The impact of feminist stereotypes and sexual identity on feminist self-identification and collective action

ABSTRACT

The present study sought to examine the role of sexual identity and exposure to stereotypes of feminism on women’s self-identification as a feminist, endorsement of feminist attitudes, and intention to engage in collective action. Participants (N = 312; all women) disclosed their sexual identity as either heterosexual or non-heterosexual (sexual minority) and were randomly assigned to one of three conditions: exposure to positive stereotypes of feminists, to negative stereotypes of feminists, control condition (no exposure to stereotypes). Results showed stark differences between heterosexual and sexual minority women, with sexual minority women scoring significantly higher on self-identification as feminist, feminist attitudes, and collective action intentions. Exposure to positive stereotypes of feminists increased feminist self-identification regardless of sexual identity. Exposure to negative stereotypes reduced self-identification with feminism, and lower identification mediated the path between negative stereotyping and collective action. Implications of these findings for the advancement of women’s rights movements are discussed.

KEYWORDS:

• Stereotypes
• feminism
• collective action
• identification
• LGBTQ+

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Data availability statement

The data described in this article are openly available in the Open Science Framework at 10.17605/OSF.IO/7VXPR

Open Scholarship

This article has earned the Center for Open science badges for Open Materials through Open Practices Disclosure. The materials are openly accessible at 10.17605/OSF.IO/7VXPR

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Anna Moore

Anna Moore received her MSc from University of Greenwich, UK, where she focused on researching feminist and sexual identities. She now researches young people's mental health and wellbeing in school settings and has a particular interest in the sustainability of school-based interventions.

Sofia Stathi

Sofia Stathi is a social psychologist at the University of Greenwich, UK. She obtained her PhD from the University of Birmingham, and was then a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Kent. Her research focuses on prejudice, stereotyping, and relations among majority and minority groups.