Abstract
A fundamental model of stereotypes, the stereotype content model (SCM, Fiske et al. 2002), postulates that stereotypes of many social groups vary on two core dimensions: warmth and competence. In line with traditional gender stereotypes, the SCM predicts women to be perceived as warmer than men, and men to be perceived as more competent than women. Research on implicit measurement of stereotypes suggests that, next to people’s underlying beliefs, a major predictor is the tendency to favor one’s own group (Rudman et al. 2001). We examined gender stereotypes concerning warmth and competence, using implicit association tests (IATs, Greenwald et al. 1998) and drawing on diverse samples of women and men in eastern and western Germany (i.e., students and non-students; total N = 384). On the warmth dimension, an overall women-warmth stereotype was found, confirming predictions of the SCM. On the competence dimension, associations of own gender and competence were observed for both men and women, suggesting the impact of self-favoring processes. Findings are discussed with respect to social role theory (Eagly 1987) and the changing roles of women.
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Acknowledgments
This research was funded by a grant by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG, STE 938/9-1). Parts of this research were presented at the XXIX. International Congress of Psychology (ICP) in Berlin, 2008, and at the 51. Tagung experimentell arbeitender Psychologen (TeaP) in Jena, 2009. We are much indebted to Andreas Glöckner, Janette Schult, and Rul von Stülpnagel for invaluable help in all stages of this research project, to Amanda Diekman and Laurie Rudman for very valuable comments on an earlier version of this article, and to Anders Sonderlund for proofreading.
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Ebert, I.D., Steffens, M.C. & Kroth, A. Warm, but Maybe Not So Competent?—Contemporary Implicit Stereotypes of Women and Men in Germany. Sex Roles 70, 359–375 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11199-014-0369-5
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11199-014-0369-5