perceptions
• Evolutionary Psychology

  • Stereotypes derive from and reflect genetically inherited differences in traits and behaviors
• Women are evolved with high-levels of warmth and domesticity due to natural selection
• Assertiveness, agency, and risk-taking facilitated men's likelihood of surviving and reproducing
• Women are perceived as more communal and sexually reserved
• Parental investment theory


  Women invest more time and energy in offspring than men do
• Men stereotyped as the more agentic sex
• Principle of intersexual selection


  Ancestreal men with desirable qualities were most successful in attracting mates
• Principle of intrasexual selection


  Male members of most species compete with each other for access to female mates
• Social Role Theory


  • Gender stereotypes stem from and mirror large-scale sex differences in social roles, including distribution of women and men into domestic and breadwinning roles
• Observing the social activities in which individuals engage leads people to infer stereotypes
• People rely on gender stereotypes in absence of information about the target person's occupation or role
• When information about the target's occupations is available, people's rating of communion and agency followed from the occupations rather than the target's sex