Perceiving Partners to Endorse Benevolent Sexism Attenuates Highly Anxious Women’s Negative Reactions to Conflict

Abstract

Attachment anxiety is characterized by strong desires for closeness but a deep fear of rejection, which produce difficulties in sustaining close relationships. In the current research, I examined whether perceiving one’s romantic partner to endorse benevolently sexist attitudes that prioritize intimate relationships, and specify women should be revered and cherished, eased the insecurities of highly anxious women. I tested this hypothesis in a context that is particularly threatening for highly anxious women—conflict with intimate partners. As expected, women higher in attachment anxiety reported greater distress during conflict discussions with their partner (Study 1; N = 78 heterosexual couples). Highly anxious women also felt greater relationship threat, less confidence in their partner’s love, greater sadness and hurt, and less relationship satisfaction on days they faced relationship conflict (Study 2; N = 78 heterosexual couples) and when they recalled experiences of conflict (Study 3; N = 250 women). However, in all three studies, the negative reactions to conflict exhibited by highly anxious women were attenuated when they perceived their partner to strongly endorse benevolent sexism. These results provide compelling evidence that the care and devotion that benevolent sexism prescribes caters to anxious women’s insecurities, attenuates the threat of relationship conflict, and fosters more constructive relationship responses. Unfortunately, the security that is gained by believing that male partners are ‘cherishing providers’ is likely to be accompanied by the hidden costs of benevolent sexism, including the potential for highly anxious women to feel low personal competence and agency and become even more dependent on their relationships.. Keywords: attachment anxiety, relationship conflict, sexism, negative affect