Effects of Gender Stereotypes on Balance Performance and Learning in Men

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of gender stereotypes on the performance and learning of a balance task in men. Before practice, forty-eight participants received instructions involving the comparison of balance between males and females: males normally perform worse than females (stereotype threat condition - ST), females usually perform worse than males (stereotype lift condition - SL), or no instructions regarding gender stereotypes (control condition). One day later, they performed a retention test. The results show that the SL group outperformed the other groups during practice, but not retention. ST participants reported lower perceived competence. The findings show that gender stereotypes can affect perceptions of competence and balance performance, but not balance learning, in men.

Keywords:

• stereotype lift
• stereotype threat
• motivation
• expectancies
• balance

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by authors.

Additional information

Funding

Priscila Cardozo received a scholarship financed by Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior – Brasil (CAPES) – Finance Code 001.