Women’s Sexist Attitudes and Their Self-Silencing Tendency to Sexismthe Buffering Role of Personal Belief in a Just World and Gender Role-Related Attitudes

The current study tested the hypothesis that personal belief in a just world and gender role-related attitudes would mediate the effect of women’s sexist attitudes (hostile and benevolent sexism) on their self-silencing tendency to sexism. An online cross-sectional study was administered between September 2 and December 30, 2021. The total sample comprised two hundred and twenty-one respondents (Mage =38.22, _SD = 2.75)_. A between-subject, correlational design was utilized. Bootstrapping analysis for simple mediation models (Hayes, 2013; Model 4) was performed to test the current study’s hypothesis. This study demonstrates that gender role-related attitudes and a personal belief in a just world could act as a set of a system justifying beliefs buffering women’s motivation to challenge everyday sexism. The theoretical implication of this relationship is that individuals who endorse sexist attitudes and gender stereotypes are expected to exhibit corresponding behaviors.