Spatial anxiety and self-confidence mediate sex/gender differences in mental rotation

Abstract

A recent meta-synthesis study with a sample of >12 million participants revealed that the male advantage in mental rotation (MR) is the largest cognitive sex/gender difference found in psychological literature. MR requires test takers to mentally rotate three-dimensional cubic figures under time restrictions. Previous studies have investigated how biological and social factors contribute to cognitive sex/gender differences in tasks of this type. Spatial anxiety and self-confidence in MR tasks have received less attention. The present study investigated the contribution of these psychological factors to sex/gender differences in MR performance. Participants (n = 269) completed two MR tasks that differed in task difficulty. Participants also indicated their self-confidence (for each item) and spatial anxiety. The results revealed that pronounced sex/gender differences in spatial anxiety and self-confidence mediate sex/gender in MR performance, especially when task demands are high. The current findings suggest that task-irrelevant factors that are not spatial cognitive in nature contribute largely to the well-known medium to large sex/gender differences in MR. Future studies should further explore mechanisms underlying cognitive sex/gender differences within a biopsychosocial approach.

The inhibition of mirror generalization of letters in school-aged children

“…A recent study showed that the correlation between testosterone levels and mental-rotation performance is already evident in infants 5–6 months of age ( Constantinescu et al, 2018 ). On the other hand, several studies have recently proposed that spatial anxiety and self-expectations in performance may also be important factors behind male superiority in mental-rotation tests ( Moè, 2009 ; Alvarez-Vargas et al, 2020 ; Arrighi and Hausmann, 2022 ). Both characteristics can be exacerbated by social situational threats and gender-stereotyping still prevalent in modern societies ( Lauer et al, 2019 ).…”

Individual differences in emerging adults’ spatial abilities: What role do affective factors play?

“…The current study examined whether affective factors, like confidence in one’s own spatial abilities and spatial anxiety explain individual differences in two types of dissociable spatial abilities, mental rotation and perspective-taking/spatial orientation (Jansen, 2009 ). Recent research has demonstrated a potential role for these two affective factors in explaining individual differences in mental rotation ability (e.g., Alvarez-Vargas et al, 2020 ; Arrighi & Hausmann, 2022 ; Cooke-Simpson & Voyer, 2007 ; Estes & Felker, 2012 ; Lawton, 1994 ; Lyons et al, 2018 ). Less is known about potential links in affective factors and perspective-taking/spatial orientation (though see Lawton, 1994 and Lyons et al, 2018 ) and few studies have attempted to combine both affective factors into one study to examine their roles in predicting different types of spatial abilities (but see Arrighi & Hausmann, 2022 ).…”

“…Recent research has demonstrated a potential role for these two affective factors in explaining individual differences in mental rotation ability (e.g., Alvarez-Vargas et al, 2020 ; Arrighi & Hausmann, 2022 ; Cooke-Simpson & Voyer, 2007 ; Estes & Felker, 2012 ; Lawton, 1994 ; Lyons et al, 2018 ). Less is known about potential links in affective factors and perspective-taking/spatial orientation (though see Lawton, 1994 and Lyons et al, 2018 ) and few studies have attempted to combine both affective factors into one study to examine their roles in predicting different types of spatial abilities (but see Arrighi & Hausmann, 2022 ). Should we find a role for affective factors like confidence and spatial anxiety predict individual differences in two types of spatial abilities, this might offer a new promising route to improving spatial ability in intervention studies.…”

“…Two affective factors appear to explain observable individual differences in mental rotation including spatial confidence (Arrighi & Hausmann, 2022 ; Cooke-Simpson & Voyer, 2007 ; Desme et al, 2024 ; Estes & Felker, 2012 ) and spatial anxiety (Alvarez-Vargas et al, 2020 ; Arrighi & Hausmann, 2022 ; Lawton, 1994 ; Lyons et al, 2018 ; Ramirez et al, 2013 ). Below, we review the existing evidence that both confidence and spatial anxiety explain individual differences in mental rotation in emerging adulthood.…”

“…In recent years there have been attempts to combine multiple affective factors into one study to examine their role in mental rotation (Arrighi & Hausmann, 2022 ; Desme et al, 2024 ). Desme and colleagues sought to examine the direct and indirect roles of spatial confidence, spatial anxiety, and prior engagement in spatial toys and activities in childhood as mediators of sex differences in mental rotation (Desme et al, 2024 ).…”