Glick and Fiske's (1996) Ambivalent Sexism Inventory is a measure of hostile sexism (sexist antipathy) and benevolent sexism (a subjectively positive attitude toward women). This paper proposes a French version of this scale, the Échelle de Sexisme Ambivalent (ESA). Three studies on more than 1 000 participants established the validity of this new scale. The first one is the application of Rasch's extended model that confirmed the psychometrical qualities of the ESA, for both male and female participants. The second study established the structural and predictive validity in a covariance analysis. This study again showed that both male and female participants displayed the same structural pattern. Next, both discriminant and convergent validity were assessed, by comparison to the Neosexism Scale (Tougas, Brown, Beaton and Joly, 1995) and the Social Dominance Scale (Sidanius and Pratto, 1999). Finally, practical and theoretical implications are discussed.

Behavioral prescription specifies how people ought to act. Five studies investigated prescription for men of protective paternalism, a particular form of benevolent sexism, depending on contextual and individual factors. In Studies 1 and 2, female participants prescribed for men more protective paternalistic behavior toward women in a romantic than in a work context. In Study 3, male participants prescribed the same level of protective paternalistic behavior as female participants did. Conversely, more gender egalitarianism was prescribed for men in a work than in a romantic context (Studies 1–3). In Study 4, the same protective paternalistic behavior was labeled as intimacy in a romantic context but was identified to the same extent as intimacy and as sexism in a work context. In Study 5, female participants’ benevolent sexist beliefs predicted their prescription of protective paternalistic behavior for men in both contexts. These studies demonstrated that prescription of protective paternalism for men is a complex phenomenon because it depends on contextual as well as individual variables. These findings need to be added to the list of factors explaining how this particular form of sexism is maintained within gender relationships and how it contributes to women’s subordination.

Gender prescriptions consist of beliefs about the characteristics that men and women should possess. This paper focuses on stereotypic prescriptions targeting women and on some of the variables that influence the adherence to these prescriptions. In Study 1, male undergraduates (N036) from Belgium completed the Ambivalent Sexism Inventory (ASI-Glick and Fiske 1996), questions assessing the prescription of warmth-and competence-related traits to a female target and a measure of the target's perceived status. In Study 2, male undergraduates (N080) from Belgium completed a questionnaire assessing the perceived benefit associated with warmth traits possessed by women, in either a family or a professional context, a prescription measure regarding these traits and finally the ASI. Study 1 indicated that the prescription of warmth to women depends upon their perceived status. Study 2 showed that men are more prone to seeing the benefit to be gained for themselves from women's warmth and to prescribe it more so in a family context than in a professional one. Both studies also showed that men's endorsement of benevolent sexism is related to women's perceived status / the perception of a benefit for men to be gained from women's warmth and, consequently, to the prescription of warmth traits to women.

RÉSUMÉLa composante prescriptive des stéréotypes est définie comme un ensemble de croyances à propos des caractéristiques auxquelles les membres d'un groupe doivent se conformer. Elle a été principalement étudiée dans le cadre des stéréotypes sexuels. Nous pensons que la fonction principale de cette composante prescriptive est de permettre aux membres des groupes dominants de maintenir les membres des groupes subordonnés dans une position qui leur est avantageuse. Nous illustrons notre propos en présentant différents articles théoriques et empiriques qui montrent que le statut relatif de différents groupes sociaux détermine en grande partie les caractéristiques prescrites aux membres de ces groupes, que les subordonnés qui ne se conforment pas aux prescriptions dont ils font l'objet sont sanctionnés, et que les dominants prescrivent aux subordonnés des caractéristiques qu'ils jugent bénéfiques pour leur propre groupe. Prescriptive stereotypes and dominant groups' benefits ABSTRACTThe prescriptive component of stereotypes is defined as a set of beliefs about the characteristics group members should possess. It has mainly been studied regarding gender stereotypes. We believe that the main function of this prescriptive component is to allow dominant group members to maintain subordinate group members in an advantageous position for themselves. To illustrate our proposal, we present several theoretical and empirical papers, showing that the relative status of social groups is a determinant of which characteristics are prescribed to the members of these groups; that subordinates who fail to conform to the prescription are sanctioned; and that dominants prescribe to subordinates characteristics they see as beneficial to their own group.