Gender, Confidence & Conformity — What is the Connection?
Ever since the landmark research of Polish-American psychologist Solomon Asch, the scientific community has been aware of the human tendency to conform in the face of societal influence. Majority influence can impact an individual’s confidence in their perception of reality, indications of which we can see in the communities around us every day.
Acknowledging the phenomenon of social conformity leads to more questions about who may be most susceptible to social conformity and under which contexts. The purpose of the article “Sex Differences in Confidence Influence Patterns of Conformity” by Catherine P. Cross, Gillian R. Brown, Thomas J. H. Morgan, and Kevin N. Laland that appeared in the British Journal of Psychology was to contribute to the understanding of how gender and confidence mediate social conformity.
The authors of this study note that “experimental studies have confirmed that human beings are more likely to use social information when lacking confidence” (Cross et al, 2017). Additionally, they state that “the psychological literature on confidence strongly suggests that women have lower confidence than men in a variety of contexts” (Cross et al, 2017). While previous literature has also shown that women are, on average, more likely to conform than men, “the use of social information by men and women varies according to the gender-stereotyped content of the task” (Cross et al, 2017).
Therefore, the researchers in this article set about to determine whether confidence levels in men and women predicted levels of social conformity in the absence of gender-stereotyped testing methods. The researchers hypothesized that even when controlling for gender-stereotyped testing methods, there would be an indirect effect of sex on social conformity, mediated by confidence (Cross et al, 2017).
Researching Confidence & Conformity
To explore this research question, the researchers selected a sample of 168 participants. 54 women and 33 men performed the MR task, and 51 women and 28 men performed the LT task. The tests lasted about 20–30 minutes and each participant received £5 for each test and told that they would receive a bonus £5 ($6.75 USD) for correct answers
The research team chose to use two tasks to test both confidence and conformity. The two tasks were a mental rotation (MR) task, at which men have been shown to perform better, and a letter transformation (LT) task. Whereas the MR task is well-known and therefore held the possibility to produce gender stereotypes in the minds of the participants, the LT task “has not been widely used and is less likely to be viewed as gender-stereotyped” (Cross et al, 2017). On both tasks, the participants were asked to provide an answer and rate their confidence in their answers. Then they were shown answers given by previous participants and given an opportunity to change their answers.
Gender Stereotypes Impact Confidence Levels & Conformity
To begin, the study reaffirmed the connection between social conformity and confidence. In both tests, when the participants (regardless of gender) expressed a low level of confidence in their initial response, they were more likely to change their response after viewing the social information.
In the gender-stereotyped MR task, the results showed that higher levels of confidence and lower levels of conformity in male participants were present regardless of their accuracy performing the task. This provided evidence that the known gender-stereotype of the task likely influenced confidence levels and conformity. On the other hand, on the less well-known (and therefore less gender-stereotyped) task, “the evidence for a sex difference in confidence was weak, as was the evidence for an indirect effect of sex on conformity via confidence” (Cross et al, 2017).
This finding implies that the MR task reduces the confidence in women and caused them to rely more heavily on available social information. The researchers suggest that replicating this study with a task known to favor women could be conducted. Previous research has shown men to be less susceptible to social information and conformity. Reversing Cross et al’s study would test whether this resiliency to social influence remained even in the context of a gender-stereotyped task that favored women and thus reduced male confidence levels.
The researchers sum up their findings as follows: “The significance of our results is that confidence is implicated as a strong predictor of susceptibility to social influence, and therefore, wherever there is evidence for a sex difference in confidence, an indirect effect of sex on social influence via confidence is likely” (Cross et al, 2017). Further they state that “explanations for sex differences that resort solely either to evolved dispositions or cultural norms are unlikely to be satisfactory” (Cross et al, 2017).
The researchers sum up their findings this way, ‘“we, therefore, propose that sex differences in conformity — where they exist — can be characterized as the complex product of a generally adaptive social learning strategy and culturally mediated inputs to this strategy (such as gender stereotypes) that differ according to sex” (Cross et al, 2017).
The researchers were able to show that conformity is situation-dependent for both sexes. This information on human behavior has implications in various professional fields. For example, advertisers may target marketing efforts based on the confidence level and gender of their potential buyers. For example, if market research implies a strong gender stereotype in their target audience, they may choose to use the “bandwagon” approach in the advertisement, emphasizing that a product is popular with other buyers. When confidence is low in the target demographic because of gender stereotypes, this tactic will be especially influential.
Another interesting line of application would be in cults, high-demand religious groups, and other organizations that require an elevated level of conformity in their members. A connection could be made between the level of confidence of male and female members in various life challenges. Do certain groups have higher membership by women over men? If so, is this a result of low confidence? Along what psychological and behavioral dimensions is the lack of confidence demonstrated in members? Answering such questions could empower unsuspecting individuals to protect themselves from ethically questionable groups.
Finally, any connection between gender, confidence, and conformity could be included in primary school education. Social conformity, while at times benign, can hold potential for exploitation by less than scrupulous leaders, gurus, business owners, and the like. Educating children about their predisposition toward this kind of exploitation would serve to protect them from nefarious social actors.
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References:
Cross, C. P., Brown, G. R., Morgan, T. J., & Laland, K. N. (2017). Sex differences in confidence influence patterns of conformity. British Journal of Psychology, 108(4), 655–667.
