Attribution and Categorization Effects in the Representation of Gender Stereotypes

Abstract

Social stereotypes involve judgments of how typical certain personality traits are of a group. According to the attribution hypothesis, judgments of trait typicality depend on the perceived prevalence of the trait in the target group. According to the categorization hypothesis, such judgments depend on the degree to which a trait is thought to be more or less prevalent in the target group than in a relevant comparison group. A study conducted with women and men as target groups showed that the attribution hypothesis fit the data best when typicality ratings were made in an absolute format. When, however, typicality ratings were made in a comparative format (how typical is the trait of women as compared with men?), both hypotheses received support. Analytical derivation, supported by empirical evidence, showed an inverse relationship between the size of perceived group differences and their weight given in stereotyping. Implications for stereotype measurement and the rationality of social perception are discussed

Think transformational leadership – Think female?

“…The aim of the study is not to measure leadership behavior but to study attitudes towards female and male leaders. Thus, following the procedural method of Martell and DeSmet (2001) and Krueger and colleagues (2008), we chose a response format on an 11-point continuum (0 to 100, in steps of 10), indicating frequency judgments on how many male, then female leaders show a certain behavior. However, whereas, Martell and DeSmet (2001) asked for percentage estimations, we decided to ask for absolute numbers in order to minimize evaluation biases (for an overview see Sedlmeier and Betsch, 2002).…”

Seeing you seeing me: Stereotypes and the stigma magnification effect.

“…Stigmatized entities are on the receiving end of negative stereotypes that convey characteristics, attributes, or behaviors that pose a threat to the vitality of individuals, groups, or society at large (Crocker & Major, 1989;Crocker et al, 1998;Stangor & Crandall, 2000). Stereotypes have been defined as often overgeneralized, rigid, and exaggerated beliefs about the characteristics, attributes, and behaviors of members of certain groups (Hilton & von Hippel, 1996;Krueger, Hall, Villano, & Jones, 2008). When an individual encounters a prototypical exemplar of a stigmatized category, such as a customer encountering a prototypical frontline worker of a stigmatized organization, negative stereotypes, which are attached to the stigmatized social category, become activated in the customers' mind and subsequently guide perception (Biernat & Dovidio, 2000;Stangor & Crandall, 2000).…”

When salespeople develop negative headquarters stereotypes: performance effects and managerial remedies

“…Stereotypes have been described as overgeneralized, illogical, or rigid beliefs about members of certain groups (Krueger et al 2008). These beliefs are endorsed and accepted as being true.…”

“…Stereotypes involve judgments of how typical certain personality traits are of a group (Krueger et al 2008). The effects of stereotyping can vary, but they tend to be negative in most cases (e.g., Cuddy et al 2007).…”

“…Stereotypes can be defined as over-generalized, illogical, or rigid beliefs about members of certain groups (Krueger et al 2008; for a review see Hilton and von Hippel 1996). Stereotypes involve judgments of how typical certain personality traits are of a group (Krueger et al 2008).…”