Dhesi, Japinder (2011) What‘s stopping you? The contribution of gender essentialism to sex differences in subject choice. Europe's Journal of Psychology, 7 (2). pp. 261-278. ISSN 1841-0413
Full text not available from this repository.Abstract
The present study considered the impact of gender essentialism on sex differences in subject choice. Secondary school children, aged 11-12 years (N = 30) and 15-16 years (N = 26), were randomly assigned to one of three experimental conditions, and completed a thought experiment requiring them to make inferences about two gendered attributes; academic subject ability and gender-stereotyped properties, of a hypothetical male and female; (a) raised in an opposite sex environment; (b) following a brain transplant from a member of the opposite sex and (c) a ‗normal‘ male or female, acting as a baseline response. Results from the experiment indicated that children do hold essentialist beliefs about gender. However, such beliefs vary as a function of both the age of participants, and the gendered attribute considered. We conclude that gender essentialism may account for the persistence of sex differences in subject choice.
| Item Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Official URL: | http://www.ejop.org/ |
| Additional Information: | © 2011 Europe's journal of psychology |
| Divisions: | Psychological and Behavioural Science |
| Subjects: | H Social Sciences > H Social Sciences (General) L Education > L Education (General) |
| Date Deposited: | 05 Sep 2011 08:52 |
| Last Modified: | 11 Sep 2025 08:04 |
| URI: | http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/id/eprint/38092 |
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