Investigating Behavioural Perceptions Across Genders: Self vs.

Peer Perception

Authors:

Zakariae Mourid, Uzoma Owuama, Emmanuel Osei, Taha Zaâmoun, Joy Omale,.

1. Rationale for Study:

Motivation:

Aside from academic curiosity, 2 of our peers within the group were the ones who chose the “Perception”

cluster. They took turns laying down their ideas and one of them seemed pretty interesting: Mirror vs. Prism

experiment. We used the general idea as a building block to formulate our experiment, and we expanded it to

encompass this study. We are all extremely eager to contribute to this project.

This experiment aims to explore the convergence between self-perception and peer-perception across genders.

The key question guiding the study is:

RQ – How do individuals' self-perceptions contrast against how others perceive them, and does this vary

across genders?

Literature review:

Personality trait theory suggests that individuals' impressions of others reflect their true characteristics,

while social perception theory posits that personality descriptions are shaped by attributions and assumptions

rather than objective traits (Herringer & Haws, 1991). In a study where American students provided

free-response adjectives to describe both their own personality and that of a familiar acquaintance, the results

indicated distortions in self- versus other-perception, supporting aspects of social perception theory.

However, biases were reduced due to the idiographic relevance of the free-response adjectives (Herringer &

Haws, 1991).

This literature emphasises that socio-cognitive factors influence personality perceptions. Our study extends this

work by using a structured trait-cluster survey to explore whether gender moderates the alignment between self-
and peer-perception. We aim to determine if same-gender pairings demonstrate greater convergence than

cross-gender pairings, revealing potential gender-related influences in social perception (Herringer & Haws,

1991).

Hypotheses:

● H0: Individuals perceive themselves the same way they are perceived by others and gender is not a

defining factor.

● H1: There will be a significant difference between self-perception and how others perceive the

individual.

● H2: Gender will moderate the level of convergence between self and peer perception. Specifically,

same-gender comparisons will exhibit higher convergence than cross-gender comparisons.

3. Methodology

3.1 Participants

● Total of x participants (half men, half women).

● Each person is judged by the same amount of men and women.

● Every person judges the same amount of men and women.

● The study will adopt a within-subjects design, with the same participants completing multiple rounds

of the experiment under all gender pairings.

● In the study, We will have a survey of adjectives with 2 clusters: half positive traits and half negative

traits.

● After a brief conversation between two participants (where they take turns being the observer and the

observed in answering scenario questions),the observer chooses 3 adjectives from each cluster for each

observed-participant.

● The scenario questions are meticulously designed to draw out the adjectives or at least to showcase a

genuine enough impression.

3.2. Outcomes
 ● Convergence Indices (CIs): Indices will be used to measure the similarity between self-selected traits

and peer-selected traits. CI will be calculated using the overlap of traits chosen by the individual for

themselves and those chosen by their peers for them.

Here are a few of the Indices we thought of:

#𝑀𝑎𝑡𝑐ℎ𝑒𝑑𝐴𝑑𝑗
𝐶𝑜𝑛𝑣𝐼𝑛𝑑𝑒𝑥 = 𝑇𝑜𝑡𝑎𝑙𝐴𝑑𝑗

#𝑀𝑎𝑡𝑐ℎ𝑒𝑑𝐵𝑎𝑑
𝐸𝑣𝑖𝑙𝐼𝑛𝑑𝑒𝑥 = 𝑇𝑜𝑡𝑎𝑙𝐵𝑎𝑑

#𝑀𝑎𝑡𝑐ℎ𝑒𝑑𝐺𝑜𝑜𝑑
𝐴𝑛𝑔𝑒𝑙𝐼𝑛𝑑𝑒𝑥 = 𝑇𝑜𝑡𝑎𝑙𝐺𝑜𝑜𝑑

3.3 Apparatus

3.3.1 Materials

● Survey form: Contains a list of self-defining traits 20 adjectives with 2 clusters: 10 positive

traits and 10 negative traits.

● Each participant will select exactly 3 positive and 3 negative traits that apply to themselves.

○ They will also select 3 positive and 3 negative traits that apply to their peers (the person

sitting in front of them).

● Computer software (R or Python) to calculate and analyse the data.

● Classroom setting.

4. Experimental Design:

4.1 Design:

● Within-subjects design: Each participant will take part in all possible gender pairings (same-sex and

opposite-sex).

● Condition: Gender-based pairing (classroom setting).

● Participants: UM6P Students

1. Men-Men: Participants of the same gender (male) evaluate each other.

2. Men-Women: Cross-gender evaluation, where male participants evaluate female participants,

and vice versa.

3. Women-Women: Participants of the same gender (female) evaluate each other.

4.2 Procedure:

● Each participant will be paired with another classmate, following the trial order.

● They will be given 3 minutes to have a conversation about each other.

● Step 1: Participants will be provided a series of scenario-questions to lure their counterparts to showing

their true colours.

● Step 2: Participants will first select 3 positive traits and 3 negative traits that apply to themselves.

● The process is repeated until each participant has evaluated at least 2 people of each gender.

● To ensure external validity and avoid confirmation bias, the adjective list is only available at the time

of filling out the survey.

5. Data Analysis

5.1 Variables

● Dependent Variables:

○ Trait selections (positive and negative) for self and peers.

○ Convergence Index (CI): A numerical measure of similarity between self- and peer-perception

based on trait overlap.

● Independent Variable:

○ Gender pairings (Men-Men, Men-Women, Women-Women).

5.2 Statistical Analysis

● We will use descriptive statistics to understand the mean and variance of convergence indices across

different gender pairings.

gender pairing conditions.

6. Resources

● Participants: 20 participants (10 men, 10 women).

● Data collection site: Classroom.

● Software: R or Python will be used for statistical analysis.

● Other equipment: Survey forms (physical or digital).

7. Ethical Considerations

Participants will be informed about the nature of the study, and their participation will be voluntary.

Anonymity will be maintained for all personal responses, and results will be reported in aggregate form only.

Participants will also have the option to withdraw from the study at any point. No sensitive or harmful

questions will be included in the survey.

8. Conclusion

This study aims to enlarge our comprehension of Gendered inner-outer perception. By using a within-subject

design, this experiment will explore whether gender-based pairings affect the alignment between self and

peer-perception, offering insights into social dynamics and identity perception within familiar social contexts.

9. Citations:

Herringer, L. G., & Haws, S. C. (1991). Perception of Personality Traits in Oneself and Others. The

Journal of Psychology, 125(1), 33–43. https://doi.org/10.1080/00223980.1991.10543267