Ciencias

L. A. Rudman & J. E. Phelan: 2010 Vol. Gender Roles Social Psychology 2010; Hogrefe Publishing © Priming 41(3):192–202

Original Article

The Effect of Priming Gender Roles on Women’s Implicit Gender Beliefs and Career Aspirations
Laurie A. Rudman and Julie E. Phelan
Rutgers University, Piscataway, NJ, USA
Abstract. We investigated the effect of priming gender roles on women’s implicitgender stereotypes, implicit leadership self-concept, and interest in masculine and feminine careers. Women primed with traditional gender roles (e.g., a male surgeon and a female nurse) showed increased automatic gender stereotypes relative to controls; this effect mediated their reduced interest in masculine occupations. By contrast, exposure to nontraditional roles (e.g., a female surgeon and amale nurse) decreased women’s leadership self-concept and lowered their interest in masculine occupations, suggesting that female vanguards (i.e., successful women in male-dominated careers) can provoke upward comparison threat, rather than inspire self-empowerment. Thus, priming either traditional or nontraditional gender roles can threaten progress toward gender equality, albeit through differentmechanisms (stereotypes or self-concept, respectively). Keywords: implicit gender stereotypes, implicit self-concept, priming effects, the Implicit Association Test

The second wave of the Women’s Movement dramatically changed American women’s lives, but the benefits can be characterized as precarious rather than guaranteed. On the one hand, a majority of women now participate in the laborforce, more women than men attend college, and they obtain approximately half of advanced degrees in law, business, and other high status professions (England, 2006; Valian, 1999). On the other hand, women remain underrepresented in the highest echelons of power, are underpaid for their equal efforts, and are overburdened with domestic responsibilities (England, 2006; Ridgeway, 2006; Valian, 1999).Although attitudes toward women’s rights and professional ambitions have undergone a revolution since the 1960s, stereotypes that differentially attribute agentic qualities to men and communal qualities to women are remarkably resistant to change and consistent across cultures (Deaux & LaFrance, 1998; Williams & Best, 1990). How will this mix of change and stability affect women’s future progress?According to social role theory (Eagly, 1987; Eagly, Wood, & Diekman, 2000), gender stereotypes stem from the traditional roles that men and women have historically occupied (breadwinner vs. homemaker). Thus, women’s increasing participation in the workforce should impact gender stereotypes. Consistent with this view, research on dynamic stereotypes (i.e., stereotypes projected into the future)shows that people imagine that women decades from now will be as agentic as men; however, sex differences in communality are projected to remain steadfast (Diekman & Eagly, 2000; Diekman, GoodSocial Psychology 2010; Vol. 41(3):192–202 DOI: 10.1027/1864-9335/a000027

friend, & Goodwin, 2004). Given that perceptions of agency and communality are tied to high and low status roles, respectively (Conway,Pizzamiglio, & Mount, 1996; Eagly & Steffen, 1984; Hoffman & Hurst; 1990), the dynamic stereotype findings suggest that people expect women to make further inroads into high-status masculine domains, whereas they do not expect men to become occupiers of low-status feminine roles. As a result, women of the future are envisioned to be both agentic, high-earning breadwinners and communal, primarycaregivers, whereas men’s roles and stereotypes are not expected to change (Diekman & Eagly, 2000; Diekman et al., 2004). Finally, people asked to imagine women in the future were favorable toward women’s increased agency, but reserved their strongest approval for their stable communal qualities (e.g., nurturant and kind; Diekman & Goodfriend, 2006). In sum, double standards for agency may relax...