What the Mind Knows the Eye Sees

Abstract

In the April 2017 issue of The Journal for Nurse Practitioners, I published a column about the impact of the systematic exclusion of women from health research. What was once referred to as sexism and we now call gender bias is considered the fundamental cause for most of the disadvantages that women have encountered in society, family relationships, health care, and the workplace through the centuries. The existence and results of gender bias are well-documented in scholarly journals and the popular press. Recently, an article appeared in my news feed about a study that was undertaken to examine gender bias in the courtroom. The report described an experiment in which the researchers used an actual court case to see if subjects would critique the closing argument of 6 seasoned trial attorneys differently depending on the gender of the attorney. Although the attorneys delivered the exact same angry presentation to several groups of male and female test viewers, the performances of the 3 female lawyers were consistently described in significantly different terms than that of their 3 male counterparts. The male attorneys were assessed to be commanding, powerful, competent, and hirable. The females were described as shrill, hysterical, grating, and obnoxious. 1 Salerno J.M. Phalen H.J. Reyes R.N. Schweitzer N.J. Closing with emotion: the differential impact of male versus female attorneys expressing anger in court. Law Hum Behav. 2018 Jun 25; ([Epub ahead of print])https://doi.org/10.1037/lhb0000292 Crossref PubMed Scopus (19) Google Scholar The researchers opined that because women are viewed more negatively than men when expressing anger it might adversely affect their ability to advance in their careers. I would suggest that it might also determine the fate of their clients. To most of our readers, this may not be shocking news. Nevertheless, gender bias and its pervasive existence in society are important issues that have implications for women’s psychological and physical well-being. Department Editor Denise G. Link, PhD, WHNP-BC, CNE, FAANP, FAAN, is a clinical professor at Arizona State University College of Nursing and Health Innovation in Phoenix. Denise welcomes ideas for future columns and can be reached at