Skip to Main Content
 

Global Search Box

 
 
 
 

Files

File List


AEGordon_Dissertation_FINAL.pdf (844.67 KB)

ETD Abstract Container

Abstract Header

Egalitarian Essentialism: Practical, Theoretical, and Measurement Issues

Gordon, Alynn Elizabeth
http://orcid.org/0000-0002-5364-4294
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=kent1466158819

Abstract Details

2016, PHD, Kent State University, College of Arts and Sciences / Department of Psychological Sciences.
In the general population of the United States, the endorsement of egalitarianism has recently plateaued, but the reasons for this stall are unclear. One potential explanation for the stall in egalitarianism is a new gender role attitude called egalitarian essentialism, which is the simultaneous endorsement of equality for women and men (egalitarianism) and the idea that women and men are inherently different (essentialism). Because egalitarian essentialism has only been examined in descriptive sociological studies, no measure of this construct or a test of its existence in general population individuals’ attitudes exists. Thus, the focus of this dissertation was to determine how to measure egalitarian essentialism and then to test for the presence of a group of individuals who endorse this attitude in the general population. Modifying an existing gender role attitude scale (Sex Role Egalitarianism Scale) and adding new essentialism items is thought to be adequate for tapping both factors of egalitarian essentialism. After the measure was finalized by subjecting the modified scale to exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses, the measure’s construct and criterion validity were examined. The production of a scale that measures egalitarian essentialism is important and practical for gender role attitude researchers interested in examining current attitudes. Further, regression analyses indicated that egalitarian essentialists and egalitarians do not differ on their patterns of endorsement of consequences of maternal employment or discrimination. However, essentialists were less likely to endorse discrimination against women as a social problem. Taken together, evidence from this dissertation suggests that when examining gender role attitudes in the future, we should resist using the egalitarian versus traditional dichotomy and instead examine different quantitative or qualitative patterns of endorsement on various gender attitude constructs.
Mary Ann Stephens, Ph.D. (Advisor)
John Updegraff, Ph.D. (Committee Member)
Jeffrey Ciesla, Ph.D. (Committee Member)
Kristin Mickelson, Ph.D. (Committee Member)
Susan Roxburgh, Ph.D. (Committee Member)
129 p.
Psychology
gender role attitudes, egalitarian essentialism, general population, attitudinal questionnaire

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • Gordon, A. E. (2016). Egalitarian Essentialism: Practical, Theoretical, and Measurement Issues [Doctoral dissertation, Kent State University]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=kent1466158819

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Gordon, Alynn. Egalitarian Essentialism: Practical, Theoretical, and Measurement Issues . 2016. Kent State University, Doctoral dissertation. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=kent1466158819.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Gordon, Alynn. "Egalitarian Essentialism: Practical, Theoretical, and Measurement Issues ." Doctoral dissertation, Kent State University, 2016. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=kent1466158819

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)

kent1466158819
2,669
© 2016, some rights reserved.Creative Commons License Egalitarian Essentialism: Practical, Theoretical, and Measurement Issues by Alynn Elizabeth Gordon is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License. Based on a work at etd.ohiolink.edu.
This open access ETD is published by Kent State University and OhioLINK.