Student: Cassandra Andrade, Jaclyn Berg, Victoria Cotugno, Kathryn DeDominici, Rachel Mroz, Christina Napolitano, Najwa Newman, Kaileen Paiva, Meagan Rolla and Christine Yakubec
Mentor: Professor Christina Taylor
Major: Psychology

Recent research shows that collegiate women hold ambivalent views of feminism and feminists (Alexander & Ryan, 1997).  When feminists are seen positively, they are perceived as intelligent, hard working, and competent individuals who peaceably work toward achieving equality between women and men.  When viewed negatively, they are seen as unattractive, aggressive, radical, man haters.  To explore current perceptions, three experiments were conducted on perceptions of feminists.  In study one, 101 undergraduate students evaluated a male or female stimulus person who was described either as a feminist who believes in equality between men or women or as a person who believes in human rights.  In study two, 207 students responded to a scenario in which an attractive or unattractive female stimulus person was described in the same way as study one.  In study three, 173 students responded to the same scenario used in study one and two except that the stimulus person was portrayed as an attractive or unattractive male.  In all three studies, participants rated the stimulus person on 7-point Likert scales, including (a) assertive; (b) intelligent; (c) successful; (d) angry; (e) attractive; (f) sense of humor; (g) independent; (h) likeable; (i) bossy; (j) sensitive; (k) feminine/masculine; (l) friendly; (m) aggressive; (n) confident; and (o) happy.  Results of Multivariate Analyses of Variance provided support for the prediction that feminists are regarded both favorably and unfavorably.