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  • 2021
  • Working Paper
  • HBS Working Paper Series

Stereotypes and Belief Updating

By: Katherine B. Coffman, Manuela Collis and Leena Kulkarni
  • Format:Print
  • | Language:English
  • | Pages:60
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Abstract

We explore how feedback shapes, and perpetuates, gender gaps in self-assessments. Participants in our experiments take tests of their ability across different domains. Absent feedback, beliefs of own ability are strongly influenced by gender stereotypes: holding own ability fixed, individuals are more confident in more gender congruent domains (i.e. more male-typed for men, more female-typed for women). After feedback, stereotypes continue to shape posterior beliefs, even beyond what a Bayesian model would predict. This is primarily because both men and women update their beliefs more positively in response to good news when it arrives in a more gender congruent domain.

Keywords

Beliefs; Stereotypes; Self-assessment; Gender; Prejudice and Bias; Information; Performance; Perception

Citation

Coffman, Katherine B., Manuela Collis, and Leena Kulkarni. "Stereotypes and Belief Updating." Harvard Business School Working Paper, No. 19-068, January 2019. (Revised January 2021.)
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About The Author

Katherine B. Coffman

Negotiation, Organizations & Markets
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Related Work

    • 2021
    • Faculty Research

    Stereotypes and Belief Updating

    By: Katherine B. Coffman, Manuela Collis and Leena Kulkarni
Related Work
  • Stereotypes and Belief Updating By: Katherine B. Coffman, Manuela Collis and Leena Kulkarni
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