Chivalry and the Moderating Effect of Ambivalent Sexism: Individual Differences in Crime Seriousness Judgments

Abstract

Previous studies have shown that female offenders frequently receive more lenient judgments than equivalent males. Chivalry theories argue that such leniency is the result of paternalistic, benevolent attitudes toward women, in particular toward those who fulfill stereotypical female roles. Yet to date, studies have not examined whether such leniency is indeed associated with paternalistic societal attitudes toward women. The present study goes beyond the investigation of demographics and employs Glick and Fiske's (1996) concepts of hostile and benevolent sexism. We use these concepts to highlight the role of individual differences in attitudes toward women as a key to our understanding of lenient attitudes toward female offenders. Eight hundred forty respondents from a national sample of Israeli residents evaluated the seriousness of hypothetical crime scenarios with (traditional and nontraditional) female and male offenders. As hypothesized, hostile and benevolent sexism moderate the effect of women's ''traditionality'' on respondents' crime seriousness judgments and on the severity of sentences assigned.

Bad Woman, Bad Victim? Disentangling the Effects of Victim Stereotypicality, Gender Stereotypicality and Benevolent Sexism on Acquaintance Rape Victim Blame

“…Consistent with previous research (e.g., Abrams et al 2003;Dardenne et al 2007;Herzog and Oreg 2008;Moya et al 2007;Sibley et al 2007;Viki et al 2004;Viki et al 2005) that has demonstrated the negative consequences for women who deviate from benevolent sexists' prescriptive stereotypic beliefs, the current study provides further evidence for the influence of adherence to broad gender stereotypes on benevolent sexists' attributions of blame in certain instances of acquaintance rape. Unlike previous research (e.g.…”

“…It is possible that victim stereotypes identified in other countries (e.g., the U.S., Lonsway and Fitzgerald 1994) may not currently be applied or endorsed in Australia. The first preliminary study was conducted to identify Australians' current beliefs about rape victims, and to check Australian participants' agreement with elements of traditional gender stereotypes (Hebl et al 2007;Herzog and Oreg 2008;Kite et al 2008;Viki et al 2005).…”

Sex, Sexual Orientation, and Sexism: What Influence Do These Factors Have on Verdicts in a Crime-of-Passion Case?

“…Researchers suggest individuals high in benevolent sexism may be accepting of certain types of sexual violence when they are perpetrated against women that violate traditional sex roles (Abrams et al, 2003;Viki & Abrams, 2002;Viki et al, 2004). Recent preliminary research illustrates high benevolent sexist attitudes correspond with providing less severe punishments for female perpetrators of various crimes (e.g., homicide, theft) compared to male perpetrators who commit the same crime (Herzog & Oreg, 2008). Does benevolent sexism impact perceptions of heterosexual and homosexual women in crime-of-passion homicide cases?…”

“…Benevolent sexism toward women has been found to influence jury decision-making (Abrams, Viki, Masser, & Bohner, 2003;Herzog & Oreg, 2008;Viki & Abrams, 2002;Viki, Abrams, & Masser, 2004). Glick and Fiske (1996) developed the Ambivalent Sexism Inventory to measure hostile and benevolent sexism attitudes towards women.…”

A propensity score matching analysis of the relationship between victim sex and capital juror decision-making in North Carolina

“…Regarding gender, prior research has shown that offenders who kill women are generally perceived as more blameworthy and more dangerous to society than offenders who kill men given the lower rates of criminal involvement among females as well as perceptions that women are weak and/or vulnerable (Baumer et al, 2000). Studies also demonstrate that disparate sentencing among those who kill females may be enhanced in cases involving female victims who closely resemble traditional feminine archetypes (e.g., wives and mothers) or diminished for cases involving female victims who deviate from accepted gender roles (e.g., women involved in illegal activity) (Herzog and Oreg, 2008;Steury and Frank, 1990).…”