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How to Avoid Stereotypes? Evaluation of a Strategy based on Self-Regulatory Processes

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  10 June 2016

María Aranda  and
Beatriz Montes-Berges
María Aranda*
Affiliation:
Universidad de Jaén (Spain)
Beatriz Montes-Berges
Affiliation:
Universidad de Jaén (Spain)
*
*Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to María Aranda. Department of Psychology. Universidad de Jaén. office 019, C-5. “Las Lagunillas”. 23071. Jaén (Spain). Phone: +34-953213557. E-mail: aranda@ujaen.es
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Abstract

Based on research on the motivational processes involved in preventing and controlling stereotypes, we aimed to assess whether temporary activation of egalitarian goals – by means of a task that gives respondents exposure to a text on gender inequality – can prevent stereotyped answers on the task. The task asks participants to place women and men into a hierarchical organizational structure. Two specific objectives were established: first, to control the effect of prejudice and egalitarian commitment on the dependent variable; and second, to study gender differences in task responses. The study included 474 college students, 153 men and 321 women. Their mean age was 20.04 (SD = 4.43). ANCOVA indicated main effects of condition, F(1) = 4.15, p = .042, η2 = .081 (control condition without goal activation vs. experimental condition with goal activation) and sex, F(1) = 40.46, p < .001, η2 = .081, on the dependent variable (female candidates placed in the chart). Specifically, responses from participants in the experimental condition avoided stereotyped answers more than participants in the control condition. Furthermore, women’s performance on the task was more egalitarian than men’s. Finally, there was a significant interaction effect of condition and type of organization, F(2) = 3.97, p = .019, η2 = .017; participants assigning candidates to the feminized organization differed the most across conditions.

Keywords

egalitarian commitmentegalitarian goalgender stereotypesprejudiceself-regulatory processes
Type
Research Article
Information
The Spanish Journal of Psychology , Volume 19 , 2016 , E35
Copyright
Copyright © Universidad Complutense de Madrid and Colegio Oficial de Psicólogos de Madrid 2016 

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