Gender Stereotypes: A Psychological Analysis

Men and women differ in physical aspects as well as psychological aspects. An example of a physical aspect is the difference of the genitalia. Men have a penis as the main sexual characteristic while women have a vagina. As part of psychological differences men and women have for example different ways to be aggressive and to hurt someone else caused by aggression. Males are more physical aggressive. They are more likely to engage in a fight, punch someone, or to be violent in general. In contrast women tend to be more social aggressive. They try to hurt others by spreading gossips or try to outgroup someone. The affected individual is then hurted caused by isolation (Gleitman, Gross, & Reisberg, 2011). Another psychological aspect in which

Stereotype threat is the confirmation in behaving in a certain way examined by the target group when a negative stereotype of this specific group or an individual becomes aware ( Schmader, Johns, & Forbes, 2008). Laurin (2015) conducted a study on the awareness level of stereotypes in mixed gender basketball teams. Participants filled out a gender identification and a stereotype consciousness questionaire one month before they played a basketball match in mixed gender teams. Results showed that boys favoured ingroup interaction in contrast to girls. It came out that both boys and girls made fewer passes to girls in relevant situations than to boys. In this example females became aware that they are probably not as good as males in basketball caused by the stereotype. This would confirm that stereotypes have an impact on performance as well as involvement in physical

(2010) investigated a study about decisions of referees in male and female players on different competition levels in handball. Male referees were asked to judge videosequences of either male team matches or female team matches. They needed to decide if they give either no sanction, a sporting sanction (a 7-meter throw or 9-meter throw), or a disciplinary sanction ( yellow card, 2-min supsension, or a red card). The opportunity of a combination of sporting sanctions and disciplinary sanctions were given. Results showed that male referees gave more sporting sanctions to female players than to male players. In contrast male players received more disciplinary sanctions than female players. It came out that referees sanctioned male players more frequently to disrupt their aggressive behavior. This could mean that referees unconsciously sanction males more frequently to do not lose their control in a