Research Documents Perceived Gender Differences in Social Preferences

In an analysis of 15 prior experiments including nearly 9,000 participants, at new study led by Christina Exley, associate professor of economics at the University of Michigan, has found that people tend to believe women are more generous and equality-oriented than men, resulting in implications for women’s opportunities at work and beyond.

Regardless of gender, participants were significantly more likely to expect women to make socially oriented decisions in several different contexts. In the workplace, women were thought to prioritize fairness over merit-based performance and be more likely to advocate for equal pay. At home, participants frequently believed women were more likely than men to desire equal home and childcare responsibilities. In political discussions, women were thought to be stronger supporters of social welfare policies. However, despite these perceptions, the authors found little to no gender differences in observed behavior or attitudes relating to social preferences.

The authors highlight that if women are expected to make certain decisions that align with these stereotypes, they may be disadvantaged or scrutinized when they behave otherwise. To reverse these ingrained gender-based perceptions, the research team provides several avenues for future research, including distributing accurate information about the socially oriented behavior of men and women, investigating how the gender gap in social preferences connects to the labor market, exploring if there are certain sectors where perceived gender beliefs are particularly strong, and determining if these perceptions result in women being rewarded less when they make socially-oriented decisions.

In addition to Dr. Exley, the authors included scholars from the University of Exeter in England, Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri, and the University of California, San Diego.