Date of Award

2020

Degree Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Arts (MA)

Department

Psychology

Abstract

The aim of the current study was to reduce women's endorsement for benevolent sexist beliefs. the intervention aimed to educate women about the prevalence and seriousness of benevolent sexism. as this is a subtle and deceptively positive type of sexism, women are particularly susceptible in endorsing it (Glick & Fiske, 2001). in order to increase awareness for benevolent sexism in their everyday lives, some participants read an informational text about the pervasiveness and harmfulness of benevolent sexism in the U.S. This text was read after participants had already written about a time they engaged in benevolent sexism to elicit negative self-directed affect when attention is drawn to this discrepancy. This negative self-directed affect was hypothesized to mediate the relationship between education and endorsement of benevolent sexism. in addition, this relationship was also hypothesized to be moderated by Gender-Specific System Justification (GSSJ). the results indicated that educating women about the pervasiveness and harmfulness of benevolent sexism did not directly or indirectly impact their endorsement of benevolent sexism. in addition, GSSJ did not moderate either the relationship between education and benevolent sexism or education and negative self-affect. However, GSSJ did predict benevolent sexism and hostile sexism endorsements. This indicated that those who believe that the current system is fair and just for men and women are more likely to hold attitudes that justify that worldview, like benevolent and hostile sexism.

Creative Commons License

Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 License.

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