How are Women and Men Perceived? Structure of Gender Stereotypes in Contemporary Turkey
Although gender stereotypes is a popular topic in social psychology, research on gender stereotypes in Turkish culture is limited. Therefore the purpose of the study was twofold: (1) to present how people describe women and men, and (2) to generate the underlying themes of the descriptions for ea...
| Main Authors: | , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Sada Institute of Art and Language Studies
2018-12-01
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| Series: | Nesne Psikoloji Dergisi |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://www.nesnedergisi.com/makale/pdf/1517852225.pdf |
| Summary: | Although gender stereotypes is a popular topic in social psychology, research on gender
stereotypes in Turkish culture is limited. Therefore the purpose of the study was twofold: (1) to
present how people describe women and men, and (2) to generate the underlying themes of the
descriptions for each gender in order to present the structure of gender stereotypes in Turkish culture.
By using free response method, undergraduates (N = 491) were asked to write down 10 adjectives to
describe women and men. Frequencies showed that women were mostly described as emotional,
jealous, easily-offended, faithful, delicate, self-sacrificing, warm, intelligent, sensitive, gossipy,
ambitious, compassionate, beautiful, considerate, hardworking, attractive, and fragile; whereas men
were mostly described as jealous, strong, selfish, emotional, ambitious, angry, rude, childish, rational,
hardworking, intelligent, honest, brave, and protective. Further, these stereotypes were combined
under four basic themes (appearance, personality, gender roles and power) and their subthemes to
present the structure of gender stereotypes. Women’s stereotypes were structured mostly under their
personality traits (warmth, selfishness, fragility, agency, and sociability) followed by gender roles
(motherhood, and faithfulness), appearance, and power (strength, and weakness) themes,
respectively. Men’s stereotypes were structured mostly under their personality traits (selfishness,
agency, emotionality, irresponsibility, sociability, emotionlessness, and womanizer), but differently
followed by power (manhood, and dominance), gender roles (fatherhood/breadwinner, and
faithfulness), and appearance. Findings were discussed in the light of the existing literature on gender
stereotypes, sexism, and manhood. |
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| ISSN: | 2147-6489 2147-6489 |