Invisible Traits: Spontaneous evaluations reduce the processing of women's likeability and attractiveness (Dr. Juliane Burghardt)
Abstract:
Women are underrepresented in many high status positions. This is partly explained by stereotypes, which create the expectation that women lack abilities relevant to professional success and leadership (e.g., assertiveness). We show that in addition to these expectations of low abilities, women’s traits are often processed less, when the experimental task does not draw attention to a specific judgment dimension. To study these undirected evaluations we conducted two experiments using an Attribute Conditioning paradigm: Participants observed pairings of unconditioned stimuli (US) with clear attributes (e.g., a highly assertive face) and neutral stimuli (CS; e.g., Pokémon). After the pairing, CS ratings typically change in the direction of the salient US attribute. We found that CS paired with female US showed smaller changes in CS ratings than CS paired with male US, especially on likability and attractiveness (Experiment 1 and 2). No difference occurred on competence (Experiment 2), while results for assertiveness were mixed. Accordingly, men’s traits were processed more than women’s traits. Experiment 3 tests whether men’s traits are more accessible than women’s traits. Results show that participants are faster to categorize men on likability, competence, and assertiveness than women. Thus, it seems that beyond negative stereotype content, women’s traits are less accessible. Future research needs to address whether this lack of accessibility effects professional success (e.g., by facilitating contact to likable men).