Implicit self-concept and evaluative implicit gender stereotypes: Self andingroup share desirable traits

Experiment 1 unexpectedly found sex differences in evaluative gender stereo types (only men associated male with potency and only women associated fema le with warmth). Experiment 2 dramatically reduced sex differences in gende r-potency judgments when measures were redesigned to avoid implying that po tency was positive (the concepts, strong and weak, were represented by eval uatively matched words; e.g., destroy vs. feeble, loud vs. quiet, and might y vs. gentle). Experiment 3 tested the hypothesis that these sex difference s were in the service of self-esteem but found no correlation between own-g ender-favorable stereotyping and implicit self-esteem. Rather, participants showed a correlation between linking self to the favorable potency trait a nd linking own gender to that trait. Experiment 4 confirmed the correlation between implicit self-concept and gender stereotype using the contrast bet ween potency and warmth for the implicit stereotype measure. In concert, re sults suggest that people possess implicit gender stereotypes in self-favor able form because of the tendency to associate self with desirable traits.