A systematic review of the ambivalent sexism literature: Hostile sexism protects men’s power; benevolent sexism guards traditional gender roles.

Abstract

According to ambivalent sexism theory (Glick & Fiske, 1996), the coexistence of gendered power differences and mutual interdependence creates two apparently opposing but complementary sexist ideologies: hostile sexism (HS; viewing women as manipulative competitors who seek to gain power over men) coincides with benevolent sexism (BS; a chivalrous view of women as pure and moral, yet weak and passive, deserving men’s protection and admiration, as long as they conform). The research on these ideologies employs the Ambivalent Sexism Inventory, used extensively in psychology and allied disciplines, often to understand the roles sexist attitudes play in reinforcing gender inequality. Following contemporary guidelines, this systematic review utilizes a principled approach to synthesize the multidisciplinary empirical literature on ambivalent sexism. After screening 1,870 potentially relevant articles and fully reviewing 654 eligible articles, five main domains emerge in ambivalent sexism research (social ideologies, violence, workplace, stereotypes, intimate relationships). The accumulating evidence across domains offers bottom-up empirical support for ambivalent sexism as a coordinated system to maintain control over women (and sometimes men). Hostile sexism acts through the direct and diverse paths of envious/resentful prejudices, being more sensitive to power and sexuality cues; Benevolent sexism acts through prejudices related to interdependence (primarily gender-based paternalism and gender-role differentiation), enforcing traditional gender relations and being more sensitive to role-related cues. Discussion points to common methodological limitations, suggests guidelines, and finds future avenues for ambivalent sexism research.

Ambivalent Sexism and Tolerance of Violence Against Women in India

“…Although the relational nature of benevolent sexism is central to ambivalent sexism theory, research has often neglected the domain of relationships. However, a growing literature now suggests that benevolent sexism maintains conventional gender roles via interpersonal processes within romantic relationships (Bareket & Fiske, 2023;Hammond & Overall, 2017). Extending this idea, we propose that benevolent sexism should predict more tolerance of violence in the relationship domain.…”

“…In a metaanalysis of 152 studies, hostile sexism strongly predicted greater tolerance of violence, whereas benevolent sexism was a weak predictor of greater tolerance (Agadullina et al, 2022). Some findings show negative associations between benevolent sexism and tolerance of violence (Saunders et al, 2017), others show positive associations (Yamawaki et al, 2009), and many findings are null (Bareket & Fiske, 2023).…”

“…Hostile sexism and benevolent sexism are both theorized to legitimize gender inequality and harm women in distinct ways. The aggressive content of hostile sexism directly enforces norms of men's power (Bareket & Fiske, 2023), fostering discrimination against powerful women ) and opposition to genderbased policies (Hideg & Ferris, 2013). In contrast, the patronizing content of benevolent sexism indirectly enforces men's power through gender-role norms (Bareket & Fiske, 2023), undermining women's career aspirations (Kuchynka et al, 2017) and willingness to challenge gender inequality (Becker & Wright, 2011;Hammond & Sibley, 2011).…”

The Causes, Manifestations, and Effects of Benevolent Sexism and How It Contributes to the Perpetuation of Gender Discrimination

“…For example, when assigning tasks, leaders automatically assign women to less challenging and less physically demanding tasks because of the stereotype that women are weak and incapable of accomplishing difficult tasks. Paternalistic behavior reinforces the notion that "they are inherently incompetent or weak", thus resulting in the ability of women to make decisions on their own being undermined [4].…”

Gender essentialism and benevolent sexism in anti‐trans rhetoric

“…Benevolent sexism is one of two components of ambivalent sexism (see Bareket & Fiske, 2023;Glick & Fiske, 1996, 1997, 2001, which characterizes modern-day sexism as driven simultaneously by both hostile (e.g., antipathy toward women) and benevolent (e.g., patronizing chivalry) orientations toward women. The hostile component of ambivalent sexism posits that women are manipulative people who seek to dominate men via their sexuality, while the benevolent component posits that women are moral yet weak beings who are reliant on (and deserving of) protection from men-so long as they conform to heteronormative gender roles and expression.…”