Forming Impressions of Others: Sex Stereotyping and Sex Bias

Finding Out About Forming Impressions of Others: Sex Stereotyping and Sex Bias

               In recent years, stereotyping on the basis of sex has received particular attention. The women’s movement in the United States and elsewhere has worked particularly to help overcome stereotypic perceptions of women which tend to place them at a disadvantage in our society and which restrict their job opportunities.

                [Research Focus]             Comparison of Stereotype Trait

                                       Frequencies of American Ethnic Groups, 1933-1967

	1933	1967		1933	1967
Germans			Japanese
Scientifically minded	78*	47	Intelligent	45	20
Industrious	65	59	Industrious	43	57
Stolid	44	9	Progressive	24	17
Extremely nationalistic	24	43	Ambitious	-	33
Efficient	16	46	Efficient	-	27
Irish			Negroes
Pugnacious	45	13	Superstitious	84	13
Quick tempered	39	43	Lazy	75	26
Witty	38	7	Happy-go-lucky	38	27
Very religious	29	27	Musical	26	47
Extremely nationalistic	21	41	Ostentatious	26	25
Jews			Turks
Shrewd	79	30	Cruel	47	9
Mercenary	49	15	Very religious	26	7
Industrious	48	33	Treacherous	21	13
Ambitious	21	48	Physically dirty	15	14
Materialistic	-	46	Aggressive	-	17

Percentage Checking Various Traits. Adapted from Karlins, Coffman and Gilbert, 1969.

                Daniel Katz and Kenneth W. Braly (1933) asked one hundred Princeton undergraduates to rate ten different racial and national groups by checking which of eight-four adjectives described them. The national groups rated included those listed here plus Italians, English, Chinese, and Americans. The study was repeated by G. M. Gilbert in 1951 and by Marvin Karlins, Thomas L. Coffman, and Gary Walters in 1967. To illustrate the process of stereotyping and changes over time, we present the percentages from the 1933 and 1967 samples who used various adjectives. Included here are the three most frequently listed adjectives in 1933 plus the two which were next most frequent in 1967. Note that stereotyping appears to diminish somewhat over the years, as the lower percentages in the later study indicate. The stereotypes also became more positive over the years. Stereotyping does not depend on personal contact with members of a group: there was considerable stereotyping of Turks in 1933, although it was likely that few of the respondents had ever met a Turk. This stereotype, however, had diminished markedly by 1967. Note that the term “Negroes” was retained in the 1967 study for consistency’s sake, even though by that time the term “blacks” was preferred.

(Source: Raven, Bertram H., Rubin, Jeffrey Z. (1983). SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY 2nd Edition. John Wiley & Sons, Inc: United States of America.)

× 『rui@96yR』【butterflyuu】 ×