Perception of intentions and actions: gender stereotype susceptibility.
Gender differences are evident in the comprehension of social signals, but the underlying basis for these differences is unclear. There is some indication that gender effects have neurobiological sources. Here we manipulated stereotype messages about gender differences in a social cognition task, on which no gender gap has previously been documented. The outcome indicates that manipulation of stereotype messages elicits gender effects. A positive message enhances performance, whereas a negative message diminishes it. Furthermore, this effect is more pronounced in females, with a greater force of a negative stereotype message. The study provides novel insights into the possible sources of gender related fluctuations in social cognition. The findings are discussed in terms of behavioral components and brain mechanisms underpinning gender effects in social cognition.
Pavlova
Marina A
MA
Department of Pediatric Neurology and Child Development, Children's Hospital, Eberhard Karls University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany. marina.pavlova@uni-tuebingen.de
Wecker
Matthias
M
Krombholz
Kerstin
K
Sokolov
Arseny A
AA
D000328:Adult; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D003071:Cognition; D005260:Female; D005783:Gender Identity; D006801:Humans; D033182:Intention; D008297:Male; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D012727:Sex Characteristics; D012919:Social Behavior; D013240:Stereotyping; D013647:Task Performance and Analysis; D014796:Visual Perception; D055815:Young Adult