Impact of Stereotype Threat on Evaluating Female Drivers' Skills


Özkan B., AZIK ÖZKAN D., ÖZ B.

Trends in Psychology, 2024 (Scopus) identifier

  • Yayın Türü: Makale / Tam Makale
  • Basım Tarihi: 2024
  • Doi Numarası: 10.1007/s43076-024-00387-y
  • Dergi Adı: Trends in Psychology
  • Derginin Tarandığı İndeksler: Scopus, Psicodoc, Psycinfo
  • Anahtar Kelimeler: Female drivers, Gender equality, Gender stereotype, Stereotype threat
  • Orta Doğu Teknik Üniversitesi Adresli: Evet

Özet

The study aimed to explore stereotype threat's impact on evaluating driving performance, specifically focusing on stereotypes about female drivers. Participants, totaling 90 female and 70 male drivers, were randomly assigned to groups emphasizing, countering, or neutralizing these stereotypes. They were then tasked with assessing the driving skills of other male and female drivers using the Driver Skill Inventory. The results revealed significant differences in how female drivers were evaluated by both male and female participants in groups where stereotypes were emphasized or countered. However, in the group where stereotypes were neutralized, no significant differences were found between male and female evaluations of driving skills. The study highlighted that emphasizing or countering stereotypes had a distinct effect on gender-based evaluations of driving skills. Explicitly or implicitly making female driver stereotypes salient enhanced existing gender-based stereotypical evaluations, while providing counter ideas to these stereotypes diminished the gender-based evaluation effects. The implications of these findings are substantial, particularly in raising awareness about the potential impact of gender stereotypes on traffic studies. Addressing and challenging these biases could significantly improve road safety, especially in regions characterized by wide gender gaps.