Although some anthropologists dispute the universality of patriarchy and argue that the hunter-gatherer groups in which humans evolved were egalitarian (Salzman, 1999), agricultural and industrial societies are typically dominated by men, who monopolize the highest status positions in powerful social institutions, such as business, government, and organized religion (Carli and Eagly, 2001; Harris, 1991; Sidanius and Pratto, 1999). Societies are typically structured by a gendered division of labor that reflects prescriptive gender roles, which both create and reinforce gender hierarchy (Eagly and Wood, 1999). It is not surprising, then, that gender is a primary psychological category in both social and self-perception. When perceiving others, gender categorization occurs automatically and (judging by the frequency with which people within categories are confused with each other) predominates over other forms of categorization such as race (Taylor, Fiske, Etcoff, and Ruderman, 1978). In self-perception, gender categorization is a basic aspect of self-definition (Bem, 1981).

Given the importance of gender in self and social perception, as well as the regularity with which men and women interact in daily life, cross-gender social comparisons have the potential to occur frequently. Such comparisons potentially have important implications for maintaining or challenging gender inequality. For example, if female employees compare their salaries with male coworkers and find that they are paid less, they might challenge the fairness of the organization or initiate a lawsuit.