Attribution of gender to a gender-unspecified individual: An evaluation of the people = male hypothesis

Abstract

J. Silveira [(1980), “Generic Masculine Words and Thinking,” Women's Studies International Quarterly, Vol. 3, pp. 165–178] suggested that most individuals adopt a “people = male” bias evidenced by gender-unspecified individuals being attributed male gender. We evaluated whether subject gender, subject status on the Bem Sex Role Inventory [BSRI; S. L. Bem (1974), “The Measurement of Psychological Androgyny,” Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, Vol. 42, pp. 155–162], or situational context would affect the likelihood of subjects attributing male gender to a gender-unspecified individual. College students of primarily European-American descent (82 females and 85 males) read one of three dialogue scripts. Following memory distraction tasks, subjects attributed gender to the target character. Across scripts, there was a strong people = male bias, as subjects were more likely to attribute male, rather than female, gender to the target character. Neither subject gender or BSRI classification affected this bias. Situational context in the scripts had a marginally significant effect.