Date of Award

1990

Degree Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Arts in Psychology

Department

Psychology

First Advisor

Bernice Lott

Abstract

The effects of the labels "feminine" and "masculine" on judgements of target persons' behavior, personality characteristics stereotypically related to sex-roles, competency, and likability were investigated. Three-hundred-two undergraduate students responded to one of six descriptions of a fictitious applicant for the job of resident assistant which varied by label and gender of the target person. Results indicate that persons who were labeled masculine were judged to be more likely to make stereotypically masculine (i.e. instrumental) responses to crisis situations, and to generally possess higher levels of a constellation of personality characteristics typically associated with men than persons who were unlabeled, who in turn were rated higher on these two measures than persons who were labeled feminine, and that persons who were labeled feminine were generally judged to possess higher levels of a constellation of personality characteristics typically associated with women than persons who were unlabeled, who in turn were rated higher on this dimension than persons who were labeled masculine, and that persons who were labeled feminine were judged to be less competent than persons who were unlabeled or who were labeled masculine (p <.05). Some interactions of label with gender of target person and gender of participant were also found. Implications and directions for future research are discussed.

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