Blacks and Women Must Try Harder

Previous research has shown that differential causal attributions are made for identical successful performance of male or female stimulus persons. It has been suggested (Deaux, 1976) that expectations derived from stereotypical assumptions about men and women might also hold for other stereotyped groups. A study was conducted to test this assumption by examining causal attributions for a successful banking career based on both the sex and race (black or white) of the target persom It was found that both male and female subjects attributed significantly greater ability, less effort, and less luck to the white male than to the other three groups (white female, black male, or black female)for whom attributions did not differ. Thus, race and sex act similarly as stimulus variables for attribution.