Gender Stereotypes do not affect Trait Transference and Trait Inference

1. Gender Stereotypes do not affect Trait Transference and Trait Inference Sara Demuzere, Vera Hoorens & Judith Maier K.U. Leuven

2. Outline • Introduction • Previous research • Current research • Goal • Paradigm • Experiment • Conclusion

3. Introduction • Trait Transference “You are perceived as possessing the very traits you describe in others.“ (Skowronski, Carlston, Mae, & Crawford, 1998) • Trait Inference “You are perceived as possessing the very traits you describe in yourself or when someone else describes these traits in you. “ (Uleman, 1999)

4. Introduction He is too stingy to pay the next coffee. You are too stingy to pay the next coffee. Stingy Stingy

5. Introduction Gender Stereotypes: - Psychological traits and characteristics stereotypical for men or women - Example: men are: aggressive, active, courageous, impolite women are: empathic, emotional, careful, dependent

6. Past Research • Stereotypes affect Trait Inference • Stereotypical Inferences (Wigboldus, Dijksterhuis, & van Knippenberg, 2003) • Influence of Cognitive Capacity (Wigboldus, Sherman, Franzese, & van Knippenberg, 2004) Probe Recognition Paradigm • Trait Transference insensitive to Stereotypes? Trait Attribution Paradigm

7. Probe Recognition Paradigm • Exposure Phase • Stereotype-consistent: “The skinhead hits the saleswoman.” • Stereotype-inconsistent:”The girl hits the saleswoman.’” • Probe words • Implied but not actually included: “aggressive” • Was the word included in the preceding sentence? • Dependent variables: RTs and error rates

8. Goal Trait Attribution Paradigm • Test occurrence of Trait Transference • Examine how stereotypes affect Trait Transference • Test occurrence of Trait Inference • Replicate finding that stereotypes affect Trait Inference

9. Trait Attribution Paradigm Exposure Phase Control Critical NO Trait Implied Trait Implied Filler Task Trait Rating Task Control Critical Implied Congruent Incongruent Implied Congruent Incongruent

10. Exposure Phase Trait Inference Trait Transference Self Inference Other Inference Photographed person’s behavior (“I” form) Photographed person’s behavior (“He/She” form) Someone else’s behavior (“He/She” form)

11. Trait Rating Task Is the person on the picture X (implied trait) ? Is the person on the picture Y (evaluatively congruent trait) ? Is the person on the picture Z (evaluatively incongruent trait) ? O O O O O O O Not at allCompletely

12. Participants & Design • n = 215 (undergraduates) • 2 (Trial: control vs critical) X 3 (Attribution: self inference vs other inference vs transference) x 2 (Emphasis: baseline vs gender) X 2 (Valence: desirable vs undesirable) X 3 (Trait: stereotypically male vs stereotypically female vs gender-neutral) X 2 (Gender: male vs female)

13. Trait Inference and Trait Transference Implied Traits: Effect of Trial Mean Trait Rating Self Inference Other Inference Trait Transference Control Critical Control Critical Control Critical Trial Control trials: descriptions not implying any trait Critical trials: trait-implying descriptions

14. Trait Inference and Trait Transference = p < 0.001 p = 0.01 Fig. 1. Mean Trait Ratings for implied traits.

15. Trait Specificity Effect of Trial Mean Trait Rating Self Inference Other Inference Trait Transference Implied Traits Only! Control Critical Control Critical Control Critical Trial Control trials: descriptions not implying any trait Critical trials: trait-implying descriptions

16. Trait Specificity Congruent Traits: effect of Trial = p < 0.01 = Fig. 2. Mean Congruent Trait Rating in function of Condition. Fig. 2. Mean Trait Ratings for congruent traits.

17. Trait Specificity Incongruent Traits: effect of Trial = = = Fig. 3. Mean Trait Ratings for incongruent traits.

18. Effect of Valence Fig. 3. Mean Trait Ratings for incongruent traits.

19. Gender Stereotyping? Trait Type x Gender of Communicator Mean Judgement of Communicator Women = Men Male Neutral Female Type of Trait

20. Gender Stereotyping! Trait Type x Gender of Communicator F(2,94) = 41.97, p < 0.0001 Women Men Women = Men  Fig. 3. Mean Implied Trait Rating for the interaction between Type of Trait and Gender of Communicator.

21. H3: Effect of Gender Stereotypes on TT Three-way interaction between Gender of Communicator, Type of Trait and Condition Mean Judgement of Communicator Male Communicators Female Communicators Control Critical Neutral Female Female Male Male Neutral Type of Trait Type of Trait

22. No effect for female communicators! Trait Type x Condition F(2, 94) = 3.12, p < 0.05 = Control = Critical Fig. 4. Mean Implied Trait Rating for the interaction between Type of Trait and Condition

23. Partial support for male communicators! Trait Type x Condition F(2, 94) = 3.15, p < 0.05 Control = Critical Fig. 5. Mean Implied Trait Rating for the interaction between Type of Trait and Condition

24. TT not influenced by Gender Stereotypes! Type of Trait X Gender of Communicator X Condition F(2, 94) = 0.27, n.s. Male Communicators Female Communicators Control =  = Critical = Fig. 6. Mean Implied Trait Rating for the interaction between Type of Trait, Condition and Gender of Communicator.

25. Conclusion • Trait Tranference as the Actual Attribution of Traits • Trait Specificity: Only impliedtraits attributed onto communicators, not evaluatively congruent traits • Strength of TT not affected by Gender Stereotypes • As compared to stereotype-irrelevance, NOT inhibited by stereotype-inconsistency • As compared to stereotype-irrelevance, NOT facilitated by stereotype-consistency

26. Further Research • Different Types of Manipulation • Gender Stereotypes on Trait Inferences • Racial stereotypes on both Trait Transference and Trait Inferences

27. The End Sara.Demuzere@psy.kuleuven.be Vera.Hoorens@psy.kuleuven.be Judith.Greb@psy.kuleuven.be Sara Demuzere & Vera Hoorens