Department of Psychology, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195, USA.
J Pers Soc Psychol. 2009 Dec;97(6):1045-60. doi: 10.1037/a0016239.
People can make decisions to join a group based solely on exposure to that group's physical environment. Four studies demonstrate that the gender difference in interest in computer science is influenced by exposure to environments associated with computer scientists. In Study 1, simply changing the objects in a computer science classroom from those considered stereotypical of computer science (e.g., Star Trek poster, video games) to objects not considered stereotypical of computer science (e.g., nature poster, phone books) was sufficient to boost female undergraduates' interest in computer science to the level of their male peers. Further investigation revealed that the stereotypical broadcast a masculine stereotype that discouraged women's sense of ambient belonging and subsequent interest in the environment (Studies 2, 3, and 4) but had no similar effect on men (Studies 3, 4). This masculine stereotype prevented women's interest from developing even in environments entirely populated by other women (Study 2). Objects can thus come to broadcast stereotypes of a group, which in turn can deter people who do not identify with these stereotypes from joining that group.
人们可以仅仅基于对某个群体的物理环境的接触就做出加入该群体的决定。四项研究表明，对计算机科学的兴趣的性别差异受到接触与计算机科学家相关的环境的影响。在研究 1 中，仅仅将计算机科学教室里被认为是计算机科学典型的物体（例如《星际迷航》海报、电子游戏）换成不被认为是计算机科学典型的物体（例如自然海报、电话簿），就足以提高女本科生对计算机科学的兴趣，使其达到男本科生的水平。进一步的调查显示，这些典型的物体传播了一种男性化的刻板印象，这削弱了女性的归属感，并随后削弱了她们对环境的兴趣（研究 2、3 和 4），但对男性没有类似的影响（研究 3、4）。这种男性化的刻板印象甚至阻止了女性在完全由其他女性组成的环境中发展兴趣（研究 2）。因此，物体可以传播一个群体的刻板印象，这反过来又会阻止那些不认同这些刻板印象的人加入该群体。
