Effects of gender stereotypes on information processing and cognitive performance

This thesis investigates how gender stereotypes shape cognitive processes, focusing on two interrelated dimensions: the association between gender and social status, and the impact of gender-science stereotypes in STEM. Studies 1 and 2 examined how implicit associations linking men with high-status and women with low-status professions influence memory. Participants completed the Implicit Association Test (IAT) and a memory task with masculine and feminine forms of high- and low-status professions. Participants remembered feminine forms of high-status professions less accurately and produced fewer false recalls, while the opposite pattern emerged for masculine forms. Memory biases were correlated with IAT scores and strongest under incidental encoding. Study 3 examined how activating stereotypes about women’s lower math ability affected engineering students in a math task. Stereotype threat reduced women’s confidence and performance while enhancing men’s, particularly among those with stronger gender-science associations. Overall, the studies reveal the deep and persistent impact of gender stereotypes.