Testing the GRIP: An Empirical Examination of the Gender Roles Inhibiting Prosociality Model

Abstract

Although men and women help others, there are systematic gender differences in the type of helping they perform. Consistent with traditional gender roles and stereotypes, men typically help in agentic ways, and women typically help in communal ways. Drawing on the Theory of Planned Behavior, the Gender Roles Inhibiting Prosociality model predicts that gender stereotypes about gender-inconsistent helping create negative attitudes, restrictive subjective norms, and low self-efficacy that undermine helping intentions, which, in turn, reduce engagement in gender-inconsistent helping contexts. Across three studies (N = 1,355), we find empirical support for the hypothesized model: When asked to imagine engaging in a genderinconsistent (vs. gender-consistent) helping scenario, participants anticipated feeling worse, expected others to judge them more negatively, and reported decreased self-efficacy beliefs, and these factors predicted lower intentions to engage in gender-inconsistent helping. Critically, behavioral intentions explained some of the variance in gender-inconsistent helping during the following month. Internal meta-analyses of the differences between gender-consistent andinconsistent helping on attitudes, subjective norms, self-efficacy, and behavioral intentions across studies revealed small-to-medium average effect sizes (ds = 0.16 -0.47). These results have the potential to inform interventions aimed at increasing helping in all its forms.

Prosocialidad y estudiantes universitarios: entre una política educativa transformadora y la docencia basada en responsabilidad social

“…Lo antes señalado, es evidenciado en la investigación de Esparza-Reig et al ( 2021), en donde se señala que las mujeres poseen mayores grados de conducta prosocial en comparación con los hombres. En el mismo sentido, los hallazgos de esta investigación son similares en relación a lo expuesto por Atkinson et al (2021), Muñoz-Silva et al (2020 y Van Lange et al ( 2018), de las cuales emergen nuevas consideraciones que pueden enriquecer este trabajo, producto del reconocimiento de las interacciones entre factores socio-genéticos y las conductas prosociales.…”

“…Ahora bien, la prosocialidad guarda hilos conectores con otras variables como la madurez personal, el desarrollo profesional, la autoeficacia, la empatía y el bienestar (Atkinson et al, 2021). Bajo este escenario, es preciso señalar que su entendimiento y práctica amerita un acercamiento desde el pensamiento complejo, pues exhibe características dialógicas, recursivas y hologramáticas.…”

“…Sobre todo, en contextos universitarios, producto de los desafíos que constituyen dicha etapa de la vida (Zuffiano et al, 2018). En este sentido, el comportamiento prosocial se caracteriza por los eventos experimentos en edad temprana y, en particular, aquellos desarrollados durante la juventud (Atkinson et al, 2021). Ahora bien, el comportamiento prosocial influye en todos los ámbitos del ser humano, afectando de manera positiva o negativa lo que podría ser considerado como éxito profesional.…”

People Overestimate Backlash Against Helpers Who Violate Gender Stereotypes: Experimental Examination of a Prosociality Paradox

“…Despite the positive nature of helping, previous research shows that our participation in these behaviors is regulated by social norms, with a variety of factors promoting or hindering helping engagement. In particular, numerous studies demonstrate that gender roles shape the way people help others, showing that people usually perform gender-consistent helping-assistance in line with gender roles-and shy away from gender-inconsistent helpingassistance at odds with gender roles (e.g., Atkinson et al, 2021;Eagly, 2009;Eagly & Crowley, 1986). For instance, research suggests that it is highly male-stereotypic to help someone with yard work or household repairs, so it would be gender-consistent for a man to help in this way and gender-inconsistent for a woman to help in this way (Atkinson et al, 2021).…”

“…In particular, numerous studies demonstrate that gender roles shape the way people help others, showing that people usually perform gender-consistent helping-assistance in line with gender roles-and shy away from gender-inconsistent helpingassistance at odds with gender roles (e.g., Atkinson et al, 2021;Eagly, 2009;Eagly & Crowley, 1986). For instance, research suggests that it is highly male-stereotypic to help someone with yard work or household repairs, so it would be gender-consistent for a man to help in this way and gender-inconsistent for a woman to help in this way (Atkinson et al, 2021). Moreover, the same research indicates that it is highly female-stereotypic to help someone choose what to wear for a job interview or first date, meaning that it would be gender-consistent for a woman to engage in this type of helping but gender-inconsistent for a man to do so (Atkinson et al, 2021).…”