Perceptions of the links between racism and sexism: Hostile and benevolent sexism

People assume that those who hold sexist beliefs hold racist beliefs, and vice versa. However, past work only investigated hostile sexism, or blatantly negative evaluations of women. Hostile sexism is positively associated with benevolent sexism, or, more subjectively, positive attitudes that serve to keep women in restricted domestic roles. Across two studies, participants were randomly assigned to see an ostensible partner’s responses espousing hostile sexism, benevolent sexism, or nonsexist beliefs. Participants then responded to dependent measures, primarily perceived racism. As predicted, a hostile sexist was perceived as more racist than both a benevolent sexist and a nonsexist. Unexpectedly, no significant differences emerged between a benevolent sexist and a nonsexist in Study 1, while a benevolent sexist was perceived as more racist than a nonsexist in Study 2. Overall, the findings suggest that society may be unaware that benevolent sexism may indicate racism, furthering individuals’ risk of experiencing prejudice.