Gender differences in self-perception and negative recall biases

This study investigated gentler differences in the accuracy of self-perceptions and whether self-perception biases are related to negative recall biases. Participants were 275 female and 213 male college students. Approximately 10% of the participants were minorities (mostly African American and Asian). On a masculine task, gender differences in self-perceptions were found for three measures of accuracy: The accuracy of self-evaluations, calibration, and response bias. Females underestimated their performance, were less well calibrated and showed a more consevative response bias than did males. Ar; hypothesized, no gender differences in the accuracy of self-evaluations were found for feminine and neutral tasks. Participants' expectancies mediated the gender differences in post task self-evaluations of performance. In addition, evidence for a negative recall bias was found. Females were more likely than males to recall their mistakes even with performance and accuracy of self-evaluations controlled. The implications of females' greater self-perception biases on masculine tasks are discussed and suggestions for future research are made.