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When relationships do not live up to benevolent ideals: Women's benevolent sexism and sensitivity to relationship problems

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Abstract

Benevolent sexism promises women a revered place within intimate relationships, which should lead to greater dissatisfaction when they face relationship difficulties. We collected self-reports of relationship problems and relationship satisfaction (Study 1; N = 91 heterosexual couples), relationship problems and relationship evaluations daily over 3 weeks (Study 1), and hurtful partner behaviour and relationship evaluations over 10 days (Study 2; N = 86 women). Women's endorsement of benevolent sexism predicted sharper declines in relationship satisfaction when they faced greater relationship problems (Study 1) and hurtful partner behaviour (Study 2). These effects were magnified in longer relationships (Studies 1 and 2), indicating that the sensitivity to relationship problems associated with women's endorsement of benevolent sexism is particularly pronounced when women have more invested in their relationship role being revered and cherished. The results suggest that women who endorse benevolent sexism are vulnerable within their relationships because their satisfaction is contingent upon the fulfilment of the promises of benevolent sexism.

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... The content of benevolent sexism expresses a romanticized and idealized version of heterosexual intimacy in which men are gallant protectors of women. Benevolent sexism overlaps with prescriptions of chivalry in dating contexts, such as men paying on a first date (Viki, Abrams, & Hutchinson, 2003), being protective toward intimate partners (Sarlet, Dumont, Delacollette, & Dardenne, 2012), and romantic ideals that couples are destined to be together and should be able to read each other's minds (Hammond & Overall, 2013b;Hart, Hung, Glick, & Dinero, 2012). Indeed, the promise to "love and cherish" in traditional wedding vows is similar to the prescription that "women should be cherished and protected by men." ...
... Men who are described as endorsing benevolently sexist attitudes are considered relatively attractive partners by women (Bohner, Ahlborn, & Steiner, 2010;Kilianski & Rudman, 1998). Moreover, men's agreement with benevolent sexism is associated with a range of positive relationship outcomes, from more friendly interactions when meeting new women (Goh & Hall, 2015) to greater relationship satisfaction in long-term, committed relationships (Hammond & Overall, 2013b;Sibley & Becker, 2012). Consistent with the idealized portrayal of relationships, one reason men who endorse benevolent sexism are more satisfied is that men's benevolent sexism promotes more rose-colored views of intimate partners. ...
... The prescriptions and expectations encompassed by benevolent sexism operate in the same fashionthe relationship satisfaction of women who endorse benevolent sexism is more sensitive to whether the promises of benevolent sexism are fulfilled in their relationships. Hammond and Overall (2013b) found that women who more strongly endorsed benevolent sexism were relatively more dissatisfied and hurt when facing relationship problems and daily conflicts or disagreement with their partner (also see Casad, Salazar, & Macina, 2015;. ...
Chapter
The Cambridge Handbook of the Psychology of Prejudice aims to answer the questions: why is prejudice so persistent? How does it affect people exposed to it? And what can we do about it? Providing a comprehensive examination of prejudice from its evolutionary beginnings and environmental influences through to its manifestations and consequences, this handbook is an essential resource for scholars and students who are passionate about understanding prejudice, social change, collective action, and prejudice reduction. Featuring cutting-edge research from top scholars in the field, the chapters provide an overview of psychological models of prejudice; investigate prejudice in specific domains such as race, religion, gender, and appearance; and develop explicit, evidence-based strategies for disrupting the processes that produce and maintain prejudice. This handbook challenges researchers and readers to move beyond their comfort zone, and sets the agenda for future avenues of research, policy, and intervention.
... Still, despite its negative aspects, benevolent sexism is appealing to many people, perhaps because they are not interpreting the behaviors as negative or harmful, but rather as a form of care and protection (Barreto & Ellemers, 2005;Jost & Kay, 2005;Sibley et al., 2007). For instance, studies have shown that women who are higher in psychological entitlement (i.e., beliefs that they are superior and deserve praise and social status) are also more likely to perceive benevolently sexist behaviors positively, more likely to endorse benevolent sexism, and more likely to become unhappy with their relationships when they do not receive special treatment (Hammond & Overall, 2013;Hammond et al., 2014;Overall et al., 2011). Thus, the literature suggests that although some do perceive benevolent sexism negatively, others see it in a positive light and that certain contextual factors may make one interpretation more salient than the other. ...
... To address this issue and that of generalizability, future research should focus on examining attitudes towards benevolent sexism in older and more diverse populations, including married people, working people, and non-Black people of color. More generally, our results suggest the importance of replicating prior studies of benevolent sexism using primarily white samples to determine if similar relationships (e.g., benevolent sexism endorsement and greater psychological entitlement; Hammond & Overall, 2013;Hammond et al., 2014;Overall et al., 2011) are found with Black samples. ...
... When working with men, practitioners should work to disentangle the motivations behind benevolent sexism; this may look like affirming altruistic intentions whilst challenging the sexist notions underlying men's chivalrous behaviors. In their work with women, it is equally key that practitioners acknowledge and support women in understanding the link between personally held benevolent sexist attitudes and their presenting concerns (e.g., decreased relationship satisfaction; Hammond & Overall, 2013;Hammond et al., 2014;Overall et al., 2011) and support women in adopting attitudes that may be more adaptive. ...
Article
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Racial differences in benevolent sexism have been underexplored. To address this gap, we used standpoint theory as a framework to examine race-gender group differences in the endorsement of benevolent sexism and how cultural factors (i.e., egalitarianism, religiosity, and racial identity) and inequality factors (i.e., experiences with racial discrimination and support for social hierarchies) might mediate this relationship. Among 510 Black and white undergraduate women and men, we found racial differences, such that Black women and men had higher endorsement of benevolent sexism than white women and men. Further, there was a gender difference for only white participants, with white men endorsing these attitudes more than white women. For Black women, religiosity and racial identity mediated the relationship between their race-gender group and greater benevolent sexism compared to white women, but only religiosity mediated the relationship for Black men. Neither inequality mediator accounted for benevolent sexism differences; however, both were associated with white women’s lower benevolent sexism, as was egalitarianism. Given these findings, we discuss implications for benevolent sexism theory, the possibility that cultural factors may shape Black women and men’s standpoint by establishing group-based norms and expectations around benevolently sexist behavior, and suggest culturally appropriate methods to reduce sexism.
... Overall and Hammond (2017) showed that women increased their dependence on their relations through benevolent sexism, limiting their personal achievements and professional ambitions. Indeed, women who endorsed benevolent sexism did have longer career interruptions (e.g., childbirth or childrearing; Cheng et al., 2019), are more vulnerable within their relationships (Hammond & Overall, 2013), or even prefer not to opt for job promotion in order to please their partner (Expósito et al., 2010). Thus, benevolent sexism is an important variable to consider in women's preferences. ...
... A traditional (vs. egalitarian) partner prioritizes his work over his family (Somech & Drach-Zahavy, 2007) and does not support the division of labor (Nameda, 2013), leading to lower marital quality (Hammond & Overall, 2013), higher overload for women, and lower well-being (Kulik et al., 2016). By contrast an egalitarian partner support the division of labor and it has been related to women chooses work paid (i.e., career progression) to a greater extent (Abendroth et al., 2012). ...
... These results could be because an egalitarian (vs. traditional) partner prioritizes both work and family, supporting the division of labor (Nameda, 2013;Somech & Drach-Zahavy, 2007), which in turn increase marital quality (Hammond & Overall, 2013), and reduces women's overload and increases her well-being (Cerrato & Cifre, 2018). Therefore, women could have enough time or energy to respond to the demands of work and family perceiving more benefits. ...
Article
Gender equality's progress in the public sphere has not expanded to the private sphere, where women are primarily responsible for housework, which seems to affect them at individual, family, and social levels. We investigated how women perceive contextual (society), intrapersonal (decision‐making), or interpersonal (romantic relationship) factors could affect them (cost and benefits) at these levels; considering women's gender ideology as moderator. In Study 1, women (N = 94) rated the associated costs and benefits of a context (equal vs. unequal) and a decision (work vs. family). Findings showed that an equal context and the decision to invest in work benefited women at the individual level; investing in work benefited women at the social level but not at the family level. Moreover, women's gender ideology affected their evaluation. The Study 2 focused on the private sphere, women (N = 91) rated the associated costs and benefits of an egalitarian (vs. traditional) partner. Women perceived more benefits at all levels in an egalitarian (vs. traditional) partner. The effect a partner's ideology had on women's perception was stronger than the women's ideology. These findings highlight that—although women progress in the public sphere—certain factors in the private sphere seem to affect them.
... The present study examined an ethnically diverse sample of heterosexual emerging adults to test the unique associations of women's and men's HS and BS to their own and their dating partner's evaluations of relationship satisfaction and conflict. Despite the relevance of ambivalent sexism theory to understanding heterosexual relationship qualities (Connor et al., 2016;, to our knowledge, only seven published studies (with nine samples) have tested associations between ambivalent sexism and romantic relationship qualities (Bareket et al., 2018;Casad et al., 2015;Hammond & Overall, 2013a, 2013bOverall et al., 2011;Sibley & Becker, 2012). Also, only one of these reports conducted dyadic analyses examining each partner's ambivalent sexism in relation to both their own and their partner's reported relationship qualities. ...
... Also, only one of these reports conducted dyadic analyses examining each partner's ambivalent sexism in relation to both their own and their partner's reported relationship qualities. The samples in the prior studies comprised mixtures of married and dating young adults in New Zealand (e.g., Hammond & Overall, 2013a, 2013bOverall et al., 2011), middle-aged married couples in New Zealand (Sibley & Becker, 2012), young women engaged to be married in the United States (Casad et al., 2015), or men either currently or recently in a committed relationship in Israel (Bareket et al., 2018). ...
... For women's relationship experiences, men's hostile sexist attitudes may have especially pernicious effects-as suggested in two prior studies (Hammond & Overall, 2013b. In contrast, women's endorsement of HS was unrelated to their reported relationship qualities (Hammond & Overall, 2013a, 2013bOverall et al., 2011). ...
Article
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We investigated the relations between the endorsement of ambivalent sexism and relationship qualities in heterosexual romantic couples during emerging adulthood. The sample included 94 heterosexual emerging adult dating couples attending a public university ( M age = 21 years; 39% White, 25% Latinx, 11% Asian, and 18% Other). Each partner separately completed survey measures of ambivalent sexism and perceived relationship satisfaction and conflict. Dyadic analyses were performed using structural equation modeling. Results indicated men’s hostile sexism predicted lower satisfaction and more conflict for men and their partners, whereas men’s benevolent sexism (BS) predicted more satisfaction and lower conflict for men and their partners. Women’s BS was negatively related to the length of the couple’s relationship. The results are discussed in relation to ways that ambivalent sexism may affect the dating relationships of many emerging adults in college settings and how these effects may change over time in relationships and at later life stages.
... Women who endorse hostile sexism also believe that women should support men's power and dominance (Chen et al., 2009;Glick & Fiske, 1996;Glick et al., 2000), and so are not concerned about protecting or maintaining power in relationships. Moreover, prior research suggests that women's hostile sexism is associated with a tolerance for difficulties in relationships, such as sustaining greater satisfaction even when couples face relationship problems (Hammond & Overall, 2013b). Accordingly, we did not expect men to experience more relationship problems when their female partners more strongly endorsed hostile sexism. ...
... À0.002]). 10 These results suggest that female partners' benevolent sexism may have some relational costs for men (and women; see Supporting Information; also Hammond & Overall, 2013b, 2017. ...
... 0.075]). This pattern is consistent with the proposed function of men's benevolent sexism in enhancing heterosexual intimacy (Glick & Fiske, 1996), whereas women's benevolent sexism created rigid relationship expectations that are hard to consistently meet in relationships and thus can cause dissatisfaction (Hammond & Overall, 2013a, 2013b, 2017. 10 Women's experiences did not show the same effect. ...
Article
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Men's hostile sexism promotes aggressive attitudes, motivations and behaviours toward women. Despite the costs these effects should have for women, prior research has failed to test how men's hostile sexism predicts the problems women experience in important domains. We address this oversight by utilizing dyadic data from 363 heterosexual couples to test how male partners’ hostile sexism predicts women's relationship experiences and evaluations. Male partners’ hostile sexism was associated with women experiencing more severe problems across a greater number of domains. Moreover, the areas experienced as most problematic were consistent with the power, dependence, and trust concerns underlying men's hostile sexism, including problems with power dynamics, jealousy, and serious problems involving gender‐role conflict, abuse, infidelity and alcohol/drugs. The greater problems associated with male partners’ hostile sexism predicted more negative relationship evaluations for women. These results demonstrate the importance of examining how men's hostile sexism harms women in important life domains. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.
... In addition, research shows that BS is positively associated with a number of outcomes which are antagonistic to women's well-being at a relational level, such as endorsement of traditional(thin) beauty ideals (Forbes et al., 2004;Swami et al., 2016), acceptance of paternalistic justifications for behavior restrictions (Moya et al., 2007), unrealistic relationship expectations (Hammond & Overall, 2013), and a preference for men to initiate dating (Paytner & Leaper, 2016). Finally, at an intrapersonal level researchers have observed positive relationships between BS and intrapersonal variables in the interests of women, such as increased life satisfaction (Hammond & Sibley, 2011;Napier et al., 2010), and those which obscure women's interests, such as greater psychological entitlement within peer relations (Hammond, Sibley & Overall, 2014), self-objectification and body shame ...
... Similarly, participants responded using the same response scale to these Relational items: "rates thinner women as more attractive" (Endorsement of Traditional(thin) Beauty Ideals; Forbes et al., 2004), "accepts protective justifications for restrictions on their behavior (e.g., a job may be dangerous for women)" (Acceptance of Paternalistic Justifications for Behavior Restrictions; Moya et al., 2007), "believes potential relationship partners are either destined to get along or they are not", "when she and her partner disagree, she feels like their relationship is falling apart", "believes a partner should know what she is thinking and feeling without her having to tell them"(Unrealistic Relationship Expectations, 3-items;Hammond & Overall, 2013; Female only: α = .63), and "believes that men should take control and initiative in dating (e.g., decide where the date is)" ...
... Therefore, people who endorse BS may be more likely to experience increased sensitivity and negative affect when a relationship experiences problems. Hammond and Overall (2013) examined how women's sexism influences their relationship experiences. Men and women completed measures of sexism, relationship problems and unrealistic relationship expectations (e.g. a belief in romantic destiny between partners, belief that disagreement is destructive, and the belief that a partner should be able to know what the other is thinking and feeling without being toldmindreading). ...
Article
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Perceptions of warmth play a central role in social cognition. Seven studies employ observational, correlational, and experimental methods to examine its role in concealing the functions of benevolent sexism. Together, Studies 1 (n = 297), 2 (n = 252) and 3 (n = 219) indicated that although women recall experiencing benevolent (vs. hostile) sexism more often, they protest it less often, because they see it as warm. In Studies 4 (n = 296) and 5 (n = 361), describing men as high in benevolent sexism caused them (via warmth) to be seen as lower in hostile sexism and more supportive of gender equality. In Study 6 (n = 283) these findings were replicated and extended, revealing misunderstanding of relationships between BS and a wide array of its correlates. In Study 7 (n = 211), men experimentally described as harboring warm (vs. cold) attitudes toward women were perceived as higher in benevolent sexism but lower in known correlates of benevolent sexism. These findings demonstrate that the warm affective tone of benevolent sexism, particularly when displayed by men, masks its ideological functions.
... Critically, the interdependent nature of intimate relationships reduces the degree to which hostility can protect men's power. Men who endorse hostile sexism exhibit more aggression toward female partners, and do so particularly in contexts in which their power is challenged or when they are dependent on their partners (e.g., Cross, Overall, Hammond, & Fletcher, 2017;Hammond & Overall, 2013b;Overall, Sibley, & Tan, 2011). However, these aggressive responses tend to reduce, rather than yield, influence over intimate partners and they damage both men's and women's relationship satisfaction (e.g., Hammond Hammond & Overall, 2017ab). ...
... Indeed, women who endorse benevolent sexism perceive that gender relations are fair and equitable (Hammond & Sibley, 2011). Moreover, trading personal ambition and success in favor of security within intimate relationships makes it even more important that intimate relationships are successful (Hammond & Overall, 2013b). Accordingly, women who endorse benevolent sexism become more dissatisfied when their relationship does not live up to the idealized version of relationships promised or when those ideals cannot be realized because their partner does not also endorse benevolent sexism (Casad, Salazar, & Macina, 2015;Hammond & Overall, 2013b, 2014Overall et al., 2011). ...
... Moreover, trading personal ambition and success in favor of security within intimate relationships makes it even more important that intimate relationships are successful (Hammond & Overall, 2013b). Accordingly, women who endorse benevolent sexism become more dissatisfied when their relationship does not live up to the idealized version of relationships promised or when those ideals cannot be realized because their partner does not also endorse benevolent sexism (Casad, Salazar, & Macina, 2015;Hammond & Overall, 2013b, 2014Overall et al., 2011). ...
Article
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One reason gender inequality persists is because core needs in intimate relationships foster sexist attitudes. Benevolent sexism reveres women’s traditional caregiving roles and prescribes that men should cherish, protect, and provide for women. Benevolent sexism is appealing to both men and women because it promotes a gender role structure that promises intimacy and security within heterosexual relationships. However, benevolent sexism offers women relationship security at the expense of their career aspirations and accomplishments. The fundamental relationship motives that underpin this relationship-career trade-off for women present countervailing forces to policies designed to mitigate gender inequality. Thus, effective interventions must attend to the relationship processes that restrict women’s careers by valuing both career and relationship needs, promoting equity in career support and caregiving within intimate relationships, and providing early education to foster career and relationship goals that ensure both women and men thrive in both domains.
... Hostile sexism represents overtly hostile attitudes toward women who threaten men's societal power, such as career women and feminists. Hostile sexism is effective at maintaining men's societal dominance, but it undermines intimate relationships between men and women (e.g., Hammond & Overall, 2013;Overall, Sibley, & Tan, 2011). These costs necessitate a second, more benevolent, set of attitudes toward women. 1 Glick and Fiske (1996) describe benevolent sexism as a set of prejudicial, but subjectively positive, attitudes which promote heterosexual intimacy. ...
... Rather than fostering security, perceiving female partners to endorse benevolent sexism should signal to men that female partners expect to be adored and protected. Moreover, relationship conflict might indicate to men that they are not living up to these standards (Hammond & Overall, 2013). Thus, perceiving partners to endorse benevolent sexism should not attenuate distress and insecurity for highly anxious men. ...
... revealed that highly anxious women who strongly endorsed benevolent sexism felt more (rather than less) distress/insecurity on days of high conflict. This pattern is consistent with previous findings that women who endorse benevolent sexism experience sharper declines in satisfaction when they face relationship problems (Hammond & Overall, 2013). ...
Article
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Benevolent sexism prescribes that men are dependent on women in relationships and should cherish their partners. The current research examined whether perceiving male partners to endorse benevolent sexism attenuates highly anxious women’s negative reactions to relationship conflict. Greater attachment anxiety was associated with greater distress and insecurity during couples’ conflict discussions (Study 1), during daily conflict with intimate partners (Study 2), and when recalling experiences of relationship conflict (Study 3). However, this heightened distress and insecurity was attenuated when women (but not men) perceived their partner to strongly endorse benevolent sexism (Studies 1-3) and thus believed their partner could be relied upon to remain invested (Study 3B). These novel results illustrate that perceiving partners to endorse benevolent sexism alleviates anxious women’s insecure reactions to relationship threat by conveying partner’s continued reliability. Implications of these security-enhancing effects are considered in light of the role benevolent sexism plays in sustaining gender inequality.
... Despite these costs, however, BS is perceived favorably by women and not typically seen as "sexist" (Barreto & Ellemers, 2005;Kilianski & Rudman, 1998;. This is because BS fosters relationship benefits for both women and men: Women are revered for their relational competence, and receive protective, caring behavior from male partners who endorse BS (Overall, Sibley, & Tan, 2011), and men are able to secure satisfying relationships while also maintaining greater social power as the provider outside the home (Hammond & Overall, 2013a;Sibley & Becker, 2012). ...
... Similarly, women's endorsement of BS predicts heightened negativity and dissatisfaction when their relationships or partners are less than ideal. Women who strongly endorse BS are less open and more hostile within conflict discussions if their partners do not endorse BS , and are relatively more dissatisfied when facing relationship problems or hurtful partner behavior (Hammond & Overall, 2013a). Advancing these studies, we tested whether men and women who endorse BS were relatively more willing to dissolve their relationship when they perceived greater discrepancies between their partners and their warmth/trustworthiness ideals. ...
... Indeed, prior research supports that BS is associated with such intolerance. Men who endorse BS attribute more blame to victims of acquaintance rape when the victims' behavior is described as inappropriate or unfaithful Viki & Abrams, 2002) and women who endorse BS react with more negativity when they experience hurtful partner behavior (Hammond & Overall, 2013a). Going beyond specific contexts that should elicit the negativity of BS, the current study demonstrates that BS prescriptions influence more general relationship evaluations and the stability of ongoing heterosexual relationships. ...
... when not realised. Women higher in benevolent sexism feel more entitled (Grubbs et al., 2014;, are more dissatisfied when encountering relationship problems (Hammond & Overall, 2013b) or when relationships fail to meet their expectations , and can be more hostile towards men partners , especially when partners' low benevolent sexism likely means men are not living up to the devoted partner women expect (Overall et al., 2011). We predicted that such high expectations may create greater conflict and lower relationship satisfaction for both women and their men partners ( Fig. 1, W BS Actor and Partner Effects), with associated negative implications for women's and men's wellbeing. ...
... Women higher in benevolent sexism reported greater relationship conflict, and in turn, greater distress and lower wellbeing. This finding is consistent with prior research demonstrating that women higher in benevolent sexism report greater dissatisfaction and hostility towards men partners when relationships do not fulfil expectations (Hammond & Overall, 2013bOverall et al., 2011Overall et al., , 2021. These effects likely arise because women are enticed to endorse benevolent sexism via the promise of a cherishing, protective partner-unrealistic expectations that men partners are unlikely to always meet, thereby creating the conditions for a more conflictual relationship environment. ...
Article
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The current study tests the implications of men’s and women’s gender-related attitudes for relationship quality and wellbeing. We apply ambivalent sexism theory to differentiate between attitudes that should have detrimental versus beneficial effects for relationships by promoting antagonism (hostile sexism) versus complimentary relational roles (benevolent sexism) between men and women. Actor-partner interdependence analyses of heterosexual couples participating in a nationally representative panel study (N = 755) revealed that men’s hostile sexism predicted greater relationship conflict and lower relationship satisfaction, which in turn were associated with greater psychological distress and lower wellbeing for both men and their women partners. In contrast, men’s benevolent sexism predicted lower relationship conflict and greater satisfaction, which in turn was associated with lower distress and greater wellbeing for men but not women partners. Women’s sexist attitudes had differential effects. Women’s hostile sexism predicted lower relationship conflict and greater satisfaction, which was associated with higher wellbeing for men partners. In contrast, women’s benevolent sexism predicted greater relationship conflict, which related to greater distress and lower wellbeing for women and men partners. These results highlight the importance of gender-related attitudes on relationship quality, which has important implications for wellbeing.
... Towards the goal to determine factors that influence women's intolerance and likelihood of reporting sexually harassing behaviors, my particular explanation stems from Fiske and Glick's (1995) Ambivalent Sexism Theory as it explains workplace sexual harassment as a consequence of men's ambivalent sexismthat which is derived from hostile and benevolent sexist attitudes. Hostile sexismcharacterized by behaviors like groping and forced performance of a sexual actis egregious and no longer seen as socially acceptable such that contemporary researchers have taken a greater interest in the nuances of benevolent sexismcharacterized by behaviors like winking and flirtingand how it functions to perpetuate gender inequalities as well as its associations with sexist behaviors in romantic relationships and the workplace (e.g., Viki, Abrams, & Hutchison, 2003;Sümer, 2006;Moya, Glick, Expósito, de Lemus, & Hart, 2007;Good & Sanchez, 2009;Durán, Moya, & Megías, 2011;Hammond, Overall, & Cross, 2016;Hammond & Overall, 2013;2015;Hammond, Sibely, & Overall, 2014;Ruiz, 2019). ...
... Men who endorse BS, however, do exhibit increased investment in romance and family (Good & Sanchez, 2009). In turn, women who endorse BS are more sensitive to difficulties and turbulence in their romantic relationships (Hammond & Overall, 2013). ...
Thesis
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The purpose of this thesis is to investigate how women interpret and respond to incidents of sexual harassment at work, in the context of both their romantic relationships and workplace cultures. Incorporating Ambivalent Sexism Theory (Fiske & Glick, 1995) to measure sexist attitudes, I presumed that their own, their partners’ and their presumed workplace’s sexism scores for both subsets would be linked to the women’s perceptions and behavioral intentions in response to being sexually harassed at work. Participants were 145 heterosexual adult women, employed full-time and in self-defined committed heterosexual relationships. Each completed a survey that included the Ambivalent Sexism Inventory (ASI) (Fiske & Glick, 1995), the Sexual Harassment Reporting Attitudes Scale (SHRAS) (Cesario, Parks-Stamm, & Turgut, 2018), likelihood of reporting scenarios of sexual harassment (SH), and number of special peers in the workplace. There was additional demographic data about the participants and their workplaces, most of which was incorporated as covariates. Results supported several of the asserted relationships. Although the predicted relationships between participants’ and their perceived partners’ and workplace sexist attitudes with reporting SH did not emerge, there were many significant findings regarding these variables and their associations with intolerance for SH. The majority of this study’s findings emerged as significant, even when testing alongside covariates of education, organization size, organization type, and number of special peers in the workplace with the exception of perceived partner HS and intolerance for SH that were non-significant. Future research should explore disclosures exchanged regarding such incidents at work in the context of both romantic relationships and other social relationships in and out of work.
... Moreover, women who agree with benevolent sexism support men's power in exchange for men being the devoted, cherishing, provider benevolent sexism promises. Accordingly, women who endorse benevolent sexism become dissatisfied, angry, and hostile when their partners do not meet these ideals (Hammond & Overall, 2013;Overall et al., 2011). Men's underestimation of women's benevolent sexism therefore should be accompanied by a range of relationship costs, including partners' ire if men do not adhere to the role-based obligations prescribed by benevolent sexism. ...
... Benevolent sexism promises special, caring treatment specifically to women and not men, and so women who endorse benevolent sexism do not behave in more caring ways to partners. Rather, because benevolent sexism creates lofty expectations that men will be dedicated and caring providers, women who endorse benevolent sexism become more dissatisfied and hostile when partners do not meet these expectations (Hammond & Overall, 2013;Overall et al., 2011;2021). The cost of such disappointment and hostility if men fail to detect benevolent expectations is greater than meeting lofty expectations that partners do not hold, and so-as shown by our results-men should tend to overestimate rather than underestimate partners' benevolent sexism. ...
Article
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Women and men are particularly vulnerable to the costs of sexism in intimate relationships, which may override relationship enhancement motives that produce positive biases. Inspired by error management principles, we propose that women and men should make biased judgments of intimate partners’ sexist attitudes to help avoid the harmful costs of sexism that occur within mixed-gender relationships. Women may overestimate partners’ hostile sexism because failing to detect men’s hostile sexism should render women especially vulnerable to the risk of maltreatment, whereas women may underestimate partners’ benevolent sexism because expecting special treatment that is unavailable is more costly than receiving unexpected benevolence. By contrast, men may overestimate partners’ benevolent sexism because failing to prevent women’s dissatisfaction and anger when men do not fulfill gallant gender roles would be most costly than providing more benevolence than expected. Comparing perceptions of partners’ attitudes to partners’ actual sexist attitudes in two studies of mixed-gender couples (N = 91 and 84 dyads) confirmed this gender-differentiated pattern. On average, women overestimated their partners’ hostile sexism and underestimated their partners’ benevolent sexism, whereas men overestimated their partners’ benevolent sexism. Although we did not make predictions about judgments of women’s hostile sexism, analyses also revealed that men underestimated their partners’ hostile sexism. The pattern of bias has important implications for understanding the ways sexist attitudes affect intimate relationships and sustain gender inequality.
... Previous research showed that ambivalent sexism has a significant relationship with couple satisfaction. Women tended to report a lower level of relationship satisfaction when they had a higher level of benevolent sexism (Casad, Salazar, & Macina, 2015;Hammond & Overall, 2013). Females that endorse benevolent sexist attitudes tend to prioritize their romantic relationships at the expense of their career ambitions, an aspect that makes them vulnerable to dissatisfaction (Hammond & Overall, 2017;Hammond, Cross, & Overall, 2020). ...
... The relation between women's hostile sexism and their romantic relationship quality is understudied and the results are contradictory. Some studies' results are in accord with our results (Hammond & Overall, 2013), while others show a significant relation between hostile sexism and couple relationship quality (Dehlin & Galliher, 2019). Therefore, the influence of women's hostile sexism on romantic relationships' outcomes should be studied more to identify a more stable pattern. ...
Article
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Couple satisfaction is a subject of interest for everyone that is in a romantic relationship and it deserves a great deal of attention from researchers. This study focused on the relations between communication patterns, benevolent sexism, hostile sexism, sex roles, and couple satisfaction. We gathered data from 121 female participants aged between 19 and 26 years. The instruments used to assess the variables were: Communication Patterns Questionnaire-Short Form, Ambivalent Sexism Inventory, Traditional Egalitarian Sex Role Scale, and Relationship Assessment Scale. The results showed that communication patterns are significantly associated with couple satisfaction. Women who preferred the constructive communication pattern had a higher level of couple satisfaction compared with those who preferred the woman demands/man withdraws pattern or the man demands/ woman withdraws pattern. Also, the regression we computed revealed that the model is a significant one and explained a significant proportion of variance in couple satisfaction. This study didn't reveal any other significant results.
... Lack of evidence for an interaction for gender identification suggests that women who identify less with their gender are not necessarily immune to BS feedback's negative impact. The marginal interaction for gender-role attitudes suggests that even relatively traditional women who may typically expect and appreciate stereotyped interactions (Hammond & Overall, 2013;Townsend et al., 2010) can still be harmed by BS. However, because this study was not designed to test these interactions, these conclusions should be considered speculative. ...
... Some women may be reassured by benevolent sexist ideologies (Cross, Overall, & Hammond, 2016). For instance, women who tend to endorse BS ideologies themselves may feel more threatened when men do not provide them with the feedback they expect (Fischer, 2006;Hammond & Overall, 2013;Jost & Kay, 2005;Sibley, Overall, & Duckitt, 2007). Individual differences in how generally efficacious people feel they are may also serve as a buffer against BS feedback. ...
Article
Benevolent sexism is a double-edged sword that uses praise to maintain gender inequality, which consequently makes women feel less efficacious, agentic and competent. This study investigated whether benevolently sexist feedback that was supportive could result in cardiovascular responses indicative of threat (lower cardiac output/higher total peripheral resistance). Women received either supportive non-sexist or supportive yet benevolent sexist feedback from a male evaluator following practice trials on a verbal reasoning test. As expected, women receiving benevolent sexist feedback exhibited cardiovascular threat during a subsequent test, relative to women receiving non-sexist feedback. There was no support for an alternative hypothesis that benevolent sexist feedback would lead to cardiovascular responses consistent with disengaging from the task altogether (i.e., lower heart rate and ventricular contractility). These findings illustrate that the consequences of benevolent sexism can occur spontaneously, while women are engaged with a task, and when the sexist feedback is intended as supportive.
... Benevolent sexism prescribes specific gender-roles that specify men are obligated to revere and protect women, and not vice versa (Glick & Fiske, 1996;Glick et al., 2000). Thus, rather than offer security of the partners' continued investment, female partner's endorsement of benevolent sexism should signal to men that women expect to be protected and revered by men (Hammond & Overall, 2013;Hammond et al., 2014). Accordingly, benevolent sexism does not offer the same kind of relationship security to men as it does to women (see Cross et al., 2016;Hammond & Overall, 2013). ...
... Thus, rather than offer security of the partners' continued investment, female partner's endorsement of benevolent sexism should signal to men that women expect to be protected and revered by men (Hammond & Overall, 2013;Hammond et al., 2014). Accordingly, benevolent sexism does not offer the same kind of relationship security to men as it does to women (see Cross et al., 2016;Hammond & Overall, 2013). Nonetheless, the romanticized picture of heterosexual relationships that benevolent sexism offers, including specifying that men are gallant protectors and providers and women are warm and sensitive caregivers, still offers appealing features for men. ...
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Benevolent sexism prescribes that men should cherish and protect women in intimate relationships. Despite the romantic tone of these attitudes, prior research indicates that benevolent sexism undermines women's competence, ambition and independence. Ambivalent sexism theory proposes that benevolent sexism is able to incur these costs because the promise of a chivalrous protective partner offers women security in their intimate relationships. We tested this key proposition by examining whether women who intensely need relationship security—women higher in attachment anxiety—are more attracted to men who endorse benevolent sexism. Highly anxious women (N = 632) rated men described as endorsing benevolent sexism as relatively more attractive, and reported greater preferences for partners to hold benevolently sexist attitudes. These results advance understanding regarding the underlying reasons women find benevolent sexism appealing and identify who will be most vulnerable to the potential costs of benevolent sexism.
... Moreover, when male partners do not endorse benevolent sexism and/or women do not receive the promised reverence and security, women who strongly endorse benevolent sexism may opt to end the relationship rather than alter their beliefs. Prior research has shown that women who more strongly endorse benevolent sexism will be less satisfied and behave more negatively when the relationship does not live up to idealized expectations (Hammond & Overall, 2013b; or the partner does not endorse benevolent sexism (Overall et al., 2011). Thus, more deeply internalized benevolent sexism may be resistant to change when women can exit relationships in search of partners who agree women should be cherished and protected. ...
... 2. Data collected at Time 1 has been used in prior research that examined the links between sexist attitudes and daily relationship perceptions and behavior (Hammond & Overall, 2013a, 2013b. The current study uses the same measure of sexism assessed at Time 1 as these prior studies, but the research questions, measures of perceptions of partner's sexism, and longitudinal change in own sexist attitudes reported in the current study have not been previously examined. ...
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The current research demonstrated that women's adoption of benevolent sexism is influenced by their perceptions of their intimate partners' agreement with benevolent sexism. In 2 dyadic longitudinal studies, committed heterosexual couples reported on their own sexism and perceptions of their partner's sexism twice across 9 months (Study 1) and 5 times across 1 year (Study 2). Women who perceived that their male partner more strongly endorsed benevolent sexism held greater and more stable benevolent sexism across time, whereas lower perceptions of partners' benevolent sexism predicted declines in women's benevolent sexism across time. Changes in men's endorsement of sexism were unrelated to perceptions of their partner's sexist attitudes. The naturalistic change in sexist attitudes shown in Studies 1 and 2 was supported by experimental evidence in Studies 3 and 4: Manipulations designed to increase perceptions of partner's benevolent sexism led women (but not men) to report greater benevolent sexism. Studies 3 and 4 also provided evidence that perceptions of partner's benevolent sexism fosters perceived regard and relationship security in women, but not men, and these relationship factors enhance attitude alignment. Discriminant analyses demonstrated that these effects were specific to women's perceptions of partner's, rather than societal, levels of sexism. In sum, these studies illustrate that women endorse benevolent sexism when they perceive that the reverence and security that benevolent sexism promises women are accessible in their relationships. (PsycINFO Database Record
... Similarly, women's endorsement of BS predicts heightened negativity and dissatisfaction when their relationships or partners are less than ideal. Women who strongly endorse BS are less open and more hostile within conflict discussions if their partners do not endorse BS (Overall et al., 2011), and are relatively more dissatisfied when facing relationship problems or hurtful partner behavior (Hammond & Overall, 2013a). Advancing these studies, we tested whether men and women who endorse BS were relatively more willing to dissolve their relationship when they perceived greater discrepancies between their partners and their warmth/trustworthiness ideals. ...
... Indeed, prior research supports that BS is associated with such intolerance. Men who endorse BS attribute more blame to victims of acquaintance-rape when the victims' behavior is described as inappropriate or unfaithful (Abrams et al., 2003; Viki & Abrams, 2002) and women who endorse BS react with more negativity when they experience hurtful partner behavior (Hammond & Overall, 2013a). Going beyond specific contexts that should elicit the negativity of BS, the current study demonstrates that BS prescriptions influence more general relationship evaluations and the stability of ongoing heterosexual relationships. ...
Article
Benevolent sexism (BS) contains prescriptive partner expectations that should foster an intolerance of discrepancies between partners and warmth/trustworthiness ideal standards. This longitudinal study tested whether endorsing BS magnifies the degree to which warmth/trustworthiness partner-ideal discrepancies are associated with willingness to dissolve relationships. Heterosexual couples (N = 88) reported their partner-ideal discrepancies, willingness to dissolve the relationship, and their partner's willingness to dissolve the relationship every 3 months for 1 year. Greater partner-ideal discrepancies were associated with subsequent increases in willingness to dissolve the relationship, but this was stronger for people who endorsed BS. Partners of women who endorsed BS also perceived this greater willingness to dissolve the relationship. These results demonstrate that the prescriptions within BS undermine the stability of ongoing relationships.
... Furthermore, benevolent sexism provides actual, not just perceived, benefits in intimate relationships. Men who endorse benevolent sexism behave more positively and are more open to influence (Overall et al., 2011) and are generally more satisfied partners (Hammond & Overall, 2013a;Sibley & Becker, 2012). Finally, benevolent sexism justifies wider gender inequality by emphasizing women's interpersonal superiority over men and men's societal advantages as a responsibility to care for women, which fosters greater life satisfaction in women (Connelly & Heesacker, 2012;Hammond & Sibley, 2011;Jost & Kay, 2005). ...
... Benevolent sexism builds a romanticized image of relationships, which is hard for any couple to achieve in reality. Accordingly, women who endorse benevolent sexism are more hostile and resistant toward partners who do not endorse benevolent sexism (Overall et al., 2011) and experience more pronounced drops in relationship satisfaction when encountering difficulties or when partners are hurtful (Hammond & Overall, 2013a). Moreover, women's agreement with benevolent sexism reduces their felt competence (Dardenne et al., 2007;Dumont et al., 2010), personal ambition (Fernández et al., 2006), and dissuades resistance to men's societal advantages (Becker & Wright, 2011;Hammond & Sibley, 2011)-covertly undermining the pursuit of agency, independence, and access to status, which are central to narcissistic drives (see Campbell et al., 2006). ...
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Benevolent sexism functions to uphold gender inequality by expressing caring and reverent attitudes exclusively toward women. Do these subjective benefits lure women to endorse benevolent sexism? We tested this by examining whether women’s psychological entitlement was associated with concurrent levels of benevolent sexism and longitudinal changes in benevolent sexism over 1 year in a national panel sample (N = 4421 New Zealanders). As predicted, latent variable interaction analyses indicated that women higher in psychological entitlement more strongly endorsed benevolent sexism and increasingly endorsed benevolent sexism over the year. Men’s psychological entitlement was more weakly associated with benevolent sexism concurrently and unrelated to changes in benevolent sexism across time. These findings provide the first evidence that the benefits of benevolent sexism are central to women’s adoption and endorsement of sexist attitudes toward their own gender—attitudes which contribute more broadly to the maintenance of gender inequality.
... Allen et al. reported the importance of studying women's violence, not only in the context of men's violence but also within a broader sociocultural context [15]. Sexism is conceptualized by authors such as Glick and Fiske [16], who differentiate between hostile sexism (the most traditional and evident sexist belief that positions women as an adversary who needs to be dominated) and benevolent sexism (paternalistic attitudes based on the view of women as inferior beings who need to be protected) [17,18]. Distorted thoughts can lead to sexist beliefs that position women as inferior beings against whom it is justifiable to exercise violence [19,20]. ...
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Background: Gender-based violence (GBV) is one of the most pronounced expressions of the unequal power relations between women and men. As a tool for action against this phenomenon, psychological intervention programs for perpetrators of GVB are offered. This is how reGENER@r was born; it is a two-month program based on psychoeducational and cognitive-behavioral strategies that is part of the alternative measures to GBV-related prison sentences. The purpose of this study is to assess the efficacy of the reGENER@r program on the variables of emotional intelligence, empathy, coping responses, emotional dependency, gender role conflict, and sexist beliefs. Method: To this end, a sample of 37 subjects convicted of crimes of GBV was collected, and a pre- and post-evaluation by means of self-report was carried out. Changes were examined for statistical significance and clinical significance. Results: Significant improvements were observed in the variables of cognitive avoidance, emotional attention, hostile sexism, and distorted thoughts about women and the use of violence. Conclusions: Limitations and implications of these findings are discussed, and some modifications are suggested such as making interventions longer, with a greater gender focus, adapted to the individual characteristics of the participants, and complemented with individual sessions.
... Yet, most relationships cannot live up to the lofty promises of benevolent sexism. Women high in benevolent sexism become angrier and more dissatisfied when they encounter inevitable relationship problems (Hammond & Overall, 2013b;Overall et al., 2011Overall et al., , 2021, and women's benevolent sexism declines when their partners are low in benevolent sexism and thus do not offer the security of cherishing protectors and providers . The more precarious attainment of relationship benefits may mean that marriage is not associated with sustaining women's levels of benevolent sexism as strongly as marriage might sustain men's benevolent sexism. ...
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The current study examines whether a pivotal event central to gender relations—marriage—is associated with changes in sexism. Drawing upon a nationally representative study assessing sexist attitudes across 14 years, event-aligned piecewise latent growth models examined change in hostile and benevolent sexism (1) across the years prior to marriage, (2) within the year immediately post marriage, and (3) across the years following marriage (N = 1,615). Matching average trajectories established in prior research, hostile sexism and women’s benevolent sexism showed small declines across the years prior to marriage. Immediately post marriage, however, men’s hostile sexism and women’s hostile and benevolent sexism significantly increased from pre-marriage levels, before returning to declining trajectories across the following years. By contrast, men’s benevolent sexism was stable prior to marriage, did not change within the year immediately post marriage, but then significantly departed from the pre-marriage trajectory by declining across the years following marriage. These novel findings reveal that investigating meaningful life events provides new insight into the factors that may be associated with changes in sexism. The results also open new avenues to advance understanding of the relationship experiences and motivations that may reinforce and reduce sexist attitudes.
... Women's benevolent sexism can increase their partner's relationship satisfaction 158 , but is associated with shorter relationship length 154 . The more women endorse the romanticized relationship ideals linked to benevolent sexism, the more dissatisfied they are with their relationship when the couple faces conflict 159,160 . However, women with attachment insecurities can benefit from perceiving that their partner endorses benevolent sexism when there are low levels of conflict because this reassures the women of their partners' commitment to the relationship 161 . ...
Article
The theory of and research on ambivalent sexism — which encompasses both attitudes that are overtly negative (hostile sexism) and those that seem subjectively positive but are actually harmful (benevolent sexism) — have made substantial contributions to understanding how sexism operates and the consequences it has for women. It is now clear that sexism takes different forms, some of which can be disguised as protection and flattery. However, all forms of sexism have negative effects on how women are perceived and treated by others as well as on women themselves. Some of these findings have implications for understanding other social inequalities, such as ableism, ageism, racism and classism. In this Review, we summarize what is known about the predictors of ambivalent sexism and its effects. Although we focus on women, we also consider some effects on men, in particular those that indirectly influence women. Throughout the Review we point to societal shifts that are likely to influence how sexism is manifested, experienced and understood. We conclude by discussing the broader implications of these changes and specifying areas of enquiry that need to be addressed to continue making progress in understanding the mechanisms that underlie social inequalities. Sexism encompasses attitudes that are both overtly negative and those that seem subjectively positive but are actually harmful. In this Review, Barreto and Doyle describe the predictors of ambivalent sexism and its effects on women, and consider societal shifts that might influence how sexism is manifested, experienced and understood.
... Due to women's attack characteristics, they are more likely to use indirect aggression (e.g., mental violence) (Denson et al., 2018). Although Hammond and Overall (2013) found that women with benevolent sexism have lower satisfaction facing relationship problems and hurtful behavior from partners, less satisfaction does not mean that women perpetrate violence in response to relationship difficulties. A previous study was also consistent with our conclusion, which revealed that benevolent sexism makes women have a lower possibility of challenging gender roles because they have an increased perception of risk and greater behavioral regulation (Expósito & Herrera, 2009). ...
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The current study examined how the general tolerance of women's intimate partner violence and mental violence perpetration are affected by women's ambivalent sexism and relationship causality orientation. One hundred and forty-nine of 221 Chinese female participants recruited on an online platform were included in the final data analysis. The results showed that causality orientation plays a moderating role. Specifically, as controlled orientation increased, the relationship between hostile sexism and intimate partner violence tolerance became stronger. As the autonomous orientation increased, the relationship between benevolent sexism and intimate partner violence tolerance became weaker. Hostile sexism and controlled orientation positively predict women's mental violence perpetration.
... The latter casts women in the classical cultural roles of housewife, mother, caregiver, and wife. Moreover, Hammond and Overall (2013) report that labelling women based on positions of Benevolent Sexism perpetuates social views that clearly discriminate against them. In other words, when women justify the Hostile Sexism or Benevolent Sexism beliefs, according to Huang et al. (2016), they themselves collaborate in discrimination against women. ...
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Previous research on the antecedents of sexism against women have not considered simultaneously the effects of sex, personality, and cognitive variables (need for closure and critical thinking disposition) in relation to sexism. We evaluated whether in adolescence, these indicators could predict sexist attitudes towards women using structural models. The sample comprised 709 Spanish high-school students (mean age = 16.79). 51.5% were female. Sex (being male), need for closure and critical thinking were the most relevant predictors of sexism. The disposition to think critically is as relevant as the motivational dimension of cognition (need for closure) to predict sexism. Multi-group structural models by sex were estimated, and a moderator effect was found between openness to experience and sexism. We suggest future lines of research to disentangle the effects of personality and cognition on sexism and to guide intervention programs to reduce sexist attitudes among adolescents.
... overtly disliking women who violate or challenge traditional gender stereotypes), benevolently sexist attitudes are as prevalent in women as they are in men (Glick & Fiske, 1996;Glick et al., 2000;Harris et al., 2016). Research on the role of benevolent sexism in societal and relational settings underscores a number of negative consequences of benevolent sexism for women; for example, women who are benevolently sexist struggle to persevere in relationships when problems occur (Hammond & Overall, 2013). However, research on the role of benevolent sexism in women's sexual experiences, and sexual satisfaction, is in its infancy. ...
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Women report lower sexual satisfaction than men. Given that sexual dissatisfaction adversely impacts health and well-being, it is imperative that we investigate why women are sexually dissatisfied. In the present study, we explored whether women’s benevolently sexist attitudes might predict their sexual dissatisfaction. In a sample of 308 (Mage = 38.09) heterosexual American women who had previously had sex with a man, we hypothesized that women’s benevolent sexism would be associated with an increased adoption of the traditional sexual script (i.e., an increased propensity for submissiveness and passivity during sex) and that this, in turn, would be associated with increased sexual dissatisfaction. We also hypothesized that the relationship between the adoption of the traditional sexual script and sexual dissatisfaction would be moderated by the degree to which participants enjoy submissiveness. Overall, we did not find support for our model: benevolent sexism did not predict sexual dissatisfaction. However, we did find that adopting the traditional sexual script was predictive of sexual dissatisfaction for women who do not enjoy submissiveness. These findings contribute to an emerging literature pertaining to women’s sexual health. Specifically, results suggest that benevolent sexism does not contribute to women’s experiences of sexual dissatisfaction. Instead, they suggest that sexual dissatisfaction in women may (in part) be driven by their engagement in sexual roles that do not align with their sexual preferences. Theoretical and clinical implications for these findings are discussed.
... For men, the fulfilment of distinct gender roles justifies and supports men's high-status societal positions, as well as promises them romantic intimacy and support. Indeed, the more strongly men agree with benevolent sexism, the more satisfying they find their intimate relationships in general (Hammond & Overall, 2013). This is especially true when their women partners also agree with benevolent sexism and are thus more supportive of men's personal goals and ambitions (Hammond & Overall, 2015). ...
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Despite being a defining issue in the culture war, the political psychology of abortion attitudes remains poorly understood. We address this oversight by reviewing existing literature and integrating new analyses of several large‐scale, cross‐sectional, and longitudinal datasets to identify the demographic and ideological correlates of abortion attitudes. Our review and new analyses indicate that abortion support is increasing modestly over time in both the United States and New Zealand. We also find that a plurality of respondents (43.8%) in the United States are consistently “pro‐choice,” whereas 14.8% are consistently “pro‐life,” across various elective and traumatic abortion scenarios. We then show that age, religiosity, and conservatism correlate negatively, whereas Openness to Experience correlates positively, with abortion support. New analyses of heterosexual couples further reveal that women's and men's religiosity decrease their romantic partner's abortion support. Noting inconsistent gender differences in attitudes toward abortion, we then discuss the impact of traditional gender‐role attitudes and sexism on abortion attitudes and conclude that, rather than misogyny, benevolent sexism—the belief that women should be cherished and protected—best explains opposition to abortion. Our review thus provides a comprehensive overview of the demographic and ideological variables that underly abortion attitudes and, hence, the broader culture war.
... Projection on other scales indicated that those in subgroup "11" carried more regret in their relationship, discussed the termination of relationship, and complained about their partners. These results are also in line with literature indicating that individuals who suffer from IPV and are not good with repairing the relationship are more likely to experience relationship instability, and dissolving relationships are far more common than in nonviolent relationships 42,43 . ...
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Intimate partner violence (IPV) is a complex problem with multiple layers of heterogeneity. We took a data-driven approach to characterize this heterogeneity. We integrated data from different studies, representing 640 individuals from various backgrounds. We used hierarchical clustering to systematically group cases in terms of their similarities according to violence variables. Results suggested that the cases can be clustered into 12 hierarchically organized subgroups, with verbal abuse and negotiation being the main discriminatory factors at higher levels. The presence of physical assault, injury, and sexual coercion was discriminative at lower levels of the hierarchy. Subgroups also exhibited significant differences in terms of relationship dynamics and individual factors. This study represents an attempt toward using integrative data analysis to understand the etiology of violence. These results can be useful in informing treatment efforts. The integrative data analysis framework we develop can also be applied to various other problems.
... We had tentative expectations for the links between women's attachment orientations and endorsement of sexist attitudes. Women's attachment anxiety may be related to higher endorsement of both benevolent sexism and hostile sexism because of the ways that sexist attitudes regulate fears of abandonment: Benevolent sexism promises women relationship security and the devotion of a cherishing partner Hammond & Overall, 2013a;, whereas hostile sexism vilifies and threatens women who could be potential competitors (Glick & Fiske, 1996). Indeed, in the one study that has previously examined these associations, Yakushko (2005) found that women's attachment anxiety was positively related to benevolent sexism and hostile sexism. ...
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We examine how relational needs underlie sexism by conducting a meta-analysis (k = 22; N = 4,860) on the links between adults’ romantic attachment and endorsement of ambivalent sexism. Results across two random-effects meta-analytic methods supported that men’s and women’s attachment anxiety predicted stronger endorsement of both benevolent sexism and hostile sexism. Simultaneously, men’s attachment avoidance predicted lower endorsement of benevolent sexism, and for men in relationships (vs. single men), stronger endorsement of hostile sexism. Thus, the way that people fulfil their relational goals lead people to adopt particular attitudes about gender, supporting that relationships are one key source of people’s adoption of sexism. These results bridge attachment theory and ambivalent sexism theory by illustrating how individual differences in the amplification or suppression of needs for relational security fuel adoption of beliefs that function to maintain gender inequality across the world.
... Relatedly, Hammond and Overall (2014) showed that, although discrepancies between real and expected relationships generally increase a partner's willingness to dissolve those relationships, this effect was greater for those higher (versus lower) on benevolent sexism. Moreover, women who score higher in benevolent sexism experience greater relationship dissatisfaction following conflict compared to those lower in benevolent sexism, and this gap increases with the length of the relationship (see Hammond and Overall 2013b). ...
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Although being in a romantic relationship confers numerous benefits to well-being, research has yet to examine the possibility that ambivalent sexism moderates this association. Because benevolent sexism enforces the view that people are incomplete without a romantic partner, we hypothesised that benevolent sexism would enhance the well-being benefits associated with being in a serious relationship. Conversely, hostile sexism views women with suspicion and should therefore attenuate the benefits one derives from being in a serious relationship. We tested these hypotheses using a national sample of heterosexual women (n = 7980) and men (n = 4968) from New Zealand. As hypothesised, the benefits of being in a serious romantic relationship on life satisfaction were accentuated for those higher (versus lower) on benevolent sexism, but attenuated for those higher (versus lower) on hostile sexism. These data are the first known to show that ambivalent sexism moderates the positive effects of relationship status on well-being, thereby demonstrating the utility of integrating ambivalent sexism theory with the relationship literature for heterosexual women and men.
... Study 1a unexpectedly revealed that the mean attractiveness ratings of the BS potential romantic partner and BS work colleague did not differ, despite results showing that in the work context, perceived willingness to invest did not explain attractiveness after controlling for perceived warmth. This may have been because the BS attitude items used in our scenarios are more relevant to relationship contexts than work contexts (as noted by other researchers : Hammond & Overall, 2013;, so the wording may have led participants to think of the colleague as a potential mate. The current study addressed this limitation by making the nature of participants' relationship with the targets more explicit. ...
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Benevolent sexism (BS) has detrimental effects on women, yet women prefer men with BS attitudes over those without. The predominant explanation for this paradox is that women respond to the superficially positive appearance of BS without being aware of its subtly harmful effects. We propose an alternative explanation drawn from evolutionary and sociocultural theories on mate preferences: women find BS men attractive because BS attitudes and behaviors signal that a man is willing to invest. Five studies showed that women prefer men with BS attitudes (Studies 1a, 1b & 3) and behaviors (Studies 2a & 2b), especially in mating contexts, because BS mates are perceived as willing to invest (protect, provide, and commit). Women preferred BS men despite also perceiving them as patronizing and undermining. These findings extend understanding of women’s motives for endorsing BS and suggest that women prefer BS men despite having awareness of the harmful consequences.
... Not only does the support fostered by benevolent sexism undermine women's personal and relational needs, the greater focus and investment in the relationship (versus personal) domain fostered by benevolent sexism means that women who endorse benevolent sexism are more vulnerable to dissatisfaction when their relationships do not live up to the idealized version promised (Figure 1, Path H). Recent research, for example, has shown that women who endorse benevolent sexism experience magnified drops in relationship satisfaction and react with more hostility when they encounter relationship problems or when their partner does not also endorse benevolent sexism (Casad, Salazar, & Macina, 2015;Hammond & Overall, 2013b;Overall et al., 2011). These costs are likely to be felt more acutely by people who need the security that benevolent sexism offers. ...
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Ambivalent sexism theory (Glick & Fiske, 1996) revolutionized understanding of sexist attitudes by revealing how attitudes expressing that women are incompetent and seek power over men (hostile sexism) are accompanied by more benevolent attitudes expressing that men are fulfilled by cherishing and protecting women (benevolent sexism). In the current article, we demonstrate how recent research examining intimate relationship dynamics has advanced understanding of the causes, consequences, and functions of sexist attitudes. Men’s hostile sexism is associated with aggressive perceptions and behaviors within intimate relationships that impede the fulfillment of fundamental relational needs. Benevolent sexism functions to counterbalance these costs by facilitating caring relationship behavior that enhances men’s influence and satisfaction in relationships. The relationship security that benevolent sexism promises to women is also a key reason why women endorse benevolent sexism. Yet men’s and women’s endorsement of benevolent sexism has benefits for men, such as greater relationship-oriented support of men’s goals, but imposes costs for women, such as by promoting dependence-oriented support that undermines women’s competence. Moreover, the relationship investment that benevolent sexism fosters in women makes women more vulnerable to dissatisfaction when relationship problems arise. These dynamics demonstrate how seemingly positive outcomes in intimate relationships may be a barrier to gender equality.
... Glick and Fiske (2001) found that benevolent sexism represents a barrier to gender equality (Becker & Wagner 2009;Sibley, Overall, & Duckitt 2007). For example, women who expected benevolent sexism in the workplace had worse performance and results (Dardenne, Dumont, & Bollier 2007); moreover, those who supported benevolent sexism were more likely to accept a sexist male partner who was apparently protective despite a potential negative impact on their career aspirations (Hammond & Overall 2013;Moya, Glick, Expósito, de Lemus, & Hart 2007). The validation studies of the ASI (Glick & Fiske 1996;Glick et al. 2000) have demonstrated that men reported higher levels of hostile sexism than women do; in particular, they showed negative attitudes toward career women and positive attitudes toward housewives because career women deviated from the notion of the ideal of wife and mother (Oliveira Laux, Ksenofontov, & Becker 2015;Rudman 2005). ...
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The present study aimed to: (a) investigate the relationship between attitudes toward same-sex parenting and sexism both in heterosexuals and sexual minorities; (b) verify whether sexism predicted negative attitudes toward same-sex parenting via the mediating role of sexual stigma (sexual prejudice in heterosexual people and internalized sexual stigma [ISS] in lesbians and gay men [LG]). An Italian sample of 477 participants (65.6% heterosexual people and 34.4% LG people) was used to verify three hypotheses: (a) heterosexual men showed higher levels of sexism than heterosexual women and LG people; (b) heterosexual men reported more negative attitudes toward same-sex parenting than those of heterosexual women and LG people; and (c) sexual prejudice in heterosexual people and ISS in LG people mediated the relationship between sexism and attitudes toward same-sex parenting. Overall, men and heterosexual people showed stronger sexist tendencies and more negative attitudes toward same-sex parenting. Moreover, sexism affected attitudes toward same-sex parenting via sexual prejudice in heterosexual people and ISS in LG people. These results suggest that negative attitudes toward same-sex parenting reflect sociocultural inequalities based on the traditional gender belief system and points to the necessity of social policies to reduce prejudice toward sexual minority groups.
... To the authors' knowledge, ours is the first study to jointly examine endorsement of marriage myths and benevolent sexism as interacting to predict relationship satisfaction and psychological well-being. Few studies have examined women's endorsement of benevolent sexism as a predictor of premarital relationship satisfaction (see Hammond & Overall, 2013;Overall et al., 2011). Further, it is particularly important to study this topic among a college student population because women who become engaged during their college years are at-risk for not completing their education (Ono, 2003;Sweeney, 2002). ...
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Marriage is a rite of passage in U.S. culture influenced by fairy-tale expectations presented in the media and perpetuated through gender role socialization. Our study tested endorsement of marriage myths and benevolent sexism as predictors of engaged heterosexual college women’s premarital relationship outcomes and psychological well-being. Women in heterosexual relationships (N = 99) completed an online questionnaire 6–12 months before their wedding. Results indicated endorsement of marriage myths predicted positive experiences, whereas benevolent sexism predicted negative experiences. However, several interactions indicated that women who rejected marriage myths but endorsed benevolent sexism showed more negative patterns including lower relationship satisfaction and confidence, lower educational expectations, and higher depression. Results are interpreted using self-discrepancy theory such that when actual and ideal experiences are congruent, higher relationship satisfaction and more positive well-being results, whereas discrepant actual–ideal experiences predict dissatisfaction and more negative well-being. These results have implications for counseling couples on holding realistic expectations for their romantic partners. Marriage counselors can advise couples about the potential negative consequences of endorsing benevolent sexism. Exposure of common myths or unrealistic expectations about one’s partner and relationship may decrease the real–ideal discrepancy and increase marital satisfaction, thus increasing the likelihood of relationship longevity.
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The smallest building block of society is the institution of marriage, representing the initial step in forming a family. Numerous factors influence couples in maintaining a healthy marriage and affect their marital adjustment. Role changes, particularly with the increasing presence of women in the workforce, occupy an important place in marriage and family research. This study aims to examine the relationship between the levels of sexism and gender role attitudes of married individuals and their marital adjustment. The sample size was calculated using the G-Power program to achieve reliable results, and the sample included 300 married individuals residing in the Manisa, Izmir, and Aydin provinces, aged 18 and above, married for at least one year, with at least one partner employed, comprising 176 women and 124 men. Data were collected through individual face-to-face surveys, conducted on a voluntary basis with informed consent. The research utilized a questionnaire as a data collection tool, including the “Ambivalent Sexism Inventory,” “Gender Perception Scale,” “Dyadic Adjustment Scale,” and a “Personal Information Form.” Descriptive and correlational analyses were conducted in line with the study’s objectives. Upon examining the results, significant differences were found in the relationship between sexism, gender role attitudes, and marital adjustment based on gender, age, employment status, education level, having children, and income level. In general, a positive and significant relationship was found between egalitarian gender role attitudes and the commitment of married individuals in their marriages. The results of the statistical analyses showed that the marital adjustment and attitudes toward gender roles of married men were related to their spouses' employment status. The variables that best explained marital adjustment and its sub-dimensions were identified as education level, income level, having children, age, employment status, and gender role attitudes. The findings were discussed within the framework of the relevant literature, and recommendations were made to the field and practitioners for future studies.
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According to ambivalent sexism theory (Glick & Fiske, 1996), the coexistence of gendered power differences and mutual interdependence creates two apparently opposing but complementary sexist ideologies: hostile sexism (HS; viewing women as manipulative competitors who seek to gain power over men) coincides with benevolent sexism (BS; a chivalrous view of women as pure and moral, yet weak and passive, deserving men’s protection and admiration, as long as they conform). The research on these ideologies employs the Ambivalent Sexism Inventory, used extensively in psychology and allied disciplines, often to understand the roles sexist attitudes play in reinforcing gender inequality. Following contemporary guidelines, this systematic review utilizes a principled approach to synthesize the multidisciplinary empirical literature on ambivalent sexism. After screening 1,870 potentially relevant articles and fully reviewing 654 eligible articles, five main domains emerge in ambivalent sexism research (social ideologies, violence, workplace, stereotypes, intimate relationships). The accumulating evidence across domains offers bottom-up empirical support for ambivalent sexism as a coordinated system to maintain control over women (and sometimes men). Hostile sexism acts through the direct and diverse paths of envious/resentful prejudices, being more sensitive to power and sexuality cues; Benevolent sexism acts through prejudices related to interdependence (primarily gender-based paternalism and gender-role differentiation), enforcing traditional gender relations and being more sensitive to role-related cues. Discussion points to common methodological limitations, suggests guidelines, and finds future avenues for ambivalent sexism research.
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Objective This study aimed to investigate the actor–partner effects of attitudes toward group‐based inequality as measured by social dominance orientation (SDO) and marital quality, and the indirect actor–partner effects of SDO on marital quality via ambivalent sexism and partners' perceptions of their own relationship power toward their partner. Background Previous research suggests that certain social attitudes play a role in relationship processes. However, it is unclear whether broader views on social inequality could have an effect on partners' marital quality. Method Ninety heterosexual married couples in Turkey ( N = 180) responded via an online survey on SDO, marital quality, relationship power, and ambivalent sexism. Actor–partner interdependence model (APIM) and actor–partner interdependence model of mediation (APIMeM) were conducted to examine the direct and indirect actor–partner effects. Results For indirect effects, men's SDO was negatively associated with their marital quality through their relationship power and hostile sexism. No significant indirect effects were found for women. However, women's relationship power was positively and their benevolent sexism was negatively associated with their own and their partners' marital quality. Conclusion Our findings help develop a more comprehensive understanding of how the political, social, and personal aspects of our lives are connected with one another. Implications Our study points to the importance of exploring the topic of men's and women's views toward social inequality and its effects on their close relationships in clinical practice and relational education.
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Interpersonal power involves how much actors can influence partners (actor power) and how much partners can influence actors (partner power). Yet, most theories and investigations of power conflate the effects of actor and partner power, creating a fundamental ambiguity in the literature regarding how power shapes social behavior. We demonstrate that actor and partner power are distinct and have differential effects on social behavior. Six studies (total N = 1,787) tested whether actor and partner power independently predicted behavioral inhibition (expressive suppression) and communal behavior (prioritization of partners' needs) within close relationships, including during couples' daily life (Study 1), lab-based social interactions (Studies 1-5; 1,012 dyadic interactions), and general responses during conflict (Studies 5 and 6). Actor power was negatively associated with behavioral inhibition, indicating that actors' low power prompts self-focused inhibition to prevent negative outcomes that low power actors are unable to control. Partner power was positively associated with actors' communal behavior, indicating that high partner power prompts other-focused behavior that prioritizes partners' needs and goals. These differential effects of actor and partner power replicated in work-based relationships with bosses/managers (Study 6). Unexpectedly, partner power was negatively associated with actors' behavioral inhibition within close relationships, consistent with a desire to prevent negative outcomes for low power partners. We present a framework that integrates the approach-inhibition and agentic-communal theories of power to account for the differential effects of actor and partner power. We describe the implications of this framework for understanding the effects of power in both close and hierarchical relationships. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved).
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The Ambivalent Sexism Theory suggests that there are two complementary types of sexism: hostile (subjectively negative attitude towards gender groups) and benevolent (subjectively positive attitude towards gender groups). In this meta‐analysis we analyzed the relationship between ambivalent sexism and attitudes toward male‐to‐female violence or violent behavior. Violence type, the context of violence, respondents’ gender, the countries’ level of gender inequality, and sample type were tested as moderators. The results showed that both hostile and benevolent sexism independently impact on attitudes toward violence and violent behavior albeit to a different degree. Specifically, the relationship between hostile sexism and attitudes and behavior is stronger than for the benevolent sexism. The type and context of violence moderate the relationship between hostile sexism and attitudes toward violence and violent behavior. Only the country's gender inequality levels showed a moderation effect for benevolent sexism. Theoretical and practical implications of the results are discussed. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved
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Based on growing evidence that negative-direct behavior that addresses important contextual and situational demands is less harmful than negative-direct behavior that occurs irrespective of current demands, the current investigation tests whether the longitudinal impact of partners' negative-direct behavior depends on whether that behavior is more variable versus stable across couples' daily life and conflict interactions. In Studies 1 and 2, participants rated how much their partner behaved in critical and unpleasant ways every day for 21 days. In Study 3, couples were video-recorded discussing an important area of conflict, and independent coders rated how much partners expressed criticism and hostility within every 30-s segment of the discussion. In each study, the repeated assessments were used to calculate average levels (within-person mean across days or couples' discussions) and variability (within-person SD across days or couples' discussions) of partners' negative-direct behavior. Participants also reported on the severity of their relationship problems and relationship satisfaction at the beginning of each study and then 9 months later (Studies 1 and 2) or repeatedly across the following year (Study 3). High mean levels of partners' criticism and hostility predicted greater relationship problems (Studies 1-3) and lower relationship satisfaction (Study 3) when partners' negative-direct behavior was stable across time (low within-person variability), but was less harmful when partners' negative-direct behavior varied across time (high within-person variability). These novel results illustrate that behavioral variability offers a valuable way to understand and examine behavioral patterns that will be more helpful versus harmful in navigating the challenges of social life. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved).
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Women are frequently valued for their sexuality and physical appearance, and there is theoretical reason to believe that the effects of such valuation depend on the context. A robust body of research demonstrates that such valuation from male strangers harms women’s self-esteem; the current studies, however, tested whether women experience more positive outcomes when such valuation emerges in the context of their romantic relationships. Study 1 used an event-based diary study to demonstrate that when partners (vs. male strangers) draw attention to women’s sexuality and physical appearance, those women report higher appearance esteem and, subsequently, higher self-esteem. Study 2 used data from two independent, longitudinal studies of newlywed couples to demonstrate that partner sexual and physical valuation has positive implications for women’s self-esteem over time. These findings highlight that sexual and physical valuation is not inherently beneficial or harmful; rather, the implications of such valuation depend on the relationship context.
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En el presente trabajo investigativo, se pretende mostrar cómo la mujer ha ido incursionando en el área laboral. Comenzaremos planteando una justificación, es decir, el porqué de nuestro trabajo. Además de especificar, la relevancia que puede llegar a tener este tema en la actualidad.
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Hostile sexism (HS) expresses attitudes that characterize women who challenge men's power as manipulative and subversive. Does endorsing HS negatively bias perceptions of women's behavior and, in turn, create animosity within intimate relationships? Committed heterosexual couples reported on their own behavior and perceptions of their partner's behavior five times across a year (Study 1) and daily for 3 weeks (Study 2). Men who more strongly endorsed HS perceived their partner's behavior as more negative than was justified by their partner's reports. Furthermore, more negative perceptions of the partner's behavior mediated the links between men's HS and feeling more manipulated by their partners, behaving more negatively toward their partners, and lower relationship quality. This indicates that men who endorse HS behave more negatively toward intimate partners and experience lower relationship satisfaction because their antagonistic attitudes toward women in general permeate the way they perceive those partners.
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This research examined the association between relationship satisfaction and later breakup status, focusing on the temporal changes in satisfaction ratings of individuals in newly formed dating relationships. Growth curve analytic techniques were used in 2 longitudinal studies to create 4 predictors: each participant's initial level of satisfaction, linear trend in satisfaction over time, degree of fluctuation in satisfaction over time, and mean level of satisfaction. Consistent with hypotheses, individuals who exhibited greater fluctuation in their repeated satisfaction ratings were more likely to be in relationships that eventually ended, even after controlling for overall level of satisfaction. Individuals with fluctuating levels of satisfaction also reported relatively lower commitment. The results are discussed in terms of conditions that promote versus undermine relationship stability.
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The authors present a theory of sexism formulated as ambivalence toward women and validate a corresponding measure, the Ambivalent Sexism Inventory (ASI). The ASI taps 2 positively correlated components of sexism that nevertheless represent opposite evaluative orientations toward women: sexist antipathy or Hostile Sexism (HS) and a subjectively positive (for sexist men) orientation toward women, Benevolent Sexism (BS). HS and BS are hypothesized to encompass 3 sources of male ambivalence: Paternalism, Gender Differentiation, and Heterosexuality. Six ASI studies on 2,250 respondents established convergent, discriminant, and predictive validity. Overall ASI scores predict ambivalent attitudes toward women, the HS scale correlates with negative attitudes toward and stereotypes about women, and the BS scale (for nonstudent men only) correlates with positive attitudes and stereotypes about women. A copy of the ASI is provided, with scoring instructions, as a tool for further explorations of sexist ambivalence. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
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Three studies evaluated the reliability and validity of the Investment Model Scale, an instrument designed to measure four constructs, including commitment level and three bases of dependence–satisfaction level, quality of alternatives, and investment size. In all three studies, reliability analyses revealed good internal consistency among items designed to measure each construct. Also, principal components analyses performed on scale items revealed evidence of four factors, with items designed to measure each construct loading on independent factors. Studies 2 and 3 examined associations of model variables with instruments measuring diverse qualities of relationships and assorted personal dispositions. As anticipated, Investment Model variables were moderately associated with other measures reflecting superior couple functioning (e.g., dyadic adjustment, trust level, inclusion of other in the self), and were essentially unrelated to measures assessing personal dispositions (e.g., need for cognition, self-esteem). In addition, Study 3 demonstrated that earlier measures of Investment Model variables predicted later levels of dyadic adjustment and later relationship status (persisted vs. ended). It is hoped that the existence of a reliable and valid Investment Model Scale will promote further research regarding commitment and interdependence in ongoing close relationships.
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Research indicates that the endorsement of sexist ideology is linked to higher subjective wellbeing for both men and women. We examine gender differences in the rationalisations which drive this effect in an egalitarian nation (New Zealand). Results from a nationally representative sample (N = 6,100) indicated that the endorsement of Benevolent Sexism (BS) predicted life satisfaction through different mechanisms for men and women. For men, BS was directly associated with life satisfaction. For women, the palliative effect of BS was indirect and occurred because BS-ideology positioning women as deserving of men’s adoration and protection was linked to general perceptions of gender relations as fair and equitable, which in turn predicted greater levels of life satisfaction. KeywordsBenevolent Sexism–Gender-specific system justification–Life Satisfaction
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The role of benevolent sexism (BS) in accounting for victim blame in an acquaintance rape case was investigated. Participants were presented with vignettes that described an acquaintance rape. Control condition participants were given no descriptive information about the victim, whereas in the "cheating" condition the victim was described as a "married woman." As predicted, participants who scored high in BS attributed more blame to the acquaintance rape victim who was assaulted during an act of infidelity than to a victim in similar circumstances whose marital status was unknown. These findings complement those of other research (Abrams, Viki, Masser, & Bohner, in press), which indicate that individuals high in BS are more likely to react negatively to rape victims who can be viewed as violating social norms concerning appropriate conduct for women.
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The purpose of the study was to investigate the reliability and factorial validity of the Relationship Belief Inventory (RBI). Using data from 205 participants (106 women, 99 men) who were in married or cohabiting heterosexual relationships, exploratory and confirmatory factor analytic techniques were used to determine if the 5 subscales of the RBI were robust. Results indicated that a six-factor solution was preferable to the five-factor solution proposed by R. J. Eidelson and N. Epstein (1982). An analysis of reliability using Cronbach's alpha analyses revealed that there was substantial variability in the internal consistency of the subscales (ranging from .58 to .83). Although 3 of the original subscales were replicated in our analyses, the Sexes are Different and Partners Cannot Change subscales require substantial alteration before they can be deemed to be psychometrically sound.
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Social role theory (Eagly, Wood, & Diekman, 2000) predicts that traditional gender ideology is associated with preferences for qualities in a mate that reflect a conventional homemaker-provider division of labor. This study assessed traditional gender ideology using Glick and Fiske's (1996, 1999) indexes of ambivalent attitudes toward women and men and related these attitudes to the sex-typed mate preferences of men for younger mates with homemaker skills and of women for older mates with breadwinning potential. Results from a nine-nation sample revealed that, to the extent that participants had a traditional gender ideology, they exhibited greater sex-typing of mate preferences. These relations were generally stable across the nine nations.
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This research demonstrates how women assimilate to benevolent sexism by emphasizing their relational qualities and de-emphasizing their task-related characteristics when exposed to benevolent sexism. Studies 1 (N = 62) and 2 (N = 100) show, with slightly different paradigms and measures, that compared to exposure to hostile sexism, exposure to benevolent sexism increases the extent to which female Dutch college students define themselves in relational terms and decreases the extent to which they emphasize their task-related characteristics. Study 3 (N = 79) demonstrates that benevolent sexism has more pernicious effects when it is expressed by someone with whom women expect to collaborate than when no collaboration is expected with the source of sexism. The implications of these results are discussed. KeywordsBenevolent sexism-Women’s self-descriptions-Task-related and relational self-descriptions-Stereotype confirmation
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The present study investigated how benevolent (BS) and hostile sexism (HS) shift women’s self-construal and autobiographical memory. Belgian undergraduates (only women, N = 45, mean age = 21.8) were confronted either by BS, HS or neutral comments in the context of a job interview. After performing a cognitive task, participants reported the intrusive thoughts that came to their mind during the task. Later, autobiographical memory for self-incompetence was assessed. Performance response latencies were slower after BS than HS. Also, BS generated more disturbing mental intrusions related to the idea of being incompetent than HS. Autobiographical memory similarly indicated greater access for incompetence after BS. Although HS was more aggressive in tone, it did not shift women’s self-construal and autobiographical memories toward incompetence. KeywordsSexism-Self-construal-Incompetence-Autobiographical memory-Performance
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An Opposing Process Model outlining the pathways through which individual differences in Benevolent Sexism (BS) simultaneously enhance and attenuate support for gender equality of income and employment opportunity is presented. Results from a New Zealand electoral sample (N = 336) indicated that BS predicted Hostile Sexism (HS), and thus indirectly opposition toward gender-related policies (a hierarchy-enhancing effect). For women, BS also directly predicted attitudes toward gender equality in the opposing, supportive direction (a hierarchy-attenuating effect). Analyses of a 9-month longitudinal sample of undergraduate women substantiated these results (Study II; N = 170). In stable societies, the dual opposing effects of BS seem to form a system where hierarchy-enhancing and hierarchy-attenuating processes tend toward homeostasis or equilibrium within the population. KeywordsAmbivalent sexism-Social policy-System justification-Moderated mediation-Homeostatic system-Equilibrium
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This study tested whether men's and women's hostile sexism (HS) and benevolent sexism (BS) were associated with resistance to influence in couples' conflict interactions. Ninety-one heterosexual couples were recorded while trying to produce desired changes in each other. Participants reviewed their discussions and rated how open they were to their partner's perspective. Objective coders also rated the extent to which each partner exhibited hostile communication. We tested key principles arising from ambivalent sexism theory (Glick & Fiske, 1996). First, BS is necessary because mutual interdependence reduces the power of HS to influence women within intimate relationships. We found that the more men endorsed HS, the less open and more hostile both partners were, and the less successful their discussions were in producing desired change. Second, BS reduces the threat of women's dyadic power by revering and respecting women's interpersonal roles while restricting women's influence outside the relationship domain. We found that men who expressed higher agreement with BS were more open to their partners' influence and behaved with less hostility, and their discussions were more successful. These relationship benefits illustrate why BS is effective at disarming women's resistance to wider inequalities. These benefits, however, were contingent on men adopting BS attitudes. When women strongly endorsed BS but their male partner did not, women were less open, behaved with greater hostility, and perceived their discussions as less successful. These results indicate that, because BS increases the stakes within the relationship domain, women who endorse BS will react more negatively when their expectations are not realized.
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In this study, we explored whether the degree of temporal instability in relationship satisfaction might add to our understanding of the well-documented association between relationship quality and depression. We hypothesized that greater relationship satisfaction instability would be associated with higher depressive symptoms, controlling for mean satisfaction levels. We conducted 12 weekly assessments of relationship satisfaction and depressive symptoms in a sample of 131 cohabiting and married women, and used intraindividual standard deviations of scores over the 12 weeks as an index of instability. Results indicated that, as hypothesized, relationship satisfaction instability predicted variance in depressive symptoms beyond that predicted by mean satisfaction; women whose weekly relationship satisfaction fluctuated more widely tended to have higher depressive symptoms. In comparison, temporal instability in depressive symptoms did not predict variance in relationship satisfaction beyond that predicted by mean depressive symptoms. Prospective analyses tentatively suggested that satisfaction instability may precede rather than follow elevated depressive symptoms. Results suggest the utility of assessing relationship satisfaction instability in future studies exploring links between marital quality and depression.
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Little is known about why some people experience greater temporal fluctuations of relationship perceptions over short periods of time, or how these fluctuations within individuals are associated with relational processes that can destabilize relationships. Two studies were conducted to address these questions. In Study 1, long-term dating partners completed a 14-day diary study that assessed each partner's daily partner and relationship perceptions. Following the diary phase, each couple was videotaped trying to resolve the most important unresolved problem from the diary period. As predicted, (a) individuals who trusted their partners less reported greater variability in perceptions of relationship quality across the diary period; (b) they also perceived daily relationship-based conflict as a relatively more negative experience; and (c) greater variability in relationship perceptions predicted greater self-reported distress, more negative behavior, and less positive behavior during a postdiary conflict resolution task (rated by observers). The diary results were conceptually replicated in Study 2a, in which older cohabiting couples completed a 21-day diary. These same participants also took part in a reaction-time decision-making study (Study 2b), which revealed that individuals tend to compartmentalize positive and negative features of their partners if they (individuals) experienced greater variability in relationship quality during the 21-day diary period and were involved in higher quality relationships. These findings advance researchers' understanding of trust in intimate relationships and provide some insight into how temporal fluctuations in relationship quality may undermine relationships.
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Attachment research has traditionally focused on individual differences in global patterns of attachment to important others. The current research instead focuses primarily on within-person variability in attachments across relational partners. It was predicted that within-person variability would be substantial, even among primary attachment figures of mother, father, romantic partner, and best friend. The prediction was supported in three studies. Furthermore, in line with self-determination theory, multilevel modeling and regression analyses showed that, at the relationship level, individuals' experience of fulfillment of the basic needs for autonomy, competence, and relatedness positively predicted overall attachment security, model of self, and model of other. Relations of both attachment and need satisfaction to well-being were also explored.
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The equation of prejudice with antipathy is challenged by recent research on sexism. Benevolent sexism (a subjectively favorable, chivalrous ideology that offers protection and affection to women who embrace conventional roles) coexists with hostile sexism (antipathy toward women who are viewed as usurping men’s power). The Ambivalent Sexism Inventory, first validated in U.S. samples, has been administered to over 15,000 men and women in 19 nations. Hostile and benevolent sexism are complementary, cross-culturally prevalent ideologies, both of which predict gender inequality. Women, as compared with men, consistently reject hostile sexism but often endorse benevolent sexism (especially in the most sexist cultures). By rewarding women for conforming to a patriarchal status quo, benevolent sexism inhibits gender equality. More generally, affect toward minority groups is often ambivalent, but subjectively positive stereotypes are not necessarily benign.
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In Studies 1 and 2, after reading an acquaintance-rape but not a stranger-rape scenario, higher benevolent sexist but not hostile sexist participants blamed the victim significantly more. In Study 2, higher hostile sexist but not benevolent sexist male participants showed significantly greater proclivity to commit acquaintance (but not stranger) rape. Studies 3 and 4 supported the hypothesis that the effects of benevolent sexism and hostile sexism are mediated by different perceptions of the victim, as behaving inappropriately and as really wanting sex with the rapist. These findings show that benevolent sexism and hostile sexism underpin different assumptions about women that generate sexist reactions toward rape victims.
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Implicit theories of relationships (ITRs) influence goals, motivations, attributions, and behavior in romantic relationships. We developed a model of ITRs that draws from social cognition, motivation, and achievement literatures, and derived conceptual parallels and hypotheses with regard to relationships. It is proposed that ITRs reflect the belief component of a larger system of motivations and goals that can influence the degree to which people are oriented toward the evaluation and cultivation of relationships. Research on ITRs is reviewed with regard to how they moderate well-documented associations between relationship perceptions and outcomes. Differences between ITRs and implicit theories in other domains are also discussed.
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The current study examined whether the effects of positive expectations on changes in marital satisfaction over the first 4 years of marriage were moderated by the nature of spouses' interaction behaviors and relationship attributions. Consistent with predictions, when spouses' skills were most positive, positive expectations predicted more stable satisfaction over time whereas less positive expectations predicted steeper declines. Alternatively, when spouses' skills were most negative, positive expectations predicted steeper declines in satisfaction over time whereas less positive expectations predicted more stable satisfaction. Thus, in contrast to the idea that expectations in the early years of marriage exert main effects on satisfaction, the current findings suggest that the effects of expectations interact with the skills partners bring to their relationships.
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Three experiments investigated the relationship between women's romantic fantasies and their interest in personal power. Romantic fantasies (associating partners with chivalry and heroism) were assessed using the Implicit Association Test and self-reports. In each experiment, women's implicit romantic fantasies were dissociated with their conscious beliefs. More important, implicit (but not explicit) romantic fantasies negatively predicted women's interest in personal power, including projected income, education goal, interest in high-status jobs, and group leadership appeal. By contrast, men's implicit romantic fantasies were not routinely linked to their interest in personal power. In concert, the findings are consistent with positing a "glass slipper" effect for women that may be an implicit barrier to gender equity.
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Many have suggested that complementary gender stereotypes of men as agentic (but not communal) and women as communal (but not agentic) serve to increase system justification, but direct experimental support has been lacking. The authors exposed people to specific types of gender-related beliefs and subsequently asked them to complete measures of gender-specific or diffuse system justification. In Studies 1 and 2, activating (a) communal or complementary (communal + agentic) gender stereotypes or (b) benevolent or complementary (benevolent + hostile) sexist items increased support for the status quo among women. In Study 3, activating stereotypes of men as agentic also increased system justification among men and women, but only when women's characteristics were associated with higher status. Results suggest that complementary stereotypes psychologically offset the one-sided advantage of any single group and contribute to an image of society in which everyone benefits through a balanced dispersion of benefits.
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Four experiments found benevolent sexism to be worse than hostile sexism for women's cognitive performance. Experiments 1-2 showed effects of paternalist benevolent sexism and ruled out explanations of perceived sexism, context pleasantness, and performance motivation. Experiment 3 showed effects of both paternalist and complementary gender differentiation components of benevolent sexism. Benevolent sexism per se (rather than the provision of unsolicited help involved in paternalism) worsened performance. Experiment 4 showed that impaired performance due to benevolent sexism was fully mediated by the mental intrusions women experienced about their sense of competence. Additionally, Experiment 4 showed that gender identification protected against hostile but not benevolent sexism. Despite the apparently positive and inoffensive tone of benevolent sexism, our research emphasizes its insidious dangers.
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: Multilevel models have become popular for the analysis of a variety of problems, going beyond the classical individuals-within-groups applications. This chapter gives a brief summary of the reasons for using multilevel models, and provides examples why these reasons are indeed valid reasons. Next, recent (simulation) research is reviewed on the robustness and power of the usual estimation procedures with varying sample sizes. 1 Why multilevel data need multilevel models Multilevel models are models specifically geared toward the statistical analysis of data that have a hierarchical or clustered structure. Such data arise routinely in various fields, for instance in educational research, where pupils are nested within schools, family studies with children nested within families, medical research with patients nested within physicians or hospitals, and biological research, for instance the analysis of dental anomalies with teeth nested within different persons' mouths. Clustered data...
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We present a measure, the Ambivalence toward Men Inventory (AMI), that differentiates between women's hostile and benevolent prejudices and stereotypes about men. The Hostility toward Men (HM) and Benevolence toward Men (BM) subscales of the AMI tap conventional attitudes toward men that have opposing valences. Each subscale assesses subfactors concerning men's power, gender differentiation, and heterosexuality. Three studies with predominately White, male and female participants (two with undergraduates and one with a community sample) establish the factor structure, reliability, convergent validity, and predictive validity of the AMI. The AMI was strongly related to its sister scale, the Ambivalent Sexism Inventory (Glick & Fiske, 1996) and to two established scales of attitudes toward men (Downs & Engleson, 1982; lazzo, 1983). Only the AMI, however, successfully distinguished between subjectively positive and subjectively negative beliefs about men. A copy of the 20-item AMI is provided as a tool for further exploration of women's ambivalence toward men.
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Glick-Fiske's (1996) Ambivalent Sexism Inventory(ASI) and a new Gender-Role Ideology in Marriage (GRIM) inventory examine ambivalent sexism toward women, predicting power-related, gender-role beliefs about mate selection and marriage norms. Mainland Chinese, 552, and 252 U.S. undergraduates participated. Results indicated that Chinese and men most endorsed hostile sexism; Chinese women more than U.S. women accepted benevolent sexism. Both Chinese genders prefer home-oriented mates (women especially seeking a provider and upholding him; men especially endorsing male-success/female-housework, male dominance, and possibly violence). Both U.S. genders prefer considerate mates (men especially seeking an attractive one). Despite gender and culture differences in means, ASI-GRIM correlations replicate across those subgroups: Benevolence predicts initial mate selection; hostility predicts subsequent marriage norms.
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Gender-based structural power and heterosexual dependency produce ambivalent gender ideologies, with hostility and benevolence separately shaping close-relationship ideals. The relative importance of romanticized benevolent versus more overtly power-based hostile sexism, however, may be culturally dependent. Testing this, northeast US (N=311) and central Chinese (N=290) undergraduates rated prescriptions and proscriptions (ideals) for partners and completed Ambivalent Sexism and Ambivalence toward Men Inventories (ideologies). Multiple regressions analyses conducted on group-specific relationship ideals revealed that benevolent ideologies predicted partner ideals, in both countries, especially for US culture's romance-oriented relationships. Hostile attitudes predicted men's ideals, both American and Chinese, suggesting both societies' dominant-partner advantage.
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Forty-seven marital therapy couples completed inventories measuring unrealistic beliefs about self and unrealistic beliefs about marital relationships. In addition, they completed questionnaire measures of their expectations and goals for therapy and their levels of marital satisfaction. As hypothesized, the clients' unrealistic beliefs, particularly those regarding relationships, were negatively associated with their estimated chance for improvement in therapy, desire to improve rather than terminate the relationship, preference for marital versus individually oriented treatment, and overall marital satisfaction. These results are consistent with the theoretical rationale for cognitive therapy with clinical couples and suggest specific targets for intervention in this process. Directions for future research are discussed.
Article
Two studies tested how romantic ideal standards and their flexibility are associated with relationship quality. In Study 1, individuals rated themselves and their ideal romantic partners on three dimensions: warmth/trustworthiness, vitality/attractiveness, and status/resources. They then reported how flexible their ideals were on each dimension and how closely their current partner matched their ideal standards. Individuals who rated themselves higher on each dimension held higher ideal standards that were less flexible and perceived higher relationship quality the more their partners matched their ideals. This latter effect was moderated by the flexibility of ideals on two dimensions—warmth/trustworthiness and status/resources. In Study 2, members of dating couples reported their ideals, how closely their partners matched their ideals, and their flexibility. People were happier the more they matched their partners’ ideals. Partner discrepancy ratings once again mediated the link between self-perceptions and perceived relationship quality for the warmth/trustworthiness dimension.
Article
In order to ascertain fruitful directions for marital therapy research, practicing marital therapists were asked to provide information regarding the clinical relevance of potential research topics. A structured questionnaire was mailed to 250 members of the American Association of Marriage and Family Therapists. Therapists treating at least five couples were asked to rate the frequency, severity, and treatment difficulty for 29 problems commonly experienced by distressed couples. Therapists' responses indicated the clinical relevance of a number of potential directions for research. Communication and alcoholism were most strongly endorsed as priority areas for future marital therapy research.
Article
We conducted a meta–analysis of Rusbult's Investment Model of commitment. Across 52 studies, including 60 independent samples and 11,582 participants, satisfaction with, alternatives to, and investments in a relationship each correlated significantly with commitment to that relationship. Moreover, these three variables collectively accounted for nearly two–thirds of the variance in commitment. Commitment, in turn, was found to be a significant predictor of relationship breakup. Support for the model was obtained in predicting commitment in both relational domains (e.g., commitment to a romantic partnership) and nonrelational domains (e.g., commitment to one's job), but was significantly stronger in relational domains. Additional moderator analyses suggested that the associations between commitment and its theorized bases vary minimally as a function of demographic (e.g., ethnicity) or relational (e.g., duration) factors. We review theoretical strengths and shortcomings of the Investment Model and identify directions for future research.
Article
Previous research on system justification theory suggests that beliefs that rationalize inequalities are related to subjective well-being. We examine how “complementary” (hostile and benevolent) justifications of gender inequality may serve a palliative function for both men and women. Using multilevel modeling and data from 32 countries (N’s = 362 to 5160), we find that relationships between hostile and benevolent justifications and life satisfaction are moderated by the degree of gender inequality at the national level. In relatively egalitarian nations, individuals who endorse “complementary” justifications are higher on life satisfaction compared to those who endorse an exclusively hostile justification. In nations with high gender inequality, there is no difference in life satisfaction for those who endorse exclusively hostile vs. complementary justifications. KeywordsSystem justification-Complementary stereotypes-Subjective well-being
Article
In Studies 1 and 2, after reading an acquaintance-rape but not a stranger-rape scenario, higher benevolent sexist but not hostile sexist participants blamed the victim significantly more. In Study 2, higher hostile sexist but not benevolent sexist male participants showed significantly greater proclivity to commit acquaintance (but not stranger) rape. Studies 3 and 4 supported the hypothesis that the effects of benevolent sexism and hostile sexism are mediated by different perceptions of the victim, as behaving inappropriately and as really wanting sex with the rapist. These findings show that benevolent sexism and hostile sexism underpin different assumptions about women that generate sexist reactions toward rape victims.
Article
In the present study we analyzed the impact of vocational goals, sexist attitudes toward women, and motivation on career choice, in a sample of 448 Spanish college students (65.2% women and 34.1% men). Although we found some similarities between men and women in terms of their motivational orientations (extrinsic vs. intrinsic) and vocational goals, men’s extrinsic motivations appear to differ depending on the college major. We also found differences in sexist attitudes toward women by gender and chosen major: both male and female students enrolled in technical majors reported the most sexist attitudes (both hostile and benevolent). These findings underline the importance of taking sexist attitudes toward women into account in attempts to explain gender differences in career choice, something which has been largely overlooked in the research to date.
Article
This article examines whether unrealistically viewing a romantic partner as resembling one's ideal partner accelerates or slows declines in marital satisfaction among newlyweds. A longitudinal study linked unrealistic idealization at the time of marriage to changes in satisfaction over the first 3 years of marriage. Overall, satisfaction declined markedly, a finding that is consistent with past research. However, seeing a less-than-ideal partner as a reflection of one's ideals predicted a certain level of protection against the corrosive effects of time: People who initially idealized their partner the most experienced no decline in satisfaction. The benefits of idealization remained in analyses that controlled separately for the positivity of partner perceptions and the possibility that better adjusted people might be in better relationships.
Article
This research examined lay relationship and partner ideals in romantic relationships from both a social-cognitive and an evolutionary perspective. Studies 1 and 2 revealed that the qualities of an ideal partner were represented by 3 factors (partner warmth-trustworthiness, vitality-attractiveness, and status-resources), whereas the qualities of an ideal relationship were represented by 2 factors (relationship intimacy-loyalty and passion). A confirmatory factor analysis in Study 3 replicated these factor structures but found considerable overlap across the partner and relationship dimensions. Studies 4 and 5 produced convergent and discriminant validity evidence for all 5 factors. Study 6 indicated that the higher the consistency between the ideals and related assessments of the current partner and relationship, the more positively the current relationship was evaluated.
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The costs and benefits of sexism: Resistance to influence during relationship conflict Hierarchical linear models: Appli-cations and data analysis methods
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Ambivalent sexism in close relationships: (Hostile) power and (benevolent) romance shape rela-tionship ideals Positive expectations in the early years of marriage: Should couples expect the best or brace for the worst
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Trust variability in relationship evaluations and relationship processes Journal of Personal-ity and Social Psychology DOI: 10 Ideal stan-dards, the self, and flexibility of ideals in close relationships
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