Abstract
A sample of 128 college males and females rated a typical and desirable man or woman on 54 items taken from the Personal Attributes Questionnaire (PAQ). Comparisons of the ratings of a typical man versus a typical woman yielded significant differences (p<.01) on 53 of the 54 items. Thus, stereotypes of the sexes apparently remained strong during the 1970s. Comparisons of the ratings of a desirable man versus desirable woman yielded significant differences on only 12 of the 54 items. These results are interpreted as reflecting a difference between stereotypes (of the typical person) and attitudes (about desirable characteristics). While atttitudes may have changed in the 1970s, stereotypes remained remarkably stable.
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Ruble, T.L. Sex stereotypes: Issues of change in the 1970s. Sex Roles 9, 397–402 (1983). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00289675
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00289675