Performance and Emotion in the STEM Field – Relationship Between Spatial Anxiety and Mental Rotation with Polyhedral Stimuli

Abstract

Mental rotation is a critical spatial skill often linked to gender differences favouring males, contributing to the gender gap in STEM fields. Traditional cube figures in mental-rotation tests have been criticized for gender bias due to their association with male experiences, like construction toys. This study investigates whether gender-neutral polyhedral figures can reduce performance differences and their association with spatial task anxiety.

We assessed 106 participants (34 men, 72 women) on a mental-rotation task using unfamiliar polyhedral stimuli and also measured their spatial anxiety and perceived certainty and task difficulty. Results showed no gender differences in mental-rotation performance, neither in accuracy nor reaction time. However, men reported greater certainty in their responses and perceived the test as easier. Women reported higher anxiety only in spatial-orientation and visualization tasks, with no gender differences in overall spatial anxiety or anxiety related to mental rotation. Unlike prior findings with cube figures, mental-rotation performance was unrelated to overall spatial anxiety or mental-rotation anxiety.

These findings suggest that gender-neutral stimuli, unlike stereotypically male ones, do not inherently advantage men. They highlight the importance of using unbiased stimuli to assess cognitive performance in STEM without reinforcing gender stereotypes.