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When Women’s Gains Equal Men’s Losses: Predicting a Zero-Sum Perspective of Gender Status

Sex Roles volume 76, pages 17–26 (2017)Cite this article

Abstract

Believing that reduced discrimination against women directly corresponds to increased discrimination against men, referred to as a zero-sum perspective (ZSP), may inhibit further attempts toward gender equality. Based on a sample of 313 men and women, we developed and tested both a general measure and a domain-specific measure of the ZSP of gender status then examined sociodemographics (age, education, political orientation, religious beliefs, and past experience with discrimination) and social dominance orientation as predictors of the ZSP of shifts in gender status. Hostile and modern sexism were examined as potential mediators of this relationship. Structural equation models were computed to examine predictive paths separately for men and women. Although some similarities were found, results showed important differences in predictive paths for women and men, and supported the expected mediating role of sexism in the relationships between sociodemographic predictors and the ZSP. Findings have implications for targeting intervention efforts to enhance a win-win or non-zero-sum perspective that may facilitate efforts toward reducing gender discrimination.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychology, University of North Dakota, 319 Harvard Street, Stop 8380, Grand Forks, ND, 58202, USA

    Joelle C. Ruthig, Andre Kehn, Bradlee W. Gamblin, Karen Vanderzanden & Kelly Jones

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  1. Joelle C. Ruthig
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  2. Andre Kehn
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  3. Bradlee W. Gamblin
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  4. Karen Vanderzanden
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  5. Kelly Jones
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Correspondence to Joelle C. Ruthig.

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Ruthig, J.C., Kehn, A., Gamblin, B.W. et al. When Women’s Gains Equal Men’s Losses: Predicting a Zero-Sum Perspective of Gender Status. Sex Roles 76, 17–26 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11199-016-0651-9

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