Women Can’t Have It All: Benevolent Sexism Predicts Attitudes Toward Working (vs. Stay-at-Home) Mothers

Abstract

The aim of the present paper was to test differences in perceptions towards a woman who took a 3-month maternity leave (a working mother) as opposed to a 3-year maternity leave (a stay-at-home mother), and then to apply the ambivalent sexism theory to predict those differences. We expected that in Poland, where motherhood is highly appreciated, it is especially benevolent (not hostile) sexism that predicts less positive attitudes toward working mothers, compared to stay-at-home mothers. In two studies, we found that the working mother was perceived as less warm, less effective as a parent and less interpersonally appealing and more successful at work. Additionally, although the stay-at-home mother was evaluated as less successful at work, she was not perceived as less competent. We discuss this as a reflection of the “Mother-Pole” phenomenon, where mothers in Poland are perceived as not only kind, but also competent. Afterward, we showed that benevolent (but not hostile) sexism predicts differences in perceiving the stay-at-home mother and working mother. Participants higher in benevolent sexism rated the stay-at-home mother as warmer, more parenting-effective and more interpersonally appealing compared to the working mother, while participants lower in benevolent sexism perceived them equally well. Studies suggest that benevolent sexism predicts a more positive perception of traditional mothers (as opposed to nontraditional mothers), and at the same time, maintains the status quo of traditional gender relations.

Obstacles to Birth Surname Retention Upon Marriage: How Do Hostile Sexism and System Justification Predict Support for Marital Surname Change Among Women?

“…Importantly, the observed direct link between hostile sexism and support for marital surname change was positive, linear, robust, and replicable among female students in Turkey and the United States, but also among women who categorized themselves as feminists in Turkey. These findings are consistent with other lines of research suggesting that hostile sexism, the ideology that reinforces idealized notions of traditional male-dominated gendered division, is likely to motivate individuals to engage in behaviors aimed to legitimize female subordination in different life domains, including a heterosexual marriage (e.g., Chen et al, 2009 ; Day et al, 2011 ; Petterson and Sutton, 2018 ; Szastok et al, 2019 ). Importantly, our analysis is among the first to show how hostile sexism directly predicts support for marital surname change even among the subpopulations of women that might be considered as the frontrunners of social change in society, that is, feminists and female college students.…”

“…As previous research has revealed, hostile (as compared to benevolent) sexism is the ideology that motivates individuals to engage in a number of different strategies aimed to preserve the stability and reaffirm the legitimacy of the gender status quo in different life domains (e.g., Connor and Fiske, 2019 ). So while benevolent sexism robustly predicts positive attitudes toward women who sustain traditional gender roles in the institution of marriage (e.g., Chen et al, 2009 ; Szastok et al, 2019 ), hostile sexism as the ideology reinforces idealized notions of traditional (male-dominated) gendered division and penalizes those who challenge it through agentic behavior (e.g., Connor and Fiske, 2019 ). Based on the previous research, we, therefore, argue that hostile sexism can directly predict women’s support for the traditional (husband-centered) naming practice to a greater extent than benevolent sexism.…”

Country‐level and individual‐level predictors of men's support for gender equality in 42 countries

“…First, viewing women as direct competitors may cause men to adopt a hostile, untrusting mindset toward women (Davidai & Ongis, 2019). Second, when men view women as competitors, they are likely envisioning non‐traditional, agentic women (Gaunt, 2013; Glick et al., 2000; Szastok, Kossowska, & Pyrkosz‐Pacyna, 2019), who are psychologically threatening because they challenge traditional men's beliefs and values (Stephan & Stephan, 2000; Tarman & Sears, 2005). In turn, men higher in hostile sexism are less inclined to support gender equality and less willing to engage in collective actions to reduce gender inequalities (Stewart, 2017).…”

Blame it on her ‘baby brain’? Investigating the contents of social stereotypes about pregnant women's warmth and competence

“…The notion that these groups of women are stereotyped to be largely warm and incompetent, thus triggering a ‘paternalistic’ response (Eckes, 2002; Haddock & Zanna, 1994) is aligned with the ‘women are wonderful’ effect (Eagly & Mladinic, 1989). This explains the protective paternalism that women experience, particularly in times where these distinctions are most prominent; for example, during pregnancy (e.g., Sutton et al, 2011) and motherhood (e.g., Szastok et al, 2019).…”