Abstract
Positive stereotypes have been shown to negatively impact targets in individualistic cultural contexts. However, individuals from individualistic cultures and those from collectivistic cultures have different perceptions of positive stereotypes, which may lead to different reactions to positive stereotypes. The present study investigated the mechanism underlying targets’ negative reactions to positive gender stereotypes in China, a country with a collectivistic culture. Study 1 revealed that women who heard the positive gender stereotype “women are good at language” reported experiencing stronger negative reactions (including greater dislike, negative emotions, and perceptions of gender prejudice) toward the perpetrator of the stereotype than women who did not hear the positive gender stereotype. Further, we found that a sense of depersonalization mediated the relation between hearing the positive stereotype and negative reactions. Study 2 revealed that men who heard the positive gender stereotype “men are good at math” believed that the perpetrator of the stereotype exhibited more gender prejudice than did men who did not hear the positive stereotype. However, there were no significant differences between men who heard the positive gender stereotype and those who did not hear the stereotype in feelings of dislike or negative emotions. In addition, a sense of depersonalization did not mediate men’s reactions to the positive gender stereotype. These findings extend our knowledge on the interpersonal consequences of and reactions to positive gender stereotypes within collectivistic contexts.