GENDER STEREOTYPES AND SOCIAL IDENTITY - HOW BEING IN THE MINORITY AFFECTS JUDGMENTS OF SELF AND OTHERS

Men and women participated in groups in which they were either the onl y member of their sex or in the majority. Participants rated themselve s along gender-stereotypic traits and then made judgments of a gender- ambiguous target person. Results for both measures supported social-id entity theory, suggesting that men's consciousness of their sex made t hem aware of their high social status in relation to women and activat ed concepts about themselves that confirmed their membership in this h igh-status category In contrast, women's consciousness of their sex ma de them aware of their low social status relative to men and motivated them to view themselves in terms of concepts that distinguished them from other members of this low-status category.