Iowa State University Capstones, Theses and Retrospective Theses and Dissertations Dissertations 1996 The "Pat" effect: perceiving (and misperceiving) physically androgynous people Laura Jean Madson Iowa State University Follow this and additional works at: https://lib.dr.iastate.edu/rtd Part of the Cognitive Psychology Commons, Social Psychology Commons, Social Psychology and Interaction Commons, Women's History Commons, and the Women's Studies Commons Recommended Citation Madson, Laura Jean, "The "Pat" effect: perceiving (and misperceiving) physically androgynous people " (1996). Retrospective Theses and Dissertations. 11383. https://lib.dr.iastate.edu/rtd/11383 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Iowa State University Capstones, Theses and Dissertations at Iowa State University Digital Repository. It has been accepted for inclusion in Retrospective Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of Iowa State University Digital Repository. 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Mi 48106-1346 USA 313.'761-4700 800/521-0600 The "Pat" effect: Perceiving (and misperceiving) physically androgynous people by Laura Jean Madson A dissertation submitted to the graduate faculty in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of DCX:T0R OF PHILOSOPHY Department: Psychology Major: Psychology Major Professor: Susan E Cross Iowa State University Ames, Iowa 1996 UMI Niomber; 9635333 UMI Microform 9635333 Copyright 1996, by UMI Company. All rights reserved. This microform edition is protected against unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States Code. UMI 300 North Zeeb Road Ann Arbor, MI 48103 ii Graduate College Iowa State Univereity This is to certify that the doctoral dissertation of Laura Jean Madson has met the dissertation requirements of Iowa State University Signature was redacted for privacy. Major Professor Signature was redacted for privacy. For the Major Department Signature was redacted for privacy. •or the Graduate College iii TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGMENTS iv ABSTRACT n GENERAL INTRODUCTION 1 PILOT STUDY 10 STUDY 1. DO PHYSICALLY ANDROGYNOUS PEOPLE ATTRACT 12 ATTENTION AWAY FROM OTHER PROCESSING TASKS? Introduction 12 Methods 14 Results 17 Discussion 23 STUDY 2. PHYSICAL ANDROGYNY AND IMPRESSION FORMATION 25 Introduction 25 Methods 27 Results 29 Discussion 41 STUDY 3. COGNITIVE AND AFFECTIVE CONSEQUENCES OF GENDER 46 MISCATEGORIZATION Introduction 46 Methods 50 Results 58 Discussion 64 GENERAL DISCUSSION 68 APPENDIX A. STUDY 2 MATERIALS 75 APPENDIX B. PERSONAL INFORMATION FORM 76 APPENDIX C. PERSONALITY RATING PACKET 78 APPENDIX D. TARGET INFORMATION FORM 79 APPENDIX E. TRAITS AND CHARACTERISTICS RATING SCALE 80 APPENDIX F. MOOD INVENTORY 81 APPENDIX G. RECOGNITION TASK 82 APPENDIX H. HOMOPHOBIA INVENTORY 85 ENDNOTES 86 REFERENCES 89 iv ACKNOWLEDGMENTS This project is the culmination of 1 1/2 years of inspiration, improvisation, and perspiration, during which I have benefited from the assistance and good humor of many jjeople. Many thanks to Susan Cross for reading, editing, and helping me refine my ideas. Thanks to Dan Russell and Jef Kahn for cheerfully answering my statistical questions. Thanks also to Jamie Meyer, Tim Cockerham, Karen Hays, Stephanie Hegland, Andrea Determan, Amanda Herring, and Kim Luskey for their assistance in data collection. The following pages would have been blank without their help. 1 would also like to thank my friends and family, especially Corey Vas, Linda Madson, and Ruth and Gene Madson for loving me, supporting me, laughing with me, crying with me, and otherwise putting up with me during the course of this project \' ABSTRACT This investigation consists of three studies exploring the effects of physical androgyny on information processing and person perception. Study 1 examines the distracting influence of physical androgyny in a dual-task paradigm. Will individuals shift attention away from an ongoing task in an effort to categorize the gender of a physically androgynous person? Study 2 measures the type of inferences perceivers make about the personality, role behaviors, occupations, and sexual orientation of physically androgynous people. Study 3 explores the cognitive and affective consequences of gender miscategorization. How does mistaking a man for a woman (or vice versa) influence a perceiver's memory for that person and does gender miscategorization elicit an emotional response from the perceiver? Results did not support the hypotheses that physical androgyny will draw attention away from other tasks. Although cognitive consequences of gender miscategorization were somewhat evident in the data, affective consequences were not. Physical androgyny does influence perceivers' assumptions regarding an individual's personality and behavior. Perceivers tend to infer psychological androgyny from physical androgyny, both in terms of personality traits and gender-typed behaviors. Individuals also assume physically androgynous persons are more likely to be homosexual and less likely to be heterosexual than people whose gender is not ambiguous. 1 GENERAL INTRODUCTION In the late 1980s, a new character named "Pat" was introduced to NBC's skit-comedy show, Saturday Night Live. Pat's trademark was physical androgyny ~ that is, Pat's appearance, speech, and behavior made it difficult to identify whether "Pat" was male or female. "Pat" was so androgynous these sketches generally centered around other people's inability to identify "Pat's" gender. The majority of these skits were set in ordinary places with ordinary people doing ordinary things. However, these situations became significantly less commonplace when "Pat" appeared. For example, imagine you are a clerk at a drugstore and "Rat" asks you for assistance in locating "protection," a "lubricant," and some 'Teminine napkins." The ambiguity of "Pat's" gender and the loaded nature of "Pat's" requests transform a casual interaction with a customer into an awkward and somewhat bizarre situation. Normally, a person doesn't asked for "protection", with its male-gender-typed connotations and "feminine napkins" in the same breath. That is, of course, the paradox of "Pat." Neither "Pat's" physical appearance nor "Pat's" toiletries reveal any valid information about "Pat's" gender. This is especially true when "Pat" reveals he or she needs "protection" from underarm wetness, the "lubricant" for his or her eyes, and "feminine napkins" with a pretty floral pattern in case Aunt Wilma drops by for lunch (Wessler & Bernstein, 1995). In this way, the "Pat" skits cleverly illustrated the influence of gender on social interactions. Whether or not people respond differently to females and males, we are accustomed to having information about gender. Even the simplest conversation becomes cumbersome when pronoun usage is impossible. Perhaps more interestingly, however, the Pat skits also demonstrated that people want to know about gender; viewers wanted to know if "Pat" was a man or a woman. Rather than simply dismissing "Pat" as an anomaly, a mystery developed around the character. The writers at SNL took advantage of people's curiosity by tantalizing viewers with skits that promised information that would (at least indirectly) reveal 2 "Pat's" gender. For example, viewers waited with anticipation to meet the person "Pat" was dating. Although admittedly heterosexually biased, the audience assumed that knowing the gender of "Pat's" boy/girlfriend would be the clincher as to "Pat's" gender. Alas, "Pat's" significant other was as physically androgynous as was "Pat", including his/her name ~ "Chris". Although these examples are purely anecdotal, they do suggest physical androgyny may have an interesting effect on human cognition and motivation. For the purposes of this investigation, physical androgyny is defined as having a combination of physical features that makes it difficult to identify a person's gender from his or her appearance. This is not to be confused with psychological androgyny, which is the possession of both stereotypically masculine and stereotypically feminine