The impact of gendered socialisation and gender equality on psychological traits

Considerable debate exists about the causes of psychological gender differences and the effects of gendered socialisation and other societal factors. The aim of this PhD project was to investigate the impact of gendered socialisation and gender equality on psychological gender differences using both primary and secondary datasets. Chapter 1 provides a broad overview of the relevant academic literature. In Chapter 2, I have presented a meta-analysis on the correlation between national levels of gender equality and the gender gap in children’s mathematics performance, finding no significant overall correlation and thus no support for the existence of a ‘gender equality paradox’ in this area. In Chapter 3, I then investigated whether individual-level factors could be contributing to gender differences by conducting a study on the relationship between gender, feelings of imposterism, self-efficacy and belonging in a sample of university students. I found that women on average experienced higher levels of imposterism, which was linked to low levels of self-efficacy, but not to feelings of belonging. In Chapter 4, I examined the relationship between adult gender division and gendered childhood socialisation in non-industrialised societies using existing ethnographic data, finding that higher adult gender division correlated with larger gender differences in how much adults try to instil different traits in boys and girls. Finally, in Chapter 5, I conducted a study employing a priming paradigm, gathering empirical data on the potential effects priming participants about levels of gender equality on their romantic partner preferences. I found a significant relationship between partner preferences and self-reported feminist attitudes but not an effect of the priming material. The results of this thesis indicate that while socialisation and gender equality do seem to impact gender differences, their effects are not always consistent or straightforward.