Openness to experience, attitudes to gender roles and evaluations of gender nonstereotypical males and females

The present study sought to verify two hypotheses: (1) about the positive role of higher openness to experience (Big Five model) as a predictor of a positive evaluation of gender nonstereotypical persons, and (2) about the mediating function of gender role beliefs in determining the relationship between openness to experience and evaluation of those persons. Respondents were 502 women and men, with mean age of 36.6 (SD = 7.7) and secondary or higher education level; all were administrative employees of companies related to agriculture industry. The design of the study was experimental with gender and stereotypicality of target persons as manipulated variables; each respondent evaluated only one of the four target persons. Target persons were evaluated along the dimensions of morality and liking (Wojciszke, 2005). In line with Hypothesis 1, higher openness was a significant predictor of a positive interpersonal evaluation of nonstereotypical targets. Hypothesis 2 was confirmed only for evaluation of the nonstereotypical female target by women and nonstereotypical male target by men. peerReviewed publishedVersion