The Ambivalent Sexism Inventory: Differentiating hostile and benevolent sexism.

TLDR

Hostile and benevolent sexism are theorized to arise from paternalism, gender differentiation, and heterosexuality. The study proposes a theory of ambivalent sexism and introduces the Ambivalent Sexism Inventory (ASI) to measure it. The ASI assesses two correlated yet opposing dimensions—Hostile Sexism (HS) and Benevolent Sexism (BS)—through self‑report items. Across six studies with 2,250 participants, the ASI demonstrated convergent, discriminant, and predictive validity, with HS scores linked to negative attitudes toward women and BS scores (in non‑student men) linked to positive attitudes, and the instrument is made available for further research.

Abstract

The authors present a theory of sexism formulated as ambivalence toward women and validate a corresponding measure, the Ambivalent Sexism Inventory (ASI). The ASI taps 2 positively correlated components of sexism that nevertheless represent opposite evaluative orientations toward women: sexist antipathy or Hostile Sexism (HS) and a subjectively positive ( for sexist men ) orientation toward women, Benevolent Sexism (BS). HS and BS are hypothesized to encompass 3 sources of male ambivalence: Paternalism, Gender Differentiation, and Heterosexuality. Six ASI studies on 2,250 respondents established convergent, discriminant, and predictive validity. Overall ASI scores predict ambivalent attitudes toward women, the HS scale correlates with negative attitudes toward and stereotypes about women, and the BS scale (for nonstudent men only) correlates with positive attitudes toward and stereotypes about women. A copy of the ASI is provided, with scoring instructions, as a tool for further explorations of sexist ambivalence.