Gender-math stereotype refers to the belief that boys are innately better at learning math than girls. Wu and colleagues conducted two studies to investigate whether this stereotype can be transmitted among children’s peers, affecting their math ability and psychological outcomes. The first study analysed data from the China Education Panel Survey (CEPS), a large-scale national survey. The sample included 8,029 grade 7 and grade 9 students from 208 classrooms where students were randomly assigned to each classroom. The extent of the gender-math stereotype among a student’s peers was measured as the proportion of the student’s peer in each classroom who held this belief (range: 13.3% – 91.9%). Accounting for student, classroom, and school effects, the fixed-effect linear model revealed the following results:
- As the proportion of peers holding the stereotype increased by 1 standard deviation (SD), the gap in math scores between girls and boys widened by 0.894 SD, with girls scoring lower.
- Higher proportions of peers with the stereotype were associated with higher math scores for boys (ES = 0.439).
- No significant differences were observed in gaps of Chinese and English test scores between boys and girls.
- A higher proportion of peers holding the stereotype increased the likelihood of girls adopting this belief compared to boys.
When examining the proportion of peers holding the stereotype separately by gender, the analysis showed that same-gender peers had a smaller impact on the difference in math scores between girls and boys (ES = -0.656) compared to peers of a different gender (ES = -1.133).
The second study involved 547 Chinese university students, participants were randomly exposed to a 5-min video either a stereotype-activation condition highlighting gender gaps in math performance or a control video. Afterward, their math and verbal skills were tested. Male students’ performance was the same on both conditions. However, female students performed worse in math than their male counterparts in both groups, with a significantly greater disparity in the group exposed to the stereotype-activation condition.
While the immediate impact of a brief video on math scores in study 2 should be interpreted cautiously, as the results did not account for students’ prior math ability, the findings of study 1 underscore the continued existence of potential harm from gender-math stereotyping in children’s peer environments. The authors emphasize the need for greater attention to this matter.
Source (Open Access): Wu, S. J., & Cai, X. (2023). Adding up peer beliefs: Experimental and field evidence on the effect of peer influence on math performance. Psychological Science, 34(8), 851–862. https://doi.org/10.1177/09567976231180881