Sexism, perceived discrimination, and system justification in the 2016 U.S. presidential election context

2019 ◽  
Vol 23 (2) ◽  
pp. 163-178 ◽  
Author(s):  
Margo J. Monteith ◽  
Laura K. Hildebrand
Keyword(s):  
Gender Discrimination ◽  
Presidential Election ◽  
System Justification ◽  
Attitudes Toward Women ◽  
Hostile Sexism ◽  
Sexist Attitudes ◽  
Political Outcomes ◽  
Before And After ◽  
System Threat

The 2016 U.S. presidential election provided a pertinent context for investigating novel influences on system-related beliefs. We examined Trump and Clinton supporters’ sexist attitudes toward women, perceptions of gender discrimination, and system justification before and after the election. Controlling for conservatism, we found that (a) Trump supporters reported more modern and hostile sexism than Clinton supporters; (b) male Trump supporters perceived greater gender discrimination toward men than male Clinton supporters, an effect mediated by sexist attitudes toward women; (c) female Trump supporters perceived less gender discrimination toward women than female Clinton supporters, an effect also mediated by sexist attitudes toward women; and (d) system justification increased among Trump supporters but decreased among Clinton supporters postelection. These results extend the existing literature on system-related beliefs by revealing the role of antifeminism and misogyny in shaping perceptions of gender discrimination and highlighting how political outcomes are associated with system threat versus reinforcement.

Benevolent Sexism and Hostile Sexism Across the Ages

2017 ◽  
Vol 9 (7) ◽  
pp. 863-874 ◽  
Author(s):  
Matthew D. Hammond ◽  
Petar Milojev ◽  
Yanshu Huang ◽  
Chris G. Sibley
Keyword(s):  
New Zealand ◽  
Life Span ◽  
Ambivalent Sexism ◽  
Benevolent Sexism ◽  
Attitudes Toward Women ◽  
Hostile Sexism ◽  
Linear Trajectory ◽  
Sexist Attitudes ◽  
Nationally Representative ◽  
Over Time

Ambivalent sexism theory states that prejudice toward women comprises two interrelated ideologies. Endorsement of hostile sexism—aggressive and competitive attitudes toward women—is linked with endorsement of benevolent sexism—paternalistic and patronizing attitudes toward women. We conduct the first systematic tests of how endorsement of sexism differs across age and across time, using six waves of a nationally representative panel sample of New Zealand adults ( N = 10,398). Results indicated U-shaped trajectories for men’s endorsement of hostile sexism, women’s hostile sexism, and women’s benevolent sexism across the life span. However, over time, endorsement of these sexist attitudes tended to decrease for most ages. In contrast, men’s benevolent sexism followed a positive linear trajectory across age and tended not to change over time. These results provide novel evidence of how ambivalent sexism differs across age and highlight that benevolent sexism is particularly tenacious.

The Role of Anonymity in the Effects of Inadvertent Exposure to Online Pornography Among Young Adult Males

2014 ◽  
Vol 42 (5) ◽  
pp. 823-834 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jae Woong Shim ◽  
Bryant M. Paul
Keyword(s):  
Young Adult ◽  
Attitudes Toward Women ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Adult Males ◽  
Sexually Explicit Material ◽  
Young Adult Males ◽  
Online Pornography ◽  
Sexist Attitudes ◽  
Sexually Explicit

We investigated how the sexist attitudes of young adult males were affected when they were inadvertently exposed to online pornography, and the role of the sense of anonymity in subsequent selection by these individuals of sexually explicit material. Participants were 84 male university students. Results showed that participants were more likely to pursue extreme pornography when they felt anonymous, as compared with situations in which they did not feel anonymous. This tendency was especially apparent for those exposed for 10 seconds to sexual online pop-up commercials that include pornographic content. The results also showed that inadvertent exposure to such sexual online pop-up commercials, coupled with feelings of anonymity, could increase participants' sexist attitudes toward women. The implications of these findings for future research are discussed.

When Does Men’s Hostile Sexism Predict Relationship Aggression? The Moderating Role of Partner Commitment

2016 ◽  
Vol 8 (3) ◽  
pp. 331-340 ◽  
Author(s):  
Emily J. Cross ◽  
Nickola C. Overall ◽  
Matthew D. Hammond ◽  
Garth J. O. Fletcher
Keyword(s):  
Attitudes Toward Women ◽  
Relationship Commitment ◽  
Hostile Sexism ◽  
Life Study ◽  
Female Partners ◽  
Relationship Aggression ◽  
Relationship Partners ◽  
Moderating Role ◽  
Do So

Hostile sexism encompasses aggressive attitudes toward women who contest men’s power and suspicions that women will manipulate men by exploiting their relational dependence. Prior research has shown that these attitudes predict greater aggression toward female relationship partners, but has overlooked the contexts in which such aggression should occur. The present research identified an important contextual factor that determines when men’s hostile sexism is (and when it is not) associated with relationship aggression. Men who more strongly endorsed hostile sexism were more aggressive toward their female partners during couples’ daily life (Study 1) and conflict discussions (Study 2), but only when their female partners were perceived to be, or reported being, low in relationship commitment. These findings show that men who endorse hostile sexism do not always enact aggression toward female partners, but do so in contexts relevant to their fears that women will exploit men’s relational dependence and undermine men’s power.

Hostile and Benevolent Sexism

1997 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
pp. 119-135 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter Glick ◽  
Susan T. Fiske
Keyword(s):  
Gender Roles ◽  
Ambivalent Sexism ◽  
Benevolent Sexism ◽  
Attitudes Toward Women ◽  
Hostile Sexism ◽  
Gender Differentiation ◽  
Traditional Gender Roles ◽  
Sexist Attitudes ◽  
Intimate Relations ◽  
Traditional Roles

A theory of sexism as ambivalence, not just hostility, toward women is presented. Ambivalent Sexism Theory distinguishes between hostile and “ benevolent” sexism (each addresses issues of power, gender differentiation, and sexuality). Benevolent sexism encompasses subjectively positive (for the sexist) attitudes toward women in traditional roles: protective paternalism, idealization of women, and desire for intimate relations. Hostile sexism encompasses the negative equivalents on each dimension: dominative paternalism, derogatory beliefs, and heterosexual hostility. Both forms of sexism serve to justify and maintain patriarchy and traditional gender roles. The validity of a measure of these constructs, the Ambivalent Sexism Inventory (ASI), is reviewed. Comparisons are offered between the ASI and other measures of sexist attitudes (e.g., the AWS), with suggestions for the proper domains of different scales.

Optimizing the Measurement of Sexism in Political Surveys

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-17
Author(s):  
Brian F. Schaffner
Keyword(s):  
Predictive Validity ◽  
Convergent Validity ◽  
Hostile Sexism ◽  
Measurement Properties ◽  
Sexist Attitudes

Abstract Political scientists are paying increasing attention to understanding the role of sexist attitudes on predicting vote choices and opinions on issues. However, the research in this area measures sexist attitudes with a variety of different items and scales. In this paper, I evaluate some of the most prominent contemporary measures of sexism and develop an approach for identifying optimal items based on (1) convergent validity, (2) predictive validity, and (3) distance from politics. I find that a subset of items from the hostile sexism scale exhibit the most desirable measurement properties and I conclude by recommending a simple two- to five-item reduced hostile sexism battery that will allow scholars to efficiently, validly, and consistently measure sexism.

Moral Foundations, System Justification, and Support for Trump in the 2016 Presidential Election

The Forum ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 17 (2) ◽  
pp. 195-208 ◽  
Author(s):  
Aaron C. Weinschenk ◽  
Christopher T. Dawes
Keyword(s):  
Presidential Election ◽  
Political System ◽  
System Justification ◽  
Vote Choice ◽  
The Political ◽  
Moral Foundations ◽  
Donald Trump ◽  
Using Data ◽  
Voter Decision Making

Abstract We examine the role of moral foundations and system justification in explaining support for Donald Trump in the 2016 general election using data from the 2016 Cooperative Congressional Election Survey. A number of important findings emerge. First, we find that there are important partisan and ideological differences when it comes to moral foundations and system justification. Second, we find that moral foundations predict support for Trump above and beyond traditional determinants of vote choice such as ideology, partisanship, religiosity, and demographic characteristics. Third, we find that a measure of political system justification is not related to vote choice in our sample. This casts doubt on the idea that support for Trump was mostly about protesting the political system. This paper adds to the growing body of research showing that psychological concepts and theories are important in understanding voter decision-making in the 2016 presidential election and in elections more generally.

scholarly journals Sexism and Aggression in Adolescence—How Do They Relate to Perceived Academic Achievement?

2018 ◽  
Vol 10 (9) ◽  
pp. 3017
Author(s):  
Elisabeth Malonda ◽  
Anna Llorca ◽  
Ana Tur-Porcar ◽  
Paula Samper ◽  
Mª Mestre
Keyword(s):  
Academic Achievement ◽  
Gender Stereotypes ◽  
Structural Equation ◽  
Self Report ◽  
Hostile Sexism ◽  
Mediating Role ◽  
Sexist Attitudes ◽  
Self Report Data ◽  
The Relationship

Sexist attitudes are rooted in patriarchal structures, which uphold traditional gender stereotypes, and which are still found in society today. Scholars have found gender differences in perceived academic achievement, with girls performing better than boys, and negative relationships between sexism and perceived academic achievement. Moreover, perceived academic achievement and sexist attitudes have been associated with aggression and different kinds of violence. This study examined the associations between sexist attitudes and perceived academic achievement (using self-report data). The study also assessed the mediating role of physical and verbal aggression in the relationship between sexist attitudes and perceived academic achievement. Seven hundred eight Spanish adolescents participated in the study. The mean age was 13.00 (SD = 0.95; range = 12–14 years). Structural equation modelling (SEM) was used to analyse the effects among variables for boys and girls. Results showed the role of benevolent sexism and hostile sexism in perceived academic achievement, as well as the mediating role of aggression in the relationship between sexism and perceived academic achievement. Findings and implications are discussed to assess measures for establishing intervention programs and educating adolescents in a non-sexist manner.

scholarly journals Beliefs on Sexual Violence in the Context of System Justification Theory: The Role of Hostile Sexism and Beliefs in Biological Origins of Gender Differences

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Agnieszka E. Łyś ◽  
Anna Studzińska ◽  
Kamilla Bargiel-Matusiewicz
Keyword(s):  
Gender Differences ◽  
Sexual Violence ◽  
Ambivalent Sexism ◽  
Acquaintance Rape ◽  
System Justification ◽  
Hostile Sexism ◽  
System Justification Theory ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Research And Policy

AbstractEstimates suggest that around 20% of women may have experienced rape. Various misconceptions about rape (i.e., rape myths) are closely related to victim blaming. In our studies we tested the link between system justification, beliefs in biological origins of gender differences, ambivalent sexism and beliefs concerning sexual violence. Study 1 was conducted among 433 Polish students. The sequential mediation analysis suggests that system justification predicts the level of rape myth acceptance through beliefs in biological origins of gender differences and then hostile (but not benevolent) sexism. In Study 2, conducted among 197 Polish students, we tested the relationship between beliefs in biological origins of gender differences and beliefs concerning sexual violence using experimental design. Contrary to our expectations, students who read the text about social origins of gender differences perceived the survivor of a hypothetical acquaintance rape as less credible, and proposed a lower sentence for a stranger rape perpetrator, compared to participants who read about biological origins of gender differences. We suspect that this is due to experiencing reactance when confronted with social explanations of gender differences. We discuss implications for research and policy.

Blame is in the eye of the beholder: Assessing the Role of Ambivalent Sexism on Subtle Rape Myth Acceptance

2021 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
pp. 284-295
Author(s):  
Kallia Manoussaki ◽  
Valentina Gosetti
Keyword(s):  
Gender Inequality ◽  
Rape Myths ◽  
Ambivalent Sexism ◽  
Rape Myth Acceptance ◽  
Hostile Sexism ◽  
Rape Myth ◽  
Sexist Attitudes ◽  
Acceptance Scale ◽  
Myth Acceptance

The aim of the present study was to determine whether ambivalent sexism predicts subtle rape myth acceptance. Respondents comprised of 211 university students, who completed the Ambivalent Sexism Inventory (Glick & Fiske, 1996) and the updated version of the Illinois Rape Myth Acceptance scale (McMahon & Farmer, 2011). Results indicated that while benevolent sexism significantly predicted acceptance of subtle rape myths, hostile sexism did not. Additionally, male participants reported more ambivalent sexism and subtle rape myth acceptance than females. These findings add to the literature investigating gender inequality and rape mythology by giving a first account on the link between subtle rape myths and ambivalent sexist attitudes.

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