Person perception and hence social stereotypes are multi-dimensional. A minimal way of capturing the contents of person or group descriptions is along the two dimensions of warmth (or communion or morality) and competence (or agency or ability). Fiske, Cuddy, Glick, & Xu (2002) found that a diverse set of social groups fell into 5 clusters in this 2-dimensional space. Both men and women were described positively, but men were seen as more competent, and women were seen as warmer. There is no gross sexism in these results when considering that the poor and the homeless were seen as very low on both dimensions. Yet, one can see how the differences that do exist in perceptions of competence create barriers for women in professional contexts. … [Read more...] about Gender Wrap
