gender stereotype essay questions

124 Gender Stereotypes Essay Topic Ideas & Examples

Whether you are writing an argumentative paper or an essay about your personal experience, you’ll find something useful on this page. Check out this list of 120 gender stereotypes research titles put together by our experts .

💭 Top 10 Gender Bias Essay Topics

🏆 best gender stereotypes essay topics, 🎓 simple & easy gender stereotypes research titles, 📌 most interesting ideas for a gender stereotypes essay, ❓ research questions about gender stereotypes.

• Gender roles and how they influence the society.
• The gender pay gap in white collar occupations.
• The harms of gender stereotyping in school.
• Inequality between men and women in politics.
• Differences in gender stereotypes in the East and West.
• Gender representation in children’s media.
• Breaking gender stereotypes through education.
• Sexism and gender bias.
• Traditional gender roles in Western society.
• Gender discrimination in healthcare.
• Gender Stereotypes in the “Frozen” and “Shrek” Movies The motivations of female characters in Disney movies are directly tied to the development of goals and ambitions because it is the source of these notions.
• The Smurfette Principle: Gender Stereotypes and Pop-Culture After watching “The Little Mermaid”, and reading “The Cat in the Hat”, Sophie is left disgusted by the peripheral role that female characters play in the media.
• Gender Stereotypes in “Million Dollar Baby” Movie In order to enter the world of boxing, Maggie, the main heroine of Million Dollars Baby, had to overcome the adversities connected with gender stereotypes.
• “The Blue Castle” by Lucy Maud Montgomery: Social Construction and Gender Stereotypes In the past decades, a female child in society had to be prepared for the roles of a mother and a wife to help her take care of the family when she gets married in […]
• Little Red Riding Hood: Breaking Gender Stereotypes On refusing marriage to the Roman prefect of the province, she was fed to Satan who came in the form of a dragon. By the time the wolf arrives, he cannot of course convince the […]
• Gender Stereotypes Found in Media The chosen image represents one of the most common gender biases women are obliged to do the chores because it is not men’s responsibility.
• Gender Stereotypes in Advertisement In addition, I think that this example has a negative contribution and can become harmful for limiting gender stereotypes due to the downplaying of the importance of women.
• Gender Stereotypes and Sexual Discrimination In this Ted Talk, Sandberg also raises a question regarding the changes that are needed to alter the current disbalance in the number of men and women that achieve professional excellence.
• Gender Stereotypes About Women Still Exist Given the fact that this is a whole intellectual sphere, the capabilities of males and females are equilibrated to the greatest extent.
• Media and Gender Stereotypes Against Females in Professional Roles Within the Criminal Justice The first and a half of the second episode were chosen as the pilot episode often reflects the essence of the entire show.
• Disney Princesses as Factors of Gender Stereotypes This research focused on determining the impact of Disney Princesses on of preschool age girls in the context of the transmission of gender stereotypes.
• Gender Stereotypes in Modern Society However, in this case, the problem is that because of such advertisements, men tend to achieve the shown kind of appearance and way of thinking.
• Femininity and Masculinity: Gender Stereotypes In conclusion, it is necessary to admit that femininity and masculinity are two sides of the same medal, and neither should be neglected.
• Sex and Gender Stereotypes: Similar and Different Points To conclude, the works by Devor and Rudacille touch upon the controversial topic of gender identification in the modern society. Nevertheless, both works are similar in their focus on the issues of sex, gender, sexuality, […]
• Problem of Gender Stereotypes in Weightlifting The Change paper is a combination of all the recommendations that can be useful in dealing with the problem of gender stereotypes in weightlifting.
• How Gender Stereotypes Affect Performance in Female Weightlifting One can therefore see that this decision reflected common perceptions among several stakeholders in the weightlifting industry and that the same is likely to occur in the future.
• “Bimbos and Rambos: The Cognitive Basis of Gender Stereotypes” by Matlin W.M. According to this theory, there exists a relationship between the cognitive processes of the brain and the beliefs that the individual leans and takes up according to his or her upbringing. The media tends to […]
• Gender Stereotypes and Human Emotions One of the easiest ways to check the connection between gender and emotions is to ask a person who prefers to demonstrate their emotions in public, a man or a woman.
• Gender Stereotypes and Influence on People’s Lives However, the overall development in human thought enhances the advancement in the framework of people’s understanding of the world around them.
• Gender Stereotyping Rates in the USA I do not feel that gender stereotypes in America are still strong because many women make more money than their husbands do nowadays, whereas men like to do housework and cook for their families.
• Gender Stereotypes: Interview with Dalal Al Rabah Women need a passion to succeed, to be of influence, and to make a difference in the daily living of their loved ones.
• Toxic Relationships and Gender Stereotypes According to the patient, they believe that a woman is responsible for the psychological climate and the psychological well-being of her husband.
• Confronting Gender Stereotypes It is imperative to confront the careless use of male and female stereotypes in order to preserve decency, community, and the lives of children and teenagers.
• Gender Stereotypes in Disney Princesses The evolvement of the princess image in the films of the studio represents the developing position of strong independent women in the society, but the princess stereotypes can harm the mentality of children.
• Gender Stereotypes in the Classroom Matthews notes that the teacher provides the opportunity for his students to control the situation by shaping the two groups. To reinforce the existing gender stereotypes in the given classroom, Mr.
• Dr. Stacy Smith’ View on Women Gender Stereotypes Stacy Smith, the author is unfortunate that despite the fact that population of men and women is equal, the womenfolk, the society is not really to accept this equality in assigning roles, even when a […]
• Influence of activating implicit gender stereotypes in females The results revealed that the participants who were subjected to the gender based prime performed relatively poorly compared to their counterparts on the nature prime.
• Towards Evaluating the Relationship Between Gender Stereotypes & Culture It is therefore the object of this paper to examine the relationship between gender stereotypes and culture with a view to elucidating how gender stereotypes, reinforced by our diverse cultural beliefs, continue to allocate roles […]
• How contemporary toys enforce gender stereotypes in the UK Children defined some of the physical attributes of the toys.”Baby Annabell Function Doll” is a likeness of a baby in that it that it has the size and physical features of a baby.
• Gender Studies: Gender Stereotypes From what is portrayed in the media, it is possible for people to dismiss others on the basis of whether they have masculinity or are feminine.
• Gender stereotypes of superheroes The analysis is based on the number of male versus female characters, the physical characteristic of each individual character, the ability to solve a problem individually as either male or female and both males and […]
• Gender Stereotypes on Television Gender stereotyping in television commercials is a topic that has generated a huge debate and it is an important topic to explore to find out how gender roles in voice-overs TV commercials and the type […]
• How Gender Stereotypes Are Portrayed On The Television Series
• Hollywood is a Vessel for Enforcing Gender Stereotypes
• Gender Stereotypes Of Early Childhood Education
• Gender Stereotypes Among Children’s Toys
• Color and Female Gender Stereotypes: What They Are, How They Came About and What They Mean
• An Analysis of Gender Stereotypes in Boys Don’t Cry, a Film by Kimberly Peirce
• The Role Media Plays In Relation To Gender Stereotypes
• Gender Stereotypes Of Media And Its Effect On Society
• English Postcolonial Animal Tales and Gender Stereotypes
• Gender Stereotypes : The Ugly Truth
• Gender Stereotypes and Discrimination in Sports and the Lack of Women in Leadership Position in Professional Sports
• Female Development and the Impact of Gender Stereotypes
• The Hidden Gender Stereotypes in the Animations the Little Mermaid and Tangled
• Gender Stereotypes In The Ordeal Of Gilbert Pinfold
• Gender Stereotypes And The Gender Of A Baby
• Gender Stereotypes in Advertising and the Media
• An Overview of Gender Stereotypes in the United States
• An Overview of Gender Stereotypes During Childhood
• The Issue of Gender Stereotypes and Its Contribution to Gender Inequality in the Second Presidential Debate
• The Impact of Gender Stereotypes in Commercial Advertisements on Family Dynamics
• How Does Gender Stereotypes Affect Today ‘s Society
• Gender Stereotypes on Television, Advertisements and Childrens Television Programs
• Gender Stereotypes in Non-Traditional Sports
• The Importance Of Gender Stereotypes
• How Do Gender Stereotypes Affect The Decisions Our Youth
• Gender Stereotypes in Movies and Their Influence on Gender Nonconforming Movies
• Stereotypes And Stereotypes Of Gender Stereotypes
• The Effects of Advertising in Reinforcing Gender Stereotypes
• Gender Differences and Gender Stereotypes from a Psychological Perspective
• An Analysis of Gender Differences and Gender Stereotypes
• Female Discourse and Gender Stereotypes in Eliot’s Novel
• As You Like It and Gender Stereotypes Based On Rosalind
• Gender Stereotypes Of Harry Potter And The Sorcerer ‘s Stone
• Gender Stereotypes in Achebe’s Dead Men’s Path
• Gender Stereotypes And Stereotypes Of A Child ‘s Play Sets
• Advertising and Gender Stereotypes: How Culture is Made
• Gender Stereotypes Are Challenged By Children And Adolescence
• Gender Stereotypes Of Advertising And Marketing Campaigns
• Does Mainstream Media Have a Duty to Challenge Gender Stereotypes
• A Social Constructivist Approach on the Heterosexual Matrix and Gender Stereotypes
• Gender Stereotypes of Women in Society, Sports, and Workforce
• The Factors That Influence Gender Roles, Gender Identity and Gender Stereotypes
• Gender Stereotypes And Its Effect On Society
• Are Gender Stereotypes Perpetuated In Children’s Magazines
• Gender Stereotypes And Gender Discrimination
• An Explanation of Gender Stereotypes from a Scene in the Movie, Tootsie
• An Analysis of Gender Stereotypes in Today’s Society
• Gender Stereotypes And The Credibility Of Newspaper Articles Associated
• Gender Stereotypes And Behaviors Of Men And Women
• Gender Stereotypes In Boys And Girls By Alice Munro
• Media Affects How We View Gender Stereotypes
• Media and Its Effects on Gender Stereotypes
• How Does Advertising Reinforce Gender Stereotypes?
• Are Gender Stereotypes Perpetuated in Children’s Magazines?
• How Do Contemporary Toys Enforce Gender Stereotypes in the UK?
• Can Gender Quotas Break Down Negative Stereotypes?
• How Do Gender Stereotypes Affect Today’s Society?
• Are Sexist Attitudes and Gender Stereotypes Linked?
• How Does Ridley Scott Create and Destroy Gender Stereotypes in Thelma and Louise?
• Does Mainstream Media Have a Duty to Challenge Gender Stereotypes?
• How Does the Proliferation of Gender Stereotypes Affect Modern Society?
• Why Do Children Learn Gender Stereotypes?
• How Do Gender Roles and Stereotypes Affect Children?
• Do Men and Women Differ in Their Gender Stereotypes?
• How Are Gender Stereotypes Depicted in “A Farewell to Arms” by Hemingway?
• What Are the Problems of Gender Stereotyping?
• How Have Gender Stereotypes Always Been a Part of Society?
• What Are the Factors That Determine Gender Stereotypes?
• How Do Gender Stereotypes Warp Our View of Depression?
• What Influences Gender Roles in Today’s Society?
• How Do Jane Eyre and the Works of Robert Browning Subvert Gender Stereotypes?
• What Is the Difference Between Gender Roles and Gender Stereotypes?
• How Do Magazines Create Gender Stereotypes?
• Where Did Gender Stereotypes Originate?
• How Does the Society Shape and Stereotypes Gender Roles?
• Why Do Gender Roles Change Over Time?
• How Do Gender Stereotypes Affect Students?
• What Is the Role of Family in Gender Stereotyping?
• How Can Gender Stereotypes Be Overcome?
• Can Stereotypes Be Changed?
• How Does Culture Influence Gender Stereotypes?
• How Can We Prevent Gender Stereotypes in Schools?
• Sociological Perspectives Titles
• Gender Roles Paper Topics
• Ethics Ideas
• Human Behavior Research Topics
• Motherhood Ideas
• Relationship Research Ideas
• Oppression Research Topics
• Parenting Research Topics
• Chicago (A-D)
• Chicago (N-B)

IvyPanda. (2023, October 26). 124 Gender Stereotypes Essay Topic Ideas & Examples. https://ivypanda.com/essays/topic/gender-stereotypes-essay-examples/

"124 Gender Stereotypes Essay Topic Ideas & Examples." IvyPanda , 26 Oct. 2023, ivypanda.com/essays/topic/gender-stereotypes-essay-examples/.

IvyPanda . (2023) '124 Gender Stereotypes Essay Topic Ideas & Examples'. 26 October.

IvyPanda . 2023. "124 Gender Stereotypes Essay Topic Ideas & Examples." October 26, 2023. https://ivypanda.com/essays/topic/gender-stereotypes-essay-examples/.

1. IvyPanda . "124 Gender Stereotypes Essay Topic Ideas & Examples." October 26, 2023. https://ivypanda.com/essays/topic/gender-stereotypes-essay-examples/.

Bibliography

IvyPanda . "124 Gender Stereotypes Essay Topic Ideas & Examples." October 26, 2023. https://ivypanda.com/essays/topic/gender-stereotypes-essay-examples/.

Presentations made painless

• Get Premium

125 Gender Stereotypes Essay Topic Ideas & Examples

Inside This Article

Gender stereotypes are pervasive in society, shaping our beliefs and perceptions about what it means to be a man or a woman. These stereotypes can have harmful effects on individuals, reinforcing harmful gender norms and limiting opportunities for personal growth and self-expression. In order to challenge these stereotypes and promote gender equality, it is important to critically examine and deconstruct them.

To help spark discussion and reflection on the topic of gender stereotypes, here are 125 essay topic ideas and examples to consider:

• The impact of traditional gender roles on individuals' sense of self-worth
• How media representations of gender contribute to stereotypes
• The role of education in perpetuating or challenging gender stereotypes
• Gender stereotypes in the workplace and their effects on career advancement
• The intersection of race and gender stereotypes
• How gender stereotypes affect mental health and well-being
• Stereotypes about masculinity and femininity in different cultures
• The impact of gender stereotypes on children's development
• Gender stereotypes in sports and athletics
• The portrayal of gender in literature and popular culture
• Stereotypes about LGBTQ+ individuals and non-binary genders
• The link between gender stereotypes and violence against women
• How stereotypes about beauty and appearance affect individuals' self-esteem
• Gender stereotypes in parenting and caregiving roles
• The representation of gender in advertising and marketing
• Stereotypes about intelligence and abilities based on gender
• The connection between gender stereotypes and sexual harassment
• How gender stereotypes shape relationships and dating norms
• Gender stereotypes in STEM fields and other male-dominated industries
• The impact of social media on perpetuating gender stereotypes
• Stereotypes about emotional expression and vulnerability based on gender
• The role of religion in shaping gender norms and expectations
• Gender stereotypes in political leadership and representation
• How stereotypes about masculinity harm men's mental health
• The impact of gender stereotypes on body image and eating disorders
• Stereotypes about parenting and work-life balance based on gender
• Gender stereotypes in healthcare and medical treatment
• The representation of gender in video games and other forms of media
• Stereotypes about aging and gender
• The impact of gender stereotypes on individuals' career choices and aspirations
• Gender stereotypes in the criminal justice system
• Stereotypes about sexual orientation and gender identity
• How gender stereotypes affect individuals' access to healthcare and social services
• The portrayal of gender in children's toys and media
• Stereotypes about leadership and assertiveness based on gender
• The impact of gender stereotypes on individuals' relationships with their bodies
• Gender stereotypes in the fashion and beauty industries
• Stereotypes about intelligence and academic abilities based on gender
• The representation of gender in art and literature
• How gender stereotypes affect individuals' experiences of discrimination and prejudice
• Stereotypes about physical strength and athleticism based on gender
• The impact of gender stereotypes on individuals' experiences of bullying and harassment
• Gender stereotypes in the music and entertainment industries
• Stereotypes about domestic violence and abuse based on gender
• The portrayal of gender in historical and contemporary narratives
• How gender stereotypes affect individuals' experiences of trauma and recovery
• Gender stereotypes in the legal system and criminal justice
• Stereotypes about caregiving and emotional labor based on gender
• The impact of gender stereotypes on individuals' access to education and resources
• Gender stereotypes in the healthcare and medical fields
• The representation of gender in politics and government
• Stereotypes about physical appearance and attractiveness based on gender
• Gender stereotypes in the workplace and professional settings
• The impact of gender stereotypes on individuals' access to healthcare and social services
• How gender stereotypes affect individuals' relationships with their bodies

Want to create a presentation now?

Instantly Create A Deck

Let PitchGrade do this for me

Hassle Free

We will create your text and designs for you. Sit back and relax while we do the work.

Explore More Content

• Privacy Policy
• Terms of Service

© 2023 Pitchgrade

70 Argumentative Essay Topics About Gender Equality

Gender equality is an extremely debatable topic. Sooner or later, every group of friends, colleagues, or classmates will touch on this subject. Discussions never stop, and this topic is always relevant.

This is not surprising, as our society hasn’t reached 100% equality yet. Pay gaps, victimization, abortion laws, and other aspects remain painful for millions of women. You should always be ready to structure your thoughts and defend your point of view on this subject. Why not practice with our list of essay topics about gender equality?

Our cheap essay writing service authors prepared 70 original ideas for you. Besides, at the end of our article, you’ll find a list of inspirational sources for your essay.

Argumentative Essay Topics About Gender Equality

• Does society or a person define gender?
• Can culturally sanctioned gender roles hurt adolescents’ mental health?
• Who or what defines the concepts of “masculinity” and “femininity” in modern society?
• Should the rules of etiquette be changed because they’ve been created in the epoch of total patriarchy?
• Why is gender equality higher in developed countries? Is equality the cause or the result of the development?
• Are gender stereotypes based on the difference between men’s and women’s brains justified?
• Would humanity be more developed today if gender stereotypes never exited?
• Can a woman be a good politician? Why or why not?
• What are the main arguments of antifeminists? Are they justified?
• Would our society be better if more women were in power?

Analytical Gender Equality Topics

• How do gender stereotypes in the sports industry influence the careers of athletes?
• Social and psychological foundations of feminism in modern Iranian society: Describe women’s rights movements in Iran and changes in women’s rights.
• Describe the place of women in today’s sports and how this situation looked a hundred years ago.
• What changes have American women made in the social and economic sphere? Describe the creation of a legislative framework for women’s empowerment.
• How can young people fix gender equality issues?
• Why do marketing specialists keep taking advantage of gender stereotypes in advertising?
• How does gender inequality hinder our society from progress?
• What social problems does gender inequality cause?
• How does gender inequality influence the self-image of male adolescents?
• Why is the concept of feminism frequently interpreted negatively?

Argumentative Essay Topics About Gender Equality in Art and Literature

• Theory of gender in literature: do male and female authors see the world differently? Pick one book and analyze it in the context of gender.
• Compare and contrast how gender inequality is described in L. Tolstoy’s novel “Anna Karenina” and G. Flaubert’s novel “Madame Bovary.” Read and analyze the mentioned books, distinguish how gender inequality is described, and how the main characters manage this inequality.
• The artificial gender equality and class inequality in the novel “Brave New World” by Aldous Huxley.
• Do modern romance novels for teenagers help to break gender stereotypes, or do they enforce them?
• Gender equality changes through Disney animation films. Analyze the scenarios of Disney animation films from the very beginning. Describe how the overall mood in relation to female characters and their roles has changed.
• Henrik Ibsen touched on the topic of gender inequality in his play “A Doll’s House.” Why was it shocking for a 19th century audience?
• Concepts of gender inequality through examples of fairy tales. Analyze several fairy tales that contain female characters. What image do they have? Do these fairy tales misrepresent the nature of women? How do fairy tales spoil the world view of young girls?
• Why do female heroes rarely appear in superhero movies?
• Heroines of the movie “Hidden Figures” face both gender and racial inequalities. In your opinion, has the American society solved these issues entirely?
• The problem of gender inequality in the novel “The Color Purple” by Alice Walker.

Gender Equality Essay Ideas: Workplace and Employment

• Dress code in the workplace: Does it help to solve the problem of gender inequality, or is it a detriment?
• What kind of jobs are traditionally associated with men and women? How have these associations changed in the last 50 years?
• The pay gap between men and women: is it real?
• How can HR managers overcome gender stereotypes while hiring a new specialist?
• Analyze the concepts of “glass ceiling” and “glass elevator.” Do these phenomena still exist in our society?

Essay Topics About Gender Equality: Religion

• Gender aspects of Christian virtue and purity in the Bible.
• What does the equality of men and women look like from the perspective of Christianity? Can a woman be a pastor?
• Orthodox Judaism: Women and the transformation of their roles in a religious institute. Describe the change in women’s roles in modern Judaism.
• How can secularism help solve the problem of gender inequality in religious societies?
• Is the problem of gender inequality more serious in religious societies?

Compare and Contrast Essay Topics About Gender Equality

• Compare and contrast the problems men and women experience in managerial positions.
• Compare and contrast what progress has been made on gender equality in the USA and Sweden.
• Compare and contrast the social status of women in ancient Athens and Sparta.
• Conduct a sociological analysis of gender asymmetry in various languages. Compare and contrast the ways of assigning gender in two different languages.
• Compare and contrast the portrayal of female characters in 1960s Hollywood films and in modern cinematography (pick two movies). What has changed?

Gender Equality Topics: Definitions

• Define the term “misandry.” What is the difference between feminism and misandry?
• Define the term “feminology.” How do feminologists help to break down prejudice about the gender role of women?
• Define the term “catcalling.” How is catcalling related to the issue of gender inequality?
• Define the term “femvertising.” How does this advertising phenomenon contribute to the resolution of the gender inequality issue?
• Define the term “misogyny.” What is the difference between “misogyny” and “sexism”?

Gender Equality Essay Ideas: History

• The roles of the mother and father through history.
• Define the most influential event in the history of the feminist movement.
• What ancient societies preached matriarchy?
• How did World War II change the attitude toward women in society?
• Woman and society in the philosophy of feminism of the second wave. Think on works of Simone de Beauvoir and Betty Friedan and define what ideas provoked the second wave.

Essay Topics About Gender Equality in Education

• How do gender stereotypes influence the choice of major among high school students?
• Discuss the problems of female education in the interpretation of Mary Wollstonecraft. Reflect on the thoughts of Mary Wollstonecraft on gender equality and why women should be treated equally to men.
• Self-determination of women in professions: Modern contradictions. Describe the character of a woman’s self-determination as a professional in today’s society.
• Should gender and racial equality be taught in elementary school?
• Will sex education at schools contribute to the development of gender equality?

Gender Equality Topics: Sex and Childbirth

• Sexual violence in conflict situations: The problem of victimization of women.
• The portrayal of menstruation and childbirth in media: Now versus twenty years ago.
• How will the resolution of the gender inequality issue decrease the rate of sexual abuse toward women?
• The attitude toward menstruation in different societies and how it influences the issue of gender equality.
• How does the advertising of sexual character aggravate the problem of gender inequality?
• Should advertising that uses sexual allusion be regulated by the government?
• How has the appearance of various affordable birth control methods contributed to the establishment of gender equality in modern society?
• Do men have the right to give up their parental duties if women refuse to have an abortion?
• Can the child be raised without the influence of gender stereotypes in modern society?
• Did the sexual revolution in the 1960s help the feminist movement?

How do you like our gender equality topics? We’ve tried to make them special for you. When you pick one of these topics, you should start your research. We recommend you to check the books we’ve listed below.

Non-Fiction Books and Articles on Gender Equality Topics

• Beecher, C. “The Peculiar Responsibilities of American Women.”
• Connell, R. (2011). “Confronting Equality: Gender, Knowledge and Global Change.”
• Doris H. Gray. (2013). “Beyond Feminism and Islamism: Gender and Equality in North Africa.”
• Inglehart Ronald, Norris Pippa. (2003). “Rising Tide: Gender Equality and Cultural Change Around the World.”
• Mary Ann Danowitz Sagaria. (2007). “Women, Universities, and Change: Gender Equality in the European Union and the United States (Issues in Higher Education).”
• Merrill, R. (1997). “Good News for Women: A Biblical Picture of Gender Equality.”
• Mir-Hosseini, Z. (2013). “Gender and Equality in Muslim Family Law: Justice and Ethics in the Islamic Legal Process.”
• Raymond F. Gregory. (2003). “Women and Workplace Discrimination: Overcoming Barriers to Gender Equality.”
• Rubery, J., & Koukiadaki, A. (2016). “Closing the Gender Pay Gap: A Review of the Issues, Policy Mechanisms and International Evidence.”
• Sharma, A. (2016). “Managing Diversity and Equality in the Workplace.”
• Sika, N. (2011). “The Millennium Development Goals: Prospects for Gender Equality in the Arab World.”
• Stamarski, C. S., & Son Hing, L. S. (2015). “Gender Inequalities in the Workplace: The Effects of Organizational Structures, Processes, Practices, and Decision Makers’ Sexism.”
• Verniers, C., & Vala, J. (2018). “Justifying Gender Discrimination in the Workplace: The Mediating Role of Motherhood Myths.”
• Williams, C. L., & Dellinger, K. (2010). “Gender and Sexuality in the Workplace.”

Literary Works for Your Gender Equality Essay Ideas

• “A Doll’s House” by Henrik Ibsen
• “A Room of One’s Own” by Virginia Woolf
• “Anna Karenina” by Leo Tolstoy
• “Brave New World” by Aldous Huxley
• “ The Awakening” by Kate Chopin
• “The Color Purple” by Alice Walker
• “The Handmaid’s Tale” by Margaret Atwood
• “The Help” by Kathryn Stockett
• “The Scarlet Letter” by Nathaniel Hawthorne
• “The Second Sex” by Simone de Beauvoir

We’re sure that with all of these argumentative essay topics about gender equality and useful sources, you’ll get a good grade without much effort! If you have any difficulties with your homework, request “ write my essay for cheap ” help and  our expert writers are always ready to help you.

Our cheap essay writing service has one of the lowest pricing policies on the market. Fill in the ordering form, and we guarantee that you’ll get a cheap, plagiarism-free sample as soon as possible!

~ out of 10 - average quality score

~ writers active

• Dissertation
• PowerPoint Presentation
• Book Report/Review
• Research Proposal
• Math Problems
• Proofreading
• Movie Review
• Cover Letter Writing
• Personal Statement
• Nursing Paper
• Argumentative Essay
• Research Paper
• Discussion Board Post

TOP 100 Gender Equality Essay Topics

Table of Contents

Need ideas for argumentative essay on gender inequality? We’ve got a bunch!

… But let’s start off with a brief intro.

What is gender equality?

Equality between the sexes is a huge part of basic human rights. It means that men and women have the same opportunities to fulfil their potential in all spheres of life.

Today, we still face inequality issues as there is a persistent gap in access to opportunities for men and women.

Women have less access to decision-making and higher education. They constantly face obstacles at the workplace and have greater safety risks. Maintaining equal rights for both sexes is critical for meeting a wide range of goals in global development.

Inequality between the sexes is an interesting area to study so high school, college, and university students are often assigned to write essays on gender topics.

In this article, we are going to discuss the key peculiarities of gender equality essay. Besides, we have created a list of the best essay topic ideas.

What is the specifics of gender equality essay?

Equality and inequality between the sexes are important historical and current social issues which impact the way students and their families live. They are common topics for college papers in psychology, sociology, gender studies.

When writing an essay on equality between the sexes, you need to argue for a strong point of view and support your argument with relevant evidence gathered from multiple sources.

But first, you’d need to choose a good topic which is neither too broad nor too narrow to research.

Research is crucial for the success of your essay because you should develop a strong argument based on an in-depth study of various scholarly sources.

Equality between sexes is a complex problem. You have to consider different aspects and controversial points of view on specific issues, show your ability to think critically, develop a strong thesis statement, and build a logical argument, which can make a great impression on your audience.

If you are looking for interesting gender equality essay topics, here you will find a great list of 100 topic ideas for writing essays and research papers on gender issues in contemporary society.

Should you find that some topics are too broad, feel free to narrow them down.

Powerful gender equality essay topics

Here are the top 25 hottest topics for your argumentative opinion paper on gender issues.

Whether you are searching for original creative ideas for gender equality in sports essay or need inspiration for gender equality in education essay, we’ve got you covered.

Use imagination and creativity to demonstrate your approach.

• Analyze gender-based violence in different countries
• Compare wage gap between the sexes in different countries
• Explain the purpose of gender mainstreaming
• Implications of sex differences in the human brain
• How can we teach boys and girls that they have equal rights?
• Discuss gender-neutral management practices
• Promotion of equal opportunities for men and women in sports
• What does it mean to be transgender?
• Discuss the empowerment of women
• Why is gender-blindness a problem for women?
• Why are girls at greater risk of sexual violence and exploitation?
• Women as victims of human trafficking
• Analyze the glass ceiling in management
• Impact of ideology in determining relations between sexes
• Obstacles that prevent girls from getting quality education in African countries
• Why are so few women in STEM?
• Major challenges women face at the workplace
• How do women in sport fight for equality?
• Women, sports, and media institutions
• Contribution of women in the development of the world economy
• Role of gender diversity in innovation and scientific discovery
• What can be done to make cities safer for women and girls?
• International trends in women’s empowerment
• Role of schools in teaching children behaviours considered appropriate for their sex
• Feminism on social relations uniting women and men as groups

Gender roles essay topics

We can measure the equality of men and women by looking at how both sexes are represented in a range of different roles. You don’t have to do extensive and tiresome research to come up with gender roles essay topics, as we have already done it for you.

Have a look at this short list of top-notch topic ideas .

• Are paternity and maternity leaves equally important for babies?
• Imagine women-dominated society and describe it
• Sex roles in contemporary western societies
• Compare theories of gender development
• Adoption of sex-role stereotyped behaviours
• What steps should be taken to achieve gender-parity in parenting?
• What is gender identity?
• Emotional differences between men and women
• Issues modern feminism faces
• Sexual orientation and gender identity
• Benefits of investing in girls’ education
• Patriarchal attitudes and stereotypes in family relationships
• Toys and games of girls and boys
• Roles of men and women in politics
• Compare career opportunities for both sexes in the military
• Women in the US military
• Academic careers and sex equity
• Should men play larger roles in childcare?
• Impact of an ageing population on women’s economic welfare
• Historical determinants of contemporary differences in sex roles
• Gender-related issues in gaming
• Culture and sex-role stereotypes in advertisements
• What are feminine traits?
• Sex role theory in sociology
• Causes of sex differences and similarities in behaviour

Gender inequality research paper topics

Examples of inequality can be found in the everyday life of different women in many countries across the globe. Our gender inequality research paper topics are devoted to different issues that display discrimination of women throughout the world.

Choose any topic you like, research it, brainstorm ideas, and create a detailed gender inequality essay outline before you start working on your first draft.

Start off with making a debatable thesis, then write an engaging introduction, convincing main body, and strong conclusion for gender inequality essay .

• Aspects of sex discrimination
• Main indications of inequality between the sexes
• Causes of sex discrimination
• Inferior role of women in the relationships
• Sex differences in education
• Can education solve issues of inequality between the sexes?
• Impact of discrimination on early childhood development
• Why do women have limited professional opportunities in sports?
• Gender discrimination in sports
• Lack of women having leadership roles
• Inequality between the sexes in work-family balance
• Top factors that impact inequality at a workplace
• What can governments do to close the gender gap at work?
• Sex discrimination in human resource processes and practices
• Gender inequality in work organizations
• Factors causing inequality between men and women in developing countries
• Work-home conflict as a symptom of inequality between men and women
• Why are mothers less wealthy than women without children?
• Forms of sex discrimination in a contemporary society
• Sex discrimination in the classroom
• Justification of inequality in American history
• Origins of sex discrimination
• Motherhood and segregation in labour markets
• Sex discrimination in marriage
• Can technology reduce sex discrimination?

Most controversial gender topics

Need a good controversial topic for gender stereotypes essay? Here are some popular debatable topics concerning various gender problems people face nowadays.

They are discussed in scientific studies, newspaper articles, and social media posts. If you choose any of them, you will need to perform in-depth research to prepare an impressive piece of writing.

• How do gender misconceptions impact behaviour?
• Most common outdated sex-role stereotypes
• How does gay marriage influence straight marriage?
• Explain the role of sexuality in sex-role stereotyping
• Role of media in breaking sex-role stereotypes
• Discuss the dual approach to equality between men and women
• Are women better than men or are they equal?
• Sex-role stereotypes at a workplace
• Racial variations in gender-related attitudes
• Role of feminism in creating the alternative culture for women
• Feminism and transgender theory
• Gender stereotypes in science and education
• Are sex roles important for society?
• Future of gender norms
• How can we make a better world for women?
• Are men the weaker sex?
• Beauty pageants and women’s empowerment
• Are women better communicators?
• What are the origins of sexual orientation?
• Should prostitution be legal?
• Pros and cons of being a feminist
• Advantages and disadvantages of being a woman
• Can movies defy gender stereotypes?
• Sexuality and politics

Feel free to use these powerful topic ideas for writing a good college-level gender equality essay or as a starting point for your study.

No time to do decent research and write your top-notch paper? No big deal! Choose any topic from our list and let a pro write the essay for you!

How to Write Winning Essays on Honor

Simple Tips On Writing The George Washington Essay

Pro tips on how to write money cant buy happiness essay.

Home — Essay Samples — Sociology — Gender Stereotypes — Gender Stereotypes Of Women

Gender Stereotypes of Women

• Categories: Discrimination Gender Stereotypes

About this sample

Words: 476 |

Published: Mar 14, 2024

Words: 476 | Page: 1 | 3 min read

Cite this Essay

Let us write you an essay from scratch

• 450+ experts on 30 subjects ready to help
• Custom essay delivered in as few as 3 hours

Get high-quality help

Prof Ernest (PhD)

Verified writer

• Expert in: Social Issues Sociology

+ 120 experts online

By clicking “Check Writers’ Offers”, you agree to our terms of service and privacy policy . We’ll occasionally send you promo and account related email

No need to pay just yet!

Related Essays

2 pages / 978 words

2 pages / 911 words

2 pages / 799 words

5 pages / 2303 words

Remember! This is just a sample.

You can get your custom paper by one of our expert writers.

121 writers online

Still can’t find what you need?

Browse our vast selection of original essay samples, each expertly formatted and styled

Related Essays on Gender Stereotypes

Kimmel, Michael S. (2000). The Gendered Society. Oxford University Press.Ward, L. M., & Friedman, K. (2006). Using TV as a guide: Associations between television viewing and adolescents' sexual attitudes and behavior. Journal of [...]

Hip hop music has undeniably become a dominant force in the music industry, shaping cultural trends and influencing the lives of millions worldwide. While many praise the genre for its creativity, authenticity, and ability to [...]

Imagine walking into a fast-food restaurant and being greeted by a commercial on a television screen. The camera zooms in on a juicy burger, as an attractive woman takes a seductive bite. The message is clear: eating at this [...]

Zootopia, a widely popular animated film released by Disney in 2016, is not only a fun and entertaining movie for children, but also a thought-provoking film that addresses important social issues. One of the key themes explored [...]

How can a simple color such as pink or blue change people’s perspectives on your sexuality? This is a common example of a gender stereotype that is showed by many people from adolescents to adults. This is an unfair issue in [...]

‘Feuding families leads to senseless violence and the tragic death of six young people’, this could easily be the headline for a story in today’s newspaper but it is the plot for a play written over four hundred years ago. Romeo [...]

Related Topics

By clicking “Send”, you agree to our Terms of service and Privacy statement . We will occasionally send you account related emails.

Where do you want us to send this sample?

By clicking “Continue”, you agree to our terms of service and privacy policy.

Be careful. This essay is not unique

This essay was donated by a student and is likely to have been used and submitted before

Download this Sample

Free samples may contain mistakes and not unique parts

Sorry, we could not paraphrase this essay. Our professional writers can rewrite it and get you a unique paper.

Please check your inbox.

We can write you a custom essay that will follow your exact instructions and meet the deadlines. Let's fix your grades together!

Get Your Personalized Essay in 3 Hours or Less!

We use cookies to personalyze your web-site experience. By continuing we’ll assume you board with our cookie policy .

• Instructions Followed To The Letter
• Deadlines Met At Every Stage
• Unique And Plagiarism Free

Stereotypes and Gender Roles

Many of our gender stereotypes are strong because we emphasize gender so much in culture (Bigler & Liben, 2007). For example, children learn at a young age that there are distinct expectations for boys and girls. Gender roles refer to the role or behaviors learned by a person as appropriate to their gender and are determined by the dominant cultural norms. Cross-cultural studies reveal that children are aware of gender roles by age two or three and can label others’ gender and sort objects into gender categories. At four or five, most children are firmly entrenched in culturally appropriate gender roles (Kane, 1996). When children do not conform to the appropriate gender role for their culture, they may face negative sanctions such as being criticized, bullied, marginalized or rejected by their peers. A girl who wishes to take karate class instead of dance lessons may be called a “tomboy” and face difficulty gaining acceptance from both male and female peer groups (Ready, 2001). Boys, especially, are subject to intense ridicule for gender nonconformity (Coltrane and Adams, 2008; Kimmel, 2000)

By the time we are adults, our gender roles are a stable part of our personalities, and we usually hold many gender stereotypes. Men tend to outnumber women in professions such as law enforcement, the military, and politics. Women tend to outnumber men in care-related occupations such as child care, health care, and social work. These occupational roles are examples of typical Western male and female behavior, derived from our culture’s traditions. Adherence to these occupational gender roles demonstrates fulfillment of social expectations but may not necessarily reflect personal preference (Diamond, 2002).

Gender stereotypes are not unique to American culture. Williams and Best (1982) conducted several cross-cultural explorations of gender stereotypes using data collected from 30 cultures. There was a high degree of agreement on stereotypes across all cultures which led the researchers to conclude that gender stereotypes may be universal. Additional research found that males tend to be associated with stronger and more active characteristics than females (Best, 2001); however recent research argues that culture shapes how some gender stereotypes are perceived. Researchers found that across cultures, individualistic traits were viewed as more masculine; however, collectivist cultures rated masculine traits as collectivist and not individualist (Cuddy et al., 2015). These findings provide support that gender stereotypes may be moderated by cultural values.

There are two major psychological theories that partially explain how children form their own gender roles after they learn to differentiate based on gender. Gender schema theory argues that children are active learners who essentially socialize themselves and actively organize others’ behavior, activities, and attributes into gender categories, which are known as schemas . These schemas then affect what children notice and remember later. People of all ages are more likely to remember schema-consistent behaviors and attributes than schema-inconsistent behaviors and attributes. So, people are more likely to remember men, and forget women, who are firefighters. They also misremember schema-inconsistent information. If research participants are shown pictures of someone standing at the stove, they are more likely to remember the person to be cooking if depicted as a woman, and the person to be repairing the stove if depicted as a man. By only remembering schema-consistent information, gender schemas strengthen more and more over time.

A second theory that attempts to explain the formation of gender roles in children is social learning theory which argues that gender roles are learned through reinforcement, punishment, and modeling. Children are rewarded and reinforced for behaving in concordance with gender roles and punished for breaking gender roles. In addition, social learning theory argues that children learn many of their gender roles by modeling the behavior of adults and older children and, in doing so, develop ideas about what behaviors are appropriate for each gender. Social learning theory has less support than gender schema theory but research shows that parents do reinforce gender-appropriate play and often reinforce cultural gender norms.

Gender Roles and Culture

Hofstede’s (2001) research revealed that on the Masculinity and Femininity dimension (MAS), cultures with high masculinity reported distinct gender roles, moralistic views of sexuality and encouraged passive roles for women. Additionally, these cultures discourage premarital sex for women but have no such restrictions for men. The cultures with the highest masculinity scores were: Japan, Italy, Austria and Venezuela. Cultures low in masculinity (high femininity) had gender roles that were more likely to overlap and encouraged more active roles for women. Sex before marriage was seen as acceptable for both women and men in these cultures. Four countries scoring lowest in masculinity were Norway, Denmark, Netherlands and Sweden. The United States is slightly more masculine than feminine on this dimension; however, these aspects of high masculinity are balanced by a need for individuality.

Culture and Psychology Copyright © 2020 by L D Worthy; T Lavigne; and F Romero is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License , except where otherwise noted.

Share This Book

Essay on Gender Stereotypes

Students are often asked to write an essay on Gender Stereotypes in their schools and colleges. And if you’re also looking for the same, we have created 100-word, 250-word, and 500-word essays on the topic.

Let’s take a look…

100 Words Essay on Gender Stereotypes

Introduction.

Gender stereotypes are general beliefs about behaviors, characteristics, and roles of men and women in society. They can limit individuals’ potential and opportunities.

Common Stereotypes

Men are often seen as strong and decisive, while women are considered nurturing and emotional. These stereotypes can limit personal growth and career choices.

Consequences

Stereotypes can lead to discrimination and unequal treatment. They can also affect self-esteem and mental health.

Breaking Stereotypes

Education and awareness are key to breaking gender stereotypes. Encouraging individuality and respect for everyone’s abilities can help create a more equal society.

250 Words Essay on Gender Stereotypes

Gender stereotypes are preconceived notions about the roles and behaviors appropriate for men and women. They are deeply ingrained in society and influence our behavior, expectations, and perceptions.

The Origin of Gender Stereotypes

The roots of gender stereotypes can be traced back to traditional societal structures. Historically, men were hunters and protectors, while women were gatherers and caregivers. These roles have been passed down generations, evolving into modern stereotypes.

Implications of Gender Stereotypes

These stereotypes limit individual growth and societal progress. They force individuals into predefined boxes, stifling their true potential. For instance, the stereotype that women are not good at math discourages them from pursuing STEM fields, while the belief that men should not show emotions hinders their mental health.

Breaking Down Stereotypes

It’s crucial to challenge these stereotypes to achieve gender equality. This can be done through education, promoting representation, and encouraging open dialogue. It’s also essential to challenge our own biases and question the stereotypes we unconsciously uphold.

Gender stereotypes are not only unfair but also counterproductive. They limit individuals and society as a whole. By actively challenging these stereotypes, we can work towards a more equitable and inclusive society.

500 Words Essay on Gender Stereotypes

Gender stereotypes are preconceived notions about the roles, characteristics, and behaviors of men and women. These stereotypes are deeply ingrained in our society and have significant implications on individual and societal levels. They are often perpetuated by media, educational systems, and social interactions, and can limit the potential and freedom of individuals, as well as perpetuate inequality and discrimination.

The origins of gender stereotypes can be traced back to traditional societal structures. Historically, men were seen as the providers, hunters, and protectors, while women were perceived as caregivers and homemakers. These roles were often dictated by physical attributes and the need for survival. However, as societies evolved, these roles became less relevant but remained ingrained in societal consciousness, leading to the perpetuation of gender stereotypes.

Gender stereotypes have far-reaching implications. They can limit opportunities and possibilities for individuals, leading to unequal outcomes in education, employment, and leadership roles. For instance, women are often stereotyped as being less capable in STEM fields, which can discourage them from pursuing careers in these areas. Similarly, men may face societal pressure to avoid careers perceived as feminine, such as nursing or teaching.

Furthermore, gender stereotypes can perpetuate harmful norms and behaviors. For example, the stereotype that men should be emotionally strong can deter them from seeking help for mental health issues, leading to adverse health outcomes. On the other hand, women are often objectified and sexualized due to prevalent stereotypes, contributing to issues such as body shaming and sexual harassment.

Challenging Gender Stereotypes

Challenging gender stereotypes requires collective efforts at various levels. Education plays a crucial role in breaking down these stereotypes. Schools and universities should promote a curriculum that encourages critical thinking about gender roles and stereotypes.

Media also plays a significant role in shaping societal perceptions. Hence, it is essential for media outlets to portray diverse and non-stereotypical images of men and women. This includes showcasing women in leadership roles and men in caregiving roles.

Moreover, individuals can challenge gender stereotypes in their everyday lives. This can be achieved by questioning traditional gender roles, promoting gender equality in personal and professional spaces, and encouraging open conversations about gender stereotypes.

In conclusion, gender stereotypes are deeply entrenched in our society and have significant implications. While they are rooted in historical societal structures, they are perpetuated by modern institutions and interactions. Therefore, challenging these stereotypes requires concerted efforts at individual, societal, and institutional levels. By promoting gender equality and challenging traditional notions of gender roles, we can create a more inclusive and equitable society.

That’s it! I hope the essay helped you.

If you’re looking for more, here are essays on other interesting topics:

• Essay on Gender Equality in India
• Essay on Gender Equality
• Essay on Life Below Water

Apart from these, you can look at all the essays by clicking here .

Happy studying!

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment.

Improve your English. Speak with confidence!

• Free Mini Course

• Posted in in ESL Conversation Questions

40 discussion questions about gender and gender roles

• Posted by by Learn English Every Day
• January 30, 2023
• Updated April 17, 2023

Practice your English speaking skills and engage in lively conversations with these discussion questions about gender and gender roles .

When actress Emma Watson addressed the UN , she famously said “It is time that we all see gender as a spectrum instead of two sets of opposing ideas.” It will be fascinating to see how you and your speaking partners feel about this important topic.

40 discussion questions about gender

• What are some differences between men and women?
• What are some similarities between men and women?
• Do you identify as one gender?
• What are your pronouns?
• Do you believe that gender is a construct? Why or why not?
• What are some gender stereotypes that men deal with?
• What are some gender stereotypes that women deal with?
• Do you think that single-sex or co-ed schools are better for students?
• What obligations does a father have to his family, if any?
• What obligations does a mother have to her family, if any?
• Can a mother fulfill a father’s obligations?
• Can father fulfill a mother’s obligations?
• Were gender roles traditional in your childhood home?
• Are women better than men at certain things?
• Are men better than women at certain things?
• Would you prefer to have a female boss, or a male boss? Why?
• Do you prefer to have female or male colleagues? Why?
• List as many male-dominated industries as you can.
• List as many female-dominated industries as you can.
• Do you agree with women fighting in the military? Why or why not?
• Do you think that women should be able to 
• Do you relate to male or female friends more easily? Why?
• Are all genders treated equally or differently in your country?
• Do you think men or women make better leaders?
• Does a leader’s gender make a difference?
• Has your country ever had a female leader?
• Does your country have a “macho” culture?
• Does your country have different laws based on gender?
• Is it legal for people to change their gender in your country?
• Do you think gender roles are changing in your country?
• Is it okay for clubs and societies to exclude people based on their gender?
• What barriers do men and women face in the workplace?
• What challenges do men and women face in society?
• What challenges do non-binary persons face in society?
• What challenges do transgender persons face in society?
• Should parents raise children differently, based on each child’s gender?
• Do you think society treats boys and girls differently?
• Is it okay for a girl to be a tomboy ?
• Is it okay for a boy to play with dolls?
• How are you expected to behave because of your gender?
• Have you ever seen or experienced sexism? What happened?
• Have you ever seen or experienced chauvinism? What happened?
• Why does humanity typically depict gods and deities as men?

What other ESL conversation questions and ESL discussion topics would you like us to write about next?

Post your suggestions in the comments below!

Get free English lessons via email

Subscribe to my newsletter and get English lessons & helpful resources once a week!

Unsubscribe anytime. For more details, review our Privacy Policy .

I agree to receive updates & promotions.

You have successfully joined our subscriber list.

Learn English Every Day

Follow us on YouTube for fun English lessons and helpful learning resources!

Post navigation

• Posted in in Quizzes

5 fun quizzes to test your English vocabulary

40 conversation questions about colors

ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

The multiple dimensions of gender stereotypes: a current look at men’s and women’s characterizations of others and themselves.

• 1 TUM School of Management, Technische Universität München, Munich, Germany
• 2 Amsterdam Business School, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, Netherlands
• 3 Department of Psychology, New York University, New York, NY, United States

We used a multi-dimensional framework to assess current stereotypes of men and women. Specifically, we sought to determine (1) how men and women are characterized by male and female raters, (2) how men and women characterize themselves, and (3) the degree of convergence between self-characterizations and charcterizations of one’s gender group. In an experimental study, 628 U.S. male and female raters described men, women, or themselves on scales representing multiple dimensions of the two defining features of gender stereotypes, agency and communality: assertiveness, independence, instrumental competence, leadership competence (agency dimensions), and concern for others, sociability and emotional sensitivity (communality dimensions). Results indicated that stereotypes about communality persist and were equally prevalent for male and female raters, but agency characterizations were more complex. Male raters generally descibed women as being less agentic than men and as less agentic than female raters described them. However, female raters differentiated among agency dimensions and described women as less assertive than men but as equally independent and leadership competent. Both male and female raters rated men and women equally high on instrumental competence. Gender stereotypes were also evident in self-characterizations, with female raters rating themselves as less agentic than male raters and male raters rating themselves as less communal than female raters, although there were exceptions (no differences in instrumental competence, independence, and sociability self-ratings for men and women). Comparisons of self-ratings and ratings of men and women in general indicated that women tended to characterize themselves in more stereotypic terms – as less assertive and less competent in leadership – than they characterized others in their gender group. Men, in contrast, characterized themselves in less stereotypic terms – as more communal. Overall, our results show that a focus on facets of agency and communality can provide deeper insights about stereotype content than a focus on overall agency and communality.

Introduction

There is no question that a great deal of progress has been made toward gender equality, and this progress is particularly evident in the workplace. There also is no question that the goal of full gender equality has not yet been achieved – not in pay ( AAUW, 2016 ) or position level ( Catalyst, 2016 ). In a recent interview study with female managers the majority of barriers for women’s advancement that were identified were consequences of gender stereotypes ( Peus et al., 2015 ). There is a long history of research in psychology that corroborates this finding (for reviews see Eagly and Sczesny, 2009 ; Heilman, 2012 ). These investigations support the idea that gender stereotypes can be impediments to women’s career advancement, promoting both gender bias in employment decisions and women’s self-limiting behavior ( Heilman, 1983 ).

This study is designed to investigate the current state of gender stereotypes about men and women using a multi-dimensional framework. Much of the original research on the content of gender stereotypes was conducted several decades ago (e.g., Rosenkrantz et al., 1968 ), and more recent research findings are inconsistent, some suggesting that there has been a change in traditional gender stereotypes (e.g., Duehr and Bono, 2006 ) and others suggesting there has not (e.g., Haines et al., 2016 ). Measures of stereotyping in these studies tend to differ, all operationalizing the constructs of agency and communality, the two defining features of gender stereotypes ( Abele et al., 2008 ), but in different ways. We propose that the conflict in findings may derive in part from the focus on different facets of these constructs in different studies. Thus, we seek to obtain a more complete picture of the specific content of today’s gender stereotypes by treating agency and communality, as multi-dimensioned constructs.

Gender stereotypes often are internalized by men and women, and we therefore focus both on how men and women are seen by others and how they see themselves with respect to stereotyped attributes. We also plan to compare and contrast charcterizations of men or women as a group with charcterizations of self, something not typically possible because these two types of characterizations are rarely measured in the same study. In sum, we have multiple objectives: We aim to develop a multi-dimensional framework for assessing current conceptions of men’s and women’s characteristics and then use it to consider how men and women are seen by male and female others, how men and women see themselves, and how these perceptions of self and others in their gender group coincide or differ. In doing so, we hope to demonstrate the benefits of viewing agency and communality as multidimensional constructs in the study of gender stereotypes.

Gender Stereotypes

Gender stereotypes are generalizations about what men and women are like, and there typically is a great deal of consensus about them. According to social role theory, gender stereotypes derive from the discrepant distribution of men and women into social roles both in the home and at work ( Eagly, 1987 , 1997 ; Koenig and Eagly, 2014 ). There has long been a gendered division of labor, and it has existed both in foraging societies and in more socioeconomically complex societies ( Wood and Eagly, 2012 ). In the domestic sphere women have performed the majority of routine domestic work and played the major caretaker role. In the workplace, women have tended to be employed in people-oriented, service occupations rather than things-oriented, competitive occupations, which have traditionally been occupied by men (e.g., Lippa et al., 2014 ). This contrasting distribution of men and women into social roles, and the inferences it prompts about what women and men are like, give rise to gender stereotypical conceptions ( Koenig and Eagly, 2014 ).

Accordingly, men are characterized as more agentic than women, taking charge and being in control, and women are characterized as more communal than men, being attuned to others and building relationships (e.g., Broverman et al., 1972 ; Eagly and Steffen, 1984 ). These two concepts were first introduced by Bakan (1966) as fundamental motivators of human behavior. During the last decades, agency (also referred to as “masculinity,” “instrumentality” or “competence”) and communality (also referred to as “communion,” “femininity,” “expressiveness,” or “warmth”) have consistently been the focus of research (e.g., Spence and Buckner, 2000 ; Fiske et al., 2007 ; Cuddy et al., 2008 ; Abele and Wojciszke, 2014 ). These dual tenets of social perception have been considered fundamental to gender stereotypes.

Stereotypes can serve an adaptive function allowing people to categorize and simplify what they observe and to make predictions about others (e.g., Devine and Sharp, 2009 ; Fiske and Taylor, 2013 ). However, stereotypes also can induce faulty assessments of people – i.e., assessments based on generalization from beliefs about a group that do not correspond to a person’s unique qualities. These faulty assessments can negatively or positively affect expectations about performance, and bias consequent decisions that impact opportunities and work outcomes for both men and women (e.g., Heilman, 2012 ; Heilman et al., 2015 ; Hentschel et al., 2018 ). Stereotypes about gender are especially influential because gender is an aspect of a person that is readily noticed and remembered ( Fiske et al., 1991 ). In other words, gender is a commonly occurring cue for stereotypic thinking ( Blair and Banaji, 1996 ).

Gender stereotypes are used not only to characterize others but also to characterize oneself ( Bem, 1974 ). The process of self-stereotyping can influence people’s identities in stereotype-congruent directions. Stereotyped characteristics can thereby be internalized and become part of a person’s gender identity – a critical aspect of the self-concept ( Ruble and Martin, 1998 ; Wood and Eagly, 2015 ). Young boys and girls learn about gender stereotypes from their immediate environment and the media, and they learn how to behave in gender-appropriate ways ( Deaux and LaFrance, 1998 ). These socialization experiences no doubt continue to exert influence later in life and, indeed, research has shown that men’s and women’s self-characterizations differ in ways that are stereotype-consistent ( Bem, 1974 ; Spence and Buckner, 2000 ).

Measurement of Gender Stereotypes

Gender stereotypes, and their defining features of agency and communality, have been measured in a variety of ways ( Kite et al., 2008 ). Researchers have investigated people’s stereotypical assumptions about how men and women differ in terms of, for example, ascribed traits (e.g., Williams and Best, 1990 ), role behaviors (e.g., Haines et al., 2016 ), occupations (e.g., Deaux and Lewis, 1984 ), or emotions (e.g., Plant et al., 2000 ). Researchers also have distinguished personality, physical, and cognitive components of gender stereotypes ( Diekman and Eagly, 2000 ). In addition, they have investigated how men’ and women’s self-characterizations differ in stereotype-consistent ways ( Spence and Buckner, 2000 ).

Today, the most common measures of gender stereotypes involve traits and attributes. Explicit measures of stereotyping entail responses to questionnaires asking for descriptions of men or women using Likert or bi-polar adjective scales (e.g., Kite et al., 2008 ; Haines et al., 2016 ), or asking for beliefs about the percentage of men and women possessing certain traits and attributes (e.g., McCauley and Stitt, 1978 ). Gender stereotypes have also been studied using implicit measures, using reaction time to measure associations between a gender group and a stereotyped trait or attribute (e.g., Greenwald and Banaji, 1995 ). Although implicit measures are used widely in some areas of research, our focus in the research reported here builds on the longstanding tradition of measuring gender stereotypes directly through the use of explicit measures.

Contemporary Gender Stereotypes

Researchers often argue that stereotypes are tenacious; they tend to have a self-perpetuating quality that is sustained by cognitive distortion ( Hilton and von Hippel, 1996 ; Heilman, 2012 ). However, stereotype maintenance is not only a product of the inflexibility of people’s beliefs but also a consequence of the societal roles women and men enact ( Eagly and Steffen, 1984 ; Koenig and Eagly, 2014 ). Therefore, the persistence of traditional gender stereotypes is fueled by skewed gender distribution into social roles. If there have been recent advances toward gender equality in workforce participation and the rigid representation of women and men in long-established gender roles has eased, then might the content of gender stereotypes have evolved to reflect this change?

The answer to this question is not straightforward; the degree to which there has been a true shift in social roles is unclear. On the one hand, there are more women in the workforce than ever before. In 1967, 36% of U.S. households with married couples were made up of a male provider working outside the home and a female caregiver working inside the home, but now only 19% of U.S. households concur with this division ( Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2017 ). Moreover, women increasingly pursue traditionally male careers, and there are more women in roles of power and authority. For example, today women hold almost 40% of management positions in the United States ( Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2017 ). In addition, more men are taking on a family’s main caretaker role ( Ladge et al., 2015 ). Though families with only the mother working are still rare (5% in 2016 compared to 2% in 1970), the average number of hours fathers spent on child care per week increased from 2.5 to 8 h in the last 40 years ( Pew Research Center, 2018 ). In addition, the majority of fathers perceive parenting as extremely important to their identity ( Pew Research Center, 2018 ).

On the other hand, role segregation, while somewhat abated, has by no means been eliminated. Despite their increased numbers in the labor force, women still are concentrated in occupations that are perceived to require communal, but not agentic attributes. For example, the three most common occupations for women in the U.S. involve care for others (elementary and middle school teacher, registered nurse, and secretary and administrative assistant; U.S. Department of Labor, 2015 ), while men more than women tend to work in occupations requiring agentic attributes (e.g., senior management positions, construction, or engineering; Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2016b ). Sociological research shows that women are underrepresented in occupations that are highly competitive, inflexible, and require high levels of physical skill, while they are overrepresented in occupations that place emphasis on social contributions and require interpersonal skills ( Cortes and Pan, 2017 ). Moreover, though men’s home and family responsibilities have increased, women continue to perform a disproportionate amount of domestic work ( Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2016a ), have greater childcare responsibilities ( Craig and Mullan, 2010 ; Kan et al., 2011 ), and continue to be expected to do so ( Park et al., 2008 ).

Thus, there is reason both to expect traditional gender stereotypes to dominate current conceptions of women and men, and to expect them to not. Relevant research findings are conflicting. For example, a large investigation found that over time managers have come to perceive women as more agentic ( Duehr and Bono, 2006 ). However, other investigations have found gender stereotypes to have changed little over time ( Heilman et al., 1989 ) or even to have intensified ( Lueptow et al., 2001 ). A recent study replicating work done more than 30 years ago found minimal change, with men and women still described very differently from one another and in line with traditional stereotyped conceptions ( Haines et al., 2016 ).

There also have been conflicting findings concerning self-charcterizations, especially in women’s self-views of their agency. Findings by Abele (2003) suggest that self-perceived agency increases with career success. Indeed, there has been indication that women’s self-perceived deficit in agency has abated over time ( Twenge, 1997 ) or that it has abated in some respects but not others ( Spence and Buckner, 2000 ). However, a recent meta-analysis has found that whereas women’s self-perceptions of communality have decreased over time, their self-perceptions of agency have remained stable since the 1990s ( Donnelly and Twenge, 2017 ). Yet another study found almost no change in men’s and women’s self-characterizations of their agency and communality since the 1970s ( Powell and Butterfield, 2015 ).

There are many possible explanations for these conflicting results. A compelling one concerns the conceptualization of the agency and communality constructs and the resulting difference in the traits and behaviors used to measure them. In much of the gender stereotypes literature, agency and communality have been loosely used to denote a set of varied attributes, and different studies have operationalized agency and communality in different ways. We propose that agency and communality are not unitary constructs but rather are comprised of multiple dimensions, each distinguishable from one another. We also propose that considering these dimensions separately will enhance the clarity of our understanding of current differences in the characterization of women and men, and provide a more definitive picture of gender stereotypes today.

Dimensions of Communality and Agency

There has been great variety in how the agency construct has been operationalized, and the specific terms used to measure agency often differ from study to study (e.g., McAdams et al., 1996 ; Rudman and Glick, 2001 ; Abele et al., 2008 ; Schaumberg and Flynn, 2017 ). Furthermore, distinctions between elements of agency have been identified: In a number of studies competence has been shown to be distinct from agency as a separate factor ( Carrier et al., 2014 ; Koenig and Eagly, 2014 ; Abele et al., 2016 ; Rosette et al., 2016 ), and in others, the agency construct has been subdivided into self-reliance and dominance ( Schaumberg and Flynn, 2017 ). There also has been great variety in how the communality construct has been operationalized ( Hoffman and Hurst, 1990 ; Fiske et al., 2007 ; Abele et al., 2008 ; Brosi et al., 2016 ; Hentschel et al., 2018 ). Although there have been few efforts to pinpoint specific components of communality, recent work focused on self-judgments in cross-cultural contexts has subdivided it into facets of warmth and morality ( Abele et al., 2016 ).

The multiplicity of items used to represent agency and communality in research studies involving stereotyping is highly suggestive that agentic and communal content can be decomposed into different facets. In this research we seek to distinguish dimensions underlying both the agency and the communality constructs. Our aim is to lend further credence to the idea that the fundamental constructs of agency and communality are multifaceted, and to supply researchers with dimensions of each that may be useful for study of stereotype evaluation and change.

While we are proposing that agency and communality can be broken down into components, we are not claiming that the use of these overarching constructs in earlier research has been an error. In the vast majority of studies in which communality or agency has been measured the scale reliabilities have been high and the items highly correlated. However, internal consistency does not necessarily indicate that the individual items included are unidimensional ( Schmitt, 1996 ; Sijtsma, 2008 ), or that the entirety of the construct is being captured in a particular measure. Moreover, there are multiple meanings included in these constructs as they have been discussed and operationalized in gender research. Therefore, we propose that breaking them down into separate dimensions will provide finer distinctions about contemporary characterizations of men and women.

Perceiver Sex

Findings often demonstrate that male and female raters are equally likely to characterize women and men in stereotypic terms ( Heilman, 2001 , 2012 ). This suggests that stereotypes outweigh the effects of evaluators’ gender identities and, because men and women live in the same world, they see the world similarly. However, the steady shift of women’s societal roles and its different implications for men and women may affect the degree to which men and women adhere to traditional gender stereotypes.

On the face of it, one would expect women to hold traditional gender stereotypes less than men. The increase of women in the workforce generally, and particularly in domains typically reserved for men, is likely to be very salient to women. Such changes have distinct implications for them – implications that can impact their expectations, aspirations, and actual experiences. As a result, women may be more attentive than men to shifts in workplace and domestic roles, and more accepting of these roles as the new status quo. They consequently may be more amenable to incorporating updated gender roles into their understanding of the world, diminishing stereotypic beliefs.

Unlike women, who may be likely to embrace recent societal changes, men may be prone to reject or dismiss them. The same societal changes that present new opportunities for women can present threats to men, who may see themselves as losing their rightful place in the social order (see also Sidanius and Pratto, 1999 ; Knowles and Lowery, 2012 ). Thus, men may be less willing to accept modern-day changes in social roles or to see these changes as definitive. There may be little impetus for them to relinquish stereotypic beliefs and much impetus for them to retain these beliefs. If this is the case, then men would be expected to adhere more vigorously to traditional gender stereotypes than women.

Self-Stereotyping Versus Stereotyping of One’s Gender Group

Although gender stereotypes impact charcterizations of both self and others, there may be a difference in the degree to which stereotypes dominate in self- and other-characterizations. That is, women may see themselves differently than they see women in general and men may see themselves differently than they see men in general; although they hold stereotypes about their gender groups, they may not apply them to themselves. Indeed, attribution theory ( Jones and Nisbett, 1987 ), which suggests that people are more prone to attribute behavior to stable personality traits when viewing someone else than when viewing oneself, gives reason to argue that stereotypes are more likely to be used when characterizing others in one’s gender group than when characterizing oneself. A similar case can be made for construal level theory ( Trope and Liberman, 2010 ), which suggests that psychological distance promotes abstraction rather than attention to individuating information. Moreover, the impact of societal changes that affect adherence to gender stereotypes is apt to have greater immediacy and personal impact for self, and therefore be more reflected in self-characterizations than in characterizations of others.

Some studies have compared the use of stereotypes in characterizing self and others. In an early study ( Rosenkrantz et al., 1968 ), each participating student was asked to rate men, women, and self on a number of characteristics. The researchers found that self-characterizations of men and women showed less evidence of stereotypes than characterizations of others. Similar results were found in studies on accuracy of stereotyping ( Martin, 1987 ; Allen, 1995 ). Using instrumenal (i.e., agentic) and expressive (i.e., communal) attributes from the BSRI and PAQ scales, Spence and Buckner (2000) found very little relation between stereotypes about others and self-characterizations.

There is reason to think that some dimensions of gender stereotypes are more likely than others to be differentially subscribed to when characterizing self than when characterizing others. For example, there is a tendency to boost self-esteem and adopt descriptors that are self-enhancing when describing oneself ( Swann, 1990 ), and this may have conseqences whether these descriptors are consistent or inconsistent with gender stereotypes. If this is so, gender may be an important factor; there are likely particular aspects of gender stereotypes that are more (or less) acceptable to women and men, affecting the degree to which they are reflected in men’s and women’s self-descriptions as compared to their description of their gender group. However, there also is reason to believe that individuals will embrace positive stereotypes and reject negative stereotypes as descriptive not only of themselves but also of their close in-groups ( Biernat et al., 1996 ), suggesting that there will be little difference between characterizations of oneself and one’s gender group. Therefore, to obtain a full picture of the current state of gender stereotypes and their impact on perceptions, we believe it important to compare self-characterizations and characterizations of one’s gender group on specific dimensions of gender stereotypes.

Overview of the Research

In this study, we develop a multidimensional framework for measuring different elements of agency and communality to provide an assessment of contemporary gender stereotypes and their impact on charcterizations about others and self. Using the multidimensional framework, we sought to determine (1) if men and women differ in their gender stereotypes; (2) if men and women differ in their self-characterizations; and (3) if men’s and women’s self-characterizations differ from their characterizations of their gender groups. In each instance we compare the results using the traditional unidimensional framework for measuring agency and communality with the results using the newly formulated multidimensional framework.

Materials and Methods

Participants.

Six hundred and twenty-nine participants (61% female, all U.S. residents) were recruited online via Amazon Mechanical Turk (MTurk), providing a more representative sample of the U.S. population than student samples. MTurk samples tend to be slightly more diverse than and similarly reliable as other types of internet samples used in psychological research ( Paolacci et al., 2010 ; Buhrmester et al., 2011 ), but nonetheless are convenience samples rather than true representative samples based on demographic data (see e.g., Pew Research Center, 2017 ). In our sample, ages ranged from 19 to 83, with a mean age of 34.5 years ( SD = 13.1). In addition, education ranged from those who had not attended college (17%), had some college education (33%), had graduated from college (37%), to those who had graduate degrees (13%). 77.6% self-identified as White, 8.4% Asian, 7.0% African American, 4.8% Hispanic, and 2.2% other. 1 The survey link was visible only to U.S. residents who had a greater than 95% acceptance rate of previous MTurk work, an indication that their earlier work had been handled responsibly. In addition, we included a question asking participants to indicate whether they filled out the questionnaire honestly (we assured them that their answer on this question would not have any consequences for their payment). One person indicated that he had not filled out the survey honestly and was excluded from the analyses.

We conducted an experiment with two independent variables: rater gender (male or female) and target group (men in general, women in general, or self). The target group manipulation was randomly assigned to male and female raters. Subsets of this overall design were used to address our specific research questions.

Participants were told that we were interested in people perception, and they were asked either to rate men in general ( N = 215) women in general ( N = 208) or themselves ( N = 205) on an attribute inventory representing various dimensions of agency and communality 2 . The attributes were presented in differing orders to participants, randomized by the survey tool we used. Ratings were made using a 7-point scale with responses ranging from 1 (“not at all”) to 7 (“very much”).

Scale Construction

Using an inductive procedure, scale development proceeded in four steps. In the first step, we identified a set of 74 attributes, representative of how agency and communality have been measured by researchers in the past (consisting of adjectives, traits, and descriptors; see Appendix Tables A , B for the full list). The attributes were chosen from earlier investigations of gender stereotypes, including those of Broverman et al. (1972) , Schein (1973) , Spence and Helmreich (1978) , Heilman et al. (1995) , Fiske et al. (1999) , Diekman and Eagly (2000) , and Oswald and Lindstedt (2006) . They were selected to represent a broad array of agentic and communal attributes with a minimal amount of redundancy.

In the second step, three judges (the first two authors and another independent researcher) sorted the descriptive attributes into categories based on their conceptual similarity. The total set of attributes measured was included in the sorting task, and there was no limit placed on the number of categories to be created and no requirements for the number of attributes to be included within each created category. Specifically, the instructions were to use as many categories as needed to sort the attributes into conceptually distinct groupings. The sorting results were then discussed by the judges and two additional researchers. During the discussion, agreement was reached about the number of categories necessary to best capture the distinct dimensions of the sorted attributes. Attributes for which no consensus was reached about category placement were omitted. Then decisions were made about how each of the categories should be labeled. Seven categories were identified, four of which represented dimensions of agency – instrumental competence, leadership competence, assertiveness, independence – and three of which represented dimensions of communality – concern for others, sociability, emotional sensitivity.

In the third step, we had a different set of three independent judges (all graduate students in a psychology program) do a sorting of the retained attributes into the labeled categories. This was done to make sure that their sorting conformed to the identified categories; items that were misclassified by any of the judges were eliminated from the item set.

Finally, in a fourth step, we used confirmatory factor analysis procedures to further hone our categories. Following standard procedures on increasing model fit (e.g., Byrne, 2010 ), we eliminated all items that showed a low fit to the created categories. We later conducted a conclusive confirmatory factor analysis, for which the results are reported in the next section.

As a result of these steps, we created seven scales, each composed of the attributes remaining in one of the seven designated categories. The scales ranged from 3 to 4 items, the coefficient alphas all surpassed 0.75, and all corrected item-scale correlations surpassed 0.40 ( Field, 2006 ). Table 1 presents the attributes comprising each of the scales as well as the Cronbach alphas and corrected-item-scale correlations.

Table 1. Dimension scales, scale items, and reliability information.

The four scales composed of agentic attributes and denoting dimensions of agency were: instrumental competence, leadership competence, assertiveness, and independence. Thus, the sorting process not only distinguished between competence and other elements of agency (as has been suggested by others like Carrier et al., 2014 ), but further decomposed the non-competence elements of agency into dimensions of assertiveness and independence. Assertiveness concerns acting on the world and taking charge. Independence connotes self-reliance and acting on one’s own, free of the influence of others. Furthermore, competence was subdivided into two separate dimensions – one focused on performance execution (instrumental competence), and the other focused on capability to perform as a leader (leadership competence). Both leadership competence and assertiveness imply high social power whereas instrumental competence and independence are not typically associated with power relations.

The three scales composed of communal attributes and denoting dimensions of communality were: concern for others, sociability, and emotional sensitivity. Concern for others and sociability both entail a focus on others, but the former involves a one-way relationship of giving and nurturance while the latter involves a transactional relationship focused on relationship building. Emotional sensitivity implies an orientation that focuses on feelings as an antecedent or consequence of interactions with others.

Confirmatory Factor Analysis

We conducted a confirmatory factor analysis using the R package lavaan ( Rosseel, 2012 ) to test the factor structure of the four final agency scales and the three final communality scales. Results revealed that for agency, the theoretically assumed four-factor model (i.e., instrumental competence, leadership competence, assertiveness, and independence as first-order factors) provided adequate fit (χ 2 = 370.224, df = 84, p < 0.001, χ 2 /df = 4.41, CFI = 0.947, RMSEA = 0.076, SRMR = 0.045) and also was more suitable than a one-factor model in which all agency items loaded on a single factor (χ 2 = 813.318, df = 90, p < 0.001, χ 2 /df = 9.04, CFI = 0.866, RMSEA = 0.116, SRMR = 0.068). A comparison of the two models showed that the four-factor agency model differed significantly from the one-factor model and was thus preferable (Δχ 2 = 443.09, df = 6, p < 0.001). Similarly, for communality the theoretically posited three-factor model (i.e., concern for others, sociability, and emotional sensitivity as first-order factors) provided acceptable fit (χ 2 = 326.000, df = 41, p < 0.001, χ 2 /df = 7.95, CFI = 0.931, RMSEA = 0.108, SRMR = 0.048) 3 and was more suitable than the one-factor model in which all communality items loaded on a single factor (χ 2 = 359.803, df = 44, p < 0.001, χ 2 /df = 7.95, CFI = 0.924, RMSEA = 0.110, SRMR = 0.048). A comparison of the two models showed that the three-factor communality model differed significantly from the one-factor model and was therefore preferable (Δχ 2 = 33.80, df = 3, p < 0.001). Overall, these results indicated that even though there were high correlations among the agency scales and also among the communality scales (as we would expect given our idea that in each case the multiple scales are part of the same construct; see Table 2 ), the four scales for agency and the three scales for communality represent different dimensions of these constructs.

Table 2. Descriptive statistics and intercorrelations of agentic and communal dimension scales.

Overall Measures

To provide a point of comparison for our multi-dimensional framework, we also determined scales for overall agency and overall communality. In other words, the 15 agency items were combined into one overall agency scale (α = 0.93) and the 11 communality items were combined into one overall communality scale (α = 0.93).

Preliminary Analyses: Rater Age and Education Level

Because of potential consequences of raters’ age and education level on the use of gender stereotypes (younger and more educated people might be less likely to adhere to them), we conducted initial analyses to identify their independent and interactive effects. We did not have the opportunity to do the same for race because our subsamples of Asian, African American, and Hispanic participants were not large enough. To determine whether there were differences in the pattern of responses depending upon the age of the rater, we chose the age of 40 as a midlife indicator, divided our sample into two age groups (39 years and younger, 40 years and older), and included age as an additional independent variable in our analyses. Results indicated no main effects or interactions involving age in the ANOVAs conducted. We also divided our sample into two education level groups (those who had graduated from college or had advanced degrees and those who had not graduated from college), and included educational level as an additional independent variable in our analyses. We found no main effects or interactions involving educational level in the ANOVAs. As a consequence we combined data from both younger and older participants and from those who were and were not college educated in the analyses reported below.

Main Analyses

To address our research questions, we conducted a series of ANOVAs on subsets of our participant sample. For each question, we first conducted ANOVAs on the overall agency scale and the overall communality scale. Then, to determine whether the results differed for different agency and communality dimensions, we conducted mixed-model ANOVAs that included either agency dimension (instrumental competence, leadership competence, assertiveness, independence) or communality dimension as a within-subjects factor (concern for others, sociability, and emotional sensitivity). Fisher’s least significant difference (LSD) method was used to test the question-relevant planned comparisons.

Do Men and Women Differ in Their Gender Stereotypes?

We used a 2 × 2 ANOVA, with rater gender (male, female) and target group (men in genereal, women in general) to assess differences in men’s and women’s gender stereotypes. We first analyzed the overall agency and communality ratings, and then conducted a 2 × 2 × 4 mixed-model ANOVA including the agency dimensions, and a 2 × 2 × 3 mixed-model ANOVA including the communality dimensions. The mixed-model ANOVA results are presented in Table 3 . We followed up with LSD comparisons (see Table 4 ).

Table 3. Results of 2 × 2 × 4 Agency ANOVA and 2 × 2 × 3 Communality ANOVA for stereotype ratings.

Table 4. Means, standard deviations, and LSD results of stereotype ratings.

The 2 × 2 ANOVA results for the overall agency ratings indicated a main effect for both rater gender, F (1,418) = 15.10, p < 0.001, η p 2 = 0.04, and target group, F (1,418) = 5.52, p = 0.019, η p 2 = 0.01. The results of the 2 × 2 × 4 mixed-model ANOVA, including the four agency dimensions as a within-subject factor, repeated the main effects for rater gender and target group and also indicated a main effect for agency dimension and an interaction between agency dimension and target group (see Table 3 ), suggesting that there were differences in ratings depending on the agency dimension.

Differences in ratings of men in general and women in general

LSD comparisons (see Table 4 ) of the overall agency ratings indicated that male raters rated women in general as lower in overall agency than men in general. They further indicated that female raters rated women in general and men in general as equally agentic. LSD comparisons of the individual agency scales indicated that this result held true for most of the agency dimensions. With the exception of the instrumental competence dimension (on which there were no differences in ratings of women and men in general whether the rater was male or female), male raters rated women in general lower than men in general on the agency dimensions (leaderhip competence, assertiveness, and independence). In contrast to the ratings of male raters but in line with the overall agency result, female raters rated women in general no differently than they rated men in general in leadership competence and independence. Yet, in contrast to the results of the overall agency ratings, female raters differentiated between women and men in ratings of assertiveness. That is, much like male raters, female raters rated women in general as less assertive than men in general. Figure 1 displays the results for the agency dimensions.

Figure 1. Ratings of agency dimensions (instrumental competence, leadership competence, assertiveness, independence) of men in general and women in general by male and female raters.

Rater gender differences in target group characterizations

Additional LSD comparisons (again see Table 4 ) lent further insight into the source of the gender discrepancy in the comparative ratings of women and men in general. Comparisons of the overall agency ratings indicated that ratings of men in general did not differ as a result of rater gender, but women in general were rated lower by male as compared to female raters. LSD comparisons of the agency dimensions were in line with the overall agency result in ratings of women in general – they were rated lower by male raters as compared to female raters on all four agency dimensions. However, comparisons of the agency dimensions in ratings of men in general were not uniform and deviated from the overall agency results. Although men in general were rated no differently by male and female raters on the instrumental competence, assertiveness, or independence dimensions, female as compared to male raters rated men in general higher in leadership competence (again see Figure 1 ).

Communality

A 2 (rater gender: male, female) × 2 (target group: men in general, women in general) ANOVA of the overall communality ratings indicated only a main effect for target group, F (1,418) = 88.68, p < 0.001, η p 2 = 0.18. The 2 × 2 × 3 mixed-model ANOVA (see Table 3 ), including the three communality dimensions as a within-subject factor, indicated main effects for target group, rater gender, and communality dimension as well as significant interactions between target group and rater gender, between communality dimension and target group, between communality dimension and rater type, and a three-way interaction.

LSD comparisons (see Table 4 ) for overall communality indicated that men in general were rated lower in communality than women in general by both male and female raters. In line with this overall finding, results of the LSD comparisons indicated that both female and male raters rated men in general as lower than women in general on all three communality dimensions: concern for others, sociability, and emotional sensitivity. Thus, using the overall measure yielded the same information as did the multidimensional measure.

Additional LSD comparisons (again see Table 4 ) of the communality ratings indicated that both male and female raters rated men in general similarly in communality, but female raters rated women in general higher in communality than male raters did. LSD comparisons of male and female raters rating men in general using the three communality dimensions were aligned with the overall communality result: male and female raters did not differ in ratings of concern for others, sociability, or emotional sensitivity. However, when rating women in general, results of the LSD comparisons of male and female raters were aligned with the overall measure result for only two of the communality dimensions: Female raters rated women in general higher in concern for others and emotional sensitivity than male raters did. On the dimension of sociability, male and female raters did not differ in their ratings of women in general.

Do Men and Women Differ in Their Self-Characterizations?

We used a one-way ANOVA to assess differences in men’s and women’s self-characterizations. We first analyzed the overall agency and communality ratings, and then conducted a mixed-model 2 × 4 ANOVA including the agency dimensions, and a 2 × 3 mixed-model ANOVA including the communality dimensions as a within-subject variable (see Table 5 ). We again followed up with LSD comparisons (see Table 6 ).

Table 5. 2 × 4 Agency ANOVA and 2 × 3 Communality ANOVA for self-ratings.

Table 6. Means (and standard deviations) and LSD results of self-ratings.

ANOVA results of the self-ratings of male and female raters on the overall measure of agency indicated no significant effect for rater gender, F (1,204) = 1.67, p = 0.198, η p 2 = 0.01. However, results of the 2 × 4 mixed model ANOVA, with agency dimensions as the within-subject factor, indicated a main effect for agency dimension and an interaction between agency dimension and rater gender, suggesting that self-ratings differed depending on the agency dimension in question (see Table 5 ). LSD comparisons (see Table 6 ) of overall agency showed that, as was indicated by the non-significant gender main effects, women rated themselves as equally agentic as men. Yet, the results for the analyses including the four agency dimensions indicated that only findings for instrumental competence and independence were consisent with the pattern of results for the overall agency ratings (there were no differences in the self-ratings of female and male raters). There were, however, significant differences in ratings of leadership competence and in ratings of assertiveness. For both of these dimensions of agency, women rated themselves lower than men did (see Figure 2 ).

Figure 2. Ratings of agency dimensions (instrumental competence, leadership competence, assertiveness, independence) by male and female self-raters.

Results of the ANOVA of the self-ratings of male and female raters indicated a rater gender main effect, F (1,204) = 5.42, p = 0.021, η p 2 = 0.03. Results of a 2 × 3 mixed-model ANOVA (again see Table 5 ) with communality dimension as the within-subjects factor, indicated significant main effects for rater gender and communality dimensions. LSD comparisons (again see Table 6 ), in line with the main effect for rater gender, indicated that men rated themselves lower on overall communality than women. LSD comparisons on the dimension scales indicated that, consistent with the overall communality results, men rated themselves as less concerned for others and less emotionally sensitive than women. However, in contrast to the results for overall communality, there was no difference in how men and women characterized themselves in terms of sociability (see Figure 3 ).

Figure 3. Ratings of communality dimensions (concern for others, emotional sensitivity, sociability) by male and female self-raters.

Do Men’s and Women’s Self-Characterizations Differ From Their Characterizations of Their Gender Groups?

We used a 2 × 2 ANOVA, with rater gender (male, female) and target group (self, men in general when rater was male or women in general when rater was female) to assess differences in men’s and women’s self characterizations and same-sex others‘ characterizations of their gender groups. We first analyzed the overall agency and communality ratings, and then again conducted a 2 × 2 × 4 mixed-model ANOVA including our agency dimensions, and a 2 × 2 × 3 mixed-model ANOVA including our communality dimensions (see Table 7 ) and once more followed up with LSD comparisons (see Table 8 ).

Table 7. 2 × 2 × 4 Agency ANOVA and 2 × 2 × 3 Communality ANOVA for self-ratings versus target group ratings.

Table 8. LSD comparisons of self-ratings versus target group ratings.

The 2 × 2 ANOVA results for the overall agency measure indicated no significant main effect for rater gender, F (1,397) = 2.19, p = 0.139, η p 2 = 0.00, or target group, F (1,397) = 0.013, p = 0.909, η p 2 = 0.00, but a marginally signicant interaction between them, F (1,397) = 2.77, p = 0.097, η p 2 = 0.01. The 2 × 2 × 4 mixed-model ANOVA including the agency dimensions as a within-subjects factor also indicated no significant main effects for rater gender or for target group and again a marginally significant interaction between them. It also indicated a significant main effect for agency dimension and significant interactions of dimension with both rater gender and target group, as well as a three-way interaction between rater gender, target group, and agency dimension (see Table 7 ).

Men’s self-ratings versus ratings of men in general

LSD comparisons (see Table 8 , means and standard deviations are displayed in Tables 4 , 6 ) of overall agency indicated that male raters rated themselves as more agentic than male raters rated men in general. Results for the agency dimensions were more varied: For the independence and instrumental competence dimensions results were in line with the overall agency result, but male raters rated themselves no differently in leadership competence or assertiveness than male raters rated men in general (see Figure 4 ).

Figure 4. Ratings of agency dimensions (instrumental competence, leadership competence, assertiveness, independence) by male raters rating self and men in general.

Women’s self-ratings versus ratings of women in general

LSD comparisons (see Table 8 , means and standard deviations are displayed in Tables 4 , 6 ) of the overall agency ratings indicated that female raters rated themselves no differently than female raters rated women in general. However, comparisons of the four agency dimensions depicted a different pattern. Although ratings of independence were in line with the overall agency result, female raters rated themselves higher in instrumental competence than female raters rated women in general. Most striking, however, were the differences in ratings on the leadership competence and assertiveness dimensions. In contrast to the findings for overall agency, in each of these cases female raters‘ ratings of themselves were significantly lower than female raters‘ ratings of women in general (see Figure 5 ). The differences in self-ratings of assertiveness and leadership competence marked the only instance in which there was a more negative characterization of self than of one’s gender group.

Figure 5. Ratings of agency dimensions (instrumental competence, leadership competence, assertiveness, independence) by female raters rating self and women in general.

The 2 × 2 ANOVA results for the overall communality measure indicated a main effect for rater gender, F (1,397) = 19.03, p < 0.001, η p 2 = 0.01, and target group, F (1,397) = 42.92, p < 0.001, η p 2 = 0.10 as well as a significant interaction, F (1,397) = 10.51, p = 0.001, η p 2 = 0.03. The 2 × 2 × 3 mixed-model ANOVA including the communality dimensions as a within-subjects factor indicated significant main effects for rater gender, for target group, and communality dimension as well as a significant interaction between rater gender and target group, between rater gender and communality dimension, and between target group and communality dimension (see Table 7 ).

LSD comparisons (see Table 8 , means and standard deviations are displayed in Tables 4 , 6 ) of overall communality indicated that male raters rated themselves as more communal than male raters rated men in general. LSD comparisons of the three communality dimension scales were consistent with the finding for overall communality. Male raters rated themselves significantly higher than male raters rated men in general in concern for others, sociability and emotional sensitivity (see Figure 6 ).

Figure 6. Ratings of communality dimensions (concern for others, emotional sensitivity, sociability) by male raters rating self and men in general.

Women’s Self-Ratings Versus Ratings of Women in General

LSD comparisons (see Table 8 , means and standard deviations are displayed in Tables 4 , 6 ) of the overall communality ratings indicated that there was no difference in how female raters rated themselves and how female raters rated women in general. LSD comparisons for sociability and emotional sensitivity were consistent with this finding. However, female raters rated themselves higher in concern for others than they rated women in general (see Figure 7 ).

Figure 7. Ratings of communality dimensions (concern for others, emotional sensitivity, sociability) by female raters rating self and women in general.

It was the objective of this research to investigate gender stereotyping of others and self. To do so, we aimed to take into account multiple dimensions of the agency and communality constructs. It was our contention that perceptions on some of these dimensions of agency and communality would differ from one another, and that there would be a benefit in viewing them separately. Our results support this idea. While there were overall findings for agency and communality, analyses of individual aspects of them were not always consistent with these findings. What often appeared to be a general effect when using the overall measures of agency and communality in fact proved to be more textured and differentiated when the multidimensional framework was used. These results support the idea that distinguishing between different agency and communality facets can offer a deeper, more nuanced understanding of gender stereotypes today. Indeed, some important information appears to get lost by only focusing on the overall constructs.

Answers to Our Research Questions

Current stereotypes.

Our results clearly indicate that gender stereotypes persist. They also indicate that stereotypes about agency were more prevalent for male than for female raters. Specifically, male raters described women in general as lower in most aspects of agency than men in general, and also rated women in general lower on each of the agency dimensions than female raters did. Nonetheless, female raters were not stereotype-free with respect to agency: they described women in general as less assertive than men in general and rated men in general as more leadership competent than male raters did. These findings were masked by the overall measure of agency, which indicated no differences in agency ratings.

Stereotypes about communality also were strongly indicated by our data, but their strength did not tend to differ greatly between male and female raters. All participants rated women higher than men on the three communality dimensions.

Self-Stereotyping

Our results showed that men’s and women’s self-characterizations differed in line with gender stereotypes. Despite the overall agency measure indicating no difference in self-ratings of agency, the analyses incorporating dimensions of agency painted a different picture. Whereas there was no difference in the self-characterizations of men and women in instrumental competence or independence, women rated themselves lower than men in leadership competence and assertiveness. There also were differences in communality self-ratings. Though men tended to rate themselves as generally less communal than women did (as less concerned for others and less emotionally sensitive), their ratings of sociability did not differ from women’s.

Self-Characterizations Versus Characterizations of One’s Gender Group

Self-characterizations were often found to differ from characterizations of one’s gender group. Male raters rated themselves as higher in independence and instrumental competence, but no different in assertiveness or leadership competence than they rated men in general. Female raters rated themselves higher in instrumental competence but lower in assertiveness and leadership competence than they rated women in general. These findings are at odds with the results of the overall agency ratings, which imply that male raters consistently rated themselves higher in agency, and that female raters consistently rated themselves no differently than they rated their gender group.

There also were differences between self-ratings and characterizations of one’s gender group on the communality dimensions. While female raters only rated themselves higher than they rated women in general in concern for others, male raters rated themselves as higher than they rated men in general on all three dimensions of communality.

Implications

What does our analysis of current stereotypes tell us? On the one hand, our results indicate that despite dramatic societal changes many aspects of traditional gender stereotypes endure. Both male and female respondents viewed men in general as being more assertive than women in general, and also viewed women in general as more concerned about others, sociable and emotionally sensitive than men in general. On the other hand, our results indicate important departures from traditional views. This can be seen in the findings that unlike male respondents, female respondents indicated no gender deficit in how independent or how competent in leadership they perceived other women to be.

Self-descriptions also tended to conform to traditional gender stereotypes, with men describing themselves as more assertive and more competent in leadership than women did, and women describing themselves as more concerned about others and more emotional than men did. However, there were aspects of agency and communality for which self-characterizations of men and women did not differ. Women’s self-ratings of independence and instrumental competence were as high as men’s self-ratings, and men’s self-ratings of sociability were as high as women’s self-ratings. Together with the findings about characterizations of men and women in general, these results attest not only to the possible changing face of stereotypes, but also highlight the importance of considering specific dimensions of both agency and communality in stereotype assessment.

It should be noted that our results suggest a greater differentiation between the multidimensional results for agency characterizations than for communality characterizations. That is, the multidmenstional results more often aligned with the results of the overall measure when the focus of measurement was communality than when it was agency. It is not clear at this point whether this is because of the particular items included in our scales or because communality is a more coherent construct. But, based on our results, it would appear that the use of a multidimensional framework is of particular value when the measurement of agency is the focus – something that should be noted by those involved in studying stereotype assessment and change.

Competence Perceptions

The lack of similarity in the pattern of results for the two competence dimensions (instrumental competence and leadership competence) is interesting. Although there were differences in ratings on the leadership competence dimension, ratings on the instrumental competence dimension did not differ when comparing ratings of men and women in general or when comparing male and female raters’ self-characterizations. It thus appears that there is an aspect of competence on which women are rated as highly as men – the wherewithal to get the work done. However, caution is urged in interpreting this finding. The attributes comprising the instrumental competence scale can be seen as indicative of conscientiousness and willingness to work hard, attributes often associated with women as well as men. Thus there is a question about whether instrumental competence is really a component of the agency construct, a question also prompted by its pattern of correlations with the other dependent measure scales (see also Carrier et al., 2014 ).

The leadership competence ratings paint a different picture. The consistent perception by men that leadership competence was more prevalent in men than in women suggests that, at least as far as men are concerned, women still are not seen as “having what it takes” to adequately handle traditionally male roles and positions. Whatever the interpretation, however, the different pattern of results found for these two scales indicates that we as researchers have to be very precise in designating what we are measuring and how we are measuring it. It also indicates that we have to keep close to the construct we actually have measured when drawing conclusions from our data.

Women and Contemporary Gender Stereotypes

Our results show that women do not entirely embrace the stereotypic view of women as less agentic than men. They did not make distinctions between men and women in general when rating their independence and instrumental competence, nor were their self-ratings on the independence and instrumental competence scales lower than the self-ratings made by men. These findings are noteworthy: one of the key aspects of agency is independence, and it appears that women do not see themselves or other women to be lacking it more than men. Women also did not make distinctions between men and women in general when rating their leadership competence, another key component of agency. These findings suggest that, for modern day women, some important aspects of the agency stereotype no longer apply.

However, our results suggest that women have not moved as far along as one would hope in separating themselves from gender stereotypic constraints. In particular, their self-perceptions of assertiveness and leadership competence – dimensions of agency associated with social power – do not seem to deviate from traditional gender conceptions. Our findings indicate that women not only characterized themselves as less assertive and less competent in leadership than men characterized themselves, but they also described themselves significantly more negatively on these two scales than they described women in general. This means that women rated themselves as more deficient in several central aspects of agency than they rated women as a group, adhering more strongly to traditional gender stereotypes when describing themselves than when describing others. These results seem inconsistent with attribution theory ( Jones and Nisbett, 1987 ) and construal level theory ( Trope and Liberman, 2010 ), and challenge the idea that because people differentiate more when viewing themselves as compared to others they are less apt to use stereotypes in self-description. They also raise questions about differences in aspects of agency that do and do not involve power relations. These findings are in need of further exploration.

Men and Contemporary Gender Stereotypes

Our results indicate that men continue to accept the stereotyped conception of men lacking communal qualities. They, along with women, rated men in general lower than women in general on all three communality dimensions. It therefore is particularly interesting that in their self-ratings on one dimension of communality – sociability – they did not differ from women. This finding suggests that men conceive of sociability differently when they characterize themselves than when they charcterize others. Other research suggests that whereas women are more social than men in close relationships, men are more social than women in group contexts ( Baumeister and Sommer, 1997 ; Gabriel and Gardner, 1999 ). Thus, men might have rated themselves as equally sociable as women rated themselves, but for a different reason: because they conceptualized sociability with regard to their groups (rather than close relationships). If so, then clarification is needed about why this potentially different conception of sociability takes hold for men only when they characterize themselves.

Furtherore, it is of note that when comparing themselves with men in general, men’s ratings of themselves were significantly higher on all communal dimensions. This finding suggests that although they strongly adhere to traditional stereotypes in their characterizations of men as a group, there is a tendency for men to be less stereotype-bound when they characterize themselves. It also suggests that they are more self-aggrandizing when rating themselves than when rating other men – ascribing to themselves more of the “wonderful” traits traditionally associated with women ( Eagly and Mladinic, 1989 ). This result contrasts with that found for women, for whom traditional gender stereotypes often appeared to exert more influence in self-characterizations than in characterizations of others, even when the result was self-deprecating rather than self-enhancing. Why there are differences in discrepancies in self-ratings versus other-ratings of women and men raises interesting questions for future research – questions about whether these differential effects are due to the gender of the rater or to the nature of the particular descriptors involved.

Limitations

Our results indicate that breaking down agency and communality into dimensions was often of benefit when assessing stereotyped perceptions. Though many of our scales were highly correlated, the confirmatory factor analyses provided support that they were distinct facets. Our choice to analyze the scales separately despite high correlations is in line with other researchers, who argue that doing so can enhance results interpretation ( Luthar, 1996 ; Tabachnik and Fidell, 2007 ). However, we do not claim that the dimensions we derived are the only way to differentiate among the elements of communality and agency, nor do we claim that our scales are the best way to measure them. Indeed, we chose a top–down procedure, using expert judges to derive our scales. This had the advantage that the judges knew about gender research and could effectively represent the literature on gender stereotypes. Nevertheless, if non-experts had done the initial sorting, they may have come to different conclusions about the number or content of items in the different scales or may have generated different scales altogether, ones that perhaps would have been more representative of everyday categories that are consensual in our culture.

Furthermore, our scale construction may have been constrained because our initial pool of items relied exclusively on existing items from past scales, which, although broadly selected, may have been limited by particular ways of thinking about stereotypes. Recent findings by Abele et al. (2016) , for example, included a morality facet in their breakdown of communality, and found it to be a robust facet of communality in ratings within and between a large number of countries in both Eastern and Western cultures. We, however, did not include many items that measured morality in our original list of attributes. Whereas we scoured the gender stereotyping literature focused on social perception to compile the most frequently used items for our initial item pool, Abele and colleagues went through a similar process, but with literature focused primarily on self-perception. Items focusing on the morality component of communality should no doubt be incorporated in future research. In addition, there might also be additional items relating to other facets of agency, such as a cognitive agency facet (e.g., being rational). Moreover, and more generally, a process by which the attributes comprising the scales are generated in a free-form manner and the categorization tasks are performed by a broad-ranging set of judges would serve as a check on our measures and provide guidance about how to modify and improve them.

There are other methodological limitations that are suggestive of follow-up research. We found no differences as a result of the rater’s age and education, attesting to the generality of the effects we uncovered, but there no doubt are other possible moderating factors to be explored, such as race and socio-economic level. Moreover, although we were able to tap into a wide-ranging population, it is important to replicate our study with a more representative U.S. sample to assess the full scope of our findings. In addition, our study was restricted to a sample of U.S. citizens, and it would be interesting to replicate this research with samples that are not exclusively from the U.S. Such cross-cultural replications would help not only to assess generalizability to other cultures, but also to assess the extent to which the nature and degree of change in social roles influences the way people currently conceive of men and women, and men and women conceive of themselves. Finally, it would be useful to conduct research using our measure to describe more differentiated targets to determine whether our results would be similar or different when intersectionality is taken into account and when particular subtypes of women and men are the focus.

Going Forward

Our findings stimulate several questions for future research. Not only would it be useful to further investigate the competence component of agency, clarifying what it does and does not entail, but also to consider another aspect of competence that has recently been identified as being strongly male gender-typed – intellectual brilliance ( Leslie et al., 2015 ). Exploring the effects of the apparently contradictory view women have of themselves in terms of agency (self-views of their independence and instrumental competence versus self-views of their assertiveness and leadership competence) on women’s attitudes and behavior in a variety of spheres also would be valuable. In addition, it would be advantageous to determine whether the greater communality men ascribe to themselves than to other men reflects actual beliefs or is merely self-enhancing, and if it has implications for men’s approach to traditionally female roles and positions.

Finally, it is important that in future research attempts are made to demonstrate the usefulness of distinguishing among the dimensions of agency and communality we have identified, and to do so for both self and other characterizations. While for some research questions an overall agency and overall communality measure will likely be sufficient, there no doubt are instances in which finer distinctions will be beneficial. It is possible, for example, that different dimensions of gender stereotypes are more strongly associated with selection decisions, performance evaluations, or reward distributions. Indeed, other researchers have already begun to demonstrate the value of considering distinct facets of agency in assessing gender differences in leader evaluations, but with a less differentiated set of dimensions including only self-reliance and dominance ( Schaumberg and Flynn, 2017 ). It also is possible that different dimensions of self-stereotypes are more strongly associated with career aspirations and choices, or support for gender-related organizational policies. Demonstrating that different dimensions of agency and communality predict different outcomes would add support to our multidimensional framework. In addition to increasing our understanding, such discoveries could provide valuable information about leverage points for intervention to ease the negative consequences of gender stereotyping and the bias they promote.

In this study we have demonstrated the value of subdividing the agency and communality construct in the study of gender stereotypes, and shown that making global statements about agency and communality runs the risk of distorting rather than clarifying our understanding.

Our goal with this paper was to further the conversation in the field about different aspects of both agency and communality and their potentially different effects on self and other characterizations. An underlying theme is that we may be losing information by generalizing to two super constructs and not attending to their components. Our findings demonstrate the complexity of the agency and communality constructs and the potential benefits of thinking about them with greater specificity. This can have consequences not only for understanding stereotypes and gender bias, but also for intervention and change efforts.

What are the implications of our findings for understanding the persistence of gender inequality? Although the results signal easing in some dimensions of traditional gender stereotypes, they make clear that in many ways they persist. Of particular importance is men’s unrelenting image of women as deficient in attributes considered to be essential for success in many traditionally male fields – an image that forms the basis of gender bias in many evaluative decisions. But women are not exempt from the influence of gender stereotypes; even though they view women as equal to men in several key agentic qualities, they see themselves as more deficient than men do in both leadership competence and assertiveness, and more deficient in these agency dimensions than women in general. These findings, which result from consideration of multiple aspects of the agency construct, augur ill for the tempering of women’s tendency to limit their opportunities. Evidently we still have a way to go before all the components of traditional gender stereotypes fully dissipate and recede, allowing men and women to be judged, and to judge themselves, on the basis of their merits, not their gender.

Ethics Statement

This study was carried out in accordance with the recommendations of the Institutional Review Board, University Committee on Activities Involving Human Subjects, New York University. The protocol was approved by the University Committee on Activities Involving Human Subjects, New York University.

Author Contributions

All authors listed have made a substantial, direct and intellectual contribution to the work, and approved it for publication.

This project was supported in part by an ADVANCE Diversity Science Research Grant awarded to the second author funded by the National Science Foundation ADVANCE-PAID award (HRD-0820202). This project was further supported by the Research Grant “Selection and Evaluation of Leaders in Business and Academia” awarded to the third author and funded by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) and the European Social Fund (ESF) (FKZ 01FP1070/71). This publication was supported by the German Research Foundation (DFG) and the Technical University of Munich (TUM) in the framework of the Open Access Publishing Program.

Conflict of Interest Statement

The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

Acknowledgments

We thank Suzette Caleo, Francesca Manzi, Susanne Braun, and Jennifer Ray for their insights and feedback in the development of this study. We thank Armin Pircher Verdorfer for his support in calculting the CFA. Portions of this study were presented at the Annual Meeting of the Society for Personality and Social Psychology.

• ^ The median age of the U.S. population is 37.9 years ( United States Census Bureau, 2017c ); Levels of education of the U.S. population 25 years and older in 2017: 39.2% did not attend college, 16.3% had some college, 31.6% had graduated college, 12.9% have graduate degrees ( United States Census Bureau, 2017a ); Race/ethnicity percentages in the general U.S. population are as follows: 60.7% White, 18.1% Hispanic, 13.4% African American, 5.8% Asian, 2% other ( United States Census Bureau, 2017b ).
• ^ The attributes in the inventory included the communal and agentic attributes of interest as well as a group of attributes measuring other constructs that were included for exploratory purposes but not used in this study.
• ^ The relatively large RMSEA is likely due to violation of multivariate normality assumptions (joint multivariate kurtosis = 76.55 with a critical ratio of 55.30). The most important implication of non-normality is that chi-square values are inflated, whereas parameter estimates are still fairly accurate ( Kline, 2011 ).

AAUW (2016). The simple truth about the gender pay gap (Spring 2016). Available at: http://www.aauw.org/research/the-simple-truth-about-the-gender-pay-gap/

Abele, A. E. (2003). The dynamics of masculine-agentic and feminine-communal traits: findings from a prospective study. J. Pers. Soc. Psychol. 85, 768–776. doi: 10.1037/0022-3514.85.4.768

PubMed Abstract | CrossRef Full Text | Google Scholar

Abele, A. E., and Wojciszke, B. (2014). Communal and agentic content in social cognition: a dual perspective model. Adv. Exp. Soc. Psychol. 50, 195–255. doi: 10.1016/B978-0-12-800284-1.00004-7

CrossRef Full Text | Google Scholar

Abele, A. E., Cuddy, A. J. C., Judd, C. M., and Yzerbyt, V. Y. (2008). Fundamental dimensions of social judgment. Eur. J. Soc. Psychol. 38, 1063–1065. doi: 10.1002/ejsp.574

Abele, A. E., Hauke, N., Peters, K., Louvet, E., Szymkow, A., and Duan, Y. (2016). Facets of the fundamental content dimensions: agency with competence and assertiveness—communion with warmth and morality. Front. Psychol. 7:1810. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2016.01810

Allen, B. P. (1995). Gender stereotypes are not accurate: a replication of Martin (1987) using diagnostic vs. self-report and behavioral criteria. Sex Roles 32, 583–600. doi: 10.1007/BF01544213

Bakan, D. (1966). The Duality of Human Existence: An Essay on Psychology and Religion. Chicago, IL: Rand McNally.

Google Scholar

Baumeister, R. F., and Sommer, K. L. (1997). What do men want? Gender differences and two spheres of belongingness: comment on Cross and Madson (1997). Psychol. Bull. 122, 38–44. doi: 10.1037/0033-2909.122.1.38

CrossRef Full Text

Bem, S. L. (1974). The measurement of psychological androgyny. J. Consulting Clin. Psychol. 42, 155–162. doi: 10.1037/h0036215

Biernat, M., Vescio, T. K., and Green, M. L. (1996). Selective self-stereotyping. J. Pers. Soc. Psychol. 71, 1194–1209. doi: 10.1037/0022-3514.71.6.1194

Blair, I. V., and Banaji, M. R. (1996). Automatic and controlled processes in stereotype priming. J. Pers. Soc. Psychol. 70, 1142–1163. doi: 10.1037/0022-3514.70.6.1142

Brosi, P., Spörrle, M., Welpe, I. M., and Heilman, M. E. (2016). Expressing pride: effects on perceived agency, communality, and stereotype-based gender disparities. J. Appl. Psychol. 101, 1319–1328. doi: 10.1037/apl0000122

Broverman, I. K., Vogel, S. R., Broverman, D. M., Clarkson, F. E., and Rosenkrantz, P. S. (1972). Sex-role stereotypes: a current appraisal. J. Soc. Issues 28, 59–78. doi: 10.1111/j.1540-4560.1972.tb00018.x

Buhrmester, M., Kwang, T., and Gosling, S. D. (2011). Amazon’s mechanical turk. Perspect. Psychol. Sci. 6, 3–5. doi: 10.1177/1745691610393980

Bureau of Labor Statistics (2016a). American Time Use Survey. Available at: http://www.bls.gov/tus/charts/household.htm

Bureau of Labor Statistics (2016b). Labor Force Statistics from the Current Population Survey. Available at https://www.bls.gov/cps/cpsaat11.htm

Bureau of Labor Statistics (2017). Women in the Labor Force: a Databook. Available at: http://www.bls.gov/opub/reports/womens-databook/2017/home.htm

Byrne, B. M. (2010). Structural Equation Modeling with AMOS: Basic Concepts, Applications, and Programming. New York, NY: Routledge.

Carrier, A., Louvet, E., Chauvin, B., and Rohmer, O. (2014). The primacy of agency over competence in status perception. Soc. Psychol. 45, 347–356. doi: 10.1027/1864-9335/a000176

Catalyst (2016). Statistical Overview of Women in the Workforce. Available at: http://www.catalyst.org/knowledge/statistical-overview-women-workforce

Cortes, P., and Pan, J. (2017). “Occupation and gender,” in The Oxford Handbook of Women and the Economy , eds S. L. Averett, L. M. Argys, and S. D. Hoffman (Oxford: Oxford University Press).

Craig, L., and Mullan, K. (2010). Parenthood, gender and work-family time in the United States, Australia, Italy, France, and Denmark. J. Marriage Fam. 72, 1344–1361. doi: 10.1111/j.1741-3737.2010.00769.x

Cuddy, A. J. C., Fiske, S. T., and Glick, P. (2008). Warmth and competence as universal dimensions of social perception: the stereotype content model and the BIAS map. Adv. Exp. Soc. Psychol. 40, 61–149. doi: 10.1016/S0065-2601(07)00002-0

Deaux, K., and LaFrance, M. (1998). “Gender,” in The Handbook of Social Psychology , eds D. T. Gilbert, S. T. Fiske, G. Lindzey, D. T. Gilbert, S. T. Fiske, and G. Lindzey (New York, NY: McGraw-Hill), 788–827.

Deaux, K., and Lewis, L. L. (1984). Structure of gender stereotypes: interrelationships among components and gender label. J. Pers. Soc. Psychol. 46, 991–1004. doi: 10.1037/0022-3514.46.5.991

Devine, P. G., and Sharp, L. B. (2009). “Automaticity and control in stereotyping and prejudice,” in Handbook of Prejudice, Stereotyping, and Discrimination , ed. T. D. Nelson (New York, NY: Psychology Press), 61–87.

Diekman, A. B., and Eagly, A. H. (2000). Stereotypes as dynamic constructs: women and men of the past, present, and future. Pers. Soc. Psychol. Bull. 26, 1171–1188. doi: 10.1177/0146167200262001

Donnelly, K., and Twenge, J. M. (2017). Masculine and feminine traits on the bem sex-role inventory, 1993–2012: a cross-temporal meta-analysis. Sex Roles 76, 556–565. doi: 10.1007/s11199-016-0625-y

Duehr, E. E., and Bono, J. E. (2006). Men, women, and managers: are stereotypes finally changing? Pers. Psychol. 59, 815–846. doi: 10.1111/j.1744-6570.2006.00055.x

Eagly, A. H. (1987). Sex Differences in Social Behavior: A Social-Role Interpretation. Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrance Erlbaum Associates.

Eagly, A. H. (1997). Sex differences in social behavior: comparing social role theory and evolutionary psychology. Am. Psychol. 52, 1380–1383. doi: 10.1037/0003-066X.52.12.1380.b

Eagly, A. H., and Mladinic, A. (1989). Gender stereotypes and attitudes toward women and men. Pers. Soc. Psychol. Bull. 15, 543–558. doi: 10.1177/0146167289154008

Eagly, A. H., and Sczesny, S. (2009). “Stereotypes about women, men, and leaders: have times changed?,” in The Glass Ceiling in the 21st century: Understanding Barriers to Gender Equality , eds M. Barreto, M. K. Ryan, and M. T. Schmitt (Washington, DC: American Psychological Association), 21–47. doi: 10.1037/11863-002

Eagly, A. H., and Steffen, V. J. (1984). Gender stereotypes stem from the distribution of women and men into social roles. J. Pers. Soc. Psychol. 46, 735–754. doi: 10.1037/0022-3514.46.4.735

Field, A. (2006). Reliability analysis. Available at: http://www.discoveringstatistics.com/repository/reliability.pdf

Fiske, A. P., Haslam, N., and Fiske, S. T. (1991). Confusing one person with another: what errors reveal about the elementary forms of social relations. J. Pers. Soc. Psychol. 60, 656–674. doi: 10.1037/0022-3514.60.5.656

Fiske, S. T., Cuddy, A. J. C., and Glick, P. (2007). Universal dimensions of social cognition: warmth and competence. Trends Cogn. Sci. 11, 77–83. doi: 10.1016/j.tics.2006.11.005

Fiske, S. T., and Taylor, S. E. (2013). Social Cognition: From Brains to Culture. London: Sage. doi: 10.4135/9781446286395

Fiske, S. T., Xu, J., Cuddy, A. C., and Glick, P. (1999). (Dis)respecting versus (dis)liking: status and interdependence predict ambivalent stereotypes of competence and warmth. J. Soc. Issues 55, 473–489. doi: 10.1111/0022-4537.00128

Gabriel, S., and Gardner, W. L. (1999). Are there “his” and “hers” types of interdependence? The implications of gender differences in collective versus relational interdependence for affect, behavior, and cognition. J. Pers. Soc. Psychol. 77, 642–655. doi: 10.1037/0022-3514.77.3.642

Greenwald, A. G., and Banaji, M. R. (1995). Implicit social cognition: attitudes, self-esteem, and stereotypes. Psychol. Rev. 102, 4–27. doi: 10.1037/0033-295X.102.1.4

Haines, E. L., Deaux, K., and Lofaro, N. (2016). The times they are a-changing … or are they not? A comparison of gender stereotypes, 1983–2014. Psychol. Women Q. 40, 353–363. doi: 10.1177/0361684316634081

Heilman, M. E. (1983). Sex bias in work settings: the lack of fit model. Res. Organ. Behav. 5, 269–298.

Heilman, M. E. (2001). Description and prescription: how gender stereotypes prevent women’s ascent up the organizational ladder. J. Soc. Issues 57, 657–674. doi: 10.1111/0022-4537.00234

Heilman, M. E. (2012). Gender stereotypes and workplace bias. Res. Organ. Behav. 32, 113–135. doi: 10.1016/j.riob.2012.11.003

Heilman, M. E., Block, C. J., and Martell, R. F. (1995). Sex stereotypes: do they influence perceptions of managers? J. Soc. Behav. Pers. 10, 237–252.

Heilman, M. E., Block, C. J., Martell, R. F., and Simon, M. C. (1989). Has anything changed? Current characterizations of men, women, and managers. J. Appl. Psychol. 74, 935–942. doi: 10.1037/0021-9010.74.6.935

Heilman, M. E., Manzi, F., and Braun, S. (2015). “Presumed incompetent: perceived lack of fit and gender bias in recruitment and selection,” in Handbook of Gendered Careers in Management: Getting in, Getting on, Getting out , Vol. 90-104, eds A. M. Broadbridge and S. L. Fielden (Cheltenham: Edward Elgar).

Hentschel, T., Braun, S., Peus, C., and Frey, D. (2018). The communality-bonus effect for male transformational leaders – leadership style, gender, and promotability. Eur. J. Work Organ. Psychol. 27, 112–125. doi: 10.1080/1359432X.2017.1402759

Hilton, J. L., and von Hippel, W. (1996). Stereotypes. Annu. Rev. Psychol. 47, 237–271. doi: 10.1146/annurev.psych.47.1.237

Hoffman, C., and Hurst, N. (1990). Gender stereotypes: perception or rationalization? J. Pers. Soc. Psychol. 58, 197–208. doi: 10.1037/0022-3514.58.2.197

Jones, E. E., and Nisbett, R. E. (1987). “The actor and the observer: Divergent perceptions of the causes of behavior,” in Attribution: Perceiving the Causes of Behavior , eds E. E. Jones, D. E. Kanouse, H. H. Kelley, R. E. Nisbett, S. Valins, and B. Weiner (Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Inc.), 79–94.

Kan, M. Y., Sullivan, O., and Gershuny, J. (2011). Gender convergence in domestic work: discerning the effects of interactional and institutional barriers from large-scale data. Sociology 45, 234–251. doi: 10.1177/0038038510394014

Kite, M. E., Deaux, K., and Haines, E. L. (2008). “Gender stereotypes,” in Psychology of Women: A Handbook of Issues and Theories , Vol. 2, eds F. Denmark and M. A. Paludi (Westport: Praeger), 205–236.

Kline, R. B. (2011). Principles and Practice of Structural Equation Modeling , 3rd Edn. New York, NY: Guilford Press.

Knowles, E. D., and Lowery, B. S. (2012). Meritocracy, self-concerns, and whites’ denial of racial inequity. Self Identity 11, 202–222. doi: 10.1080/15298868.2010.542015

Koenig, A. M., and Eagly, A. H. (2014). Evidence for the social role theory of stereotype content: observations of groups’ roles shape stereotypes. J. Pers. Soc. Psychol. 107, 371–392. doi: 10.1037/a0037215

Ladge, J. J., Humberd, B. K., Baskerville Watkins, M., and Harrington, B. (2015). Updating the organization man: an examination of involved fathering in the workplace. Acad. Manage. Perspect. 29, 152–171. doi: 10.5465/amp.2013.0078

Leslie, S.-J., Cimpian, A., Meyer, M., and Freeland, E. (2015). Expectations of brilliance underlie gender distributions across academic disciplines. Science 347, 262–265. doi: 10.1126/science.1261375

Lippa, R. A., Preston, K., and Penner, J. (2014). Women’s representation in 60 occupations from 1972 to 2010: more women in high-status jobs, few women in things-oriented jobs. PLoS One 9:e95960. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0095960

Lueptow, L. B., Garovich-Szabo, L., and Lueptow, M. B. (2001). Social change and the persistence of sex typing: 1974–1997. Soc. Forces 80, 1–36. doi: 10.1353/sof.2001.0077

Luthar, H. K. (1996). Gender differences in evaluation of performance and leadership ability: autocratic vs. democratic managers. Sex Roles 35, 337–361. doi: 10.1007/bf01664773

Martin, C. L. (1987). A ratio measure of sex stereotyping. J. Pers. Soc. Psychol. 52, 489–499. doi: 10.1037/0022-3514.52.3.489

McAdams, D. P., Hoffman, B. J., Day, R., and Mansfield, E. D. (1996). Themes of agency and communion In significant autobiographical scenes. J. Pers. 64, 339–377. doi: 10.1111/j.1467-6494.1996.tb00514.x

McCauley, C., and Stitt, C. L. (1978). An individual and quantitative measure of stereotypes. J. Pers. Soc. Psychol. 36, 929–940. doi: 10.1037/0022-3514.36.9.929

Oswald, D., and Lindstedt, K. (2006). The content and function of gender self-stereotypes: an exploratory investigation. Sex Roles 54, 447–458. doi: 10.1007/s11199-006-9026-y

Paolacci, G., Chandler, J., and Ipeirotis, P. G. (2010). Running experiments on Amazon Mechanical Turk. Judg. Decis. Mak. 5, 411–419.

Park, B., Smith, J. A., and Correll, J. (2008). “Having it all” or “doing it all”? Perceived trait attributes and behavioral obligations as a function of workload, parenthood, and gender. Eur. J. Soc. Psychol. 38, 1156–1164. doi: 10.1002/ejsp.535

Peus, C., Braun, S., and Knipfer, K. (2015). On becoming a leader in Asia and America: empirical evidence from women managers. Leadersh. Q. 26, 55–67. doi: 10.1016/j.leaqua.2014.08.004

Pew Research Center (2017). American panel trends . Available at: http://www.pewresearch.org/methodology/u-s-survey-research/american-trends-panel/

Pew Research Center (2018). 7 facts about American dads. Available at: http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2018/06/13/fathers-day-facts/

Plant, E. A., Hyde, J. S., Keltner, D., and Devine, P. G. (2000). The gender stereotyping of emotions. Psychol. Women Q. 24, 81–92. doi: 10.1111/j.1471-6402.2000.tb01024.x

Powell, G. N., and Butterfield, D. A. (2015). Correspondence between self- and good-manager descriptions: examining stability and change over four decades. J. Manage. 41, 1745–1773. doi: 10.1177/0149206312463939

Rosenkrantz, P., Vogel, S., Bee, H., Broverman, I., and Broverman, D. M. (1968). Sex-role streotypes and self-concepts in college students. J. Consult. Clin. Psychol. 32, 287–295. doi: 10.1037/h0025909

Rosette, A. S., Koval, C. Z., Ma, A., and Livingston, R. (2016). Race matters for women leaders: intersectional effects on agentic deficiencies and penalties. Leadersh. Q. 27, 429–445. doi: 10.1016/j.leaqua.2016.01.008

Rosseel, Y. (2012). lavaan: an R package for structural equation modeling. J. Stat. Softw. 48, 1–36. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2014.01521

Ruble, D. N., and Martin, C. L. (1998). “Gender development,” in Handbook of Child Psychology Social, Emotional, and Personality Development , 5th Edn, Vol. 3, eds W. Damon and N. Eisenberg (Hoboken, NJ: Wiley), 933–1016.

Rudman, L. A., and Glick, P. (2001). Prescriptive gender stereotypes and backlash toward agentic women. J. Soc. Issues 57, 743–762. doi: 10.1111/0022-4537.00239

Schaumberg, R. L., and Flynn, F. (2017). Self-reliance: a gender perspective on its relationship to communality and leadership evaluations. Acad. Manage. J. 60, 1859–1881. doi: 10.5465/amj.2015.0018

Schein, V. E. (1973). The relationship between sex role stereotypes and requisite management characteristics. J. Appl. Psychol. 57, 95–100. doi: 10.1037/h0037128

Schmitt, N. (1996). Uses and abuses of coefficient alpha. Psychol. Assess. 8, 350–353. doi: 10.1037/1040-3590.8.4.350

Sidanius, J., and Pratto, F. (1999). Social Dominance: An Intergroup Theory of Social Hierarchy and Oppression. New York, NY: Cambridge University Press. doi: 10.1017/CBO9781139175043

Sijtsma, K. (2008). On the use, the misuse, and the very limited usefulness of cronbach’s alpha. Psychometrika 74, 107–120. doi: 10.1007/s11336-008-9101-0

Spence, J. T., and Buckner, C. E. (2000). Instrumental and expressive traits, trait stereotypes, and sexist attitudes: what do they signify? Psychol. Women Q. 24, 44–62. doi: 10.1111/j.1471-6402.2000.tb01021.x

Spence, J. T., and Helmreich, R. L. (1978). Masculinity & Femininity: Their Psychological Dimensions, Correlates, and Antecedents. Austin, TX: University of Texas Press.

Swann, W. B. (1990). “To be adored or to be known? The interplay of self-enhancement and self-verification,” in Handbook of Motivation and Cognition , eds E. T. Higgins and R. M. Sorrentino (New York, NY: Guilford Press), 408–448.

Tabachnik, B. G., and Fidell, L. S. (2007). Using Multivariate Statistics , 5 Edn. Boston, MA: Pearson/Allyn & Bacon.

Trope, Y., and Liberman, N. (2010). Construal-level theory of psychological distance. Psychol. Rev. 117, 440–463. doi: 10.1037/a0018963

Twenge, J. M. (1997). Changes in masculine and feminine traits over time: a meta-analysis. Sex Roles 36, 305–325. doi: 10.1007/bf02766650

U.S. Department of Labor (2015). Most Common Occupations for Women. Available at: http://www.dol.gov/wb/stats/most_common_occupations_for_women.htm

United States Census Bureau (2017a). Educational Attainment in the United States: 2017. Available at: http://www.census.gov/data/tables/2017/demo/education-attainment/cps-detailed-tables.html

United States Census Bureau (2017b). QuickFacts: United States. Available at: http://www.census.gov/quickfacts/fact/table/US/PST045217

United States Census Bureau (2017c). The Nation’s Media Age Continues to Rise. Available at: http://www.census.gov/library/visualizations/2017/comm/median-age.html

Williams, J. E., and Best, D. L. (1990). Measuring Sex Stereotypes: A Multination Study. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

Wood, W., and Eagly, A. H. (2012). “Biosocial construction of sex differences and similarities in behavior,” in Advances in Experimental Social Psychology , Vol. 46, eds J. M. Olson and M. P. Zanna (Academic Press),55–123.

Wood, W., and Eagly, A. H. (2015). Two traditions of research on gender identity. Sex Roles 73, 461–473. doi: 10.1007/s11199-015-0480-2

Table A. List of agentic attributes measured.

Table B. List of communal attributes measured.

Keywords : gender stereotypes, self-stereotyping, communality, communion, agency, men, women, gender identity

Citation: Hentschel T, Heilman ME and Peus CV (2019) The Multiple Dimensions of Gender Stereotypes: A Current Look at Men’s and Women’s Characterizations of Others and Themselves. Front. Psychol. 10:11. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2019.00011

Received: 20 March 2018; Accepted: 04 January 2019; Published: 30 January 2019.

Reviewed by:

Copyright © 2019 Hentschel, Heilman and Peus. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY) . The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

*Correspondence: Tanja Hentschel, [email protected]

Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.

• Type 2 Diabetes
• Heart Disease
• Digestive Health
• Multiple Sclerosis
• Diet & Nutrition
• Supplements
• Health Insurance
• Public Health
• Patient Rights
• Caregivers & Loved Ones
• End of Life Concerns
• Health News
• Thyroid Test Analyzer
• Doctor Discussion Guides
• Hemoglobin A1c Test Analyzer
• Lipid Test Analyzer
• Complete Blood Count (CBC) Analyzer
• What to Buy
• Editorial Process
• Meet Our Medical Expert Board

What Are Gender Stereotypes?

• How They Develop
• How to Combat

Gender stereotypes are preconceived, usually generalized views about how members of a certain gender do or should behave, or which traits they do or should have. They are meant to reinforce gender norms, typically in a binary way ( masculine vs. feminine ).

Gender stereotypes have far-reaching effects on all genders.

Read on to learn about how gender stereotypes develop, the effects of gender stereotypes, and how harmful gender stereotypes can be changed.

Davin G Photography / Getty Images

Meaning of Gender Stereotypes

Gender stereotypes are ideas about how members of a certain gender do or should be or behave. They reflect ingrained biases based on the social norms of that society. Typically, they are considered as binary (male/female and feminine/masculine).

By nature, gender stereotypes are oversimplified and generalized. They are not accurate and often persist even when there is demonstrable evidence that contradict them. They also tend to ignore the fluidity of gender and nonbinary gender identities.

Classification of Gender Stereotypes

Gender stereotypes have two components, which are:

• Descriptive : Beliefs about how people of a certain gender do act, and their attributes
• Prescriptive : Beliefs about how people of a specific gender should act and attributes they should have

Gender stereotypes can be positive or negative. This doesn’t mean good or bad—even stereotypes that seem “flattering” can have harmful consequences.

• Positive gender stereotypes : Describe behaviors or attributes that align with accepted stereotypical ideas for that gender, and that people of that gender are encouraged to display (for example, girls should play with dolls and boys should play with trucks)
• Negative gender stereotypes : Describe behaviors or attributes that are stereotypically undesirable for that gender and that people from that gender are discouraged from displaying (such as women shouldn’t be assertive, or men shouldn’t cry)

The attribute is undesirable for all genders but more accepted in a particular gender than others. For example, arrogance and aggression are unpleasant in all genders but are tolerated more in men and boys than in women, girls, or nonbinary people .

Gender stereotypes tend to be divided into these two generalized themes:

• Communion : This stereotype orients people to others. It includes traits such as compassionate, nurturing, warm, and expressive, which are stereotypically associated with girls/women/femininity.
• Agency : This stereotype orients people to the self and is motivated by goal attainment. It includes traits such as competitiveness, ambition, and assertiveness, which are stereotypically associated with boys/men/masculinity.

Basic types of gender stereotypes include:

• Personality traits : Such as expecting women to be nurturing and men to be ambitious
• Domestic behaviors : Such as expecting women to be responsible for cooking, cleaning, and childcare, while expecting men to do home repairs, pay bills, and fix the car
• Occupations : Associates some occupations such as childcare providers and nurses with women and pilots and engineers with men
• Physical appearance : Associates separate characteristics for women and men, such as women should shave their legs or men shouldn’t wear dresses

Gender stereotypes don’t exist in a vacuum. They can intersect with stereotypes and prejudices surrounding a person’s other identities and be disproportionately harmful to different people. For example, a Black woman experiences sexism and racism , and also experiences unique prejudice from the intersectionality of sexism and racism that a White woman or Black man would not.

Words to Know

• Gender : Gender is a complex system involving roles, identities, expressions, and qualities that have been given meaning by a society. Gender is a social construct separate from sex assigned at birth.
• Gender norms : Gender norms are what a society expects from certain genders.
• Gender roles : These are behaviors, actions, social roles, and responsibilities a society views as appropriate or inappropriate for certain genders.
• Gender stereotyping : This ascribes the stereotypes of a gender group to an individual from that group.
• Self-stereotyping vs. group stereotyping : This is how a person views themselves compared to how they view the gender group they belong to (for example, a woman may hold the belief that women are better caregivers than men, but not see herself as adept in a caregiving role).

How Gender Stereotypes Develop

We all have unconscious biases (assumptions our subconscious makes about people based on groups that person belongs to and our ingrained associations with those groups). Often, we aren’t even aware we have them or how they influence our behavior.

Gender stereotyping comes from unconscious biases we have about gender groups.

We aren’t preprogrammed at birth with these biases and stereotypes. Instead, they are learned through repeated and ongoing messages we receive.

Gender roles, norms, and expectations are learned by watching others in our society, including our families, our teachers and classmates, and the media. These roles and the stereotypes attached to them are reinforced through interactions starting from birth. Consciously or not, adults and often other children will reward behavior or attributes that are in line with expectations for a child’s gender, and discourage behavior and attributes that are not.

Some ways gender stereotypes are learned and reinforced in childhood include:

• How adults dress children
• Toys and play activities offered to children
• Children observing genders in different roles (for example, a child may see that all of the teachers at their daycare are female)
• Praise and criticism children receive for behaviors
• Encouragement to gravitate toward certain subjects in school (such as math for boys and language arts for girls)
• Anything that models and rewards accepted gender norms

Children begin to internalize these stereotypes quite early. Research has shown that as early as elementary school, children reflect similar prescriptive gender stereotypes as adults, especially about physical appearance and behavior.

While all genders face expectations to align with the stereotypes of their gender groups, boys and men tend to face harsher criticism for behavior and attributes that are counterstereotypical than do girls and women. For example, a boy who plays with a doll and wears a princess dress is more likely to be met with a negative reaction than a girl who wears overalls and plays with trucks.

The Hegemonic Myth

The hegemonic myth is the false perception that men are the dominant gender (strong and independent) while women are weaker and need to be protected.

Gender stereotypes propagate this myth.

Effects of Gender Stereotypes

Gender stereotypes negatively impact all genders in a number of ways.

Nonbinary Genders

For people who are transgender / gender nonconforming (TGNC), gender stereotypes can lead to:

• Feelings of confusion and discomfort
• A low view of self-worth and self-respect
• Transphobia (negative feelings, actions, and attitudes toward transgender people or the idea of being transgender, which can be internalized)
• Negative impacts on mental health
• Struggles at school

Unconscious bias plays a part in reinforcing gender stereotypes in the classroom. For example:

• Educators may be more likely to praise girls for being well-behaved, while praising boys for their ideas and comprehension.
• Boys are more likely to be viewed as being highly intelligent, which influences choices. One study found girls as young as 6 avoiding activities that were labeled as being for children who are “really, really smart.”
• Intentional or unintentional steering of children toward certain subjects influences education and future employment.

In the Workforce

While women are in the workforce in large numbers, gender stereotypes are still at play, such as:

• Certain occupations are stereotypically gendered (such as nursing and teaching for women and construction and engineering for men).
• Occupations with more female workers are often lower paid and have fewer opportunities for promotion than ones oriented towards men.
• More women are entering male-dominated occupations, but gender segregation often persists within these spaces with the creation of female-dominated subsets (for example, pediatrics and gynecology in medicine, or human resources and public relations in management).
• Because men face harsher criticism for displaying stereotypically feminine characteristics than women do for displaying stereotypically male characteristics, they may be discouraged from entering female-dominated professions such as early childhood education.

Despite both men and women being in the workforce, women continue to be expected to (and do) perform a disproportionate amount of housework and taking care of children than do men.

Gender-Based Violence

Gender stereotypes can contribute to gender-based violence.

• Men who hold more traditional gender role beliefs are more likely to commit violent acts.
• Men who feel stressed about their ability to meet male gender norms are more likely to commit inter-partner violence .
• Trans people are more likely than their cisgender counterparts to experience discrimination and harassment, and they are twice as likely to engage in suicidal thoughts and actions than cisgender members of the Queer community.

Stereotypes and different ways of socializing genders can affect health in the following ways:

• Adolescent boys are more likely than adolescent girls to engage in violent or risky behavior.
• Mental health issues are more common in girls than boys.
• The perceived “ideal” of feminine slenderness and masculine muscularity can lead to health issues surrounding body image .
• Gender stereotypes can discourage people from seeking medical help or lead to missed diagnosis (such as eating disorders in males ).

Globally, over 575 million girls live in countries where inequitable gender norms contribute to a violation of their rights in areas such as:

• Employment opportunities
• Independence
• Safety from gender-based violence

How to Combat Gender Stereotypes

Some ways to combat gender stereotypes include:

• Examine and confront your own gender biases and how they influence your behavior, including the decisions you make for your children.
• Foster more involvement from men in childcare, both professionally and personally.
• Promote and support counterstereotypical hirings (such as science and technology job fairs aimed at women and campaigns to gain interest in becoming elementary educators for men).
• Confront and address bias in the classroom, including education for teachers on how to minimize gender stereotypes.
• Learn about each child individually, including their preferences.
• Allow children to use their chosen name and pronouns .
• Avoid using gender as a way to group children.
• Be mindful of language (for example, when addressing a group, use “children” instead of “boys and girls” and “families” instead of “moms and dads,”).
• Include books, toys, and other media in the classroom and at home that represent diversity in gender and gender roles.
• View toys as gender neutral, and avoid ones that promote stereotypes (for example, a toy that has a pink version aimed at girls).
• Ensure all children play with toys and games that develop a full set of social and cognitive skills.
• Promote gender neutrality in sports.
• Be mindful of advertising and the messaging marketing sends to children.
• Talk to children about gender, including countering binary thinking and gender stereotypes you come across.
• Take a look at the media your child engages with. Provide media that show all genders in a diversity of roles, different family structures, etc. Discuss any gender stereotyping you see.
• Tell children that it is OK to be themselves, whether that aligns with traditional gender norms or not (for example, it’s OK if a woman wants to be a stay-at-home parent, but it’s not OK to expect her to).
• Give children equal household chores regardless of gender.
• Teach all children how to productively handle their frustration and anger.
• Encourage children to step out of their comfort zone to meet new people and try activities they aren’t automatically drawn to.
• Put gender-neutral bathrooms in schools, workplaces, and businesses.
• Avoid assumptions about a person’s gender, including children.
• Take children to meet people who occupy counterstereotypical roles, such as a female firefighter.
• Speak up and challenge someone who is making sexist jokes or comments.

Movies That Challenge Gender Stereotypes

Not sure where to start? Common Sense Media has compiled a list of movies that defy gender stereotypes .

Gender stereotypes are generalized, preconceived, and usually binary ideas about behaviors and traits specific genders should or should not display. They are based on gender norms and gender roles, and stem from unconscious bias.

Gender stereotypes begin to develop very early in life through socialization. They are formed and strengthened through observations, experiences, and interactions with others.

Gender stereotypes can be harmful to all genders and should be challenged. The best way to start combating gender stereotypes is to examine and confront your own biases and how they affect your behavior.

A Word From Verywell

We all have gender biases, whether we realize it or not. That doesn’t mean we should let gender stereotypes go unchecked. If you see harmful gender stereotyping, point it out.

YWCA Metro Vancouver. Dating safe: how gender stereotypes can impact our relationships .

LGBTQ+ Primary Hub. Gender stereotyping .

Stanford University: Gendered Innovations. Stereotypes .

Koenig AM. Comparing prescriptive and descriptive gender stereotypes about children, adults, and the elderly . Front Psychol . 2018;9:1086. doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2018.01086

United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights. Gender stereotypes .

Hentschel T, Heilman ME, Peus CV. The multiple dimensions of gender stereotypes: a current look at men’s and women’s characterizations of others and themselves . Front Psychol . 2019;10:11. doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2019.00011

Eagly AH, Nater C, Miller DI, Kaufmann M, Sczesny S. Gender stereotypes have changed: a cross-temporal meta-analysis of U.S. public opinion polls from 1946 to 2018 . Am Psychol . 2020;75(3):301-315. doi:10.1037/amp0000494

Planned Parenthood. What are gender roles and stereotypes?

Institute of Physics. Gender stereotypes and their effect on young people .

France Stratégie. Report – Gender stereotypes and how to fight them: new ideas from France .

Bian L, Leslie SJ, Cimpian A. Gender stereotypes about intellectual ability emerge early and influence children’s interests . Science . 2017;355(6323):389-391. doi:10.1126/science.aah6524

Save the Children. Gender roles can create lifelong cycle of inequality .

Girl Scouts. 6 everyday ways to bust gender stereotypes .

UNICEF. How to remove gender stereotypes from playtime .

Save the Children. Tips for talking with children about gender stereoptypes .

By Heather Jones Jones is a freelance writer with a strong focus on health, parenting, disability, and feminism.

Gender Stereotypes: Research Question

Gender stereotypes are common for any country even if it is an egalitarian society where women are seen as equals to men. Females are still seen as passive and submissive. It is believed that women should focus on domestic issues being ‘good’ mothers and wives. More and more females try to play active roles in the special lives of the countries. Occupying high posts and gaining significant salaries does not translate into women’s empowerment, however.

It has been acknowledged that even women accept the existing conventions and tend to share the attitudes towards gender roles distribution (McKay, 2013). Aluko (2015) states that even women enjoying certain financial independence tend to share similar views on gender roles. The development of gender equality is impossible if people still share patriarchal values and adopt models developed centuries ago.

This is an interesting psychological phenomenon that needs close attention. It is important to understand why women share values associated with the empowerment of men and exploitation of women. It is important to understand the factors affecting women’s perspectives. These can be upbringing, societal norms, or even certain psychological traits that make females remain submissive and passive. It is important to focus on perceptions of women who work, and, thus, have certain financial security. These females’ ideas can shed light on factors contributing to the development of gender stereotypes.

The research questions can be formulated as follows:

What factors affect the development of opinions in women concerning gender-related issues (gender roles, distribution of power, payment bias, and so on) as seen by working females?

Reference List

Aluko, Y.A. (2015). Re-evaluating the empowerment potential of women’s paid work. International Journal of Gender and Women’s Studies, 3 (2), 190-201.

McKay, T. (2013). Female self-objectification: Causes, consequences and prevention. McNair Scholars Research Journal, 6 (1), 53-70.

Cite this paper

• Chicago (N-B)
• Chicago (A-D)

StudyCorgi. (2021, April 27). Gender Stereotypes: Research Question. https://studycorgi.com/gender-stereotypes-research-question/

"Gender Stereotypes: Research Question." StudyCorgi , 27 Apr. 2021, studycorgi.com/gender-stereotypes-research-question/.

StudyCorgi . (2021) 'Gender Stereotypes: Research Question'. 27 April.

1. StudyCorgi . "Gender Stereotypes: Research Question." April 27, 2021. https://studycorgi.com/gender-stereotypes-research-question/.

Bibliography

StudyCorgi . "Gender Stereotypes: Research Question." April 27, 2021. https://studycorgi.com/gender-stereotypes-research-question/.

StudyCorgi . 2021. "Gender Stereotypes: Research Question." April 27, 2021. https://studycorgi.com/gender-stereotypes-research-question/.

This paper, “Gender Stereotypes: Research Question”, was written and voluntary submitted to our free essay database by a straight-A student. Please ensure you properly reference the paper if you're using it to write your assignment.

Before publication, the StudyCorgi editorial team proofread and checked the paper to make sure it meets the highest standards in terms of grammar, punctuation, style, fact accuracy, copyright issues, and inclusive language. Last updated: April 27, 2021 .

If you are the author of this paper and no longer wish to have it published on StudyCorgi, request the removal . Please use the “ Donate your paper ” form to submit an essay.

The Hidden Racism in Classic Disney Movies

This essay about the hidden racism in classic Disney movies explores how beloved films like “Dumbo,” “Peter Pan,” “Song of the South,” “The Jungle Book,” and “Aladdin” contain racial stereotypes and prejudices. It discusses the impact of these portrayals on audiences, particularly children, and highlights Disney’s recent efforts to address these issues. The essay calls for continued critical engagement with media and the creation of respectful, diverse portrayals in future storytelling.

How it works

Disney movies have long been a staple of childhood entertainment, enchanting generations with their vibrant animations, timeless stories, and memorable characters. However, beneath the surface of these beloved classics lies a troubling undercurrent of racial stereotypes and prejudices. This essay explores the hidden racism in classic Disney movies, examining how these elements have been woven into the fabric of these films and their impact on audiences.

One of the earliest examples of racial stereotyping in Disney films is found in “Dumbo” (1941).

This animated feature includes a group of crows that help Dumbo learn to fly. The lead crow is named Jim Crow, a direct reference to the segregation laws of the time, and the characters are voiced by white actors using exaggerated African American vernacular. The portrayal of these crows reinforces negative stereotypes of African Americans as uneducated and clownish, perpetuating harmful racial caricatures.

Another classic Disney film that has faced criticism for its racial content is “Peter Pan” (1953). In this movie, Native Americans are depicted in a highly stereotypical and offensive manner. The song “What Made the Red Man Red?” is particularly egregious, as it trivializes and mocks Native American culture and identity. The characters speak in broken English and are shown engaging in primitive and savage behavior, reinforcing colonialist views of Native Americans as uncivilized and inferior.

“Song of the South” (1946) is perhaps the most controversial Disney film in terms of its portrayal of race. Set in the post-Civil War South, the film romanticizes the relationship between white landowners and their former slaves. The character of Uncle Remus, an African American man, is depicted as a content and subservient figure who is eager to tell stories to the white children on the plantation. This portrayal glosses over the brutal realities of slavery and its aftermath, presenting a distorted and sanitized version of history that minimizes the suffering and exploitation of African Americans.

“The Jungle Book” (1967) also contains problematic racial elements. The character of King Louie, an orangutan who rules over the jungle’s monkeys, has been interpreted as a racial stereotype. Voiced by Louis Prima, an Italian American singer known for his jazz performances, King Louie embodies elements of African American culture. His desire to become human and learn the “secret of man’s red flower” can be seen as a metaphor for the racial integration struggles of the 1960s. However, the depiction of the monkeys as lazy, foolish, and subservient perpetuates harmful stereotypes of African Americans.

Disney’s “Aladdin” (1992), while not as old as the other films mentioned, also contains elements of hidden racism. The opening song, “Arabian Nights,” describes the fictional setting of Agrabah in a way that reinforces Orientalist stereotypes. Phrases like “It’s barbaric, but hey, it’s home” suggest that Middle Eastern culture is exotic, violent, and uncivilized. Additionally, the characters of Aladdin and Jasmine are depicted with lighter skin and more Western features compared to the villain, Jafar, who has darker skin and more stereotypically Arab features. This dichotomy between the “good” light-skinned characters and the “evil” dark-skinned character reinforces colorist and racist ideas.

These examples illustrate how classic Disney movies have incorporated racial stereotypes and prejudices, often in subtle and insidious ways. While these films were products of their time, reflecting the societal attitudes and norms of their respective eras, their continued popularity and influence raise important questions about their impact on audiences.

Children, in particular, are impressionable and absorb the messages conveyed through media. When they see characters of certain races depicted in stereotypical and negative ways, it can shape their perceptions and attitudes towards those races. This can lead to the internalization of racist ideas and contribute to the perpetuation of racial biases and discrimination.

In recent years, Disney has made efforts to address and rectify some of these issues. The company has introduced more diverse and inclusive characters and stories, such as Tiana in “The Princess and the Frog” (2009) and Moana in “Moana” (2016). Disney has also placed content warnings on some of its older films, acknowledging the problematic depictions and encouraging viewers to consider the historical context.

However, these steps, while commendable, are only part of the solution. It is essential for parents, educators, and media consumers to critically engage with these films, discussing their historical context and the ways in which they reflect and perpetuate racial stereotypes. By fostering an awareness of these issues, we can help mitigate their impact and promote a more nuanced understanding of race and representation in media.

Furthermore, it is crucial for media creators to continue striving for authentic and respectful portrayals of diverse cultures and identities. This involves not only avoiding harmful stereotypes but also actively seeking to tell stories that celebrate and honor the richness and complexity of different racial and ethnic backgrounds.

In conclusion, the hidden racism in classic Disney movies reveals a troubling aspect of these beloved films. While they have brought joy and wonder to countless viewers, they have also perpetuated harmful racial stereotypes and prejudices. By acknowledging and addressing these issues, we can work towards a more inclusive and equitable media landscape, ensuring that future generations of children grow up with stories that reflect the diversity and dignity of all people.

Cite this page

The Hidden Racism in Classic Disney Movies. (2024, May 21). Retrieved from https://papersowl.com/examples/the-hidden-racism-in-classic-disney-movies/

"The Hidden Racism in Classic Disney Movies." PapersOwl.com , 21 May 2024, https://papersowl.com/examples/the-hidden-racism-in-classic-disney-movies/

PapersOwl.com. (2024). The Hidden Racism in Classic Disney Movies . [Online]. Available at: https://papersowl.com/examples/the-hidden-racism-in-classic-disney-movies/ [Accessed: 31 May. 2024]

"The Hidden Racism in Classic Disney Movies." PapersOwl.com, May 21, 2024. Accessed May 31, 2024. https://papersowl.com/examples/the-hidden-racism-in-classic-disney-movies/

"The Hidden Racism in Classic Disney Movies," PapersOwl.com , 21-May-2024. [Online]. Available: https://papersowl.com/examples/the-hidden-racism-in-classic-disney-movies/. [Accessed: 31-May-2024]

PapersOwl.com. (2024). The Hidden Racism in Classic Disney Movies . [Online]. Available at: https://papersowl.com/examples/the-hidden-racism-in-classic-disney-movies/ [Accessed: 31-May-2024]

Don't let plagiarism ruin your grade

Hire a writer to get a unique paper crafted to your needs.

Our writers will help you fix any mistakes and get an A+!

Please check your inbox.

You can order an original essay written according to your instructions.

Trusted by over 1 million students worldwide

1. Tell Us Your Requirements

2. Pick your perfect writer

3. Get Your Paper and Pay

Hi! I'm Amy, your personal assistant!

Don't know where to start? Give me your paper requirements and I connect you to an academic expert.

short deadlines

100% Plagiarism-Free

Certified writers