LEVEL OF CATEGORIZATION OF GENDER STEREOTYPES
Abstract
The object of this study was to verify the level of
categorization of various gender categories through an analysis of
their content. 192 subjects, of both sexes, were asked to describe
theattributesthat characterized thecategories.The results showed
that (1) all male and female categories revealed characteristics
of basic level categories, since they showed a significantly
greater number of distinct attributes than common ones; (2)
"man" and "woman" categories were not at a more abstract superordinate
level of categorization than the other categories, since
these more general categories did not show less richness than the
ones associated to them. The conclusion was that future studies
about gender stereotypes should use not only the general categories
"man" and "woman", but should also include other male and
female subtypes, which may contribute to a better understanding
of the nature of the stereotype.
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