Women can’t have it all: Benevolent sexism predicts attitudes toward working (vs. stay-at-home) mothers
Author(s) / Creator(s)
Szastok, Marta
Kossowska, Małgorzata
Pyrkosz-Pacyna, Joanna
Abstract / Description
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.
Keyword(s)
benevolent sexism motherhood nontraditional women working mothersPersistent Identifier
Date of first publication
2019-05-15
Journal title
Social Psychological Bulletin
Volume
14
Issue
1
Article number
Article e29461
Publisher
PsychOpen GOLD
Publication status
publishedVersion
Review status
peerReviewed
Is version of
Citation
Szastok, M., Kossowska, M., & Pyrkosz-Pacyna, J. (2019). Women can’t have it all: Benevolent sexism predicts attitudes toward working (vs. stay-at-home) mothers. Social Psychological Bulletin, 14(1), Article e29461. https://doi.org/10.32872/spb.v14i1.29461
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Author(s) / Creator(s)Szastok, Marta
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Author(s) / Creator(s)Kossowska, Małgorzata
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Author(s) / Creator(s)Pyrkosz-Pacyna, Joanna
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PsychArchives acquisition timestamp2022-04-14T11:26:42Z
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Made available on2022-04-14T11:26:42Z
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Date of first publication2019-05-15
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Abstract / DescriptionThe 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.en_US
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Publication statuspublishedVersion
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Review statuspeerReviewed
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CitationSzastok, M., Kossowska, M., & Pyrkosz-Pacyna, J. (2019). Women can’t have it all: Benevolent sexism predicts attitudes toward working (vs. stay-at-home) mothers. Social Psychological Bulletin, 14(1), Article e29461. https://doi.org/10.32872/spb.v14i1.29461en_US
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ISSN2569-653X
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Persistent Identifierhttps://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12034/5812
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Persistent Identifierhttps://doi.org/10.23668/psycharchives.6416
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Language of contenteng
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PublisherPsychOpen GOLD
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Is version ofhttps://doi.org/10.32872/spb.v14i1.29461
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Is related tohttps://doi.org/10.23668/psycharchives.2431
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Keyword(s)benevolent sexismen_US
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Keyword(s)motherhooden_US
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Keyword(s)nontraditional womenen_US
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Keyword(s)working mothersen_US
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Dewey Decimal Classification number(s)150
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TitleWomen can’t have it all: Benevolent sexism predicts attitudes toward working (vs. stay-at-home) mothersen_US
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DRO typearticle
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Article numberArticle e29461
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Issue1
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Journal titleSocial Psychological Bulletin
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Volume14
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Visible tag(s)Version of Recorden_US