Women-are-wonderful effect
The women-are-wonderful effect is the phenomenon found in
The authors supposed that the positive general evaluation of women might derive from the association between women and nurturing characteristics. This bias has been cited as an example of
Background
The term was coined by researchers Alice Eagly and Antonio Mladinic in a 1994 paper, where they had questioned the widely-held view that there was prejudice against women. They observed that much of the research had been inconclusive in showing a bias. They had found a positive bias towards women in their 1989 and 1991 studies, which involved questionnaires given to students in the United States.[2]
In 1989, 203 psychology students of Purdue University were given questionnaires in groups of 20 and asked to assess subjects of both genders, which showed a more favourable attitude to women and female stereotypes.[3]
In 1991, 324 psychology students of Purdue University were given questionnaires in groups of 20 and asked to assess subjects of both genders. They evaluated the social categories of men and women, relating the traits and expectations of each gender through interviews, emotion-associations and free-response measures. Women were rated higher in attitudes and beliefs but not emotions.[4]
In-group bias
Rudman and Goodwin conducted research on
This research found that while both women and men have more favorable views of women, women's
Other experiments in this study found people showed automatic preference for their
Another experiment in the study found adults' attitudes were measured based on their reactions to categories associated with sexual relations. It revealed that among men who engaged more in sexual activity, the more positive their attitude towards sex, the larger their bias towards women. A greater interest in and liking of sex may promote automatic preference for the out-group of women among men, although both women and men with sexual experience expressed greater liking for the opposite gender.[5]
One study found that the effect is mediated by increased gender equality. The mediation comes not from differences in attitudes towards women, but in attitudes towards men. In more egalitarian societies, people have more positive attitudes towards men than in less egalitarian societies.[6]
Effects
Those who exhibit the women-are-wonderful effect tend to react negatively to research that "[puts] put men in a better light than women".[7]
Gender equality
A study with participants from 44 countries involving prediction of an individual's personality based on photographs verified the effect in multiple countries and found that the effect decreased the higher a countries measure of gender equality. This effect seemed to be due to men being viewed less negatively the more egalitarian a country was rather than women being viewed more positively.[8]
Gender roles
Some authors[who?] have claimed the "Women are wonderful" effect is applicable when women follow traditional gender roles such as child nurturing and stay-at-home housewife.[9] However, other authors[who?] have cited studies indicating that the women-are-wonderful effect is still applicable even when women are in nontraditional gender roles, and the original Eagly, Mladinic & Otto (1991) study discovering the women-are-wonderful effect found no such ambivalence.[10]
See also
- Benevolent prejudice
- Counterstereotype
- Gender empathy gap
- Gender stereotypes
- Lookism
- Male expendability
- Misandry
- Missing white woman syndrome
- Role congruity theory
- Stereotype
- Stereotype fit hypothesis
References
- PMID 11279804.
- .
- S2CID 145550350.
- S2CID 145704437.
- ^ (PDF) from the original on July 18, 2014. Retrieved September 2, 2016.
- S2CID 31983366.
- ISSN 0020-7594.
- S2CID 31983366.
- ISBN 978-0-19-932817-8.
- ISBN 978-1-4625-0906-5.
Further reading
- Eagly, Alice H.; Steffen, V. J. (1984), "Gender stereotypes stem from the distribution of women and men into social roles", Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 46 (4): 735–754, S2CID 43393737
- Garcia-Retamero, Rocio; López-Zafra, Esther (2006), "Prejudice against Women in male-congenial environments: Perceptions of gender role congruity in leadership", Sex Roles, 55 (1/2): 51–61, S2CID 144491449
- Whitley, Bernard E.; Kite, Mary E. (2010), The Psychology of Prejudice and Discrimination, Belmont, California, USA: Wadsworth, ISBN 978-0-495-81128-2