An investigation of measures of modern and old-fashioned sexism

Working from the Principle of Beneficence we make the case that there is a need for adequate measures of sexism in men and women. Swim, Aikin, Hall an d Hunter (1995) suggest that modern sexism represents a constellation of be liefs in which individuals: (a) disavow women's present-day discrimination; (b) reject women's demands for political and economic power; and (c) disap prove of policies designed to promote gender equality. To assess this const ruct, Swim et al. (1995) developed the Modern Sexism Scale (MSS), and to da te, few studies have assessed its reliability and factor structure. Using d ata from 187 Canadian participants, confirmatory factor analysis was used t o assess the unidimensionality of the MSS and Swim and associates' (1995) O ld-Fashioned Sexism Scale (OFSS). Results do not support Swim et al.'s conc eptualization of modern sexism as a unidimensional construct; however, the OFSS fit a unidimensional model. The implications of these findings are dis cussed.