| Although the division of roles in the family has changed with the development of society,the traditional stereotype of "male heads the household and female heads the household" is still deeply rooted.Research suggests that highlighting a dimension of cross-categorization can weaken the activation of stereotypes,but the effect of category highlighting on the activation of gender stereotypes is unclear.Therefore,this study systematically explores the behavioral patterns of gender stereotype activation at different levels of salience based on cross-categorization theory.The study was divided into two parts.First,Experiment 1A used a mixed experimental design of 2(category salience: gender,emotion)× 2(emotion priming:positive emotion,neutral)× 2(gender priming: male face,female face)× 2(target stimuli: household words,work words)to explore the effect of salient emotion and gender dimensions on the activation of gender stereotypes through a picture categorization salience method,which aims to require This method was designed to ask subjects to categorize the gender or emotion of the face.The results showed that when gender was highlighted,a typical pattern of gender stereotypes emerged,while when emotion was highlighted,there was no significant difference in the interaction between gender activation and the target stimulus.Experiment 1B also followed a mixed experimental design of 2(category salience: gender,emotion)× 2(emotion priming: positive emotion,neutral)× 2(gender priming: male face,female face)× 2(target stimulus: house word,work word),using the "blocked" task salience method,and repeatedly verified this pattern.This pattern of results was repeatedly validated using the "blocked" task highlighting method.This approach means that in the gender highlighting condition,one group had only male neutral faces and female neutral faces as the initiating stimuli,while the other group had male positive faces and female positive faces,i.e.,the identity dimension of gender was more unique while keeping the emotion constant within each group;in the emotion highlighting condition,one group had male neutral faces and male positive faces as the initiating stimuli,while the other group had female neutral faces.In the emotion highlighting condition,the initiating stimuli in one group were male neutral faces and male positive faces,while in the other group were female neutral faces and female positive faces,i.e.,the category of emotion was made more distinct by holding gender constant within the group while changing emotion.The results still suggest that attention to gender enhances the activation of gender stereotypes,while attention to emotions inhibits the activation of gender stereotypes.Study 2 built on Study 1 by creating a non-entity category,adding an orange or green dot to the starter face,i.e.,a dot color.A mixed experimental design of 2(category salience: gender,dot color)× 2(motion priming: positive emotion,neutral)× 2(gender priming: male face,female face)× 2(target stimuli: family words,work words)was used to compare the effects of highlighting the non-entity category dot color and gender dimensions on the activation of gender stereotypes through a picture categorization salience method.The results demonstrated that focusing on non-entity categories also eliminated the activation of gender stereotypes;while focusing on gender still enhanced the activation of gender stereotypes.In summary,the results of the three experiments verified our hypothesis and concluded that highlighting social categories other than gender could suppress the activation of gender stereotypes,while highlighting gender could enhance the activation of gender stereotypes.In conclusion,the degree of gender stereotype activation varies depending on the salient category. |
