“A 16-nation study finds that in less egalitarian countries, both men and women are more likely to hold extremely negative and positive opinions of men’s attributes and personal qualities.

These opinions, researchers say, reflect and reinforce men’s dominance in those countries, because both the negative attributes (such as arrogance and aggressiveness) and the positive attributes (including competence and intelligence) relate to dominance. The study was published in the May issue of the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology (Vol. 86, No. 5).

The study supports ‘ambivalent sexism theory,’ a concept that the researchers–psychologists Peter Glick, PhD, of Lawrence University in Appleton, Wis., and Susan T. Fiske, PhD, of Princeton University–have been investigating for several years. They posit that traditional attitudes toward men and women have both negative and positive components, and those components are generated by the interaction between men’s dominance and men’s and women’s interdependence.” (APA Online)