Gender differences in agency and communion: A meta-analysis

The existence of gender gaps in agency and communion is commonly known, yet it remains unknown what the average magnitudes, stability (over time and developmental age), and variability (across cultures, sampling strategies, and measures) of these gender differences are. Leveraging social role theory (Eagly, 1987; Wood & Eagly, 2012), the current meta-analysis estimated that men tended to be more agentic than women (g = .40, k = 767 samples, N = 206,955 participants), while women tended to be more communal than men (g = -.58, k = 774 samples, N = 209,339 participants). Moderator analyses revealed that these gender differences in agency and communion have been steadily decreasing over time. The gender gap in agency remained stable with age, while the gender gap in communion decreased with age. Further, gender’s relationships with both agency and communion did not vary across countries based on gender parity. In terms of sampling strategy, the gender gap in agency was larger when sampling participants as heterosexual couples versus when sampling as individuals. An important methodological moderator was measurement instrument (e.g., short-form BSRI shows much smaller gender gaps than other measures). Theory and implications of the moderated gender differences in agency and communion (i.e., gender-role stereotyped traits, once referred to as masculinity and femininity) are discussed.

Name thesis:degree_name

M.S.

Level thesis:degree_level

Thesis

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Psychology

Grantor

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Year dc:date

2021

Author dc:creator

• Hsu, Ning

Contributors dc:contributor

• Newman, Daniel A

• agency
• communion
• gender
• meta-analysis
• social role theory

Statement dc:rights

• Copyright 2021 Ning Hsu

Language dc:language

en

Handle dc:identifier

http://hdl.handle.net/2142/110789

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:www.ideals.illinois.edu:2142/110789