Citation

Smith ER. Women Ther. 1992; 12(1-2): 187-200.

Copyright

(Copyright © 1992, Informa - Taylor and Francis Group)

DOI

10.1300/J015V12N01_15

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

Given the amount of discussion and debate surrounding issues relating to sexism, it is clear that individuals disagree over what particular aspects of life are appropriately labeled sexist. The present study was designed to assess the nature of disagreement among individuals about what constitutes sexism and to show that such disagreement can be detrimental to the success of therapy. Sexism perceived in a series of hypothetical scenarios correlated positively with sexism experienced in one's own life. This suggests that individuals differ in the extent to which they perceive sexism in identical incidents. Men scored significantly lower than did women in the amount of sexism perceived in the scenarios. This difference should be detrimental to male/female interactions since women made sexist attributions about men's behaviors which, to men, were innocuous. The data are also indicative of the lack of awareness among men of sexism, as compared to women. Therapists will benefit by being sensitive to such perceptual biases in themselves and in their clients.