Feminist identities and preferred strategies for advancing women's positive self-concept.

Abstract

This study was an attempt to (a) determine the generalizability of the American-based Feminist Identity Development Scale (FIDS; Bargad & Hyde, 1991) to female students in a New Zealand university and (b) examine the relationship between feminist identities (as measured by the FIDS) and preferred strategies for advancing women's self-concept. Female undergraduate university students (N = 145) were given the FIDS and a self-concept strategy questionnaire. The factor structure of the FIDS was replicated for four of the five stages reported by Bargad and Hyde. Failure to replicate the remaining stage (revelation) was attributed to differences in the sample populations and the wording of the subscale. Positive correlations were found between the early stage of feminist identity development and individual-oriented self-concept strategies and also between the late stage of feminist identity development and group-oriented self-concept strategies. These results suggest that as a woman's feminist identity develops, the strategies for advancing that self-concept change from individual- to group-oriented ones.