The development of the internet has provided people with a platform for the exchange of views and information. Nevertheless, it is also a dual-edged sword, which some individuals make extreme or biased comments, including gender bias. The proliferation of gender-biased comments on the internet not only incites and perpetuates stereotypes and discrimination but also exerts a discernible influence on people’s cognitive processes, thereby impinging upon their judicious assessment of social events. In order to investigate the impact of gender-biased comments on individuals' perception of news related to social events, three news scenarios were selected as stimuli: a traffic accident caused by a male driver, a traffic accident caused by a female driver, and a sexual harassment case involving a man victimizing a woman. The news content comprised two components: the left section was the comment section, and the right section contained the news report with images and texts. A cohort of twenty-four participants was recruited and divided into two groups. The control group perused comments grounded in factual information, whereas the experimental group engaged with comments filtered through a gender-oriented lens. To record and quantify participants' engagement with both comments and news content, an eye-tracker was integrated into the experimental design. The resulting eye-tracking data served as a reflective index of participants' attention allocation and psychological engagement. Statistical analyses were conducted after the trial. The results showed, in instances where gender was not explicitly articulated in comments, participants exhibited an increased attention to gender-specific information concerning the female driver, a trend not replicated in the case of the male driver. Crucially, when comments critiqued the driver based on gender, female participants exhibited an increased attentional bias towards the female driver as opposed to the male driver. Meanwhile, male subjects demonstrated an elevated psychological load in response to negative comments directed at the male driver. In the context of the sexual harassment case, the emergence of gender-based comments directed at the female victim prompted heightened psychological load among female participants. These findings demonstrated that gender-biased stereotypes are deeply ingrained within the cognitive framework of individuals, influencing attitudes and behaviors, whether consciously or subconsciously. The research emphasized the importance for news media to adopt an objective and impartial stance in reporting and advocates for individuals to contribute responsive and unbiased comments in the online sphere.

Zihan Zhao. An Investigation of Viewer Attention in Response to Gender-Biased Comments on the Internet. Academic Journal of Humanities & Social Sciences (2024) Vol. 7, Issue 3: 235-240. https://doi.org/10.25236/AJHSS.2024.070338.

[1] Bar-Tal, D. . (2011). Introduction: Conflicts and social psychology.

[2] Brinkman, B. G., & Rickard, K. M . (2009).College students’ descriptions of everyday gender prejudice Sex Roles, 61(7-8), 461-475.

[3] China Justice Big Data Service Platform. (2020). Special Report on Judicial Big Data: Characteristics and Trends of Traffic Offenses (2016.1-2019.12).

[4] Li Yan, Xu Fuming,&Kong Shixiao. (2015). Heuristics for accessibility in judgment and decision-making Psychological research, 8 (5), 8

[5] Liao Sixuan. (2023). The ization and guidance of women's bias master's dissertation, Nanchang University

[6] Liu Guanyu. (2021). —— Take the "Yang Li incident" and the "Ding Zhen incident" as examples. News Research Guide, 12 (12), 3.

[7] Lu Yue . (2019). A study of media image building of female drivers in online news reports. (Doctoral dissertation, Henan University).

[8] Tokuda, S. , &  Obinata, G. . (2012). Development of an algorithm to detect saccadic intrusions as an index of mental workload. Sice Conference. IEEE.

[9] Xu Huan & Wu Guobin. (2015). Exploration of the moral value of bandura's social learning theory. People's Forum (02), 208-210.

[10] Zhang Lu, Ye Na, & Liu Feng. (2015). The inhibitory effect of unbiased motivation on stereotypes and bias activation: an analysis based on a four-point model. Psychological and behavioral research, 13 (4), 552-557. 

[11] Zhou Yuping. (2015). Study on gender discrimination in news discourse. (Doctoral dissertation, Shandong University).

[12] Zhang Xin-Miao. (2022). Master Dissertation on Gender Opposition Evaluation Research on Weibo Review, Heilongjiang university).

[13] Zhang, T. Z.. (2021). A study on negative image of women and public opinion guidance in online public opinion hotspot events Master's Degree dissertation, Henan University.