Individuals’ number of children is associated with benevolent sexism

Abstract

Is having children related to benevolent sexism? Two theoretical accounts—benevolent sexism as role justification and benevolent sexism as a mating strategy—suggest the possibility of a positive and bidirectional association. Gender disparities in childrearing could prompt inequality-justifying endorsement of benevolent sexism and/or endorsing benevolent sexism could promote traditional gender roles that facilitate having more children. We assessed the bidirectional associations between individuals’ number of children and their endorsement of benevolent sexism over a two-year period in a large national panel sample of New Zealanders (N = 6,017). Zero-inflated structural equation modeling indicated that having a greater number of children was associated with stronger endorsement of benevolent sexism two years later, but no evidence emerged for the reverse direction. This study illustrated ways to tentatively test predictions of theoretical accounts on sexism and identified new, though small, evidence for the role justification perspective.