Re-visiting Ambivalent Sexism Inventory (ASI): Construct Validity of Benevolent Sexism and Measurement Invariance of ASI

The ambivalent sexism theory states that sexism comprises hostile and benevolent beliefs and that benevolent sexism is a second-order factor consisting of protective paternalism, complementary gender differentiation and heterosexual intimacy. The subdimensions of benevolent sexism toward women have...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Timuçin Aktan, Bilge Yalçındağ
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Istanbul University Press 2022-04-01
Series:Psikoloji Çalışmaları
Subjects:
Online Access:https://cdn.istanbul.edu.tr/file/JTA6CLJ8T5/125ACDF7A5CC408496DDC61A665C7C4F
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
_version_ 1850149279050498048
author Timuçin Aktan
Bilge Yalçındağ
author_facet Timuçin Aktan
Bilge Yalçındağ
author_sort Timuçin Aktan
collection DOAJ
description The ambivalent sexism theory states that sexism comprises hostile and benevolent beliefs and that benevolent sexism is a second-order factor consisting of protective paternalism, complementary gender differentiation and heterosexual intimacy. The subdimensions of benevolent sexism toward women have recently piqued people’s interest. The Turkish version of the ambivalent sexism inventory’s (ASI’s) construct validity should be reexamined in light of this apparent interest in contemporary studies. Accordingly, in the current study, the aim is to test the preferred structural model in which protective sexism was defined as a second-order factor consisting of protective patriarchy, complementary differentiation between genders and heterosexual intimacy. Moreover, measurement invariance analysis will be used to test the stability of the scale’s structure in different samples. The data of 1803 participants from different studies conducted between 2009 and 2019 (1194 women and 593 men, 16 unidentified) were merged. Findings of the confirmatory factor analyses indicated that the four-factor solution (i.e. hostile sexism and three subfactors of benevolence) fitted the data better than the other models (i.e. one-factor and two-factor models, and the preferred structural model). Explanatory factor analysis via exploratory structural equation modeling revealed a two-factor solution composed of benevolence and hostility, but the findings also underlined two psychometrically weak items. Finally, measurement invariance analyses demonstrated full invariance between private and public university samples, and an invariance between women and men samples except for sample means. Only the means of the samples differed in the women-men comparison, but in a theoretically predicted way, and men had higher scores in all subscales except for complementary gender differentiation. In sum, our findings provided significant support for the construct validity and measurement invariance of ASI while raising questions about the theoretical construct measured and the items needed to be revised.
format Article
id doaj-art-171f947520ce415fb6b452f7c5039b83
institution OA Journals
issn 2602-2982
language English
publishDate 2022-04-01
publisher Istanbul University Press
record_format Article
series Psikoloji Çalışmaları
spelling doaj-art-171f947520ce415fb6b452f7c5039b832025-08-20T02:26:59ZengIstanbul University PressPsikoloji Çalışmaları2602-29822022-04-0142119923010.26650/SP2022-820401123456Re-visiting Ambivalent Sexism Inventory (ASI): Construct Validity of Benevolent Sexism and Measurement Invariance of ASITimuçin Aktan0https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8159-9278Bilge Yalçındağ1https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7867-7845Afyon Kocatepe Üniversitesi, Afyon, TurkiyeAbdullah Gül Üniversitesi, Kayseri, TurkiyeThe ambivalent sexism theory states that sexism comprises hostile and benevolent beliefs and that benevolent sexism is a second-order factor consisting of protective paternalism, complementary gender differentiation and heterosexual intimacy. The subdimensions of benevolent sexism toward women have recently piqued people’s interest. The Turkish version of the ambivalent sexism inventory’s (ASI’s) construct validity should be reexamined in light of this apparent interest in contemporary studies. Accordingly, in the current study, the aim is to test the preferred structural model in which protective sexism was defined as a second-order factor consisting of protective patriarchy, complementary differentiation between genders and heterosexual intimacy. Moreover, measurement invariance analysis will be used to test the stability of the scale’s structure in different samples. The data of 1803 participants from different studies conducted between 2009 and 2019 (1194 women and 593 men, 16 unidentified) were merged. Findings of the confirmatory factor analyses indicated that the four-factor solution (i.e. hostile sexism and three subfactors of benevolence) fitted the data better than the other models (i.e. one-factor and two-factor models, and the preferred structural model). Explanatory factor analysis via exploratory structural equation modeling revealed a two-factor solution composed of benevolence and hostility, but the findings also underlined two psychometrically weak items. Finally, measurement invariance analyses demonstrated full invariance between private and public university samples, and an invariance between women and men samples except for sample means. Only the means of the samples differed in the women-men comparison, but in a theoretically predicted way, and men had higher scores in all subscales except for complementary gender differentiation. In sum, our findings provided significant support for the construct validity and measurement invariance of ASI while raising questions about the theoretical construct measured and the items needed to be revised.https://cdn.istanbul.edu.tr/file/JTA6CLJ8T5/125ACDF7A5CC408496DDC61A665C7C4Fbenevolent sexismhostile sexismconstruct validitymeasurement invariance
spellingShingle Timuçin Aktan
Bilge Yalçındağ
Re-visiting Ambivalent Sexism Inventory (ASI): Construct Validity of Benevolent Sexism and Measurement Invariance of ASI
Psikoloji Çalışmaları
benevolent sexism
hostile sexism
construct validity
measurement invariance
title Re-visiting Ambivalent Sexism Inventory (ASI): Construct Validity of Benevolent Sexism and Measurement Invariance of ASI
title_full Re-visiting Ambivalent Sexism Inventory (ASI): Construct Validity of Benevolent Sexism and Measurement Invariance of ASI
title_fullStr Re-visiting Ambivalent Sexism Inventory (ASI): Construct Validity of Benevolent Sexism and Measurement Invariance of ASI
title_full_unstemmed Re-visiting Ambivalent Sexism Inventory (ASI): Construct Validity of Benevolent Sexism and Measurement Invariance of ASI
title_short Re-visiting Ambivalent Sexism Inventory (ASI): Construct Validity of Benevolent Sexism and Measurement Invariance of ASI
title_sort re visiting ambivalent sexism inventory asi construct validity of benevolent sexism and measurement invariance of asi
topic benevolent sexism
hostile sexism
construct validity
measurement invariance
url https://cdn.istanbul.edu.tr/file/JTA6CLJ8T5/125ACDF7A5CC408496DDC61A665C7C4F
work_keys_str_mv AT timucinaktan revisitingambivalentsexisminventoryasiconstructvalidityofbenevolentsexismandmeasurementinvarianceofasi
AT bilgeyalcındag revisitingambivalentsexisminventoryasiconstructvalidityofbenevolentsexismandmeasurementinvarianceofasi