Ambivalent Sexism Inventory (ASI)

Abstract

The Ambivalent Sexism Inventory (ASI) is a widely utilized psychological scale developed by Peter Glick and Susan T. Fiske in 1996. It was designed to measure the multidimensional nature of gender prejudice, challenging the traditional view of sexism as purely negative antipathy. The ASI operationalizes sexism as comprising two distinct, yet correlated, components: Hostile Sexism (overtly negative attitudes toward women who challenge the status quo) and Benevolent Sexism (subjectively positive attitudes that nonetheless serve to subordinate women by placing them on a pedestal). This dual structure allows researchers to better understand how prejudiced attitudes are maintained through both punishment and reward mechanisms.

Keywords

Ambivalent Sexism Inventory, ASI, Hostile Sexism, Benevolent Sexism, gender prejudice, P. Glick, S. T. Fiske, social psychology, gender roles, psychological scale

Authors

Peter Glick, Susan T. Fiske

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Purpose

The primary purpose of the Ambivalent Sexism Inventory (ASI) is to provide a comprehensive measure capable of differentiating between the two facets of sexism proposed by the Ambivalent Sexism theory. Before the ASI, measures of sexism often focused exclusively on hostile or explicitly negative attitudes. Glick and Fiske recognized that prejudice toward women often takes a seemingly positive or protective form, which also contributes to maintaining traditional gender hierarchy.

The ASI specifically aims to capture this complexity, allowing researchers to analyze how these two forms of sexism—Hostile and Benevolent—interact and predict different social and political outcomes globally. By separating these constructs, the scale provides a more nuanced understanding of how gender inequality is perpetuated in various cultural contexts.

Construct

The ASI measures the psychological construct of Ambivalent Sexism, which is characterized by the coexistence of both negative (Hostile) and subjectively positive (Benevolent) attitudes toward women. These two forms are theorized to be complementary, stabilizing gender inequality by offering rewards for conformity to traditional roles (Benevolent Sexism) while imposing penalties for nonconformity (Hostile Sexism).

• Hostile Sexism (H): This component reflects overt antagonism toward women, particularly those perceived as usurping men’s power or challenging traditional gender roles. It includes beliefs that women exaggerate gender inequality or seek unfair advantages over men.
• Benevolent Sexism (B): This component reflects subjectively positive attitudes toward women, such as idealizing them as pure or morally superior, but is expressed in ways that are patronizing and restrictive. Benevolent Sexism is further divided into three theoretical sub-factors:
  • Protective Paternalism (P): The belief that men should protect and provide for women, implying female weakness and dependence.
  • Complementary Gender Differentiation (G): The belief that women possess unique, positive traits (e.g., superior taste, moral sensibility) that complement men’s traits, reinforcing rigid gender segregation.
  • Heterosexual Intimacy (I): The belief that men need women for emotional fulfillment and completeness, emphasizing compulsory heterosexuality and reliance on opposite-sex relationships.

Validity

The development of the ASI was grounded in rigorous efforts to establish strong construct validity, demonstrating that Hostile Sexism and Benevolent Sexism are empirically distinct factors, yet positively correlated. This positive correlation suggests that individuals high in one form of sexism are often high in the other, confirming the theory of ambivalence.

Subsequent research using the ASI across diverse cultures has confirmed its cross-cultural validity, showing that the two-factor structure holds consistently in many countries, although the specific content or correlation strength between the factors may vary based on local gender norms. The scale has also demonstrated predictive validity, with Hostile Sexism correlating strongly with measures of negative attitudes toward feminism and gender equity, while Benevolent Sexism correlates with acceptance of traditional roles and dependence.

Reliability

The Ambivalent Sexism Inventory demonstrates high internal reliability, evidenced by strong Cronbach’s alpha coefficients reported in the original validation studies and subsequent cross-cultural replications. The reliability statistics for the two primary factors are consistently robust:

• Hostile Sexism Scale Reliability: Cronbach’s alpha ranges from 0.83 to 0.92.
• Benevolent Sexism Scale Reliability: Cronbach’s alpha ranges from 0.73 to 0.92.

These high alpha values indicate that the items within each respective subscale measure the intended underlying construct consistently, making the ASI a dependable instrument for measuring both explicit and subtle forms of gender prejudice.

Factor Analysis

The initial factor analysis conducted by Glick and Fiske (1996) utilized principal components analysis and confirmed a clear two-factor structure underlying the 22 items (Note: The provided item list contains 21 items, but original publications often refer to 22 items). These two factors—Hostile Sexism and Benevolent Sexism—emerged as orthogonal or slightly correlated dimensions, supporting the core theoretical premise that sexism is ambivalent rather than unidimensional.

Further analysis of the Benevolent Sexism factor revealed the existence of the three sub-components: Protective Paternalism, Complementary Gender Differentiation, and Heterosexual Intimacy. These sub-factors provide granular detail on how positive attitudes toward women function to maintain traditional, restrictive gender roles.

Instrument

Test Type: Self-report psychological scale

Format: 6-point Likert scale

Language Available: Widely translated and validated in numerous languages globally (e.g., Spanish, Portuguese, Japanese, German, etc.)

Population Group: General adult population

Age Group: Adolescents and adults (typically 18+)

Population Details: Primarily developed and validated using North American samples initially, but has since been used extensively in cross-cultural research spanning dozens of countries.

Test Methodology: Respondents rate their agreement with each statement on a 6-point scale ranging from 0 (“disagree strongly”) to 5 (“agree strongly”). Scores for Hostile Sexism and Benevolent Sexism are calculated by averaging the scores of the respective items, with specific items reverse-scored to control for acquiescence bias.

Keywords

Hostile Sexism, Benevolent Sexism, gender differentiation, Paternalism, prejudice measures, social psychology, Glick, Fiske, psychological scale

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Authors

Author ORCID Identifier: N/A (Information not provided in source)

Affiliation Email addresses: [email protected], [email protected]

Correspondence Address: N/A (Information not provided in source)

Permissions & Fee and Test Year

The scale was developed and published in 1996. The instrument is widely accessible for non-commercial academic and research use. The original publication detailing the scale is Glick P., & Fiske S. T. (1996). The Ambivalent Sexism Inventory: Differentiating hostile and benevolent sexism. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 70(3), 491–512.

The instrument itself, along with related measures of stereotyping and prejudice, can be found online. The original PDF for related measures can be downloaded here: Measures of Stereotyping and Prejudice.

Reference’s

• Fiske, S.T., & North, M.S. (2014). Measures of stereotyping and prejudice: Barometers of bias. In G. Boyle & D. Saklofske (Eds.), Measures of Personality & Social Psychological Constructs, 684-718 : DOI: 10.1016/B978-0-12-386915-9.00024-3.
• Fiske, Susan T. (2000). Stereotyping, prejudice, and discrimination at the seam between the centuries: evolution, culture, mind, and brain. European Journal of Social Psychology; 30: 299-322.
• Glick P., & Fiske S. T. (1996). The Ambivalent Sexism Inventory: Differentiating hostile and benevolent sexism. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 70(3), 491–512.
• Glick, P. & Fiske, S. T. (2001). Ambivalent sexism. In M. P. Zanna (Ed.), Advances in experimental social psychology (Vol. 33, pp 115-188). Thousand Oaks, CA: Academic.
• Glick, P., & Fiske, S. T. (2011). Ambivalent sexism revisited. Psychology of Women Quarterly, 35(3), 530-535.

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Items of the Ambivalent Sexism Inventory (ASI)

Scoring Notes: H = Hostile Sexism, B = Benevolent Sexism. Sub-factors of Benevolent Sexism are (P) = Protective Paternalism, (G) = Complementary Gender Differentiation, (I) = Heterosexual Intimacy.

The response format is a 6-point scale: 0 – disagree strongly; 1 – disagree somewhat; 2 – disagree slightly; 3 – agree slightly; 4 – agree somewhat; 5 – agree strongly.

Scoring Directions (as provided in source, noting potential item numbering discrepancies):

• Reverse the following items: 3, 6, 7, 13, 18, and 21.
• Hostile Sexism Score = average the following items: 2, 4, 5, 7, 10, 11, 14, 15, 16, 18, and 21.
• Benevolent Sexism Score = average the following items: 1, 3, 6, 8, 9, 12, 13, 17, 19, 20, and 22. (Note: Item 22 is not listed below.)

Scale Items:

1. No matter how accomplished he is, a man is not truly complete as a person unless he has the love of a woman. B(I)
2. Many women are actually seeking special favors, such as hiring policies that favour them over men, under the guise of asking for “equality”. H
3. In a disaster, women ought not necessarily to be rescued before men. B(P)
4. Most women interpret innocent remarks or acts as being sexist. H
5. Women are too easily offended. H
6. People are often truly happy in life without being romantically involved with a member of the other sex. B(I)
7. Feminists are not seeking for women to have more power than men. H
8. Many women have a quality of purity that few men possess. B(G)
9. Women should be cherished and protected by men. B(P)
10. Most women fail to appreciate fully all that men do for them. H
11. Women seek to gain power by getting control over men. H
12. Every man ought to have a woman whom he adores. B(I)
13. Men are complete without women. B(I)
14. Women exaggerate problems they have at work. H
15. Once a woman gets a man to commit to her, she usually tries to put him on a tight leash. H
16. When women lose to men in a fair competition, they typically complain about being discriminated against. H
17. A good woman should be set on a pedestal by her man. B(P)
18. There are actually very few women who get a kick out of teasing men by seeming sexually available and then refusing male advances. H
19. Women, compared to men, tend to have superior moral sensibility. B(G)
20. Men should be willing to sacrifice their own wellbeing in order to provide financially for the women in their lives. B(P)
21. Feminists are making entirely reasonable demands of men. H
22. Women, as compared to men, tend to have a more refined sense of culture and good taste. B(G)