Gender differences in metacognition: global and local contrasts in bias and efficiency

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Authors

Kelly Hoogervorst, Leah Banellis, Francesca Fardo, Kai Xue, Dobromir Rahnev, Micah G Allen

Abstract

Metacognition is the ability to monitor our cognitive and perceptual processes. Previous research investigated gender differences in self-confidence and self-esteem, but less is known about gender differences in metacognition. To address this gap, we conducted a study of 317 individuals, who completed global and local metacognitive measures indexing recognition memory, semantic memory, and visual sensitivity. We found both domain-specific and general effects spanning global and local metacognition measures. Females exhibit a systematic negative bias in metacognitive self-beliefs and were also found to update these beliefs more negatively than males. A similar bias was found for local confidence, which was driven by greater sensitivity to errors in females. These effects differed across domains, with the greatest gender differences observed for semantic metamemory. Using computational modelling, we demonstrate that this more conservative strategy is accompanied by an enhanced metacognitive efficiency in females. These results highlight previously unknown gender differences in metacognitive self-monitoring.