Molly Fisher, School of Psychology PhD candidate, will speak on:

Deconstructing the link between hostile sexism and psychological wellbeing

Abstract:

Hostile sexism encompasses beliefs about women being manipulative and seeking men’s power, which are motivated by a desire to reduce the dependency men have on women. Although men’s endorsement of hostile sexism has negative consequences for their romantic relationships, research has not yet investigated whether there are negative consequences for men’s psychological wellbeing. I investigate the link between men’s endorsement of hostile sexism and poorer psychological wellbeing by examining the influence of relational interdependence and social support seeking.

Study 1 identifies a link between men’s hostile sexism and lower intentions to seek support, and tests the plausibility of emotion-based mechanisms relevant to hostile sexism. Study 2 will investigate the specific behaviours exhibited by men who more strongly endorse hostile sexism to determine how they resist support. Finally, Study 3 will utilise longitudinal data from romantic couples to examine the long-term costs of men’s hostile sexism on psychological wellbeing.

Supervisors: Matt Hammond and Marc Wilson