ABSTRACT

Alice Eagly, one of the first social psychologists to study gender differences, conceded that many gender stereotypes are rooted in real underlying differences between men and women. Thus, although men and women have quite similar personalities deep down, they find themselves in different roles that require them to express different traits. People notice these overtly expressed traits and form stereotypes based on them. Hoffman and Hurst also obtained support for their claim that stereotypes are, at least in part, rationalizations for social role divisions. The fact that human beings come in two biological flavors, men and women, is a fascinating one, and makes for much excitement. Gender stereotypes do not only arise from perceptions of actual gender differences. They also arise as ways of rationalizing the different social roles that men and women occupy.