Abstract
We investigated implicit gender stereotypes related to math and language separately, using Go/No-go Association Tasks. Samples were grade 9 adolescents (N = 187) and university students (N = 189) in Germany. Research questions concerned the existence of and gender differences in implicit stereotypes. While typical explicit-stereotyping findings were replicated, implicit math-male stereotypes were found in male, but not in female participants. Females revealed strong language-female stereotypes, whereas males showed language-male counterstereotypes. Thus, females’ implicit math-gender stereotypes were the only ones that did not link own gender to the respective academic domain in a self-serving way. Further, females’ stronger stereotypes were related to lower and males’ to higher scores on constructs related to math ability, corroborating implicit stereotypes’ importance.
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Notes
For university students, Jungen (Mädchen) was replaced with Männer (Frauen)/men (women) throughout.
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Acknowledgement
This research is part of the doctoral dissertation of the second author and was funded by a grant from the DFG (Ste 938/9-1). We want to thank Janette Schult for valuable comments on an earlier draft of this paper, and Lars Buder, Ulrike Zieger, and Ulrike Leich for their help with regard to planning and running the studies.
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Appendix: Explicit German Questions Asked, with Translations
Appendix: Explicit German Questions Asked, with Translations
Explicit self-concept
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1–2
Mathe (Deutsch) macht mir Spaß./I like math (German).
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3–4
Ich bin gut in Mathe (Deutsch)./I am good at math (German)
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5–6
Ich lerne schnell in Mathe (Deutsch)./I learn things quickly in math (German).
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7–8
Ich bin begabt für Mathe (Deutsch)./I am talented for doing math (German).
Grades
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1–2
Was war Deine letzte Zeugnisnote in Mathe (Deutsch)?/What was your latest report grade in math (German)?
Explicit stereotypes Footnote 1
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1–4
Jungen (Mädchen) sind häufig begabt für Mathe (Deutsch)./Boys (girls) are often talented for doing math (German).
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5–6
Mathe (Deutsch) ist eher ein typisches Jungenfach—Mädchenfach./Math is rather a typical boys’ subject–girls’ subject.
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7–8
Was meinst Du? Wie würden die meisten Menschen Mathe einschätzen? Mathe (Deutsch) ist eher ein typisches Jungenfach—Mädchenfach./What do you think? How would most people judge math (German)? Math (German) is rather a typical boys’ subject—girls’ subject
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Steffens, M.C., Jelenec, P. Separating Implicit Gender Stereotypes regarding Math and Language: Implicit Ability Stereotypes are Self-serving for Boys and Men, but not for Girls and Women. Sex Roles 64, 324–335 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11199-010-9924-x
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11199-010-9924-x