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Abstract
Imagining oneself in a stereotyped role may not only increase women's endorsement of stereotypes about women and science, but also stifle broader concerns about social change. In the experiment, 81 women imagined themselves on a stereotypical or a counter-stereotypical career path (vs. a control condition). Participants in the stereotypical imagery condition endorsed to a higher extent the stereotypes about women and science, and crucially, were more resistant to social change in general. Stereotype endorsement mediated the relationship between exposure to stereotypes and resistance to social change. Results imply that tackling occupational gender stereotypes is crucial not only because they exclude women from male-dominated careers, but also because of a potentially pervasive negative impact on broader egalitarian concerns.
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Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.
Notes
1. One-way ANOVAs on the outcome measures produced the following results: stereotype endorsement F(2, 79) = 3.23, p = .045, resistance to social change F(2, 80) = 1.99, p = .144, opposition to group equality F(2, 79) = 0.75, p = .476, and group-based anger F(2, 76) = 1.64, p = .201.
2. We also tested the opposite causal path with resistance to change as the mediator, and stereotype endorsement as the dependent variable. Results revealed that participants in the stereotypical imagery condition reported higher stereotype endorsement than participants in the control group, c = .2813, SE = .1449, p = .058, although this effect was only marginally significant. The direct effect was not significant, c′ = .1661, SE = .1436, p = .253. Bootstrap analysis revealed that the total indirect effect through the mediator was .1152, SE = .0759, 95% CI = +.0101+.3205, revealing a significant mediation effect. Resistance to change mediated the association between imagery prime and stereotype endorsement, thus the mediational relationship was bidirectional.