Citation

Kahn A. Sex Roles 1981; 7(8): 857-866.

Copyright

(Copyright © 1981, Holtzbrinck Springer Nature Publishing Group)

DOI

10.1007/BF00287770

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

Thirty-two profeminist and 32 antifeminist men interacted with a woman who assertively maintained a position different from the subject. The woman was either an expert in the topic being discussed or an expert in an irrelevant area, and the topic of discussion was either traditionally masculine or feminine. The men's behavior was unaffected by their feminist beliefs, even when three distinct behaviors were combined to form a composite measure. As predicted, however, profeminist and antifeminist men did differ in their ratings of the women and the situation, with profeminists preferring a woman who was assertive on a masculine topic, and antifeminists preferring an assertive woman on a feminine topic. The data suggest that men who agree with profeminist beliefs are not merely responding in a socially desirable manner, although their beliefs are probably not sufficiently strong to result in distinctive overt behavior.