Identity in Action: Predictors of Feminist Self-Identification and Collective Action

Abstract

The present study sought to explore how women's life experiences influenced their beliefs, and how those beliefs in turn influenced feminist self-identification. Additionally, we sought to determine whether feminist self-identification led to increased collective action on behalf of women. Female participants (N=282) from two US college campuses and online listservs completed an online survey assessing feminist self-identification, collective action, and life experiences. Conservative, liberal, and radical beliefs were assessed as were evaluations of feminists. A structural equation model was used to explore these relationships; life experiences were found to influence women's beliefs, which in turn influenced feminist selfidentification, which influenced collective action. We found that life experiences may serve as a catalyst for both feminist self-identification and collective action.

When Declaring “I am a Feminist” Matters: Labeling is Linked to Activism

“…Rather, it is feminist beliefs independent of labeling that seem to make these other linkages, a point that is more fully explored elsewhere (Yoder et al 2009). Consistent with prior research (Nelson et al 2008;Zucker 2004), a yes/no operationalization of being feminist predicts reported activism in our study, both strengthening this conclusion and also underscoring the importance of this specific approach to measuring being feminist. When a more convoluted definition is used, such as Myaskovsky and Wittig's 7-point measure (Liss et al 2004), this relationship becomes more muddled.…”

“…Specifically, and consistent with past research (Nelson et al 2008), we expect a MANOVA to show that feminist self-labeling is associated with feminist activism such that women who endorse the label of feminist will engage in more feminist acts than selfavowed nonfeminists. As a more rigorous test of the power of labeling using a MANCOVA, we further hypothesize that self-labeling will remain predictive of greater collective action above and beyond the influence of our constellation of feminist beliefs.…”

“…Self-labeling has been measured as a yes/no response to a simple item like "Do you consider yourself a feminist?" (e.g., Nelson et al 2008;Liss and Erchull 2010), along a continuum from 1 (not at all) to 4 (very much) (Cowan et al 1992), and along a 7-point scale used by Myaskovsky and Wittig (1997) that combined selflabeling with opinions about feminism and how public one's label is (7-I call myself a feminist around others and am currently active in the women's movement). Although different definitions of self-labeling do yield overlapping conclusions, they also expose some differences (Liss et al 2001), underscoring the need for more precise measurement and application.…”

“…Although different definitions of self-labeling do yield overlapping conclusions, they also expose some differences (Liss et al 2001), underscoring the need for more precise measurement and application. The dominant outcome linked to adoption of the yes/no label is political activism (Duncan 2010;Nelson et al 2008;Zucker 2004), although Liss et al (2004) did not find support for this linkage when they used Myaskovsky and Wittig's (1997) 7-point measure of self-labeling.…”

Why can’t we all just get along? A social psychological examination of women’s intra-gender hostility

“…Implicit in this definition is a concern for the welfare of, and positive attitudes toward women, as a group which should be associated with less intra-gender hostility. Further, endorsement of feminist attitudes predicts engagement in gender-related collective action (Nelson, Liss, Erchull, Hurt, Ramsey, Turner, & Haines, 2008) and greater recognition of gender discrimination (Schneider, 1982;Moradi & Subich, 2002), suggesting that an underlying desire for social change would mitigate intra-gender hostility.…”