Psychologists from the City University of Hong Kong discovered that men who feel disadvantaged are more likely to approve of sexist attitudes towards women. To work published Quarterly in Female Psychology.
The study is based on the ambivalent theory of sexism, as sexism can have both negative and positive aspects. Thus, hostile sexism leads to oppression of the opposite sex, while benevolent sexism implies a positive attitude towards women who behave according to gender stereotypes. Moreover, both forms can exist simultaneously in a person’s mind.
The two experiments involved more than 500 people from China and the United States. All of them completed a series of questionnaires regarding their psychological state, their attitude towards women, and their current social and economic situation.
“Apparently, deprivation (inability to meet basic needs) pushed men to negative sexism, while women did not change their attitudes towards the opposite sex,” the authors shared.
A third study of 284 men found that increased feelings of deprivation were associated with hostile sexism.
“Men can use hostile sexism as a way to make up for their problems. “This is particularly troubling because previous research has shown that women are more likely to face prejudice and discrimination, while men are more likely to feel excluded than women.”