UNDERSTANDING THE STRUCTURE OF STEREOTYPES OF WOMEN: VIRTUE AND AGENCY AS DIMENSIONS DISTINGUISHING FEMALE SUBGROUPS

DeWall, C. Nathan ; Altermatt, T. William ; Thompson, Heather

350 Main Street , Malden , MA 02148 , USA , and 9600 Garsington Road , Oxford OX4 2DQ , UK . : Blackwell Publishing, Inc.
Published 2005
ISSN:
1471-6402
Source:
Blackwell Publishing Journal Backfiles 1879-2005
Topics:
Psychology
Notes:
A two-part study investigated the dimensional structure of stereotypes of women. In one sample (n= 258), participants sorted traits according to the likelihood that they would co-occur in the same woman. In a separate sample (n= 102), participants were given the same traits and were asked to judge the traits' desirability and to judge the moral virtue, sexual liberalism/conservatism, warmth, competence, and power of a woman who possessed high levels of each trait. Results from hierarchical cluster analysis indicated that participants perceived women in terms of six subgroups: professional, feminist, homemaker, female athlete, beauty, and temptress. Large differences among these subgroups were identified based on ratings of their moral virtue and sexual conservatism (i.e., virtue) and competence and power (i.e., agency). The implications of a virtue–agency model of female subgroups for gender stereotyping research are discussed.
Type of Medium:
Electronic Resource
URL: