Actual versus perceived transparency of emotional states in the context of deception, the effects of gender stereotypes

Abstract

Women have previously been found to overestimate how readily apparent their emotions are to a same-sex observer;such a pattern is not evident for male-male interaction partners. The present study was designed to determine whether this effect is due to the sex of the actor, the sex of the observers, or both. This study was also designed to illuminate the roles played by gender stereotypes (of women as especially expressive and as especially perceptive) in producing the effect. Male and female actors attempted to deceive either same-sex observers or opposite-sex observers about their negative emotional state. Results revealed that having a female rather than a male observer was connected to transparency overestimation; there were no effects associated with actor sex. However, there was no clear evidence that gender stereotypes accounted for individuals' greater likelihood to exhibit transparency overestimation with a female audience.