title: What will I be when I grow up? The impact of gender identity threat on adolescents' occupational preferences.
abstract: The present study examined the impact of gender identity threat on adolescents' occupational preferences. Two hundred and ninety-seven adolescents (45% girls, M age = 14.4, SD = .54) participated in the experiment. There were substantial differences between boys' and girls' occupational preferences. Importantly, adolescents who received a threat to their gender identity became more stereotypical in job preferences, suggesting a causal link between threatened gender identity and stereotypical preferences. A comparison threat to one's capability did not have this effect, indicating a unique effect of gender identity threat. Further, individual differences in gender identity concerns predicted gender stereotypical preferences, and this finding was replicated with an independent sample (N = 242). In conclusion, the results suggest that threats to adolescents' gender identity may contribute to the large gender segregation on the labor market.
authors: Dept. of Psychology, Lund University, Box 213, SE-22100, Sweden. Samantha.Sinclair@psy.lu.se
authors: Samantha
authors: S
authors: Sinclair
authors: Rickard
authors: R
authors: Carlsson
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D002321:Career Choice; D005246:Feedback; D005260:Female; D005783:Gender Identity; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D012737:Sex Factors; D013240:Stereotyping