ArticlePsychological research2026
Gender stereotypes and the construction of self-beliefs in spatial cognition.
Article in Psychological research, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
0 citing papers in PubMed.
No citing paper in PubMed yet.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
2 authors.
Funding
Abstract
Specific spatial abilities such as the Mental Rotations Test have consistently shown pronounced sex/gender differences. Previous research has investigated biological (e.g., hormones), psychological (e.g., self-beliefs about abilities), and social factors (e.g., sex/gender stereotypes) to explain these sex/gender differences. However, the combined effects of two or more of these factors have rarely been investigated. Here, we explored the complex interaction between sex/gender stereotypes and self-beliefs in spatial abilities, as well as their effects on sex/gender differences in mental rotation performance. Participants (n = 130; 50 males, 80 females) rated their self-beliefs in spatial abilities and subsequently completed two sex-/gender-sensitive paper-pencil mental rotation tasks that varied in task demands (adapted from Jäger & Althoff, 1994 and Peters 1995), following either sex/gender or neutral priming through a priming questionnaire. The results indicate that, while sex/gender differences in self-beliefs and mental rotation performance were significant, sex/gender priming did not directly influence males' or females' self-beliefs or mental rotation performance. Nevertheless, self-beliefs and the endorsement of sex/gender stereotypes consistently predicted females' mental rotation performance. These findings suggest that sex/gender differences in (spatial) cognitive performance-specifically, men outperforming women-primarily emerge when women believe less in their abilities and hold stronger sex/gender stereotypes. Future research should routinely assess individuals' beliefs in their cognitive abilities and endorsement of sex/gender stereotypes when investigating cognitive group differences (e.g., cognitive sex/gender differences), to avoid overlooking their potential role in shaping cognitive performance.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.