Beliefs About Women Scale – BAWS
A 75-item self-report scale designed to assess stereotypic attitudes and beliefs towards women across 15 distinct subscales.
Scale Development & Technical Details
Scale Overview
The Beliefs About Women Scale – BAWS was developed by William E. Snell, Jr. & Linda Godwin (1986). It is designed to measure Stereotypic beliefs and attitudes towards 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, Women are more passive than, Women are more vulnerable than, Women have more emotional insight than, Women are more interpersonal than, Women are less career interested than, Women are less intelligent than, Women are less decisive than, Women are less sexual than, Menstruation debilitates, Women are more appearance conscious than, Women are sexual, Women are more moral than, Women act sillier than men, Women use manipulative strategies.
| Factor / Subscale | Items | N |
|---|---|---|
| Women are less dominating than | 1,16,31,46,61 | 5 |
| Women are more passive than | 2,17,32,47,62 | 5 |
| Women are more vulnerable than | 3,18,33,48,63 | 5 |
| Women have more emotional insight than | 4,19,34,49,64 | 5 |
| Women are more interpersonal than | 5,20,35,50,65 | 5 |
| Women are less career interested than | 6,21,36,51,66 | 5 |
| Women are less intelligent than | 7,22,37,52,67 | 5 |
| Women are less decisive than | 8,23,38,53,68 | 5 |
| Women are less sexual than | 9,24,39,54,69 | 5 |
| Menstruation debilitates | 10,25,40,55,70 | 5 |
| Women are more appearance conscious than | 11,26,41,56,71 | 5 |
| Women are sexual | 12,27,42,57,72 | 5 |
| Women are more moral than | 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 -2 to 2. Interpretation guidelines:
- Disagreement with stereotype: -2 – 0
- Neutral / Undecided: 0 – 0
- Agreement with stereotype: 0 – 2
Psychometric Properties
Internal Consistency: The scale has demonstrated good to excellent internal consistency with reported Cronbach’s alpha values of Not specified in source text.
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.