Women Are No Better Than Men: Gender and Memory for People’s Physical Features

Abstract

Psychological essentialist beliefs about gender suggest that women outperform men at remembering what other people look like. Much of the research on gender and interpersonal memory supports this view. We explored which aspects of appearance women remember better than men. We hypothesized that women will outperform men only in memory for what other people are wearing. Participants watched a video of either a male or a female in ‘workout clothes,’ and were later given a memory survey. Results showed that women were no better than men at remembering the physical attributes of another person. Women’s memory advantage was limited to what another female was wearing. Self-socialization and appearance rigidity in childhood and their relation to gender essentialism are discussed.