College Students' Preference Toward Benevolent Sexist Mates

Abstract

Benevolent Sexism, according to Glick and Fiske (1996) is a particularly insidious form of sexism due to its subjectively positive affect--both for the sexist, and often their target. The current study builds on previous research that examines women's approval of Benevolent Sexism (Kilianski and Rudman 1998) by examining both men's and women's preference for potential mates who exhibit Benevolent Sexist attitudes and behaviors. This study seeks to expand our theoretical understanding of how women's subjugated status is perpetuated not through overt coercion, but through informal structures of paternalistic ideologies.