Should Chivalry Be Dead? Benevolent Sexism and Support Provision in Close Relationships

Three studies examined the effects of benevolent sexism and gender on support
provision and relationship functioning across multiple contexts. Benevolent sexism refers
to sexist attitudes towards women that are seemingly positive, but still stereotypical
(Glick & Fiske, 1996). Study 1 examined benevolent sexism and dependency-oriented
support in friendships by asking participants how they would respond to either a female
or male acquaintance in hypothetical helping scenarios. Study 2 examined benevolent
sexism and secure base support among individuals in heterosexual romantic relationships
using an Internet-based survey. Secure base support differs from other forms of support
in that it is not provided in order to help someone cope with adversity, but rather involves
supporting a partner’s exploration or personal goal pursuit in non-adverse scenarios.
Study 3 used behavioral observation to examine benevolent sexism and secure base
support among romantic couples participating in a videotaped exploration task. Multiple regression and dyadic analyses were conducted to test for interactions between gender,
benevolent sexism, and support provision. In both men and women in Study 1,
benevolent sexism was associated with an increased likelihood of providing dependencyoriented
help towards others, suggesting that men are not the only ones providing
dependency-oriented support to women. However, men were more likely than women to
provide dependency-oriented help towards women, regardless of their degree of
benevolent sexism. In Studies 2 and 3, there were no significant main effects of
benevolent sexism or gender on secure base support. In Study 2, women higher in
benevolent sexism reported being more interfering towards their male partner’s goal
pursuit, suggesting that benevolent sexism may be harmful to men as well. In Study 3,
women reported lower feelings of competence during the exploration task than men. For
individuals with partners high in benevolent sexism, gender moderated their feelings of
competence. Women with male partners high in benevolent sexism reported lower
feelings of competence, whereas men with female partners high in benevolent sexism
reported higher feelings of competence. The mixed results suggest that the effects of
benevolent sexism on support exchanges may be more complex than current theoretical
perspectives imply.