Contemporary sexism and discrimination: The importance of respect for men and women

Three studies supported the proposal that one important aspect of contempor ary sexism is greater respect for men than for women and that this differen tial respect has a unique role to play in mediating hiring discrimination d istinct from gender stereotypes. In Studies 1 and 2, participants in a hiri ng paradigm evidenced bias favoring men on both respect ratings and hiring recommendations. Moreover, higher respect for male than for female applican ts accounted for hiring discrimination. Some evidence that gender stereotyp es contributed to hiring discrimination also emerged but it was weaker and less consistent. In Study 3, respect was shown to have a causal effect on h iring recommendations for a high-status job. It is suggested that a focus o n respect for ma and women could complement currently popular stereotyping perspectives on sexism and discrimination.