Evaluation of women's femininity as function of appearance and behavior

Аннотация

Zorina S.V.  Evaluation of women's femininity as function of appearance and behavior // Psychological science and practice: State of the Art. Collected papers / Ed. Kostrigin A.A. Chicago, 2017. P. 116-120.

In social perception the determination of gender characteristics is formed as a result of the several signals evaluation. This article describes the results of two experimental studies about how behavior (feminine and masculine) and appearance (feminine and masculine) influence social judgments. It was expected that both parts of the conflicting information about appearance and behavior would influence judgments during the behavior dominance.

Subjects (292 people) received photographs of women and a description of their behavior. The original photo was combined with a photograph of a man using a morphing program to achieve a low femininity level. The description of feminine behavior contained stereotypically female behavior, and masculine behavior description included stereotypically male one. The general impression of a woman depends on the coherence of the femininity appearance level and behavior. If the subjects evaluate the feminine appearance and masculine behavior, then masculine behavior has the main influence. If the subjects perceive the masculine appearance and feminine behavior, then the face (androgynous) influences the evaluation of femininity, and the behavior (stereotypically feminine) affects the evaluation of traits. Behavior contributes to the integrated judgment about femininity in comparison with the face. The feminine appearance compensates masculine behavior less than the androgynous face weakens the effect of feminine behavior.