The Effect Of Perspective-taking On Occupation-sex Stereotype

Stereotype has always been the hot study of social psychology, researchers havelaunched the race, looks, region, occupation, gender and other areas of research around thestereotype, which confirms the stereotype is widespreading, but how to control and changeit is still controversial, and it’s less to study the means of how to effectively influence thestereotype. So this study attempted interventions perspective taking and to explore if theperspective taking strategy is able to effectively influence the occupation-sex stereotype.The study included two parts:The first section research on perspective-taking strategy influences the explicitoccupation-sex stereotypes. Through preliminary experiment to collect more suitable formen and women’s vocational words to the preparation of a professional attitudequestionnaire, and compare if the perspective-taking strategy (the students were asked toimagine and record a typical day of their own as a female IT elite and a male kindergartenteacher) will reduce the explicit stereotype’s score. Reached the following conclusions:(1)The explicit occupation-sex stereotype is prevalent among the undergraduates.(2)When perspective-taking strategy effectively occurs, the explicit occupation-sexstereotype is weakened remarkably, but how to improve the guidance of the strategy is aproblem.(3)There are sexual differences on the explicit attitude， that is the female’soccupation-sex stereotype is significantly less than the male’s, female subjects demonstratea certain anti-stereotype trend.The second section research on perspective-taking strategy influences the implicitoccupation-sex stereotypes. This study makes an implicit association test comparing if theimproved perspective-taking strategy will significant reduce the implicit stereotype.Reached the following conclusions:(1)The implicit occupation-sex stereotype is significant existed. (2) The perspective-taking to refute is better than to imagine a typical day of the targetrole, it can stimulate the subjects make more positive evaluation on the target role; theperspective-taking can’t completely eliminate the implicit occupation-sex stereotype, but itcan make the influence of the implicit occupation-sex stereotype much weaker.(3)Sexual differences have less influence on the implicit occupation-sex stereotype,no matter the male or the female; they all have the strong stereotype.(4)The low correlation of the questionnaire and the implicit association test showsthat the two instruments have measured the explicit and implicit different levels ofoccupation-sex stereotype.