Role of Hostile and Benevolent Sexism in Shaping Prejudice Against Working Women in the United States and Pakistan

This study aimed to examine cultural differences between the United States and Pakistan on prejudice against working women, including employment skepticism and traditional role preference. Another purpose of the study was to assess how social dominance orientation (SDO), hostile sexism, and benevolent sexism explain the prejudice against working women. This study collected data online from a sample of 289 working women including N = 152 from the United States and N = 137 from Pakistan. Pakistani participants had higher scores on all the study variables than the U.S. participants. The results of mediation analyses showed that hostile and benevolent sexism significantly mediates the relationship between countries and employment skepticism. Moreover, hostile and benevolent sexism also mediated the relationship between countries and traditional role preferences. This study advances our knowledge of the complex relationship between cultural factors, SDO, hostile and benevolent sexism, and prejudice against working women. These findings offer a strong platform for further investigation and have practical applications to design programs aimed at reducing prejudice against working women and promoting gender equality in a range of professional settings.