WHAT MEDIATES GENDER BIAS IN WORK BEHAVIOR RATINGS

This study explored possible mediators of gender bias in work behavior ratings. However we believed it important to do so by first attemptin g to create a decision-making environment that better reflected the co gnitive demands imposed on raters in work settings. Accordingly, 74 pa rticipants, mostly White and middle class students, read a vignette th at depicted the work behavior of a male or female police officer All p articipants attended to another task while reading the vignette and di d so while under a perceived time limit; then, immediately or 5 days l ater they completed a work behavior questionnaire. As expected, more e ffective work behaviors were attributed to men than women-but only whe n ratings were delayed. Further analyses revealed that a systematic re sponse bias was responsible, whereas selective memory played no role. Specifically, participants adopted a mol-e liberal decision criterion when attributing effective work behaviors to men than women. These res ults help to illuminate the dynamics of discrimination and provide dir ection for future research efforts.