WHEN ANOTHER STUMBLES - GENDER AND SELF-PRESENTATION TO VULNERABLE OTHERS

Pursuing answers to the twin questions of when and why women engage in ''modest'' self-presentation, this study examined the self-presentati on of academic achievement in a college setting. Gender of the partici pants, gender of the partners, and vulnerability (concern over his/her low grades or not) of the partner were completely crossed. Participan ts were 85 first-year students, drawn from a college population that w as 6% African-American 9% Asian, 79% Euro-American and 5% Latino/a. Th ey heard information about a partner's academic record, and then were induced to predict their own grade point average, in a context in whic h they anticipated interacting closely with the partner on a joint tas k. Women's grade point average predictions were lower than men's and p articularly so when the partner was vulnerable. Vulnerable male partne rs were particularly salient for women in both the grade point average predictions and self-report data; the nonvulnerable male partners wer e particularly salient for men. Results are discussed with reference t o self-in-relation and social comparison theories.