Opposition to redistributive employment policies for women: The role of policy experience and group interest

Abstract

We examined whether group interest affected ideological beliefs and attitudes towards redistributive policies among men and women. We found that group interest influenced meritocratic and neo-sexist beliefs and support for gender-based affirmative action and comparable worth policies. Men and women differed in their ideological beliefs and support for the redistributive policies only when they had conscious experience with these policies. Those with policy experience expressed policy attitudes that corresponded with their gender group's interests, while those lacking such experience did not. We also noted group interest effects within each gender: men who had conscious experience with the policies expressed more opposition and greater neo-sexism and meritocratic beliefs than did men who were not consciously experienced with these policies. In contrast, consciously experienced women expressed more policy support than did their not consciously experienced counterparts. Overall, our findings indicate that group interest is an important determinant of policy attitudes and related ideological beliefs.