Gender Differences in Memory for the Appearance of Others

Abstract

Five studies investigated gender differences in the accurate recall of the appearance of others. The greater interpersonal orientation and interpersonal sensitivity of women were predicted to give women an advantage over men in appearance accuracy. Under both directedand incidental-learning conditions, women more accurately recalled information concerning the appearance of their social targets than did men, participants’ memory for the appearance of female targets was more accurate than it was for male targets, and neither gender was found to be at a relative advantage in recalling the appearance of same-gender targets. The motivational and knowledge-based factors that might underlie a gender difference in appearance accuracy are discussed.