Multi-region investigation of ‘man’ as default in attitudes

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Abstract

Previous research has studied the extent to which men are the default members of social groups in terms of memory, categorization, and stereotyping, but not attitudes which is critical because of attitudes’ relationship to behavior. Results from our survey (N > 5000) collected via a globally distributed laboratory network in over 40 regions demonstrated that attitudes toward Black people and politicians had a stronger relationship with attitudes toward the men rather than the women of the group. However, attitudes toward White people had a stronger relationship with attitudes toward White women than White men, whereas attitudes toward East Asian people, police officers, and criminals did not have a stronger relationship with attitudes toward either the men or women of each respective group. Regional agreement with traditional gender roles was explored as a potential moderator. These findings have implications for understanding the unique forms of prejudice women face around the world.

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Study at a glance

graph TD A["Survey of over 5000 people
across more than 40 regions"] --> B["Globally distributed
laboratory network"] B --> C["Measure attitudes towards each group
and towards its men and women"] C --> D["Stronger link with the men:
Black people, politicians"] C --> E["Stronger link with the women:
White people"] C --> F["No difference: East Asian people,
police officers, criminals"] D -- "for politicians" --> G["Regional agreement with traditional
gender roles moderates role-based
groups only, not race-based groups"] F -- "for police officers, criminals" --> G

Reference

Phills, C. E., Miller, J. K., Buchanan, E. M., Williams, A., Meyers, C., Brown, E. R., Zickfeld, J., Volsa, S., Stieger, S., Oberzaucher, E., Mlakic, V., Vasilev, M., Dalgar, İ., Çoksan, S., Söylemez, S., Solak, Ç., Özdoğru, A. A., Çoktok, B., Kung, C.-C., … Kekecs, Z. (2025). Multi-region investigation of ‘man’ as default in attitudes. PLOS ONE, 20(6), e0323938. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0323938

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