On the Relationship between Feminism and Use of “MS.”

Abstract

Spence and Helmreich's Attitudes Toward Women Scale was administered to 235 undergraduate women who were then asked to indicate, as part of a General Information Sheet, their names and which form of address they preferred from among Mrs., Miss, and Ms. While fewer than one-quarter of the women chose “Ms.”, it was found, as hypothesized, that these women had higher scores on the Attitudes toward Women Scale than those who chose “Miss” or “Mrs.” However, while significant, the difference was relatively small and possible interpretations of it are discussed.