Responses to Instruction on Counseling Women: Does Gender Play a Part?

Abstract

We investigated how instructors' gender affects students' perceptions. Three components of person perception were assessed: cognitive, affective, and behavioral. The cognitive domain included evaluations of the instructor and the subject matter presented; the affective domain included emotional responses to the instructor and the subject matter; and the behavioral domain included actions in response to the instructor, operationalized as the number of questions asked by students. Ninety-eight undergraduate students enrolled in psychology classes viewed one of four videotapes. Two tapes portrayed a gender-neutral topic and two demonstrated sex-bias in counseling women. The same male and female instructors made identical presentations on each topic. Students then completed the measures. As predicted, the gender of the instructor influenced evaluations of competence and importance of the material, as well as mood states and the number and kind of questions asked. On all three components of person perception, the male instructor was viewed more positively than the female instructor. Students' sex and the type of subject matter further influenced responses, particularly in the affective and behavioral areas. Implications for teaching are discussed.