| Abstract: | Perceptions of menstruating women were studied in a sample of 244, predominantly European American, college freshmen. Both women and men rated the menstruating woman, as compared with the average woman, as higher on the Neuroticism factor from Lippa's (1991) measure of the Big Five personality factors. Men also rated her as lower on the Openness, Agreeableness, and Conscientiousness factors, and women rated her lower on the Extraversion factor. Women rated her as perceiving herself as less masculine and more feminine. Both women and men rated her as less energized and sexy, but more irritable,sad, and angry. In addition, men rated her as less clean and fresh,nurturing, and reasonable, and more spacey and annoying. Significant relationships were found between negative impressions of the menstruating woman and the Hostile Sexism Scale ( Glick & Fiske, 1996 ). Although most ratings by men and women were negative, women perceived the menstruating woman as more maternal,strong, and trustworthy. |
