Very attractive and very unattractive men show the highest hostility towards women

[Judi Lynn]

by Vladimir Hedrih October 19, 2024

Study author Jiewen Zhang and her colleagues wanted to better understand the factors associated with men’s hostility towards women. While it has been well-established that hostility toward women is deeply rooted in certain political ideologies, such as right-wing authoritarianism, the researchers sought to examine whether other factors—such as loneliness, sensitivity to rejection, perceived attractiveness, and romantic relationships—also play a role in shaping these attitudes. Until now, it was unclear how these personal characteristics might influence hostility toward women in a general male population.

The research involved 473 single, heterosexual men living in the United Kingdom, aged between 18 and 35, with an average age of 26. Participants were recruited through Prolific, an online platform that helps researchers gather survey data, and each participant was compensated £8 for completing the survey. The survey included a variety of validated psychological assessments to evaluate factors such as hostile sexism, misogyny, self-perceived attractiveness, sensitivity to rejection, loneliness, gaming habits, gaming addiction symptoms, and right-wing authoritarianism.

For measuring hostile sexism, the researchers used the Hostile Sexism subscale of the Ambivalent Sexism Inventory, while misogyny was assessed using the Misogyny Scale. Sensitivity to rejection was measured using the Adult Rejection Sensitivity Questionnaire, and loneliness was assessed through the Short-Form UCLA Loneliness Scale. The study also examined the participants’ time spent gaming and any potential symptoms of gaming addiction, as well as their levels of right-wing authoritarianism, measured using the Right-Wing Authoritarianism Scale.

Results showed that the strongest link was between right-wing authoritarianism and hostility towards women, both in the form of hostile sexism and misogyny. This suggests that men who hold authoritarian beliefs—characterized by a preference for strict social hierarchies and traditional gender roles—are more likely to express hostility toward women. The study highlights that right-wing authoritarian attitudes contribute significantly to the development of misogynistic views.

More:
https://www.psypost.org/very-attractive-and-very-unattractive-men-show-the-highest-hostility-towards-women/

[Walleye]

1. Well, their mommies made them clean their rooms. They had to take orders from a woman.

[Native]

2. attractiveness and gaming and sensitivity to rejection...

Another notable finding was the curvilinear relationship between self-perceived attractiveness and hostility towards women. Men who rated themselves as either very attractive or very unattractive were more likely to show hostility toward women compared to those who perceived their attractiveness as average. This indicates that both extremes of the self-perceived attractiveness spectrum may foster negative attitudes toward women, though the underlying motivations might differ. For instance, men with high self-perceived attractiveness may exhibit narcissistic tendencies, while men who consider themselves unattractive may externalize their frustrations, leading to hostility towards women.

In addition, the study found that men with symptoms of gaming addiction were slightly more likely to express misogynistic attitudes, though general time spent gaming was not a strong predictor of hostility once other factors were accounted for. Sensitivity to rejection was similarly associated with increased hostility towards women, suggesting that men who are more sensitive to perceived rejection may harbor more negative attitudes.

[Joinfortmill]

3. Kinda validates what we believed.

[wolfie001]

10. Women have a natural radar for weirdos

I'm a man (not necessarily condemning myself) and have noticed

[twodogsbarking]

4. Well that is fucked up.

[wolfie001]

11. Brutal and true

[Bernardo de La Paz]

6. Fascinating! RWA attitude correlation no surprise. Number of partners very interesting

Note: Attractiveness was self-assessed, but narcissists ("god's gift to women" self-view) tend, as the article notes, to have overly high opinions of themselves while those with overly-low self-esteem tend to be feel frustrated.

Regarding sexual experience, men with both the lowest and the highest numbers of sexual partners were less hostile towards women compared to men with an average number of sexual partners.

The high end is easy to make sense of: Abusers tend to have a few partners, A) because having one is important to self-esteem, B) hostile behaviour repels most potential partners, C) Abusers tend to trap partners, make it difficult for them to break free.

A man who attracts lots of women has to have some greater understanding of them than the average man. Plus true respect, fairness, and laissez-faire is attractive to anyone.

A word to men: Try a little tenderness, then make it a habit.

[Icanthinkformyself]

7. Confirmation

of what has been known for a very long time. The right is addicted to anger and declaring themselves 'victim' in all situations. I suspect it's the religious upbringing. It tends to reach males about controlling people as opposed to working with them and finding compromise. They tried to indoctrinate me. I walked out at the age of twelve. Told my parents it had nothing to teach me. How did I know better when adults could not see it?

[Dem4life1234]

8. I knew this

It's always the ugly ones who have shit to say .


Handsome confident men have no need to put down women because they have their pick.

[SWBTATTReg]

12. Boiled all down, what you said says it best!

Reduced down to two sentences. Nice.

[4catsmom]

9. I could have told them this for free

from years of growing up around these kinds of men (and the opposite kind).

I know who I felt safe around.