Influence of sex on judgments of an aggressive North African woman

Introduction

There is little research on how to judge a woman in a cross-cultural context.

Objective

The purpose of this study is to examine how women from North Africa are perceived socially, through observation of representations of this minority group in a judicial context.

Method

In this study, 277 French students (132 men and 145 women) read a scenario describing a North African woman who hits another woman, and who adopted one of the four acculturation strategies (assimilation, integration, separation or marginalization). They then judged the act and its perpetrator. The participants’ level of social dominance orientation (SDO) was also assessed.

Results

The results show that men judged the perpetrator more harshly than women and perceived as posing greater threat. The acculturation strategy adopted by the offender did not interact with the sex of the participants, but men perceived adoption of the host culture as an aggravating circumstance. Social dominance orientation moderated the effect of sex on the participants’ perception of the perpetrator, but not on their judgment of the act.

Conclusion

This study has important implications regarding the way relationships of domination are affected by an offender who belongs to two minority groups.