Interpreting the perceptions of men and women from 17 nationalities in a Portuguese context: A pretest

Abstract: Individuals have the propensity to attribute certain characteristics to nations or regions, and those living within, although the accuracy of this is under debate. In this pretest, Portuguese participants were asked to evaluate men and women from 17 nationalities based on dimensions which might be related to individualistic- or collectivistic-oriented nations – namely perceived masculinity, percentage of gays/lesbians in each group (PGL), and economic status. We predicted conceptualizations of nationality to trump gender triggers, resulting in general evaluations of individuals from each nation in this context-absent scenario. Results revealed strong relationships between men and women from the same nationality, and greater variability among nationalities in the evaluations of male targets, supporting the notion national stereotypes may be more representative of the men from each nation (i.e., androcentrism). Additionally, individualist-oriented nations were found to have higher PGL and economic status ratings when compared to collectivist-oriented nations, but both were perceived as equally masculine. Finally, gross domestic product per capita (GDPpc) of each nation appeared to somewhat act as a function of participants’ judgements. Findings generalize literature to a Portuguese context, providing insight into the manner in which individuals may categorize those from various nationalities.