Beliefs About Women Scale – BAWS
A self-report multidimensional instrument designed to assess stereotypic beliefs and attitudes toward women across fifteen distinct domains.
Scale Development & Technical Details
Scale Overview
The Beliefs About Women Scale – BAWS was developed by William E. Snell, Jr. & Sharyn S. Belk (1986). It is designed to measure Stereotypic beliefs about women. The scale is intended for use with Adults.
Scale Structure
This instrument consists of 75 items organized into 15 factors/subscales: Women are less dominating than men, Women are more passive than men, Women are more vulnerable than men, Women have more emotional insight than men, Women are more interpersonal than men, Women are less career interested than men, Women are less intelligent than men, Women are less decisive than men, Women are less sexual than men, Menstruation debilitates women, Women are more appearance conscious than men, Women are sexually manipulative/teasing, Women are more moral than men, Women act sillier than men, Women use manipulative strategies.
| Factor / Subscale | Items | N |
|---|---|---|
| Women are less dominating than men | 1,16,31,46,61 | 5 |
| Women are more passive than men | 2,17,32,47,62 | 5 |
| Women are more vulnerable than men | 3,18,33,48,63 | 5 |
| Women have more emotional insight than men | 4,19,34,49,64 | 5 |
| Women are more interpersonal than men | 5,20,35,50,65 | 5 |
| Women are less career interested than men | 6,21,36,51,66 | 5 |
| Women are less intelligent than men | 7,22,37,52,67 | 5 |
| Women are less decisive than men | 8,23,38,53,68 | 5 |
| Women are less sexual than men | 9,24,39,54,69 | 5 |
| Menstruation debilitates women | 10,25,40,55,70 | 5 |
| Women are more appearance conscious than men | 11,26,41,56,71 | 5 |
| Women are sexually manipulative/teasing | 12,27,42,57,72 | 5 |
| Women are more moral than men | 13,28,43,58,73 | 5 |
| Women act sillier than men | 14,29,44,59,74 | 5 |
| Women use manipulative strategies | 15,30,45,60,75 | 5 |
Response Format
Respondents rate each item using a custom response format.
Response anchors: -2 = Strongly Disagree, -1 = Slightly Disagree, 0 = Neither agree nor disagree, 1 = Slightly Agree, 2 = Strongly Agree.
The scale includes 14 reverse-scored items to reduce acquiescence bias.
Scoring
Items are scored by subscale, with each subscale sum representing a distinct dimension.
Total scores range from -10 to 10. Interpretation guidelines:
- Disagreement with stereotype: -10 – -3
- Neutral / Undecided: -2 – 2
- Agreement with stereotype: 3 – 10
Psychometric Properties
Internal Consistency: The scale has demonstrated good to excellent internal consistency with reported Cronbach’s alpha values of Not specified.
Administration
The scale is self-administered and typically takes approximately 15 minutes to complete. It can be administered individually or in group settings. No special training is required for administration.