Being a feminist has been operationalized as a label (linked with activism), beliefs (associated with personal and interpersonal outcomes), and their combination. Using an internet survey completed by 220 American mid-western college women, we explored the unique and combined impact of feminist self-labeling with feminist beliefs on women's well-being, egalitarianism, and activism. Self-labeling was most clearly defined as a binary declaration of being a feminist or not, which alone was related to increased feminist activism above and beyond the impact of feminist beliefs. Furthermore, self-labeling, unlike feminist beliefs, was not related to personal well-being or interpersonal egalitarianism. Our findings confirm the exclusive and singular importance of self-labeling for enhanced feminist action.

To identify a multivariate configuration of feminist beliefs best associated with optimal psychological functioning, 215 mostly White college women completed an online survey measuring their feminist beliefs (Feminist Perspectives Scale, Attitudes toward Feminism and the Women's Movement, sense of common fate, and Feminist Identity Composite) and 13 measures of well-being with liberation, encompassing individual (e.g., well-being), interpersonal (e.g., egalitarianism), and societal (e.g., collective esteem) levels of analysis. A canonical correlation analysis revealed a significant multivariate association and yielded three distinct functions: established feminism (the strongest, most positive predictor) and its opposite (antifeminism), awakening feminism (negatively linked to individual well-being), and nonfeminist but woman-identified traditionalism (with some compromised wellbeing). The configuration of feminist beliefs that a woman holds, does not hold, and rejects makes a difference for her psychological functioning as Major ArticleThe Division 17 logo denotes that this article is designated as a CE article. To purchase the CE Test, please visit www.apa.org/ed/ce. at WAYNE STATE UNIVERSITY on April 9, 2015 tcp.sagepub.com Downloaded from

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