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Gender and sex-role appropriateness: Bias in the judgment of disturbed behavior

Abstract

Male and female undergraduate raters made attributions of mental disorder, personality traits, and diagnostic and treatment judgments for four case studies in which sex of client and sex-role appropriateness of client behavior were manipulated. Significant interactions of sex-role appropriateness with both client sex and rater sex highlighted the significance of sex-role stereotypes in the attribution of mental disorder by nonprofessionals. The data indicated that these cultural sex-role definitions had the strongest negative effect for females and the female sex role. Implications of these findings for the clinical judgment process and female self-perception are discussed.

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The order of authorship was determined by random selection.

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Israel, A.C., Raskin, P.A., Libow, J.A. et al. Gender and sex-role appropriateness: Bias in the judgment of disturbed behavior. Sex Roles 4, 399–413 (1978). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00287292

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00287292

Keywords

  • Significant Interaction
  • Mental Disorder
  • Social Psychology
  • Personality Trait
  • Clinical Judgment