The effect of gender and stereotype threat on empathising performance.
Abstract
Baron-Cohen believes that males and females have sexually dimorphic brains and each have
specialised abilities, with females having an advantage in empathy. However, some researchers have
argued that the differences are due to socialisation into gender roles not brain differences. This
experiment aimed to test this, presenting participants with Baron-Cohen’s Empathising Quotient and
investigating the effects of stereotype threat. A mixed design was used and 120 participants took part.
Half the questions were stated as having gender differences. Females scored higher on both
conditions, and both males and females scored higher on the stereotyped condition. It was concluded
that females do have an advantage in empathising, and socialisation and stereotyping play a role in
moderating this.
INTRODUCTION
Whilst it is important to learn about differences between the sexes, it is a controversial field. Some
people do not want to believe that one sex may be genetically flawed on a certain task and are
therefore always likely to be outperformed by the other sex. This is why Baron-Cohen waited ten
years before publishing his theories on sexual differences in his book “The Essential Difference”
(2003).
Baron-Cohen believes there are fundamental differences between male and female brains which cause
sexually dimorphic behaviours. These differences are in empathising and systemising. Empathy is
“the drive to identify another person’s emotions and thoughts and to respond to these with appropriate
emotion.” (Baron-Cohen, 2002, p248.) Empathy can therefore allow us to predict people’s behaviour
and how they might react. There are two components to empathy; cognitive and affective. Cognitive
empathy involves understanding the other’s feelings and the ability to take their perspective, and
affective empathy is concerned with the observer’s appropriate emotional response. (Baron-Cohen,
2003).
Systemising is the “drive to analyse the variables in a system, to derive the underlying rules that
govern behaviour of a system.” (Baron-Cohen, 2002. p248). From these differences, Baron-Cohen
(2002, 2003) categorised five basic brain types. The typical female brain, which is superior at
empathising, the typical male brain, which is better at systemising, extreme forms of male and female
brains, and a balanced brain. Baron-Cohen explicitly states that he does not believe all males have a
male brain, just that on average, a higher proportion of males have a male brain.
, It is hard to measure a trait like empathy. The earliest measure was the Chapin Social Insight Test
(Chapin, 1942) which aimed to measure social insight but was found to be easily affected by
knowledge of social rules and convention (Baron-Cohen & Wheelwright, 2004) and also didn’t
measure empathy alone but also other traits related to inter-personal functioning ( Davis 1980). Since
then several tests have been designed to measure empathy but have been criticised for also measuring
other traits and not uniquely empathy ( Kerr 1947, Dymond 1949,1950). The most widely used test in
the 1980’s and 1990’s was Davis’s Interpersonal Reactivity Index (IRI) (Davis, 1980, 1983).
However, Baron-Cohen and Wheelwright (2004) claimed it measured processes which are related but
not identical to empathy. They then created the Empathy Quotient (EQ), a 60 item self-report
questionnaire which is used in all Baron-Cohen’s experiments.
In the UK, in recent years girls outperform boys in school including subjects like mathematics and
science (BBC News 2004). This is surprising when viewed in light of Baron-Cohen’s theory that boys
are better systemisers and should therefore perform better in science and mathematics. Another
problem with Baron-Cohen’s theory is that the vast majority of research cited in support of the theory
was conducted by Baron-Cohen and colleagues. He chooses not to cite work which may disprove his
theory, for example Pavlova (2009) who found no gender differences in a task aiming to measure
empathy. Some researchers have also noted that there is considerable overlap across empathising and
systemising traits and women actually outperform men on certain measures of systemising. (Rodd &
Brown 2006).
Research to support Baron-Cohen has shown females score higher on the “Empathy Quotient”
(Baron-Cohen & Wheelwright 2004), and this finding is supported by experimental support. Females
scored higher on the “Reading the mind in the eyes” test, requiring participants to guess the emotion
of an actor based on just their eyes (Baron-Cohen et al 2001). Girls have also been found to share
more (Charlesworth & Dzur 1987), respond more empathetically to others distress (Hoffman 1977),
are more sensitive to facial expressions (Hall 1978), and talk more about feelings.(Tannen 1990,
Walker 1994). Girls can also show theory of mind, which is linked to cognitive empathy, earlier than
boys (Happe 1995).
Biological differences in the brains of males and females support Baron-Cohen’s theories of different
brain types. Differences have been found in the corpus collosum (Bigler et al 1997), the amygdala
(Caviness et al 2006), and a region in the anterior hypothalamus. (Jacobson et al, 1981). However
most of the research published is contradictory and Murphy (1986) found no sex difference when
examining 17 post-mortem brains.
Abstract
Baron-Cohen believes that males and females have sexually dimorphic brains and each have
specialised abilities, with females having an advantage in empathy. However, some researchers have
argued that the differences are due to socialisation into gender roles not brain differences. This
experiment aimed to test this, presenting participants with Baron-Cohen’s Empathising Quotient and
investigating the effects of stereotype threat. A mixed design was used and 120 participants took part.
Half the questions were stated as having gender differences. Females scored higher on both
conditions, and both males and females scored higher on the stereotyped condition. It was concluded
that females do have an advantage in empathising, and socialisation and stereotyping play a role in
moderating this.
INTRODUCTION
Whilst it is important to learn about differences between the sexes, it is a controversial field. Some
people do not want to believe that one sex may be genetically flawed on a certain task and are
therefore always likely to be outperformed by the other sex. This is why Baron-Cohen waited ten
years before publishing his theories on sexual differences in his book “The Essential Difference”
(2003).
Baron-Cohen believes there are fundamental differences between male and female brains which cause
sexually dimorphic behaviours. These differences are in empathising and systemising. Empathy is
“the drive to identify another person’s emotions and thoughts and to respond to these with appropriate
emotion.” (Baron-Cohen, 2002, p248.) Empathy can therefore allow us to predict people’s behaviour
and how they might react. There are two components to empathy; cognitive and affective. Cognitive
empathy involves understanding the other’s feelings and the ability to take their perspective, and
affective empathy is concerned with the observer’s appropriate emotional response. (Baron-Cohen,
2003).
Systemising is the “drive to analyse the variables in a system, to derive the underlying rules that
govern behaviour of a system.” (Baron-Cohen, 2002. p248). From these differences, Baron-Cohen
(2002, 2003) categorised five basic brain types. The typical female brain, which is superior at
empathising, the typical male brain, which is better at systemising, extreme forms of male and female
brains, and a balanced brain. Baron-Cohen explicitly states that he does not believe all males have a
male brain, just that on average, a higher proportion of males have a male brain.
, It is hard to measure a trait like empathy. The earliest measure was the Chapin Social Insight Test
(Chapin, 1942) which aimed to measure social insight but was found to be easily affected by
knowledge of social rules and convention (Baron-Cohen & Wheelwright, 2004) and also didn’t
measure empathy alone but also other traits related to inter-personal functioning ( Davis 1980). Since
then several tests have been designed to measure empathy but have been criticised for also measuring
other traits and not uniquely empathy ( Kerr 1947, Dymond 1949,1950). The most widely used test in
the 1980’s and 1990’s was Davis’s Interpersonal Reactivity Index (IRI) (Davis, 1980, 1983).
However, Baron-Cohen and Wheelwright (2004) claimed it measured processes which are related but
not identical to empathy. They then created the Empathy Quotient (EQ), a 60 item self-report
questionnaire which is used in all Baron-Cohen’s experiments.
In the UK, in recent years girls outperform boys in school including subjects like mathematics and
science (BBC News 2004). This is surprising when viewed in light of Baron-Cohen’s theory that boys
are better systemisers and should therefore perform better in science and mathematics. Another
problem with Baron-Cohen’s theory is that the vast majority of research cited in support of the theory
was conducted by Baron-Cohen and colleagues. He chooses not to cite work which may disprove his
theory, for example Pavlova (2009) who found no gender differences in a task aiming to measure
empathy. Some researchers have also noted that there is considerable overlap across empathising and
systemising traits and women actually outperform men on certain measures of systemising. (Rodd &
Brown 2006).
Research to support Baron-Cohen has shown females score higher on the “Empathy Quotient”
(Baron-Cohen & Wheelwright 2004), and this finding is supported by experimental support. Females
scored higher on the “Reading the mind in the eyes” test, requiring participants to guess the emotion
of an actor based on just their eyes (Baron-Cohen et al 2001). Girls have also been found to share
more (Charlesworth & Dzur 1987), respond more empathetically to others distress (Hoffman 1977),
are more sensitive to facial expressions (Hall 1978), and talk more about feelings.(Tannen 1990,
Walker 1994). Girls can also show theory of mind, which is linked to cognitive empathy, earlier than
boys (Happe 1995).
Biological differences in the brains of males and females support Baron-Cohen’s theories of different
brain types. Differences have been found in the corpus collosum (Bigler et al 1997), the amygdala
(Caviness et al 2006), and a region in the anterior hypothalamus. (Jacobson et al, 1981). However
most of the research published is contradictory and Murphy (1986) found no sex difference when
examining 17 post-mortem brains.
