Getting along or ahead: Effects of gender identity threat on communal and agentic self‐presentations

When faced with a threat to gender identity, people may try to restore their gender status by acting in a more gender‐typical manner. The present research investigated effects of gender identity threat on self‐presentations of agentic and communal traits in a Swedish and an Argentine sample ( N  =   242). Under threat (vs. affirmation), Swedish women deemphasized agentic traits ( d [95% CI ] = −0.41 [−0.93, 0.11]), Argentine women increased their emphasis on communal traits ( d  =   0.44 [−0.08, 0.97]), and Argentine men increased their emphasis on agentic traits ( d  =   0.49 [−0.03, 1.01]). However, Swedish men did not appear to be affected by the threat regarding agentic ( d  =   0.04 [−0.47, 0.55]) or communal traits ( d  =   0.23 [−0.29, 0.74]). The findings are to be considered tentative. Implications for identity threat research are discussed.