Table of Contents
Background:
In the last couple of decades, researchers have become increasingly interested in examining the many facets of gender stereotypes. One particular area on which attention has been focused concerns “stereotypic” beliefs about women. The 16-item self-report Beliefs About Women Scale BAWS is used in the investigation of women’s and men’s personal functioning, cognitive activity, and interpersonal relationships.
Psychometrics:
For psychometrics, see article: Snell, W. E., Jr. & Godwin, L. (1993). Social reactions to depictions of casual and steady acquaintance rape: The impact of AIDS exposure and stereotypic beliefs about women. Sex Roles, 29, 599-616.
Author of Tool:
Snell, W. E., Jr. & Godwin, L.
Key references:
Snell, W. E., Jr. & Godwin, L. (1993). Social reactions to depictions of casual and steady acquaintance rape: The impact of AIDS exposure and stereotypic beliefs about women. Sex Roles, 29, 599-616. Snell, W. E., Jr., Holtzman, W., Jr., Belk, S. S., Garcia, R., & Hernandez, J. E. (1990). The influence of counseling orientation and culture on mental health standards for women and men. International Journal of Intercultural Relations, 14, 73-88. Belk, S. S., & Snell, W. E., Jr. (1989). Stereotypic beliefs about women as moderators of stress-distress relationships. Journal of Clinical Psychology, 45, 665-672. Belk, S. S., Snell, W. E., Jr., Holtzman, W. H., Jr., Garcia-Falconi, R., & Hernandez-Sanchez, J. E. (1989). The impact of ethnicity, nationality, therapy orientation, and mental health standards on stereotypic beliefs about women: A pilot study. Sex Roles, 21, 671-695. Belk, S. S., & Snell, W. E., Jr. (1986). Beliefs about women: Components and correlates. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 12, 403-412. Belk, S. S., & Snell, W. E., Jr. (1986). The Beliefs About Women Scale (BAWS): Scale development and validation. Social and Behavioral Sciences Documents, 16, 10. Hampton, B., Lambert, F., & Snell, W. E., Jr. (1986). Therapists’ conceptions of mentally healthy beliefs for women and men. Journal of Rational – Emotive Therapy, 4, 107-124.
Primary use / Purpose:
An assessment of attitudes and beliefs towards women.
Beliefs About Women Scale (BAWS)
INSTRUCTIONS: The statements listed below describe attitudes toward men and women which different people have. There are no right or wrong answers, only opinions. Indicate how much you agree or disagree with each statement, using the following scale:
- A = Strongly Disagree.
- B = Slightly Disagree.
- C = Neither agree nor disagree.
- D = Slightly Agree.
- E = Strongly Agree.
- Women are less dominating than
- Women are more passive than men
- Women are more vulnerable than men
- Women can deal with their emotions better than men
- Women are more interpersonally concerned than
- Women are less career motivated than
- Women are inferior to men in their cognitive
- Men can make decisions easier than
- Women don’t generally like to be active in their sexual
- Women are not very responsible during their menstrual
- Women are more concerned with their physical appearance than men
- Women like to tease men
- Women set the standards for moral
- Women are more frivolous than
- Women tend to pout if they don’t get their
- Women are more competitive than
- Women comply more often than men
- Men are more excitable in a major crisis than women
- Women are more emotional than
- Men cannot relate to other persons as well as women
- Women care as much as men do about developing a job
- Men are superior to women in
- Women are more self-reliant than
- Most women don’t like to express their
- When they are on their periods, women are easily
- Men are as conceited about their appearance as women
- Women use seductive behavior to lead men
- Women should be treated with great
- Women are more likely than men to act in silly
- Withholding favors is one of the primary ways women obtain their goals.
- Women are more interested than men in being in control of their lives.
- Men are as submissive as women
- Women’s feelings are more easily hurt than men’s.
- Women have more insight into their feelings than men
- Women are usually more aware of other people’s feelings than men
- Women are as skillful in business-related activities as men
- Men are not as analytical as women
- Men make better leaders than women
- Most women want their partner to take the initiative in their sexual
- Women are very emotional during their
- Women spend more time attending to their physical appearance than men
- Women usually say no (sexually) when they really mean
- Women are more devout individuals than men
- Women are more childish than men
- Women try to get what they want by being
- Men want power more than women
- Women tend to give up more easily than men
- Women have more need for security than
- Men can express tender emotions better than women
- Men are usually m ore loyal to their partner/spouse than women
- Women dislike being in leadership positions more than men
- Women have greater mechanical aptitude than
- Women are usually less well-organized than
- Women are as interested in sex as men
- When a woman is on her period, she cannot concentrate very
- Women pay more attention to their looks than most men
- Women act in seductive ways just to play around with
- Men are not as sensitive to profanity as women.
- Men are less sophisticated than women.
- Women tend to use their emotions to control
- Women are more aggressive than men
- Women are more easily influenced than men
- Women are more fearful than men
- Women are more honest in expressing their emotions than men
- Women are more understanding of people than men
- Women don’t like responsibility as much as men
- Men are better at science and math than women
- Women are generally not as competent as men
- Women’s sexual desires are less intense than men’s
- Women’s menstrual cycle makes them unfit for major leadership
- Women gain more status through their physical appearance than men
- Women like to flirt and tantalize men.
- Women are more spiritual than
- Women are more innocent-looking than
- Women usually threaten to cry if then can’t have their own
The BELIEFS ABOUT WOMEN SCALE (BAWS) consists of fifteen (15) separate subscales.
The items for each of these subscales are listed below:
- Women are less dominating than (Items 1,16,31,46,61)
- Women are more passive than (Items 2,17,32,47,62)
- Women are more vulnerable than (Items 3,18,33,48,63)
- Women have more emotional insight than (Items 4,19,34,49,64)
- Women are more interpersonal than (Items 5,20,35,50,65)
- Women are less career interested than (Items 6,21,36,51,66)
- Women are less intelligent than (Items 7,22,37,52,67)
- Women are less decisive than (Items 8,23,38,53,68)
- Women are less sexual than (Items 9,24,39,54,69)
- Menstruation debilitates (Items 10,25,40,55,70)
- Women are more appearance conscious than (Items 11,26,41,56,71)
- Women are sexual (Items 12,27,42,57,72)
- Women are more moral than (Items 13,28,43,58,73)
- Women act sillier than men (Items 14,29,44,59,74)
- Women use manipulative strategies. (Items 15,30,45,60,75)
CODING INSTRUCTIONS FOR ITEMS
The items are scored so that: Strongly Agree = +2 Slightly Agree = +1 Neither agree nor disagree = 0 Slightly Disagree = -1 Strongly Disagree = -2. After several items are reverse coded (items 16, 31, 61, 32, 18, 49, 50, 21, 36, 37, 52, 23, 54, and 26), the relevant items on each subscale are then averaged, so that higher positive (negative) scores correspond to greater agreement (disagreement) with the relevant stereotype about women measured by each BAWS subscale. ITEMS 37, 52, AND 59 ARE CURRENTLY TREATED AS FILLER ITEMS AND ARE NOT ENTERED INTO THE COMPUTATION OF SCALE SCORES.