Predictors of Hostile and Benevolent Sexism of Indian Males and Females Across Age Groups

Abstract

The aim of the present study is to determine the predictors of Benevolent and Hostile Sexism of Indian males and females across two age groups (18–27-year-old and 28–35-year-old) of Kolkata, India. The study has investigated the role of age and gender on hostile and benevolent sexism, social attitudes and gender-role beliefs. It is a cross-sectional survey design. Employing multistage stratified random sampling, data has been collected from 234 individuals, where 118 are students (49 males and 69 females) and 116 are working individuals (68 males and 48 females), using Attitudes Toward Women Scale – Short Version (Spence, Helmrich & Stapp, 1978), Ambivalent Sexism Inventory (Glick & Fiske, 1996) and Gender Role Belief Scale- Short Version (Brown & Gladstone, 2012).The results have shown that gender has a significant role on hostile and benevolent sexism, social attitudes and gender-role beliefs; age has a significant role on benevolent sexism. Social attitude is a significant predictor of hostile sexism and gender-role beliefs and social attitude are significant predictors of benevolent sexism. These results are crucial for developing effective interventions to combat sexism and promote gender equality in India.