Be a ‘Good Girl’: The Durability and Enigmatic Nature of Benevolent Sexism as a Form of Performative Kindness

We tested the novel hypothesis that men lower in status-linked variables—that is, subjective social status and perceived mate value—are relatively disinclined to offset their high hostile sexism with high benevolent sexism. Findings revealed that mate value, but not social status, moderates the hostile–benevolent sexism link among men: Whereas men high in perceived mate value endorse hostile and benevolent sexism linearly across the attitude range, men low in mate value show curvilinear sexism, characterized by declining benevolence as hostility increases above the midpoint. Study 1 ( N = 15,205) establishes the curvilinear sexism effect and shows that it is stronger among men than women. Studies 2 ( N = 328) and 3 ( N = 471) show that the curve is stronger among men low versus high in perceived mate value, and especially if they lack a serious relationship partner (Study 3). Discussion considers the relevance of these findings for understanding misogyny.

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Ambivalent sexism and relationship adjustment among young adult couples: An actor-partner interdependence model

Journal of Social and Personal Relationships ◽

10.1177/02654075211005549 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 026540752110055

Author(s):

Mylène Lachance-Grzela ◽

Bingyu Liu ◽

Andréanne Charbonneau ◽

Geneviève Bouchard

Keyword(s):

Gender Differences ◽

Young Adult ◽

Romantic Relationships ◽

Romantic Relationship ◽

Ambivalent Sexism ◽

Benevolent Sexism ◽

Hostile Sexism ◽

Relationship Adjustment ◽

Actor Partner Interdependence Model

This study examined the associations between ambivalent sexism (i.e., hostile and benevolent sexism) and relationship adjustment in young adult couples by testing an actor-partner interdependence model. The sample was composed of 219 cohabiting heterosexual Canadian couples. The findings suggest that ambivalent sexism plays a role in young adults’ perceptions of the quality of their romantic relationship, but gender differences exist. Women and men who more strongly endorsed hostile sexism tended to report lower relationship adjustment. Women’s hostile sexism was also negatively related to their partners’ relationship adjustment, whereas their benevolent sexism was positively related to their own and their partners’ relationship adjustment. For their part, men’s ambivalent sexism was unrelated to their partners’ relationship adjustment and their benevolent sexism was also unrelated to their own relationship adjustment. The results are discussed in light of the insidious consequences that can accompany ambivalent sexism. Even though hostile sexism functions to protect men’s societal advantages, it comes with costs to their romantic relationships. In contrast, despite the rewards benevolent sexism can bring on the relational level, its endorsement may hinder the attainment of gender equality by encouraging women to invest in their relationship at the expense of independent achievements.

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Race, Ambivalent Sexism, and Perceptions of Situations When Police Shoot Black Women

Social Psychological and Personality Science ◽

10.1177/1948550620987659 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 194855062098765

Author(s):

Jazmin L. Brown-Iannuzzi ◽

Erin Cooley ◽

William Cipolli ◽

Sarita Mehta

Keyword(s):

Black Women ◽

Use Of Force ◽

Ambivalent Sexism ◽

Benevolent Sexism ◽

Police Violence ◽

Ambiguous Situation ◽

People’S Attitudes

The current research investigates people’s attitudes toward an ambiguous situation of police violence against a woman suspect. We hypothesize that the suspect’s race and participants’ ambivalent sexism, particularly benevolent sexism, will jointly inform perceptions of the suspect’s femininity, and in turn, perceptions of the suspect’s pain, judgments of who is to blame, and perceptions the officer was justified in using force against the suspect. Across two studies, we found support for our hypotheses: participants who reported more benevolent sexism thought the suspect were more feminine, but this association was only present when the suspect was White, as opposed to Black. Perceived femininity, in turn, predicted perceptions the suspect felt more pain, was less blameworthy for the situation, and perceptions that the officer’s use of force was less justified (Study 2).

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