Every culture has its own set of these attributions. And within cultures, there are individual and group differences in the extent to which people conform to these expectations or rail against these constraints. Moreover, people's willingness to accept proscriptions for behavior associated with biological sex changes with the times and with legal initiatives, as evidenced during both the first and second waves of the women's movement. The tendency to conform to gender stereotypes also changes over one's own lifetime. More recently, research has shown that the tendency to conform to stereotypes also changes from one situation to another.
Individuals are more likely to conform to gender stereotypes in public than in private settings.
Men and women in positions of power are more likely to manifest characteristics more typically associated with being male. Many traits, capabilities, and psychological processes have more to do with social roles and experiences than with sex per se. Knowledge of the circumstances surrounding the meanings of being male or female for any historical moment informs our research and scholarship at Radcliffe. A selection of alumnae responses.