To study the power of lived experiences and conscious attitudes in helping individuals to overcome nonconscious gender schemas, U.S. university students (n = 152) were administered a classic riddle requiring the gender schema-inconsistent realization that a surgeon could be a woman. Fewer than a third of participants (30%) responded that the surgeon in the riddle could be a woman. More participants (36%) responded to the riddle by noting that the surgeon could be a second father in a same-sex marriage. Regression analysis tested whether demographic, experiential, and attitudinal variables predicted the realization that the surgeon in the riddle could be a woman. Having an employed mother or female physicians, identifying as a feminist or a political liberal, and reporting low levels of sexism did not predict the realization that the surgeon in the riddle could be a woman. Only identifying as female predicted a greater likelihood of this response. In the present study, the historically newer role of father in a same-sex marriage was more accessible to research participants than the gender schema-inconsistent role of mother as surgeon. We conclude that the gender schema that impeded the realization that a surgeon could also be a mother lies so deep that it is largely unaffected by personal attitudes and experiences.

为了研究生活经历和有意识态度在帮助个人克服无意识性别图式方面的力量，美国大学生 ( n = 152) 被执行了一个经典的谜语，需要性别图式不一致的认识，即外科医生可以是女性。不到三分之一的参与者 (30%) 回答说谜语中的外科医生可能是女性。更多的参与者 (36%) 通过指出外科医生可能是同性婚姻中的第二个父亲来回答这个谜语。回归分析测试了人口统计学、经验和态度变量是否能预测谜语中的外科医生可能是女性的认识。有一个受雇的母亲或女医生，被认定为女权主义者或政治自由主义者，并报告低水平的性别歧视并不能预测谜语中的外科医生可能是女性的认识。只有确定为女性才能预测这种反应的可能性更大。在目前的研究中，与母亲作为外科医生的性别图式不一致的角色相比，研究参与者更容易理解父亲在同性婚姻中历史上较新的角色。我们得出的结论是，阻碍认识到外科医生也可能是母亲的性别图式是如此深刻，以至于它在很大程度上不受个人态度和经历的影响。