TY - JOUR
T1 - Stereotypes about surgeon warmth and competence
T2 - The role of surgeon gender
AU - Ashton-James, Claire E.
AU - Tybur, Joshua M.
AU - Grießer, Verena
AU - Costa, Daniel
PY - 2019/2/27
Y1 - 2019/2/27
N2 - Past research indicates that patient perceptions of surgeon warmth and competence influence treatment expectancies and satisfaction with treatment outcomes. Stereotypes have a powerful impact on impression formation. The present research explores stereotypes about surgeon warmth and competence and investigates the extent to which surgeon gender influences perceptions of female and male surgeons. A between-subjects experiment was conducted online using crowdsourcing technology to derive a representative sample from the general population. Four hundred and fifteen participants were randomly assigned to evaluate the warmth and competence of males, females, surgeons, male surgeons, or female surgeons, using validated measures. Planned contrasts revealed that as a group, surgeons received higher warmth and competence ratings than non-surgeons (p = .007). Consistent with gender stereotypes, female surgeons received higher warmth ratings (p < .001) and lower competence ratings (p = .001) than male surgeons. The stereotype of surgeons held by the general public is that they are high in warmth and competence relative to other occupational groups. Surgeon gender appears to influence general beliefs about the warmth and competence of female and male surgeons.
AB - Past research indicates that patient perceptions of surgeon warmth and competence influence treatment expectancies and satisfaction with treatment outcomes. Stereotypes have a powerful impact on impression formation. The present research explores stereotypes about surgeon warmth and competence and investigates the extent to which surgeon gender influences perceptions of female and male surgeons. A between-subjects experiment was conducted online using crowdsourcing technology to derive a representative sample from the general population. Four hundred and fifteen participants were randomly assigned to evaluate the warmth and competence of males, females, surgeons, male surgeons, or female surgeons, using validated measures. Planned contrasts revealed that as a group, surgeons received higher warmth and competence ratings than non-surgeons (p = .007). Consistent with gender stereotypes, female surgeons received higher warmth ratings (p < .001) and lower competence ratings (p = .001) than male surgeons. The stereotype of surgeons held by the general public is that they are high in warmth and competence relative to other occupational groups. Surgeon gender appears to influence general beliefs about the warmth and competence of female and male surgeons.
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U2 - 10.1371/journal.pone.0211890
DO - 10.1371/journal.pone.0211890
M3 - Article
C2 - 30811457
AN - SCOPUS:85062194262
SN - 1932-6203
VL - 14
SP - 1
EP - 10
JO - PLoS ONE
JF - PLoS ONE
IS - 2
M1 - e0211890
ER -