The Effect of Sexism Exposure on Women’s Narrative Memories

The effect of sexism exposure on gender related narratives was examined. Past literature reveals that individuals exposed to benevolent sexism recollect more memories of incompetence than when exposed to hostile sexism, (Dumont, Sarlet, & Dardeene, 2008); however, the authors examined the frequency of participants’ memories rather than the narrative content and failed to examine relevant modifiers of the effect. The current study replicated and extended the work by Dumont and colleagues (2008). Participants (N=45, 45 female) were exposed to either benevolent, hostile, or no sexism and subsequently documented a gender relevant memory. Memories were coded for gender memory topic, presence of incompetence, meaning making, emotion, agency and communion. Participants were also scored on stigma consciousness and gender identity development. It was hypothesized that benevolent sexism would be more likely to elicit memories of incompetence than hostile and no Midwest Journal of Undergraduate Research 2019, Issue 10 Odermatt 109 sexism conditions and that stigma consciousness would moderate this effect. There was a significant interaction between sexism condition and stigma consciousness on the presence of incompetence and levels of meaning making in women’s narrative memories. This finding suggests that both sexism type and individual interpretation can impact how sexism affects women’s narrative memories. In our modern society, gender-based discrimination continues to be both pervasive and problematic. Discrimination refers to the unjust behaviors or verbalizations toward an individual or group based on identity and operates by limiting access to important life domains (Major & O’Brien, 2005). Gender discrimination is exemplified in society’s tendency to over-value masculine traits and devalue feminine traits. Once acted upon, these prejudicial opinions result in discriminatory behaviors that can range from the systemic wage gap between genders, gender typed feminine jobs and masculine jobs, to underrepresentation of women in leadership positions (Barreto, Ellemers, Piebinga, & Moya, 2010; Swim, Aikin, Hall, & Hunter, 1995). Though these examples are specific to occupations, gender-based discrimination can also affect women outside of the workplace. The use of discriminatory language and stereotypes pervade women’s everyday experiences and can lead to economic and social inequity (Dumont, Sarlet, & Dardeene, 2008; Kaiser, Brooke Vick, & Major, 2006). These experiences of discrimination have negative psychological effects which have been shown to influence a woman’s performance on cognitive tasks (Brown & Pinel, 2003; Kaiser et al., 2006), selfconstrual (Barreto et at., 2010), autobiographical memories (Dumont et al., 2008), and stress levels (King, 2005). Examining the ways in which women are affected by discrimination in various aspects of their lives provides an opportunity to understand the widespread and problematic effects of gender-based discrimination. In the current study, the author will examine the impact of discrimination on women’s narrative recollection of their past experiences. Systematic gender-based discrimination, referred to as sexism, is an oppressive phenomenon which is often demonstrated in gender stereotyping, degrading comments, and negative behaviors toward women (Swim, Cohen, Hyers, Ferguson, 2001). Sexism can also have an ambivalent quality (Glick & Fisk, 1996; Swim et al., 1995), meaning that while some sexism is overtly antagonistic or hostile, other sexism can devalue women while still appearing socially acceptable. This ambivalence of sexism is displayed in positive attitudes toward women, while simultaneously acknowledging and perpetuating women’s lack of competence and ability (Barreto et al., 2010). The ambivalence helps to distinguish two distinct forms of sexism: hostile and benevolent sexism (Glick & Fisk, 1996; Swim et al., 1995). Hostile sexism is an overt form of sexism, expressing blatant and antagonistic forms of gender inequity toward women (Glick & Fisk, 1996). An example of this sexism would be treating a working woman with disrespect and telling her that her place should be in the home rather than in the work place.