Influence of the stimulus material on gender differences in a mental-rotation test
Abstract
Gender differences in mental-rotation tests with cube figures as rotational material are well examined and robust. Besides biological or socialization factors, task characteristics could partly be responsible for men's advantage in mental rotation. Therefore, we investigated in two studies the influence of different rotational materials on the gender differences in mental-rotation performance. In the first study, 134 undergraduate students (89 women, 45 men) participated using a mental-rotation test with either cube or pellet figures. Significant gender differences in favour of men but no interaction of gender and material were found. In the second study, 189 undergraduate students (110 women, 79 men) solved a mental-rotation test with either male or female-stereotyped objects. Significant gender differences appeared only when male-stereotyped objects were used as rotational material, but not for female-stereotyped material. A significant interaction of gender and material appeared. Hence, some rotational objects seem to have an influence on participants' mental-rotation performance and the gender differences in this task while others do not affect performances of women and men.
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Studies found that including gender stereotyped item content created bias.
“Similarly, studies found that including gender stereotyped item content created bias (Rahe & Jansen, 2022;Rahe et al., 2020)”
From Factors Related to Mean Score Group Differences on Cognitive Ability Tests: A Systematic Review (2025) · cites this paper as Rahe et al., 2020
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References 42 · Cited by 23
- Authors
- Rahe, M., Ruthsatz, V., & Quaiser-Pohl, C.
- Affiliations
- University of Koblenz and Landau (DE)
- Corresponding author
- Rahe, Martina
- Venue
- Psychological Research
- Published
- 2020-11-25
- Volume
- 85
- Issue
- 8
- Pages
- 2892-2899
- ISSN
- 0033-3026 (ISSN-L)
- 0340-0727
- 1430-2772
- OpenAlex
- W3110236985
- Cited by
- 23
- References
- 42
- Citations by year
- 2026: 2 · 2025: 6 · 2024: 3 · 2023: 5 · 2022: 4 · 2021: 2 · 2019: 1
- FWCI
- 1.02
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Psychological Research (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Physical Sciences › Engineering › Automotive Engineering › Spatial Cognition and Navigation
- Social Sciences › Gender Studies › Gender Roles and Identity Studies
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Experimental and Cognitive Psychology › Cognitive Abilities and Testing
- Keywords
- gender differences, mental rotation, stimulus materials, task characteristics, spatial ability, sex differences in cognition
- MeSH terms
- Female, Humans, Imagination, Male, Sex Factors, Space Perception
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