That is What a Feminist Looks Like: Identification and Exploration of the Factors Underlying the Concept of Feminism and Predicting the Endorsement of Traditional Gender Roles

Abstract

The present studies identified the underlying attitudinal factor structure of the concept of feminism, providing a measure of what it means to be a feminist, and explored the predictive validity of these components for self-identifying as a feminist and endorsing traditional gender roles. Data were gathered from student populations (Study 1 n = 199, Study 2 n = 230) and community samples obtained through MTurk (Study 1 n = 204, Study 2 n = 260). Study 1 identified, and Study 2 replicated, four components underlying the concept of feminism (positive personal characteristics, negative stereotypes of feminists, equality/fairness ideals, and stereotypes of womanhood). Further, cluster analysis identified two groups of participants across both studies: (1) one that associates feminism with equality/fairness ideals while being relatively neutral towards the other factors, and (2) one that accentuates the positive aspects of feminism (equality/fairness ideals and positive personal characteristics) while downplaying the negative aspects of feminism (negative stereotypes of feminists). Cluster membership was related to self-identification as a feminist, with the group that accentuates the positive while downplaying the negative being more likely to self-identify as feminist. These studies provide a conceptual understanding of what it means to be a feminist, helping elucidate why people might be hesitant to self-identify as feminist.