Representations of Family Practices, Belief in Sex Differences, and Sexism

Two hundred twenty-one adults and young adults answered one of three versions of a questionnaire of opinion scales, which induced a comparison between three pairs of targets (husband and wife; husband and home helper; wife and home helper). After they evaluated the targets’ contributions to family work, participants judged whether the contributions were fair and satisfactory. Then participants’ degree of belief in sex differences and level of sexism were measured. Results show that spouses’ contributions are only judged satisfactory when wife was compared with home helper; male respondents’ reported that they believed more strongly in sex differences when husband and wife were compared; men’s and women’s level of benevolent sexism did not differ when husband was compared with home helper.