Blonde Today, Brunette Tomorrow II: Is the Stereotype of Dumb Blonde Universal?

Overview

Objectives/Goals As technology advances, intercultural communication is increasing in importance. Human beings have a natural tendency to stereotype foreigners and their cultures, but these stereotypes are usually not very accurate. Blondes, for example, are stereotyped as incompetent yet likeable; brunettes are intelligent and classy. The "dumb blonde" stereotype clearly exists in the United States, but is this stereotype of blondes universal? The purpose of this study is to verify if a woman's hair color makes a significant difference in social perception of a woman's intelligence in five different countries: Brazil, Italy, Nigeria, Poland, and Sweden. Methods/Materials Using Adobe Photoshop, four subjects, two blonde teenage girls and two blonde middle age women, were each given four different hair colors: silver blonde, blonde, light brown, and dark brown. Four surveys with four pictures each were arranged so that there would not be two pictures of the same person with a different hair color in the same survey. Survey software was used to design and post the surveys on the internet. Google sponsored Links/Ads was used to post a link limited to these five different countries, Brazil, Italy, Nigeria, Poland, and Sweden. Participants took one survey each and rated each person on a scale of one to seven for friendliness, sociability, intelligence, attractiveness, and confidence; this way the subject would not know that only the intelligence factor would be analyzed. A comparison of the average intelligence ratings of those subjects was made for each different hair color. Results Results from Brazil, Italy, Nigeria, and Sweden were not conclusive because responses were very limited and the cost of the ads was very high. Sixty respondents took the four surveys in Poland. All subjects with silver blonde hair received the lowest average intelligence ratings, followed by subjects with blonde hair. There was an age interaction between subjects and respondents. Younger subjects were favored by all respondents. There was a gender interaction with the subjects; male respondents gave a lower intelligence rating to the subjects when they had silver blonde and blonde hair compared to the female respondents. Conclusions/Discussion My results were similar to the results of previous studies and findings showing that the "dumb blonde" stereotype continues to live on.

Awards (1)

• Honorable Mention

Competition history

• CSEF 2008 Behavioral & Social Sciences · Entry J0311

Resources

• CSEF project summary ↗

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