Following the procedures of Bem (1981), an attempt was made to replicate the relationship between the assumed use of a gender schema as indexed by scores on the Bem Sex Role Inventory (BSRI) and the clustering of gender-related words in recall. Although comparable levels of overall clustering were obtained, there was no observable relationship between the masculinity and femininity scales of the BSRI, combined in a number of different ways, and indices of gender-related clustering. Both methodological and conceptual issues are discussed.

Stereotypic conceptions of gender may be structured, as has typically been assumed, in terms of the general concepts of “man” and “woman.” Alternatively, people may view males and females in terms of subtypes that offer more specific and detailed information. Three studies were conducted to assess the degree to which these general and specific concepts represent different levels of categorization, and to describe the content of each conceptual category. These three studies provided no evidence that the general stereotypes and a variety of subtypes differ in their richness, as assessed by number of associations generated by subjects to each concept; the results thus cast doubt on the validity of a hierarchical model. Additional analyses suggest (1) that there is considerable overlap among some of the common categories, and (2) that subtypes of males and females differ in homogeneity and in their resemblance to the more general categories. Implications for understanding the structure and process of gender stereotyping are discussed.

Various components of gender stereotypes were examined in three studies to determine their interrelationship and their influence relative to gender label. In the first two experiments, male and female college students were given information about gender and either role behaviors or traits and were asked to assess the probability that the stimulus person possessed other gender-related characteristics. In the third experiment, each of four gender stereotype components was presented in a within-subjects design and subjects made judgments about each other component. Results indicate that (a) information about one stereotype component can implicate other components; (b) specific component information may outweigh gender identification; and (c) components differ in their ability to implicate other components of gender stereotypes, with physical appearance playing a dominant role. The significance of these findings in understanding the structure and operation of gender stereotypes is discussed. Stereotypes play an important role in human judgment, and investigators have shown sustained interest in exploring the content and consequences of such judgments. From Lippman's (1922) early and insightful analysis of the pictures in our heads, through the work of Katz and Braly (1933), Allport (1954), Campbell (1967) and others, stereotypes have continued to hold the interest of social scientists concerned with ways in which we judge and misjudge members of recognizable groups. In recent years, interest in the topic has accelerated, with new attention focused both on the general nature of stereotypes as well as on specific content categories (Hamilton, 1979, 1981; Miller, 1982). At the general level, investigators are increasingly coming to conceptualize stereotypes as one particular instance of more general cognitive processes (Ashmore D Hamilton, 1979;McCauley,