Open AccessMath and language gender stereotypes: Age and gender differences in implicit biases and explicit beliefs
Author(s) -
Heidi A. Vuletich,
Beth KurtzCostes,
Erin Cooley,
B. Keith Payne
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
plos one
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.99
H-Index - 332
ISSN - 1932-6203
DOI - 10.1371/journal.pone.0238230
Subject(s) - misattribution of memory , implicit attitude , implicit association test , implicit bias , psychology , affect (linguistics) , developmental psychology , social psychology , cognition , communication , neuroscience
In a cross-sectional study of youth ages 8–15, we examined implicit and explicit gender stereotypes regarding math and language abilities. We investigated how implicit and explicit stereotypes differ across age and gender groups and whether they are consistent with cultural stereotypes. Participants ( N = 270) completed the Affect Misattribution Procedure (AMP) and a survey of explicit beliefs. Across all ages, boys showed neither math nor language implicit gender biases, whereas girls implicitly favored girls in both domains. These findings are counter to cultural stereotypes, which favor boys in math. On the explicit measure, both boys’ and girls’ primary tendency was to favor girls in math and language ability, with the exception of elementary school boys, who rated genders equally. We conclude that objective gender differences in academic success guide differences in children’s explicit reports and implicit biases.