Sexist discrimination and gender microaggressions: An exploration of current conceptualizations of women's experiences of sexism
Year: 2014
Type: article
Study design: Observational Study
Abstract: Women experience various forms of sexist discrimination and these experiences are linked to negative impacts at individual, institutional, and societal levels.Attempts to measure the types and frequencies of sexist experiences vary dependent on the literature base from which a researcher bases their conceptualization of sexist discrimination.Within counseling psychology literature, the construct of microaggressions has garnered mixed attention regarding its utility as a conceptualization to measure oppressive experiences, particularly regarding the concept of gender microaggressions.In order to determine if existing constructs of sexist discrimination overlap to a notable extent with the nascent concept of gender microaggressions, a sample of 957 women completed selfreport measures of several constructs of sexist discrimination (i.e., Sexist Discrimination, Everyday Sexism, Gender Harassment, and Gender Microaggressions) along with participants' beliefs of modern sexism and participants' level of psychological distress.Factor analyses were conducted to determine factor structures for the measures of sexist discrimination and a priori hypothesized overlaps were tested.In contrast to the predicted hypothesis, no factors within the construct of Gender Microaggressions overlapped with factors in other sexist discrimination measures to an extent deemed redundant.The ability to measure potential overlaps across measures was hampered by measurement issues within the Gender Microaggression measure.The results provide evidence that most women experience sexism, sexism can be experienced in a number of different iv ways, and that no one existing measure covers all of these experiences, but that most measures contain similar item content based on the pervasive nature of several types of experiences (i.e., name calling, objectification).Overall, these findings suggest that most conceptualizations of sexism share common themes and due to the negative impact on mental health, more holistic constructs that measure sexist discrimination more broadly would be beneficial to future research.v ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS In these lines I thank those who have been instrumental in the journey that has been my dissertation, and more so, my graduate education.My graduate education has intensified my growth as a person.Within this process, my relationships with others have been paramount to developing a more deep and nuanced view of the world and myself.Thank you Dawn, my advisor and mentor, who has been with me every step of the way and has spent countless hours reading and editing my work.You have also provided me with a shining example of driven and learned woman and I cannot thank you enough for challenging me to write better, think more complexly, and accomplish my goals (on a timeline).Thank you to my committee members, Drs.Feltey, Queener, Speight, and Yoder; you have taken energy from your lives to invest in my education and please know that all of your kind and challenging words have led me further down a path of my own knowledge and expertise.Thank you to Karen, Kim, Susan, and Mike, your behind-the-scenes work has allowed all aspects of my dissertation and graduate education to go that much more smoothly.Also, thank you to all the feminists and researchers who have paved the way for my success in this field.Thank you Mom, Dad, and Davemy family.You have always believed in me and never questioned my ability to achieve.Dad, thank you for your curious and skeptical mindset that have informed the researcher in me.Mom, thank you for your loving and vi caring heart that has helped me become a warm-hearted therapist.Dave, thank you for always providing me with a laugh because I have found that
Author: Stephanie S. Judson
Institution: University of Akron
Language: English
Topic: Gender and Feminist Studies
Subfield: Gender Studies
Field: Social Sciences
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W115714243