Discuss various ways by which inaccurate gender-role stereotypes are perpetuated

Question

What will be an ideal response?

Answer 1

(a) Maccoby and Jacklin proposed that when a stereotyped generalization is believed, people tend to notice the behaviors of others that are consistent with the belief and tend to ignore behaviors that are inconsistent. Thus, if a male acts in a masculine fashion, the stereotype is strengthened, but if a male acts in a feminine fashion, the behavior goes unnoticed and does not weaken the stereotype. (b) Other evidence indicates that gender schemata tend to have both an organizational effect and a distortion effect on memory: Information consistent with the stereotyped schema is easier to remember than counter-stereotypical information, and inconsistent information tends to be distorted to match the stereotyped schema. (c) Finally, parents' and teachers' expectations based on any stereotyped attitudes or schemata they possess may be passed along to children. For example, parents often expect a son to be better at math than a daughter. It is not surprising that children develop corresponding expectations, e.g., "I'm a girl, so I'm not supposed to be very good in math.". Another way attitudes may be passed along is through teachers' attributions of successes and failures. Teachers may respond differently to boys' vs. girls' successes and failures in a subject such as math: boys' successes may be attributed to high ability, and their failures may be attributed to lack of effort, whereas girls' successes may be attributed to high effort, and their failures may be attributed to low ability. The attributions would tend to promote mastery orientation toward math for boys, in contrast to an underestimation of math competencies and learned helplessness with respect to math in girls.