Benevolent and Hostile Sexism in Endorsement of Heterosexist Marriage Traditions Among Adolescents and Adults

Abstract

Within most western countries, gendered proposal, surname, and wedding traditions remain widely endorsed. A previous study indicated that endorsement of proposal and surname traditions is associated with higher levels of benevolent sexism (BS) in university students in the USA. Three studies (N = 367) extended research to adolescents (dating age) and 30-year-olds (typical first-time marriage age). For the first time, these studies examined gendered wedding traditions (e.g., father walking a bride down the aisle). Different combinations of ambivalent sexism predicted participants’ opinions about surname change after marriage and the choice of children’s surnames. In younger adolescents (11–18 years; 56 boys, 88 girls, 68.1% White), hostile sexism (HS) predicted endorsement of surname change, whereas benevolent sexism predicted endorsement in 16- to 18-year-olds (58 boys, 84 girls, 76.8% White) and 30-year-olds (37 men, 44 women, 74.1% White). In adolescent samples, both BS and HS predicted endorsement of patronymic traditions for children, whereas only BS did in the adult sample. The findings suggest that different types of sexism predict traditional beliefs in specific age groups.