Drawing on a communications model of persuasion (Hovland, Janis, & Kelley, 1953), this study examined the effect of target appearance on feminists' and nonfeminists' perceptions of a speaker delivering a feminist or an antifeminist message. One hundred three college women watched one of four videotaped speeches that varied by content (profeminist vs. antifeminist) and target appearance (“feminine” vs. “masculine”). Self-identified feminists responded more favorably to a profeminist message when it was presented by a feminine than a masculine-appearing speaker and expressed less feminist attitudes after viewing a masculine-appearing feminist speaker. Nonfeminists' evaluations did not vary as a function of speaker appearance or message content. Implications for the communication of feminist ideology are discussed.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
AlexanderS.RyanM. (1997). Social constructs of feminism: A study of undergraduates at a women's college. College Student Journal, 31, 555–567.
2.
BrovermanI. K.VogelS. R.BrovermanD. M.ClarksonF. E.RosenkrantzP. S. (1972). Sex-role stereotypes: A current appraisal. Journal of Social Issues, 28, 59–78.
3.
BuschmanJ. K.LenartS. (1996). “I am not a feminist, but…”: College women, feminism, and negative experiences. Political Psychology, 17, 59–75.
4.
CampbellB.SchellenbergE. G.SennC. Y. (1997). Evaluating measures of contemporary sexism. Psychology of Women Quarterly, 21, 89–102.
5.
CarliL. L. (1990). Gender, language, and influence. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 59, 941–951.
6.
CarliL. L. (2001). Gender and social influence. Journal of Social Issues, 57, 725–741.
7.
ClingmanJ. M.LusheneR. (1982). Perceptions of a woman's reasons for supporting feminism as a function of age, attractiveness, and occupation. The Journal of Psychology, 110, 289–292.
8.
CowanG.MestlinM.MasekJ. (1992). Predictors of feminist self-labeling. Sex Roles, 27, 321–330.
9.
DewM. A. (1985). The effect of attitudes on inferences of homosexuality and perceived physical attractiveness in women. Sex Roles, 12, 143–155.
10.
DrogoszL. M.LevyP. E. (1996). Another look at the effects of appearance, gender, and job type on performance-based decisions. Psychology of Women Quarterly, 20, 437–445.
11.
EaglyA. H.ChaikenS.WoodW. (1981). An attribution analysis of persuasion. In HarveyJ. H.IckesW. J.KiddR. F. (Eds.), New direction in attribution research (Vol. 3, pp. 37–62). Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.
12.
FaludiS. (1991). Backlash: The undeclared war against American women. New York: Crown Publishers.
13.
FischerA. R.TokarD. M.MerglM. M.GoodG. E.HillM. S.BlumS. A. (2000). Assessing women's feminist identity development: Studies of convergent, discriminant, and structural validity. Psychology of Women Quarterly, 24, 15–29.
14.
FiskeS. T.XuJ.CuddyA. C.GlickP. (1999). (Dis)respecting versus (dis)liking: Status and interdependence predict ambivalent stereotypes of competence and warmth. Journal of Social Issues, 55, 473–489.
15.
GoldbergP. A.GottesdienerM.AbramsonP. R. (1975). Another put-down of women? Perceived attractiveness as a function of support for the feminist movement. The Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 32, 113–115.
16.
HaddockG.ZannaM. P. (1994). Preferring “housewives” to “feminists”: Categorization and the favorability of attitudes toward women. Psychology of Women Quarterly, 18, 25–52.
17.
Henderson-KingD.StewartA. J. (1997). Feminist consciousness: Perspectives on women's experience. Personality & Social Psychology Bulletin, 23, 415–426.
18.
HogelandL. M. (1994). Fear of feminism. Ms., 5, 18–21.
19.
HovlandC. I.JanisI. L.KelleyH. H. (1953). Communication and persuasion: Psychological studies of opinion change. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press.
20.
LimbaughR. H. (1993). See, I told you so. New York: Pocket Books.
21.
LissM.O'ConnorC.MoroskyE.CrawfordM. (2001). What makes a feminist? Predictors and correlates of feminist social identity in college women. Psychology of Women Quarterly, 25, 124–133.
22.
LuckerG. W.BeaneW. E.HelmreichR. L. (1981). The strength of the halo effect in physical attractiveness research. Journal of Psychology, 107, 69–75.
23.
MacalisterH. E. (1999). Women's studies classes and their influence on student development. Adolescence, 34, 283–292.
24.
MyaskovskyL.WittigM. A. (1997). Predictors of feminist social identity among college women. Sex Roles, 37, 861–883.
25.
PettyR. E.FlemingM. A.PriesterJ. R.FeinsteinA. H. (2001). Individual versus group interest violation: Surprise as a determinant of argument scrutiny and persuasion. Social Cognition, 19, 418–442.
26.
PettyR. E.WegenerD. T. (1998). Attitude change: Multiple roles for persuasion variables. In GilbertD. T.FiskeS. T.LindzeyG. (Eds.), The handbook of social psychology: Volume I (4th ed., pp. 323–390). Boston, MA: McGraw-Hill.
27.
RenzettiC. M. (1987). New wave or second stage? Attitudes of college women toward feminism. Sex Roles, 16, 265–277.
28.
RickabaughC. A. (1995). College students' stereotypes of gender and political activism. Basic and Applied Social Psychology, insert, 319–331.
29.
RosellM. C.HartmanS. L. (2001). Self-presentation of beliefs about gender discrimination and feminism. Sex Roles, 44, 647–659.
30.
SpencerS. J.SteeleC. M.QuinnD. M. (1999). Stereotype threat and women's math performance. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 35, 4–28.
31.
SwimJ. K.FergusonM. J.HyersL. L. (1999). Avoiding stigma by association: Subtle prejudice against lesbians in the form of social distancing. Basic & Applied Social Psychology, 21, 61–68.
32.
TougasF.BrownR.BeatonA. M.JolyS. (1995). Neosexism: Plus ca change, plus c'est pareil. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 21, 842–849.
33.
TwengeJ. M.ZuckerA. N. (1999). What is a feminist? Evaluations and stereotypes in closed- and open-ended responses. Psychology of Women Quarterly, 23, 591–605.
34.
UngerR. K.HilderbrandM.MadarT. (1982). Physical attractiveness and assumptions about social deviance: Some sex by sex comparisons. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 8, 293–301.
35.
WatkinsL. M.JohnstonL. (2000). Screening job applicants: The impact of physical attractiveness and application quality. International Journal of Selection and Assessment, 8, 76–84.
36.
WilliamsR.WittigM. A. (1997). “I'm not a feminist, but…”: Factors contributing to the discrepancy between pro-feminist orientation and feminist social identity. Sex Roles, 37, 885–904.
37.
WorellJ.StilwellD.OakleyD.RobinsonD. (1999). Educating about women and gender: Cognitive, personal and professional outcomes. Psychology of Women Quarterly, 23, 797–811.
