Gender stereotypes are racialized

A cross-cultural investigation of gender stereotypes about intellectual talents

Bibliographic Data

ID9796602
AuthorsYuhang Shu (0000-0001-6886-4508, Cornell University, corresponding author), Qingfen Hu (0000-0003-1369-4382, Beijing Normal University), Fei Xu (0000-0001-8989-9603, University of California, Berkeley), Lin Bian (0000-0003-3823-5430, University of Chicago)
Year2022
Volume58
Issue7
Pages1345-1359
Publication date2022-07-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueDevelopmental Psychology (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0012-1649 • E-ISSN: 1939-0599
PublisherAmerican Psychological Association (APA) (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1037/dev0001356
PMID35298190
OpenAlexW4221079244
LanguageEN
Citations received14

In the United States, there is a common stereotype associating brilliance with men. This gender brilliance stereotype emerges early and may undermine women's engagement in many prestigious careers. However, past research on its acquisition has focused almost exclusively on American children's beliefs of White people's intellectual talents. Therefore, less is known about how this stereotype develops in non-Western cultures and whether children consider other social identities such as race in forming this stereotype. To address these issues, the present research (a) provided the first cross-cultural test examining its development in 5- to 7-year-old Chinese and American children and (b) compared children's gender brilliance stereotype of White people with that of Asian people. Studies 1 ( N = 96; Chinese children) and 2 ( N = 96; Chinese children) revealed that, similar to American children, Chinese children associated brilliance with White men (vs. White women) around the age of 6. In contrast, Studies 3 ( N = 96; Chinese children) and 4 ( N = 96; American children; 76.9% White) showed that 5- to 7-year-old children from both cultures associated brilliance with Asian women (vs. Asian men). The results suggest that the gender stereotype about brilliance has a racial component and may be culturally consistent. Overall, these findings add to our knowledge of children's acquisition of the gender stereotype about brilliance in non-Western cultural contexts and highlight the importance of considering multiple social identities to understand the acquisition of stereotypes. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved)

Developmental psychology · MEDLINE · Political science · PsycINFO · Sociology · Stereotype (UML · Stereotype threat · White (mutation · Educational Methods and Teacher Development · Gender Studies · Psychology · Psychology of Development and Education · Social Psychology · Teacher Professional Development and Motivation

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