Poster #69 - Do Singaporean Children and Parents Think that Males are Smarter?

• In Event: 3-053 - Poster Session 10
  In Poster Session: PS 10 Section - Diversity, Equity & Social Justice

Integrative Statement

Gender-based stereotypes about cognitive abilities are pervasive (Nosek et al., 2017) and seem to emerge early (Bian et al., 2017; Cvencek et al., 2011). Moreover, these stereotypes shape children’s interests, potentially steering girls away from domains that are believed to require high levels of intellectual ability (Bian et al., 2017). Thus, it is important to (1) understand the acquisition of these stereotypes across various contexts, (2) investigate whether they apply to all ethnic groups or just to some, and (3) identify the sources of these stereotypes in children’s environments.

The present work investigated these questions by focusing on (1) the acquisition of implicit “brilliance = men” stereotypes among Singaporean children, (2) the extent to which these stereotypes apply to targets from different ethnic groups (white and Asian), and (3) the relationship between Singaporean children’s stereotypes and their parents’ stereotypes. Singapore is a particularly interesting context in which to study gender stereotypes about intelligence because girls perform as well as boys in math and science at all levels of schooling.

330 Chinese Singaporeans aged 8 to 12 participated in the study (162 girls, Mage = 10.06). We also tested 162 of these children’s parents. Participants completed an Implicit Association Test (IAT) that assessed the extent to which they associated men and women with the trait “genius” and a comparison “creative” trait (which was selected because it is similar in content and valence to “genius”). A D score (analogous to a Cohen’s d) was computed based on the reaction times during the IAT, with higher D score indicating stronger implicit associations between men and the “genius” words (or women and “creative” words). Approximately half of the participants were assigned to an IAT in which they saw faces of white men and women, whereas the other half completed an IAT with faces of Chinese men and women.

Results suggested three main conclusions. First, from the youngest ages in our sample, Singaporean boys and girls associated “brilliance” and “genius” with men more than women (and, conversely, “creativity” more with women than men). Boys’ stereotype was stronger than girls’ (see Figure 1), but both genders showed the stereotype. Second, this stereotype was present regardless of whether children reasoned about white or Asian men and women (see Figure 1), suggesting it is applied broadly. Third, parents’ implicit “brilliance = men” stereotype was predictive of their children’s stereotype, but particularly among younger children (p < .01)—among older children, this relationship was not significant. This result suggests the importance of parents as early socialization agents.

In conclusion, Singaporean children implicitly associate men with higher intelligence from a young age. This stereotype seems to apply to both ethnic/racial ingroup and outgroup members (i.e., Asian and white people) and—among younger children—is predicted by the extent to which parents show the same implicit stereotype. These findings contribute to our understanding of the acquisition of gender stereotypes about intellectual ability and, as a result, can help in efforts to mitigate the negative effects of these stereotypes.

Authors

• Peipei Setoh, Nanyang Technological University
  Non-Presenting Author

• Siqi Zhao, Nanyang Technological University
  Presenting Author

• Daniel Storage, University of Denver
  Non-Presenting Author

• Andrei Cimpian, New York University
  Non-Presenting Author