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Related Experiment Videos

Gender gaps: who needs to be explained?

D T Miller1, B Taylor, M L Buck

  • 1Department of Psychology, Princeton University, New Jersey 08544-1010.

Journal of Personality and Social Psychology
|July 1, 1991
PubMed
Summary
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Explanations for gender differences in groups often focus on the less typical members. This study found people emphasized women's qualities in voters and professors, but men's in teachers, aligning with norm theory.

Area of Science:

  • Social Psychology
  • Cognitive Psychology
  • Gender Studies

Background:

  • Understanding how people explain perceived differences between group members is crucial for social cognition.
  • Prototypical and non-prototypical members of categories may elicit different explanatory processes.
  • Norm theory suggests comparisons are made against a mental representation of the norm.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To test the hypothesis that explanations for category differences focus more on non-prototypical than prototypical members.
  • To examine how explanations for alleged gender differences vary across different social categories (voters, teachers, professors).
  • To investigate the role of norm theory in understanding these explanatory biases.

Main Methods:

  • Elicited explanations for alleged gender differences in the behavior of voters, elementary school teachers, and college professors.

Related Experiment Videos

  • Analyzed the content of explanations to identify whether they focused on the qualities of men or women.
  • Applied principles of norm theory for interpretation of the findings.

    • Main Results:

    • Explanations for gender differences consistently emphasized the qualities of the less typical group member.
    • For voters and college professors, explanations focused more on women's qualities, suggesting men are seen as more prototypical.
    • For elementary school teachers, explanations focused more on men's qualities, indicating women are perceived as more prototypical in this role.

    Conclusions:

    • The findings support the hypothesis that explanations for category differences highlight non-prototypical attributes.
    • Perceived gender norms within specific social roles influence how gender differences are explained.
    • Norm theory provides a valuable framework for understanding these biases in social explanations.