Where are the Gender Differences? Male Priming Boosts Spatial Skills in Women

Abstract

The effects of gender stereotype activation by priming on performance in a spatial task were investigated among a mixed adult sample (including students) of 161 men and women (mean age=31.90) from Austria (Europe). They were assigned to one of four experimental groups according to gender and stereotype activation condition. After a male or female gender stereotype activating task, participants worked on a test assessing mental rotation (three-dimensional cube test, Gittler 1990). A significant main effect of priming on the performance in the mental rotation task emerged. Cohen's d showed a pronounced gender difference emerging only in the female priming condition (d=.59), whereas it disappeared in the male priming condition (d=.01).

Are there sex differences in confidence and metacognitive monitoring accuracy for everyday, academic, and psychometrically measured spatial ability?

“…It is also possible that the students in our sample were less susceptible to sex-related stereotypes that could adversely affect their metacognitive monitoring accuracy than students in other samples. Stereotype threat has been proposed as a mechanism to account for sex differences in science, mathematics, and spatial skills (McGlone & Aronson, 2006; Nguyen & Ryan, 2008; Ortner & Sieverding, 2008; Spencer, Steele, & Quinn, 1999). According to stereotype threat theory, engaging in spatially oriented task can activate negative sex-related stereotypes which lower female students’ confidence causing increased stress, anxiety and ultimately performance decrements.…”

Confidence Mediates the Sex Difference in Mental Rotation Performance

“…Indeed, people are generally aware of the stereotype that females have poorer spatial and mathematical abilities than males and, in fact, nearly half of all females endorse this stereotype to some extent (Blanton, Christie, & Dye, 2002). Females perform better on a mental rotation task when asked to imagine themselves as a stereotypical male than as a stereotypical female (d = .56, Ortner & Sieverding, 2008) and, more generally, mental rotation ability is associated with more masculine gender role traits (r = ?.32) and less feminine gender role traits (r = -.26, Saucier, McCreary, & Saxberg, 2002; see also Signorella, Jamison, & Krupa, 1989). Performance on spatial tasks thus is clearly related to gender role beliefs and traits.…”

Przegląd badań nad związkami zdolności przestrzennych z kompetencjami z nauk ścisłych uczniów i studentów

“…administracja testów (Drążkowski i in., w druku) i procedura badań (McCallin, 2006), które prowadzą do artefaktów metodologicznych; (c) odmienne strategie kobiet i mężczyzn w rozwiązywaniu zadań przestrzennych (Geiser, Lehmann i Eid, 2006); (d) stan emocjonalny osób badanych (np. Wraga, Helt, Jacobs i Sullivan, 2007), na który często mają wpływ powszechne przekonania dotyczące płci (Moè, 2009) lub stereotypy płci (Ortner i Sieverding, 2008); (e) zakres wcześniejszych doświadczeń stymulujących rozwój zdolności przestrzennych (Feng, Spence i Pratt, 2007), np. bawienie się klockami w dzieciństwie lub granie w gry wideo.…”