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Sex differences in confidence influence patterns of conformity
Catharine P Cross1,2, Gillian R Brown1, Thomas J H Morgan2,3
1School of Psychology & Neuroscience, University of St Andrews, UK.
British Journal of Psychology (London, England : 1953)
|November 19, 2016
Summary
Sex differences in confidence influence conformity. Women’s lower confidence in mental rotation tasks indirectly increased their reliance on social information, demonstrating confidence as a key factor in social influence.
Area of Science:
- Psychology
- Cognitive Neuroscience
- Social Psychology
Background:
- Confidence in personal abilities influences reliance on social information.
- Sex differences in confidence are well-documented for cognitive tasks.
- The link between sex differences in confidence and conformity remains underexplored.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the hypothesis that sex differences in confidence indirectly affect social information use.
- To examine the mediating role of confidence in the relationship between sex and conformity.
- To test this in a task exhibiting known sex differences in confidence.
Main Methods:
- 168 participants completed either a mental rotation (MR) or a letter transformation (LT) task.
- Participants reported confidence in their answers before viewing others' responses.
- The likelihood of changing initial answers based on social information was recorded.
Main Results:
- Women reported lower confidence than men in the MR task, but not the LT task.
- Confidence mediated an indirect effect of sex on answer switching in the MR task.
- No such mediation was found in the LT task.
Conclusions:
- Confidence acts as a general mechanism explaining susceptibility to social influence.
- Sex differences in confidence can indirectly impact conformity.
- Findings offer insights into the broader literature on sex differences in conformity.
Keywords:
gendergender stereotypeletter transformationmental rotationsocial learningstereotype threatMore Related Videos
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