Honors Thesis Archive
| Author | Meagan Tanner |
|---|---|
| Title | Was That Sexist?: Open-Mindedness Predicts Interpretation of Benevolent Sexism in Ambiguous Scenarios |
| Department | Psychology |
| Advisors | William Davis, Lauren Crane, and Kate Polak |
| Year | 2019 |
| Honors | University Honors |
| Full Text | View Thesis (157 KB) |
| Abstract | The Ambivalent Sexism Theory consists of two subdimensions of sexism—hostile sexism and benevolent sexism. Hostile sexism comprises of openly negative attitudes towards women, while benevolent sexism endorses the continuation of traditional paternalistic attitudes towards women. Previous research in the field has found significant associations between both hostilely and benevolently sexist attitudes and the Big Five personality traits of Open-Mindedness and Agreeableness as well as the personality traits of other-oriented empathy. Previous research has also found significant associations between Open-Mindedness, Agreeableness, and empathy and the interpretation of hostile sexism in real-world. The aim of this study was to determine the existence of associations between the aforementioned personality traits and the interpretation of benevolent sexism in real-world scenarios. Participants completed an anonymous online survey that assessed their endorsement of Open-Mindedness and Agreeableness personality traits, their endorsement of empathy, and their interpretation of benevolent sexism in ambiguous scenarios. The scenarios were presented in a series of vignettes created specifically for this study. This study found significant positive associations between Open-Mindedness and the interpretation of benevolent sexism. There were no significant associations between Agreeableness and the interpretation of benevolent sexism or other-oriented empathy and the interpretation of benevolent sexism. However, findings may be limited due to low power as a result of small sample size. |
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