How Do Women’s Attitudes Towards Heterosexual Men Differ By Their Sexual Orientation? A Test of Competing Hypotheses

ABSTRACT

Though feminist theory asserts that women’s sexuality influences their general relationship with heterosexual men, the leading psychological measure of women’s attitudes towards heterosexual men, the Ambivalence towards Men Inventory (AMI), has not yet accounted for sexual orientation as a meaningful individual difference. In this current United States-based research (N = 318), we revisited the AMI to examine women’s attitudes towards heterosexual men as a function of women’s sexual orientation (i.e. lesbian, bisexual, or heterosexual). Drawing from feminist and psychological theories of attitudes towards men, we 1) tested competing hypotheses regarding whether lesbian and bisexual women or heterosexual women would be highest in hostility, and 2) hypothesised that heterosexual women would hold more benevolent attitudes than lesbian and bisexual women. When controlling for feminist identity, lesbian women held more hostile attitudes towards heterosexual men, specifically on subscales of Resentment of Paternalism and Heterosexual Hostility. However, there were no differences in benevolence towards heterosexual men between groups. We discuss hostility as a reaction to gendered oppression and the utility of benevolence in modern times. Testing the AMI with a sexually diverse sample reveals nuanced understandings of intergroup relations and demonstrates a need to establish more inclusive measures of gendered attitudes.

KEYWORDS:

• Lesbian
• bisexual
• heterosexual
• gender
• intergroup attitudes
• hostility
• benevolence
• United States

Disclosure of potential conflicts of interest

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1. Consistent with Zucker (2004), we also asked participants to indicate whether they considered themselves to be feminists by selecting ‘yes’ or ‘no.’ Sixty-five percent of women identified as feminist and 36% did not (percentages rounded). We then included three items by Zucker (2004) to assess cardinal beliefs of feminists; however, these items did not evidence strong reliability in a scale (α < .60). We preferred our measure to focus on identity rather than beliefs; therefore, we decided to use Rudman and Fairchild’s Feminist Identity Index (Rudman & Fairchild, 2007).

Additional information

Funding

This research received no specific grant from any funding agency in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors.

Notes on contributors

Mary Kruk

Mary Kruk, M.S., is a Ph.D. candidate in Psychology and Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies at The Pennsylvania State University (Penn State). Mary received her B.A. in Women’s Studies from University of Michigan where she worked as research assistant and laboratory manager in Dr. Terri Conley’s Stigmatized Sexualities Laboratory. Her research programme focuses on the experiences of people with stigmatised identities, with an emphasis on women and sexual minorities. She is interested in minority/majority intergroup relations; in particular, some of her work examines minority groups’ attitudes towards high status majority groups (e.g., White men). She also conducts research on how minority groups navigate their social and physical environments vigilant to informational cues about safety and threat. Much of her research has implications for understanding the social well-being and psychological health of people with stigmatised identities. In 2020, she became a Translational Science Fellow and her research was supported by the National Institutes of Health, and she has been recognised with the Laura Richardson Whitaker Award for her scholarly excellence in Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies.

Jes L. Matsick

Jes L. Matsick, Ph.D., is an Assistant Professor of Psychology and Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies (WGSS) at The Pennsylvania State University (Penn State). She received her Ph.D. in Psychology and Women’s Studies from the University of Michigan. She works at the intersection of sexuality studies, gender psychology, and prejudice research. Influenced by feminist standpoint theory, her work prioritises LGBTQ+ individuals’ experiences to understand contemporary intergroup dynamics. She uses social psychological and feminist theories to examine social issues, such as sexual prejudice and social disparities. She directs the Underrepresented Perspectives Lab at Penn State, in which she trains students to conduct feminist psychological research. She serves as a mentor to Ph.D. candidates in Penn State’s dual-degree Ph.D. programme in Psychology and WGSS. Since 2010, she has published 30 scientific papers and book chapters, and her research has been funded by the American Institute of Bisexuality, the Gay and Lesbian Medical Association, the National Science Foundation, the American Psychological Association, and the Society for the Psychological Study of Social Issues. She is a two-time fellow of the Feminist Institute for Academic Psychologists, and most recently she received Penn State’s Academic Achievement Award for her research, teaching, and service to LGBTQ+ communities.