Hairstyle gender stereotypes and their impact on character evaluation in the Chinese context

This research explores hairstyle gender stereotypes (HGS) in China and their effects on character evaluation. Study 1 (pilot-experiment) selected 10 gender-typical hairstyles from a common Chinese hairstyle list, which were used to develop the HGS questionnaire. Study 2 examined HGS at both exogenous and implicit levels: Experiment 1 (N = 238) employed the above-mentioned questionnaire, while Experiment 2 (N = 64) used an Implicit Association Test (IAT), revealing stable HGS across both levels, with women exhibiting more consistent attitudes. Study 3 assessed the impact of HGS on evaluations of warmth and competence. Experiment 3 (N = 322) showed that characters with stereotype-consistent hairstyles were rated more favorably, with female participants displaying greater tolerance toward stereotype-inconsistent characters, whereas Experiment 4 (N = 125) confirmed that HGS continued to implicitly influence evaluations of male participants but not female participants. Overall, the study demonstrates that HGS remain stable and significantly shape character evaluations, offering new insights into the role of gendered hairstyles in social cognition, with important implications for social cognition, gender studies, and cross-cultural communication.