Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

Separating Implicit Gender Stereotypes regarding Math and Language: Implicit Ability Stereotypes are Self-serving for Boys and Men, but not for Girls and Women

  • Original Article
  • Published:
Sex Roles Aims and scope Submit manuscript

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.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1

Similar content being viewed by others

Notes

  1. For university students, Jungen (Mädchen) was replaced with Männer (Frauen)/men (women) throughout.

References

  • Ambady, N., Shih, M., Kim, A., & Pittinsky, T. L. (2001). Stereotype susceptibility in children: Effects of identity activation on quantitative performance. Psychological Science, 12, 385–390.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Anselmi, P., Vianello, M., & Robusto, E. (in press). Positive associations primacy in the IAT. A many-facet Rasch measurement analysis. Experimental Psychology.

  • Bortz, J. (1999). Statistik für Sozialwissenschaftler (Statistics for the social sciences). Berlin: Springer.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bos, W., Bonsen, M., Baumert, J., Prenzel, M., Selter, C., & Walther, G. (Eds.). (2008). TIMSS 2007: Mathematische und naturwissenschaftliche Kompetenzen von Grundschulkindern in Deutschland im internationalen Vergleich (TIMSS 2007: Primary school pupils’ competencies in math and science in Germany in international comparison). Münster: Waxmann.

    Google Scholar 

  • Chatard, A., Guimond, S., & Selimbegovic, L. (2007). “How good are you in math?” The eVect of gender stereotypes on students’ recollection of their school marks. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 43, 1017–1024.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cvencek, D., Meltzoff, A. N., & Greenwald, A. G. (in press). Math-gender stereotypes in elementary-school children. Child Development.

  • Davies, P. G., Spencer, S. J., Quinn, D. M., & Gerhardstein, R. (2002). Consuming images: How television commercials that elicit stereotype threat can restrain women academically and professionally. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 28, 1615–1628.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ebert, I., Steffens, M. C., & Kroth, A. (2009, March–April). Competent and cold men—competent and warm women: Implicit gender stereotypes correspond to changes in gender-role allocation. Paper presented at the 51. Tagung experimentell arbeitender Psycholog|innen, Jena, Germany.

  • Eccles, J. S. (1994). Understanding women’s educational and occupational choices. Psychology of Women Quarterly, 18, 585–609.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Eccles, J. S. (2005). Studying gender and ethnic differences in participation in math, physical science, and information technology. In J. E. Jacobs & S. D. Simpkins (Eds.), Leaks in the pipeline to math, science, and technology careers (pp. 7–14). San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

    Google Scholar 

  • Eckes, T. (1997). Geschlechterstereotype: Frau und Mann in sozialpsychologischer Sicht (Gender stereotypes: Woman and men from a social psychology viewpoint). Pfaffenweiler: Centaurus.

    Google Scholar 

  • Evans, E. M., Schweingruber, H., & Stevenson, H. W. (2002). Gender differences in interest and knowledge acquisition: The United States, Taiwan, and Japan. Sex Roles, 47, 153–167.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Faul, F., Erdfelder, E., Lang, A.-G., & Buchner, A. (2007). G*Power 3: A flexible statistical power analysis program for the social, behavioral, and biomedical sciences. Behavior Research Methods, 39, 175–191.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Greenwald, A. G., & Banaji, M. R. (1995). Implicit social cognition: Attitudes, self-esteem, and stereotypes. Psychological Review, 102, 4–27.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Greenwald, A. G., McGhee, D. E., & Schwartz, J. L. K. (1998). Measuring individual differences in implicit cognition: The Implicit Association Test. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 74, 1464–1480.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Greenwald, A. G., Nosek, B. A., & Banaji, M. R. (2003). Understanding and using the Implicit Association Test: I. An improved scoring algorithm. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 85, 197–216.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Gresky, D. M., Ten Eyck, L. L., Lord, C. G., & McIntyre, R. B. (2005). Effects of salient multiple identities on women’s performance under mathematics stereotype threat. Sex Roles, 53, 703–716.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hannover, B. (1991). Zur Unterrepräsentanz von Mädchen in Naturwissenschaften und Technik: Psychologische Prädiktoren der Fach- und Berufswahl (Underrepresentation of girls in the natural sciences and technology: psychological predictors of subject choice and for choice of occupation). Zeitschrift für Pädagogische Psychologie/German Journal of Educational Psychology, 5, 169–186.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hyde, S. J., & Kling, K. L. (2001). Women, motivation, and achievement. Psychology of Women Quarterly, 25, 364–378.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hyde, S. J., & Linn, M. C. (1988). Gender differences in verbal ability: A meta-analysis. Psychological Bulletin, 104, 53–69.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hyde, J. S., Fennema, E., & Lamon, S. J. (1990). Gender differences in mathematics performance: A meta-analysis. Psychological Bulletin, 107, 139–155.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Hyde, J. S., Fennema, E., Ryan, M., & Frost, L. A. (1990). Gender comparisons of mathematics attitudes and affect: A meta-analysis. Psychology of Women Quarterly, 14, 299–324.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hyde, J. S., Lindberg, S. M., Linn, M. C., Ellis, A. B., & Williams, C. C. (2008). Gender similarities characterize math performance. Science, 321, 494–495.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Keller, J. (2007). When negative stereotypic expectancies turn into challenge or threat: The moderating role of regulatory focus. Swiss Journal of Psychology, 66, 163–168.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kiefer, A. K., & Sekaquaptewa, D. (2007a). Implicit stereotypes and women’s math performance: How implicit gender-math stereotypes influence women’s susceptibility to stereotype threat. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 43, 825–833.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kiefer, A. K., & Sekaquaptewa, D. (2007b). Implicit stereotypes, gender identification, and math-related outcomes: A prospective study of female college students. Psychological Science, 18, 13–18.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Kiefer, A., & Shih, M. (2006). Gender differences in persistence and attributions in stereotype relevant contexts. Sex Roles, 54, 859–868.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kimball, M. M. (1989). A new perspective on women’s math achievement. Psychological Bulletin, 105, 198–214.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Köller, O., Daniels, Z., Schnabel, K., & Baumert, J. (2000). Kurswahlen von Mädchen und Jungen im Fach Mathematik: Die Rolle des fachspezifischen Selbstkonzepts und Interesses (Course selection of girls and boys in mathematics: the role of academic self-concept and interest). Zeitschrift für Pädagogische Psychologie/German Journal of Educational Psychology, 14, 26–37.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lesko, A. C., & Henderlong Corpus, J. (2006). Discounting the difficult: How high math-identified women respond to stereotype threat. Sex Roles, 54, 113–125.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Marsh, H. W. (1989). Age and sex effects in multiple dimensions of self-concept: Preadolescence to early adulthood. Journal of Educational Psychology, 81, 417–430.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Marsh, H. W., & Yeung, A. S. (1997). Causal effects of academic self-concept on academic achievement: Structural equation models of longitudinal data. Journal of Educational Psychology, 89, 41–54.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mullis, I. V. S., Martin, M. O., Gonzalez, E. J., & Chrostowski, S. J. (2003). Findings from IEA’s Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study at the fourth and eighth grades. Chestnut Hill: TIMSS & PIRLS International Study Center, Boston College.

    Google Scholar 

  • Muzzatti, B., & Agnoli, F. (2007). Gender and mathematics: Attitudes and stereotype threat susceptibility in Italian children. Developmental Psychology, 43, 747–759.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Nosek, B. A., & Banaji, M. R. (2001). The Go/No-go association task. Social Cognition, 19, 625–666.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Nosek, B. A., & Banaji, M. R. (2002, February). The power of the immediate situation: Gender differences in implicit math attitudes. Paper presented at the Conference for the Society of Personality and Social Psychology, Savannah, GA. February 1, 2002.

  • Nosek, B. A., Banaji, M., & Greenwald, A. G. (2002a). Harvesting implicit group attitudes and beliefs from a demonstration web site. Group Dynamics, 6, 101–115.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Nosek, B. A., Banaji, M. R., & Greenwald, A. G. (2002b). Math = male, me = female, therefore math not = me. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 83, 44–59.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Nosek, B. A., Greenwald, A. G., & Banaji, M. R. (2005). Understanding and using the Implicit Association Test II: Method variables and construct validity. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 31, 166–180.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Nosek, B. A., Smyth, F. L., Sriram, N., Lindner, N. M., Devos, T., Ayala, A., et al. (2009). National differences in gender-science stereotypes predict national sex differences in science and math achievement. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 106, 10593–10597.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Popa-Roch, M., & Delmas, F. (2010). Prejudice IAT effects: The role of self-related heuristics. Zeitschrift für Psychologie/Journal of Psychology, 218, 44–50.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ramm, M., & Bargel, T. (2005). Frauen im Studium. Langzeitstudie 1983–2004 (Female students. Long-term study 1983–2004). Bonn: Bundesministerium für Bildung und Forschung (BMBF)/Federal Ministry of Education and Research.

    Google Scholar 

  • Reinhard, M. A., Stahlberg, D., & Messner, M. (2008). Failure as an asset for high-status persons—relative group performance and attributed occupational success. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 44, 501–518.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rudman, L. A., Greenwald, A. G., & McGhee, D. E. (2001). Implicit self-concept and evaluative implicit gender stereotypes: Self and ingroup share desirable traits. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 27, 1164–1178.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rustemeyer, R. (1999). Geschlechtstypische Erwartungen zukünftiger Lehrkräfte bezügl. des Unterrichtsfaches Mathematik und korrespondierende (Selbst-)Einschätzungen von Schülerinnen und Schülern (Teachers’ expectations concerning gender-specific performance in mathematics and the corresponding self-evaluation of male and female students). Psychologie in Erziehung und Unterricht/Psychology in Education and Teaching, 46, 187–200.

    Google Scholar 

  • Schmader, T., Johns, M., & Barquissau, M. (2004). The costs of accepting gender differences: The role of stereotype endorsement in women’s experience in the math domain. Sex Roles, 50, 835–850.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Smith, J. L. (2006). The interplay among stereotypes, performance-avoidance goals, and women’s math performance expectations. Sex Roles, 54, 287–296.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Spencer, S. J., Steele, C. M., & Quinn, D. (1999). Stereotype threat and women’s math performance. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 35, 4–28.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Steele, J. (2003). Children’s gender stereotypes about math: The role of stereotype stratification. Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 33, 2587–2606.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Steffens, M. C., & Jonas, K. J. (2010). Implicit attitude measures [Editorial]. Zeitschrift für Psychologie/Journal of Psychology, 218, 1–3.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Steffens, M. C., Buchner, A., & Mecklenbräuker, S. (2005). Gender bias in fame judgments: Implicit gender stereotyping or matching study phase fame? Psychonomic Bulletin & Review, 12, 495–501.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Steffens, M. C., Kirschbaum, M., & Glados, P. (2008). Avoiding stimulus confounds in Implicit Association Tests by using the concepts as stimuli. British Journal of Social Psychology, 47, 217–243.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Steffens, M. C., Schult, J. C., & Ebert, I. D. (2009). Feminization of management leads to backlash against agentic applicants: Lack of social skills, not gender, determines low hireability judgments in student samples. Psychology Science Quarterly, 51, 16–46.

    Google Scholar 

  • Steffens, M. C., Jelenec, P., & Noack, P. (2010). On the leaky math pipeline: Comparing implicit math-gender stereotypes and math withdrawal in female and male children and adolescents. Journal of Educational Psychology.

  • van Ravenzwaaij, D., van der Maas, H. L. J., & Wagenmakers, E. J. (in press). Does the name–race Implicit Association Test measure racial prejudice? Experimental Psychology. doi:10.1027/1618-3169/a000093

  • Wilde, A., & Diekman, A. B. (2005). Cross-cultural similarities and differences in dynamic stereotypes: A comparison between Germany and the United States. Psychology of Women Quarterly, 29, 188–196.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

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.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institut für Psychologie, Friedrich-Schiller-Universität Jena, Am Steiger 3, Haus 1, 07743, Jena, Germany

    Melanie C. Steffens & Petra Jelenec

Authors
  1. Melanie C. Steffens
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Petra Jelenec
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Melanie C. Steffens.

Appendix: Explicit German Questions Asked, with Translations

Appendix: Explicit German Questions Asked, with Translations

Explicit self-concept

  1. 1–2

    Mathe (Deutsch) macht mir Spaß./I like math (German).

  2. 3–4

    Ich bin gut in Mathe (Deutsch)./I am good at math (German)

  3. 5–6

    Ich lerne schnell in Mathe (Deutsch)./I learn things quickly in math (German).

  4. 7–8

    Ich bin begabt für Mathe (Deutsch)./I am talented for doing math (German).

Grades

  1. 1–2

    Was war Deine letzte Zeugnisnote in Mathe (Deutsch)?/What was your latest report grade in math (German)?

Explicit stereotypesFootnote 1

  1. 1–4

    Jungen (Mädchen) sind häufig begabt für Mathe (Deutsch)./Boys (girls) are often talented for doing math (German).

  2. 5–6

    Mathe (Deutsch) ist eher ein typisches Jungenfach—Mädchenfach./Math is rather a typical boys’ subject–girls’ subject.

  3. 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

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

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

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11199-010-9924-x

Keywords

Search

Navigation