Worse for Women, Bad for All: A 62-Nation Study Confirms and Extends Ambivalent Sexism Principles to Reveal Greater Social Dysfunction in Sexist Nations
We retested core ambivalent sexism theory tenets and explored novel correlations with national outcomes in 62 nations. Replicating Glick et al., cross-national analyses supported (a) hostile sexism (HS) and benevolent sexism (BS) as cross-culturally recognizable, complementary ideologies associated with gender inequality; (b) women appearing to be influenced by, but also resisting men’s HS and embracing BS to counter men’s HS (outscoring men in some highly sexist nations). Novel cross-national comparisons showed (a) men’s HS and both genders’ BS correlated with fewer women in paid work, whereas only BS correlated with domestic labor inequity, (b) both HS and BS correlated with accepting intimate partner violence toward women. Finally, HS and BS correlated with generally dysfunctional national outcomes: antidemocratic tendencies, less productivity, more collective violence, and lower healthy lifespan for both genders. Results reinforce that BS harms women and suggest men also have a stake in reducing sexist ideologies.
Authors
- Michał Olech (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3612-0568)
- Natasza Kosakowska‐Berezecka (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3503-3921)
- Paweł Jurek (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9958-3941)
- Jurand Sobiecki (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1545-2117)
- Magdalena Zawisza (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7925-8415)
- Magdalena Żadkowska (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8146-5189)
- Anna Włodarczyk (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2106-5324)
- Joseph A. Vandello (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9318-4002)
- Saba Safdar (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9198-5228)
- Tomasz Besta (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6209-3677)
- Jennifer K. Bosson (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2566-1078)
- Deborah L. Best (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6715-0957)
- Peter Glick (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4663-313X)
Institutions
- Lawrence University (US)
- University of South Florida (US)
- Universidad Católica del Norte (CL)
- University of Gdańsk (PL)
- Wake Forest University (US)
- Anglia Ruskin University (GB)
- Gdańsk Medical University (PL)
- University of Guelph (CA)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Social Psychological and Personality Science
- Published
- 2025-01-10
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1177/19485506241302882
- Citations
- 13
- Primary Topic
- Social and Intergroup Psychology
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 54.62