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Women underestimate effects of negative gender stereotypes

"This study has major implications for women in technology and business environments," said researcher Mary C. Murphy.

By Brooks Hays

BLOOMINGTON, Ind., March 27 (UPI) -- Even women underestimate the power of negative gender stereotypes -- that according to a new study that showed vocalized stereotyping lowered the math scores of female test takers.

That negative stereotypes heightened the stakes and encouraged performance anxiety -- and ultimately precipitated lower math scores -- isn't all that surprising. Reality often mimics perception.

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More unexpected is the fact that both men and women believed negative stereotypes could fuel heightened performance.

It's not an illogical assumption. Athletes often speak of being propelled to remarkable performance feats in hostile environments -- urged on by the ire of the crowd. But a recent study by researchers at the University of Indiana shows it rarely works out that way.

"This study's implications go beyond the classroom into the many other social environments where negative stereotypes about women play a role," Kathryn L. Boucher, a postdoctoral research associate at Indiana University, said in a press release.

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To test the effects of gender stereotyping on performance, social psychologists had several groups of men and women take math tests. Half of the groups were subjected to vocalized stereotyping. This was done by telling test-takers they were participating in study aimed at better understanding why women are worse at math.

As psychologists had hypothesized, women told they're worse at math were -- on average -- worse at math than women who weren't subjected to the same thinly-veiled put-down.

Interestingly, the research also included real-time reactions to how participants believed stereotyping would affect performance and test scores. Surveys revealed that both men and women thought female test takers would be motivated to prove the doubters wrong, so to speak -- that stereotyping would encourage higher scores.

"This study has major implications for women in technology and business environments, where women's abilities are regularly impugned by negative stereotypes," said Mary C. Murphy, assistant professor in the Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, who organized and managed the study.

"These are the places where women are most likely to experience stereotype threat -- and if their supervisors and co-workers cannot anticipate how these threats interfere with performance, that's a serious problem," Murphy added. "It's one of the ways women end up underrepresented in science, technology, engineering and math."

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The study illuminates one of the central blockades to progress on the gender equality front. Most men and women are aware that gender biases exist, but too many are ignorant of (or underestimate the power of) the consequences and real-world effects -- effects that demand specific remedies.

"While many factors can impact performance outside a controlled environment -- be it the classroom or the boardroom -- it's unlikely that performance evaluators currently consider negative stereotypes about women as a serious cause for impaired performance, and so it is unlikely that they will take steps to reduce them," Boucher explained.

"Thoughtful applications of this study's findings, however, could help address women's achievement gaps, and increase their representation, in the fields where they're most negatively stereotyped. Recognizing the problem is the first step to addressing it."

The study was published online this week in the Journal of Experimental Social Psychology.

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