Paper short abstract:

In a series of three online studies the interrelation between gender role ideals, hostile/benevolent sexism expressed in job descriptions, perceived gender specific work competencies, and career aspirations of Japanese university students was examined.

Paper long abstract:

The interrelation between gender role ideals, hostile/benevolent sexism, perceived gender specific work competencies, and career aspirations was examined in a three stage online study targeting Japanese university students. Stage 1 focused on the differential effects of a participant's pre-existing levels of benevolent and hostile sexism on the perception of work-related competencies of women in general, family role ideals, and the career ambitions of female participants. In stage 2, participants were introduced to a crisis scenario that called for the selection of competent candidates to fill vacant leadership and assistant positions in a company. Despite the fact that the task-relevant competencies of females and males in the candidate pool were exactly matched, the parameters measured in stage 1 had a prominent influence on the relative likelihood of a participant assigning male or female candidates to leadership positions. In stage 3, participants were randomly presented a number of fictitious job descriptions that contained either openly hostile, benevolent, or no sexist passages at all. The presence and type of sexism displayed had differential effects on the perceived attractiveness of the job offer for females, perceived employer sexism, perceived employer goodwill, and the well-being and competency self-perceptions of female participants that underscore the unique and insidious dangers of benevolent sexism.