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Cited by 25Spatial Cognition and NavigationGender and Technology in EducationCognitive and developmental aspects of mathematical skills

Spatial anxiety and self-confidence mediate sex/gender differences in mental rotation

Open access
Arrighi, Linda, Hausmann, Markus·2022·Learning & Memory
DOI 10.1101/lm.053596.122PMC PMC9488019
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Abstract

A recent meta-synthesis study with a sample of >12 million participants revealed that the male advantage in mental rotation (MR) is the largest cognitive sex/gender difference found in psychological literature. MR requires test takers to mentally rotate three-dimensional cubic figures under time restrictions. Previous studies have investigated how biological and social factors contribute to cognitive sex/gender differences in tasks of this type. Spatial anxiety and self-confidence in MR tasks have received less attention. The present study investigated the contribution of these psychological factors to sex/gender differences in MR performance. Participants (n = 269) completed two MR tasks that differed in task difficulty. Participants also indicated their self-confidence (for each item) and spatial anxiety. The results revealed that pronounced sex/gender differences in spatial anxiety and self-confidence mediate sex/gender in MR performance, especially when task demands are high. The current findings suggest that task-irrelevant factors that are not spatial cognitive in nature contribute largely to the well-known medium to large sex/gender differences in MR. Future studies should further explore mechanisms underlying cognitive sex/gender differences within a biopsychosocial approach.

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  • Self-confidence has received support in mediating the relationship between gender and performance on spatial tests.

    “Self-confidence has received support in mediating the relationship between gender and performance on spatial tests (Arrighi & Hausmann, 2022;Cooke-Simpson & Voyer, 2007;Picucci et al., 2011).”

    From Factors Related to Mean Score Group Differences on Cognitive Ability Tests: A Systematic Review (2025) · cites this paper as Arrighi & Hausmann, 2022

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Authors
Arrighi, L., & Hausmann, M.
Affiliations
Durham University (GB)
Corresponding author
Arrighi, Linda
ORCID
Venue
Learning & Memory
Publisher
Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory
Published
2022-09
Volume
29
Issue
9
Pages
312-320
ISSN
  • 1072-0502 (ISSN-L)
  • 1549-5485
DOI
10.1101/lm.053596.122
PMC
PMC9488019
OpenAlex
W4294312940
Cited by
25
References
61
Citations by year
2026: 7 · 2025: 7 · 2024: 8 · 2023: 2 · 2022: 1
Type
posted content
Language
en
Open access
Licence
cc-by
Locations
  • Learning & Memory (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • Durham Research Online (Durham University) (acceptedVersion, cc-by)
  • Durham Research Online (Durham University) (acceptedVersion, other-oa)
  • Durham Research Online (Durham University) (submittedVersion, cc-by)
Funders
  • Northern Ireland and North East Doctoral Training Partnership
  • Economic and Social Research Council
Topics
  • Physical Sciences › Engineering › Automotive Engineering › Spatial Cognition and Navigation
  • Social Sciences › Gender Studies › Gender and Technology in Education
  • Physical Sciences › Mathematics › Statistics and Probability › Cognitive and developmental aspects of mathematical skills
Keywords
mental rotation, sex and gender differences, spatial anxiety, self-confidence, mediation, task difficulty, spatial cognition, biopsychosocial model
MeSH terms
Anxiety, Attention, Female, Humans, Male, Sex Factors, Space Perception

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