Sexism as a Multidimensional Concept: An Empirical Examination of Traditional, Ambivalent, and Modern Sexism

Sexism is a complex and multi-layered concept that refers to beliefs, behaviors, or practices that harm or discriminate against people based on their gender or contribute to the perpetuation of inequalities between men and women. Sexism can manifest itself in different forms, e.g. as traditional, ambivalent, or modern sexism, reflecting varying degrees of explicitness, hostility, or paternalism towards women and gender equality. However, most empirical studies on sexism focus on one dimension and not the others, without considering the full range of the concept components and the relationships between the dimensions. In this paper, we (1) consider simultaneously a wide range of different indicators of sexism to see whether different dimensions can be empirically substantiated; (2) analyze how different dimensions of sexism relate to different predictors and outcomes of interest (such as sex, age, ideology, vote choice or policy preferences); (3) propose a measure of sexism that includes a limited range of indicators. We use data from two representative surveys conducted in Spain in 2022 (N= 2909; N=5012), in which a large number of indicators of sexist attitudes were included. Our findings contribute to our understanding of sexism as a multidimensional concept and provide instruments to assess its profile, prevalence, and consequences in contemporary societies.