Work

Gender Stereotypes Underlie Child Custody Decisions

Year: 2024

Type: preprint

Abstract: Using hypothetical divorce cases we examine the role of gender stereotypes in decisions about child custody. Good mothers received greater custody allocations than did good fathers across a tightly-matched pair of vignettes in three culturally-distinct samples: Argentina, Brazil and the United States (Study 1). Two follow-up studies indicated that the warmth dimension of stereotype content partly accounted for the asymmetry in custody awards: The proportion of maternal-primary custody was predicted by the tendency to ascribe warmth-related traits—such as friendliness, generosity or trustworthiness—to mothers (Study 2) and associate them to female over male nouns (Study 3). We also found that endorsing shared custody mitigated the asymmetry in custody awards documented in our studies. Together, these results highlight the interplay of stereotyped attitudes and egalitarian commitments in the context of judicial decisions about child custody.

Source: OSF Preprints (OSF Preprints)

Authors: Noel Struchiner, Ana Beatriz Dillon Esteves, Roxana Kreimer, Ivar Rodríguez Hannikainen, Luiza Lopes Franco Costa

Language: English

Topic: Social and Intergroup Psychology

Subfield: Sociology and Political Science

Field: Social Sciences

Domain: Social Sciences

SDGs: Reduced inequalities, Gender equality, Peace, justice, and strong institutions

Open Access status: green

OpenAlex ID: W7160465998

Cites: 53

Cited by:

Related to: 10