Mother of all fallacies ...children believe dad is cleverer than mum
YOUNGSTERS of today subconsciously share the same outdated sexist attitudes of previous generations, as the battle of the sexes still rages.
The belief that men are cleverer than women was held by children as young as nine and 10 and in adults across 79 countries, a global study found.
In a computer test, people had to quickly decide if “Brilliance” was a male or female trait – and most plumped for male.
However, when they were quizzed face-to-face, researchers found the participants were more likely to link women with being talented, brilliant and “super smart” over men.
It suggests the old-fashioned stereotypes are examples of “implicit bias”, which people are either unwilling or unable to express when confronted.
The US team which carried out the study says the findings could prevent women from “smashing the glass ceiling” at maledominated workplaces.
Study leader Dr Daniel Storage, of Denver University in the US, said: “Stereotypes that portray brilliance as a male trait are likely to hold women back across a wide range of prestigious careers.”
Ability
Previous research has highlighted how women are underrepresented in careers where success is thought to depend on high levels of intellectual ability, brilliance or genius, particularly in the science and technology fields.
However, study author Tessa Charles-worth, a doctoral student at Harvard University, said the findings were not all doom and gloom in the struggle for gender
Kaylee, inset with models, as they walk among sprays and, below, wearing wellies equality. “A particularly exciting finding from this work is that, if anything, people explicitly say that they associate women with brilliance,” she said.
“Yet implicit measures reveal a different story about the more automatic gender stereotypes that come to mind when thinking about brilliance.”
The computer test used to gather the information is called a Implicit Association Test.
The long-established method aims to capture the “automatic associations” that come to mind between certain traits and certain groups of people, as people are often reluctant to admit to stereotyping others. In five studies, participants were shown images relating to men or women and asked to pair them with words linked to ability, like “brilliance”.
The study is published in the Journal of Experimental Social Psychology.
A GIFTED teenager killed himself by deliberately crashing his car after missing out on a place at a top university, an inquest has heard.
Jasper de Pelet, who attended Sherborne, one of the country’s most prestigious schools, took his own life by taking off his seatbelt and veering into an oncoming lorry at more than 60mph after visiting his girlfriend’s house.
Seconds before the crash the 18-year-old gap-year student had sent his mum a heartbreaking text, saying: “I’m sorry.”
In journals found after his death Jasper, who had been prescribed Prozac, wrote about his depression and anxiety. He said: “When I am at my happiest sadness can crush me at any time.”
He was driving his Volkswagen Golf when it hit a DAF articulated heavy goods vehicle travelling in the opposite direction on the A303 in Wiltshire.
An inquest at Salisbury Coroner’s Court heard the brakes were not applied as he drove across the hatched central reservation.
His father Louis, a counsellor, and mother Rebecca, head of English at Sherborne School, wiped away tears as they heard details.
Mrs De Pelet said in a statement to the court: “Jasper had a creative flair, he loved writing, performing. He excelled in English and Latin.
“He had periods of anxiety around exam time but achieved excellent results. He missed out on a place at Bristol University and became despondent and unhappy. Eventually he got a place to do history at Cardiff.”
Swindon andWiltshire senior coroner David Ridley recorded a verdict of suicide.