School as a Zero-Sum Game between Boys and Girls: Gender differences in perceptions

• Main Authors: Alyson Sicard, Delphine Martinot
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Ubiquity Press 2018-07-01
• Series: International Review of Social Psychology
• Subjects: zero-sum beliefs, gender competition, intergroup relations, academic context, secondary school students.
• Online Access: https://www.rips-irsp.com/articles/158

Several studies have reported the existence of a gender gap in academic achievement, such as girls have better grades than boys, who are more likely to experience difficulties (Voyer & Voyer, 2014). The present study aims to investigate students’ perceptions of the actual pattern of achievement by assessing their zero-sum beliefs (ZsB)—that is, their tendency to perceive school as a zero-sum game between boys and girls. Based on previous studies showing that a threatening intergroup context influences men’s perception of gender relations, we hypothesized that boys, but not girls, are more likely to endorse gender ZsB regarding school in a threatening academic context compared to less threatening contexts. The academic context was manipulated using short texts emphasizing either boys’ or girls’ academic achievement. As expected, the threatening intergroup comparison context led boys (but not girls) to endorse greater ZsB. Implications for achievement-related outcomes and gender relations are discussed.