Research has consistently revealed a significant wage gap between genders that has persisted for many years. Previous studies have identified various reasons for this difference; however, an important factor that is frequently ignored is how such disparities can begin at an early age.
In a new study focusing on boys and girls, a group of psychology researchers discovered that, although both genders share similar opinions regarding negotiating and its benefits, boys tend to request larger bonuses than girls for the same tasks. Published in the journal Developmental Psychology, the research highlights that these outcomes may partly stem from varying perceptions of capabilities. The study found that boys believed they were more capable, prompting them to ask for higher bonuses, even though their performance was comparable to that of girls.
“Our research indicates that boys often have an exaggerated view of their abilities compared to girls — and when analyzed against their actual performance,” explains Sophie Arnold, a doctoral student at New York University and the main author of the study. “This heightened self-view may cause boys to feel more justified in asserting themselves during negotiations.”
“These results provide fresh insights into the potential roots of the negotiation gaps observed between adult men and women in workplace scenarios,” concludes Andrei Cimpian, a psychology professor at NYU and senior author of the paper.
The study, which also involved Katherine McAuliffe from Boston College, included three separate experiments. The first two aimed to determine if boys and girls shared similar views on negotiation.
In two hypothetical situations, children aged six to nine were presented with opportunities to negotiate bonuses with a teacher for completing schoolwork or with a neighbor for work in their neighborhood. The results showed that boys and girls held comparable views on negotiation: they believed that other children were equally likely to negotiate, that negotiation was acceptable, that there would be similar reactions to negotiation, and that it could lead to comparable rewards. Additionally, both genders indicated they would negotiate to a similar extent in these scenarios.
In a follow-up experiment, involving over 200 child participants, the researchers explored how boys and girls negotiated based on their performance and perceptions of it. The children were tasked with swiftly identifying images on a screen, and both genders performed at roughly the same level.
After the cognitive tasks, all participants—regardless of their performance levels—were informed that they would receive a bonus of animal pictures based on their performance. They were then asked how many pictures they thought they should earn.
Even though their performance was approximately equal, a significant gender gap appeared in the responses concerning bonus expectations:
-
Despite similar views on negotiation, in line with previous hypothetical studies, boys requested larger bonuses than girls for the same work. This disparity was notable: typically, boys requested more bonus pictures than about 65% of the girls.
-
Although girls and boys performed similarly in the cognitive tasks, their self-assessments varied: boys had a more favorable view of their performance compared to how girls viewed theirs. This difference in perceived competence helped account for why boys asked for more; they assumed they performed better and were thus more inclined to negotiate for higher bonuses.
-
Another important finding indicated that the connection between children’s negotiation perceptions and their bonus requests differed by gender. While girls’ and boys’ perceptions were generally alike, they only influenced boys’ requests, not girls’. For example, boys who viewed negotiation as more acceptable were also more likely to request higher bonuses, while girls’ bonus requests were not related to their perceptions of negotiation permissibility.
“Boys utilized their perceptions of how typical and acceptable it was to ask for more, whereas girls did not,” states McAuliffe. “This meant that when both groups believed negotiation was more common and acceptable, boys ended up negotiating more than girls.”
The research received funding from the National Science Foundation (DGE-2234660).
