Implicit and Explicit Sexist Attitudes Towards Women Drivers

Abstract

Although women drivers engage in fewer risky behaviors and have a lower involvement in traffic accidents than men, there is a commonly held stereotype that they are bad drivers. To understand this perception, various psychosocial factors related to sexism have been studied. However, very little is known about sexist attitudes towards women drivers, especially when studied through implicit attitude models. The aim of this study was to understand implicit and explicit sexist attitudes towards women drivers. A sample of N = 104 participants from Mar del Plata, Argentina, completed a stimulus classification task using response times to measure implicit attitudes, and three self-reporting measures of explicit attitudes, ambivalent sexism, and control of prejudices. The results indicated more positive implicit attitudes and low explicit antipathy towards women drivers. No age differences were found, but gender differences were observed (i.e., women showed more positive implicit and explicit attitudes towards their own group). Implicit and explicit attitudes showed a moderate correlation with each other and were not associated with a concern with acting prejudiced scale. Hostile sexism was a predictor of sexist driving attitudes. The results are discussed in the context of previous evidence on sexism in driving and implicit attitude models.