Título
Development of ambivalent sexism in childhood: Effect on future career aspirations
Autor
Richters, Stefanie
Resumo
en
Ambivalent Sexism Theory draws attention to the ambivalence of sexist beliefs and
their key role in the maintenance of gender inequality. Two studies were conducted in order to
investigate the development of hostile and benevolent sexism in childhood. A systematic
literature review was carried out, reanalyzing literature of the past 9 years of research on
gender knowledge in childhood through the framework of Ambivalent Sexism Theory. The
findings show that most of the measures applied tap into the dimension of hostile sexism.
Those tapping into the benevolent dimensions suggest that children from a young age hold
strong beliefs about the complementarity of stereotypes and heterosexual partnership. Second,
the Childhood Ambivalent Sexism Measure was developed as a new measure of ambivalent
sexism in childhood and applied in a sample of 7-10-year-old Portuguese children. The factor
structure obtained allows to distinguish between hostile sexism and two factors of benevolent
sexism: protective paternalism and heterosexual intimacy. Results show that children from the
age of 7 show high levels of stereotype knowledge and personal endorsement of benevolent
sexism. Endorsement of hostile sexism compared to the benevolent sexism is lower, and more
so for girls, while for benevolent sexism no gender differences were found. Moreover, the
effect of ambivalent sexism on children’s future career aspirations was tested. Girls who show
higher stereotype knowledge of protective paternalism also show more interest in professions
that require higher levels of warmth as compared to competence. The results are discussed
with regard to theoretical implications and recommendations for intervention.