Benevolent Ideology and Women’s Economic Decision-Making: When Sexism Is Hurting Men’s Wallet

[en] Can ideology, as a widespread “expectation creator,” impact economic decisions? In two studies we investigated the influence of the Benevolent Sexism (BS) ideology (which dictates that men should provide for passive and nurtured women) on women’s economic decision- making. In Study 1, using a Dictator Game in which women decided how to share amounts of money with men, results of a Generalized Linear Mixed Model analysis show that higher endorsement of BS and contextual expectations of benevolence were associated with more very unequal offers. Similarly, in an Ultimatum Game in which women received monetary offers from men, Study 2’s Generalized Linear Mixed Model’s results revealed that BS led women to reject more very unequal offers. If women’s endorsement of BS ideology and expectations of benevolence prove contrary to reality, they may strike back at men. These findings show that BS ideology creates expectations that shape malefemale relationships in a way that could be prejudicial to men.

Research center :

PsyNCog - Psychologie et Neuroscience Cognitives - ULiège

Disciplines :

Social, industrial & organizational psychology
Neurosciences & behavior

Author, co-author :

Silvestre, Aude ; Université de Liège > Département de Psychologie > Psychologie sociale

Sarlet, Marie

Huart, Johanne ; Université de Liège > Département de Psychologie > Psychologie sociale

Dardenne, Benoît ; Université de Liège > Département de Psychologie > Psychologie sociale

Language :

English

Title :

Benevolent Ideology and Women’s Economic Decision-Making: When Sexism Is Hurting Men’s Wallet

Publication date :

12 February 2016

Journal title :

PLoS ONE

eISSN :

1932-6203

Publisher :

Public Library of Science, San Franscisco, United States - California

Volume :

Issue :

Peer reviewed :

Peer Reviewed verified by ORBi

Funders :

F.R.S.-FNRS - Fonds de la Recherche Scientifique [BE]

Available on ORBi :

since 16 February 2016

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