Competition between women

Abstract

Hypothesized that women attach importance to the physical attractiveness and appeal of members of their own sex in a manner that is not paralleled in males. It was also hypothesized that women compete among themselves in regards to attractiveness and attempt to find faults in particularly attractive women, because attractive females are threatening to the self-image. In Exps I and II, one sentence cue depicting attractive individuals looking at their same sex counterparts were distributed to 205 male and 345 female White undergraduates. Although the cues were in all other respects ambiguous, a number of males wrote responses attacking attractive males who look at other men. Many females, however, responded by writing themes concerned with jealousy, fear, envy, insecurity, and mistrust. In Exp III, 106 White female undergraduates were given a questionnaire based on the competitive themes expressed in positive and negative responses made to the cues. Data indicate that a large number of females were critical of other women, particularly attractive ones, and were concerned about their own appearance in relation to other women. Statements and questions concerning competition between women are presented. (21 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2004 APA, all rights reserved)