Oh, and, like, there's this one other thing I, like, wanted to post.
I was reading the St. Paul Pioneer Press (a newspaper) at work. (Yeah, real productive, I know.) I came across an article that amused me. This is that article:
~*~
November 22, 2007
Blondes can make others act dumb
by Shelley Emling
Cox News Service
LONDON - From Marilyn Monroe to Paris Hilton, "blonde" has long been code for a woman who's long on looks and light on brains.
Now French researchers have found that the stereotype can actually affect mental performance.
A recent study showed that otherwise intelligent men performed below par on general knowledge tests after viewing photos of blonde women.
The real surprise? Women's performance also dipped in the tests.
The study, published in the Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, examined people's ability to answer Trivial Pursuit game questions after viewing photos of women with different hair colors.
Exposure to blondes resulted in the lowest scores.
Thierry Meyer, joint author of the study and professor of social psychology at the University of Paris X-Nanterre, said that the study proves a general phenomenon.
"There's a decrease in performance after an unobtrusive exposure to a stereotype about people who have the reputation to be cognitively impaired," he said.
In plainer language, blondes might make people act in a less intelligent manner because the people believe - whether they want to admit it or not - that they are in the presence of someone who's not very smart.
Previous studies also have shown how information from a person's social context can influence their behavior.
For example, when people are exposed to elderly people, they tend to walk and talk more slowly. When people sit beside someone who is fidgeting, they tend to fidget as well.
"The mere knowledge of a stereotype can influence our behavior," said Clementine Bry, another author of the study.
It's not clear how the stereotype of the dumb blonde came about, although some researchers point to the 1950s movie "Gentlemen Prefer Blondes" starring Marilyn Monroe.
But through the years a wide range of blonde actresses - from Mae West to Suzanne Somers, to Goldie Hawn - have perpetuated the stereotype.
Bry was quick to point out that there is "absolutely no scientific evidence" to support the stereotype of the dumb blonde.
"Stereotypes are cultural beliefs about socail groups, and are not truthful pictures of who people are," she said.
~*~
Awesome. Gee, I'd love to get paid doing studies such as that one.
First of all, just pictures? Not real people in the room with them? And they got bad test scores? This baffles me.
Also, Trivial Pursuit is hard. I'm not sure the wrong answers can only be attributed to photos of blonde women.
Also also? The fidgeting person is a bad example. The elderly person example works, but someone who is fidgeting has nothing to do with having knowledge of a stereotype. That's merely another person's action registering in your head and you unconsciously copying it, like if the person you're talking to touches their face and suddenly you touch yours too.
~Ferryn
~*~
November 22, 2007
Blondes can make others act dumb
by Shelley Emling
Cox News Service
LONDON - From Marilyn Monroe to Paris Hilton, "blonde" has long been code for a woman who's long on looks and light on brains.
Now French researchers have found that the stereotype can actually affect mental performance.
A recent study showed that otherwise intelligent men performed below par on general knowledge tests after viewing photos of blonde women.
The real surprise? Women's performance also dipped in the tests.
The study, published in the Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, examined people's ability to answer Trivial Pursuit game questions after viewing photos of women with different hair colors.
Exposure to blondes resulted in the lowest scores.
Thierry Meyer, joint author of the study and professor of social psychology at the University of Paris X-Nanterre, said that the study proves a general phenomenon.
"There's a decrease in performance after an unobtrusive exposure to a stereotype about people who have the reputation to be cognitively impaired," he said.
In plainer language, blondes might make people act in a less intelligent manner because the people believe - whether they want to admit it or not - that they are in the presence of someone who's not very smart.
Previous studies also have shown how information from a person's social context can influence their behavior.
For example, when people are exposed to elderly people, they tend to walk and talk more slowly. When people sit beside someone who is fidgeting, they tend to fidget as well.
"The mere knowledge of a stereotype can influence our behavior," said Clementine Bry, another author of the study.
It's not clear how the stereotype of the dumb blonde came about, although some researchers point to the 1950s movie "Gentlemen Prefer Blondes" starring Marilyn Monroe.
But through the years a wide range of blonde actresses - from Mae West to Suzanne Somers, to Goldie Hawn - have perpetuated the stereotype.
Bry was quick to point out that there is "absolutely no scientific evidence" to support the stereotype of the dumb blonde.
"Stereotypes are cultural beliefs about socail groups, and are not truthful pictures of who people are," she said.
~*~
Awesome. Gee, I'd love to get paid doing studies such as that one.
First of all, just pictures? Not real people in the room with them? And they got bad test scores? This baffles me.
Also, Trivial Pursuit is hard. I'm not sure the wrong answers can only be attributed to photos of blonde women.
Also also? The fidgeting person is a bad example. The elderly person example works, but someone who is fidgeting has nothing to do with having knowledge of a stereotype. That's merely another person's action registering in your head and you unconsciously copying it, like if the person you're talking to touches their face and suddenly you touch yours too.
~Ferryn