Hostile Sexism, Ambivalent Sexism

Abstract

The Ambivalent Sexism Inventory (ASI), developed by Peter Glick and Susan T. Fiske, is a seminal psychological instrument used to measure the theory of Ambivalent Sexism. This theory fundamentally reconceptualizes sexism, moving beyond the idea of uniformly negative antipathy to incorporate two distinct, yet positively correlated, dimensions: Hostile Sexism and Benevolent Sexism. Comprising 22 items, the ASI assesses both overtly antagonistic views targeting women who challenge traditional roles, and seemingly positive, paternalistic beliefs that ultimately reinforce established gender hierarchies. The utility of the ASI is particularly evident in cross-cultural psychology, where it has consistently demonstrated the widespread nature of these complex, ambivalent attitudes toward women.

Keywords

Ambivalent Sexism Inventory, ASI, Hostile Sexism, Benevolent Sexism, Gender Attitudes, Social Psychology, Prejudice, Gender Roles, Sexism Measurement, Psychological Assessment

Authors

Peter Glick, Susan T. Fiske

Purpose

The primary objective of the Ambivalent Sexism Inventory is to provide researchers with a psychometrically sound measure capable of capturing the nuanced complexity inherent in contemporary gender attitudes. Before the ASI, sexism was often treated as a singular, negative construct. Glick and Fiske created the scale to differentiate between traditional, overtly negative forms of prejudice and more subtle, subjectively positive forms that nevertheless function to maintain male dominance and gender stratification.

By effectively isolating and quantifying the Hostile and Benevolent components, the scale enables sophisticated empirical analysis. Researchers can examine how these two dimensions operate differentially across various social domains, including professional environments, political discourse, and intimate relationships, providing critical insight into the mechanisms sustaining global gender inequality.

Construct

The central psychological construct measured by the ASI is Ambivalent Sexism, which is theorized as the dynamic coexistence of antagonistic and subjectively positive attitudes directed toward women. This ambivalence is rooted in the fact that women are simultaneously perceived as subordinate (requiring protection) and as potential challengers to male power.

• Hostile Sexism (HS): This dimension reflects overt antipathy toward women who are perceived as threats to the traditional patriarchal power structure or who violate prescribed gender roles. HS manifests as feelings of resentment, distrust, and the use of negative stereotypes, often targeting feminists or women perceived as seeking unfair advantages or “special favors.”
• Benevolent Sexism (BS): This dimension involves protective, idealizing, and paternalistic attitudes toward women who conform to traditional feminine roles (e.g., being nurturing, pure, or dependent). Although often experienced as flattering or chivalrous, BS is inherently restrictive, serving to confine women to specific roles by emphasizing their weakness, moral superiority, and dependence on men for provision and safety.

Crucially, the theoretical framework posits that Hostile and Benevolent Sexism are positively correlated because they serve a joint function: maintaining the legitimacy of the patriarchal social structure. This maintenance is achieved through a system of both punishment (HS) for non-conformity and reward (BS) for adherence to traditional gender norms.

Validity

The Ambivalent Sexism Inventory exhibits robust psychometric validity, established primarily through rigorous factor analytic studies. These analyses consistently confirm the hypothesized two-factor structure—Hostile Sexism and Benevolent Sexism—thereby establishing strong construct validity.

Evidence for criterion validity is supported by the scale’s predictive power and its significant correlations with other well-established measures of gender bias, generalized prejudice, and social variables such as Social Dominance Orientation. Furthermore, the ASI demonstrates exceptional cross-cultural validity, successfully replicating its two-factor structure and differentiating ambivalent attitudes across numerous international samples, confirming that this structure of sexism is a widespread social psychological phenomenon.

Reliability

The ASI demonstrates high internal consistency, which is the primary measure of its reliability. Across numerous empirical investigations utilizing diverse populations, both the Hostile Sexism subscale and the Benevolent Sexism subscale consistently achieve strong Cronbach’s alpha coefficients. These coefficients typically exceed the standard acceptable threshold of .70, often reaching values in the .80s or .90s, confirming that the items within each respective subscale reliably measure the intended underlying dimension of sexism.

Factor Analysis

The foundational research supporting the ASI (Glick & Fiske, 1996, 1997) utilized factor analysis to confirm the scale’s theoretical structure. These analyses definitively demonstrated that the 22 items load onto two distinct, yet statistically correlated, factors: Hostile Sexism and Benevolent Sexism. This clear two-factor solution is crucial, as it provides empirical support for the conceptual distinction between the punitive (HS) and rewarding (BS) mechanisms of gender maintenance.

Subsequent international research, including large-scale cross-cultural studies, has successfully replicated this two-factor structure. This consistent replication across varied societal and linguistic contexts confirms the stability and robustness of the ASI as a measure of these two independent, yet related, components of gender attitudes.

Instrument

Test Type: Self-Report Attitude Inventory

Format: 22-item Likert Scale

Language Available: Originally English; widely translated into dozens of languages for use in cross-cultural research.

Population Group: General population (primarily adults and university students)

Age Group: Adolescents (typically 16+) and Adults

Population Details: Used globally to assess gender attitudes in both men and women.

Test Methodology: Respondents rate their level of agreement on a 6-point Likert scale, ranging from 0 (disagree strongly) to 5 (agree strongly).

Keywords

Ambivalent Sexism Inventory, ASI, Hostile Sexism Scale, Benevolent Sexism Scale, Gender Bias Measurement, Psychological Assessment

Authors

Author ORCID Identifier: Not publicly provided in source materials.

Affiliation Email addresses: Not publicly provided in source materials.

Correspondence Address: Not publicly provided in source materials.

Permissions & Fee and Test Year

The Ambivalent Sexism Inventory is classified as a non-proprietary academic scale. It is generally available for use in research and educational settings without requiring a fee, provided that appropriate scholarly citation is given to the original developers, Peter Glick and Susan T. Fiske. The initial validation and publication of the scale occurred during 1996 and 1997.

Reference’s

The scale and related theoretical developments are detailed in the following key academic publications:

• Glick‚ P.‚ & Fiske‚ S. T. (1997). Hostile and benevolent sexism: Measuring ambivalent sexist attitudes toward women. Psychology of Women Quarterly‚ 21‚ 119-135.
• Glick‚ P.‚ & Fiske‚ S. T. (1996). The Ambivalent Sexism Inventory: Differentiating hostile and benevolent sexism. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology‚ 70‚ 491-512.
• Glick‚ P.‚ Fiske‚ S. T.‚ Mladinic‚ A.‚ Saiz‚ J. L.‚ Abrams‚ D.‚ Masser‚ B.‚ et al. (2000). Beyond prejudice as simple antipathy: Hostile and benevolent sexism across cultures. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology‚ 79‚ 763-775.

Additional resources, including the instrument itself and scoring instructions, are available online. The scale can be found on page 44-45 of Measures for the assessment of dimensions of violence against women: A compendium Compiled by Michael Flood. The original PDF can be downloaded here: http://www.svri.org/measures.pdf

Further documentation is accessible via these links:

• http://eprints.covenantuniversity.edu.ng/979/1/Beyond%20Prejudice%20As%20Simple%20Antipathy.pdf
• http://marcusball.com/studies/psychology/Psych%20Women/Sexism%20full.pdf

Scoring Instructions:

The response scale uses a 6-point Likert format: 0=disagree strongly‚ 1=disagree somewhat‚ 2=disagree slightly‚ 3=agree slightly‚ 4=agree somewhat‚ 5=agree strongly.

Reverse scoring is required for the following items (0 = 5‚ 1 = 4‚ 2 = 3‚ 3 = 2‚ 4 = 1‚ 5 = 0): 3‚ 6‚ 7‚ 13‚ 18‚ 21.

Hostile Sexism Subscale Score: Calculated as the average of items 2‚ 4‚ 5‚ 7 (R)‚ 10‚ 11‚ 14‚ 15‚ 16‚ 18 (R)‚ 21 (R). (R denotes reverse scored items).

Benevolent Sexism Subscale Score: Calculated as the average of items 1‚ 3 (R)‚ 6 (R)‚ 8‚ 9‚ 12‚ 13 (R)‚ 17‚ 19‚ 20‚ 22. (R denotes reverse scored items).

Items of the Hostile Sexism, Ambivalent Sexism

IMPORTANT: The following scale items must be preserved in their original language and must not be changed in any way.

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