The Effects of Abortion on Perceived Sex Role

Abstract

We investigated the effect of abortion on the sex role attitudes of 118 women undergoing the procedure. Perceived femininity, masculinity, and androgyny were measured during the week preceding the abortion, and then at 2 weeks and 3 months following the abortion. Because the decision to abort requires assertiveness not common to the traditional female role and a denial of maternity, we expected that postabortion femininity scores would decrease and masculinity scores would increase, resulting in greater androgyny. While no significant differences in femininity scores were found across the 3 testing times, masculinity and androgyny scores differed significantly from the first to third and second to third testing times.

Social dominance orientation and the political psychology of gender: A case of invariance?

“…SOCIAL DOMINANCE AND GENDER 1005 One's abortion position is, perhaps, most closely associated to genderrole issues. Given the success with which pro-choice advocates have been able to frame the abortion issue as a matter of women's "empowerment," there is very strong reason to believe that those in favor of free choice have very different gender-role norms than those espousing a prolife position (see Dixon & Strano, 1984;Izraeli & Tabory, 1988;Krishnan, 1991). Thus, there is fairly strong reason to believe that those supporting a woman's sole and unrestricted right to choose will have less traditional gender-role attitudes than those unconditionally opposed to this right.…”