Using Sex to Get the Story: Testing Reliability and Validity of a Scale Measuring a Sexist Stereotype of Female Reporters

Abstract

Prejudicial behaviors toward female journalists are on the rise, yet few instruments are available to measure stereotyping of female journalists. The present work validates a new scale for measuring the prominent sexual stereotype that female journalists have sex with their sources using exploratory (N = 561) and confirmatory factor analysis (N = 580). Results reveal that the proposed scale has a reliable and replicable factor structure that is distinct from measures of sexism and journalist mistrust, attesting to concurrent and discriminant validity. The proposed scale also negatively predicts the credibility of news written by women, which demonstrates predictive validity. Theoretical and practical implications of these results for journalism studies is discussed.