Decision-Making in Ambiguous Situations: The Impact of Neosexism and Gendered Contexts

This study explores how situational cues, attitudes (i.e., neosexism), and context (i.e., banking vs. daycare) influence perceptions of sexism, interaction favorability, and subsequent decision making in ambiguous interactions. Results indicate sex composition significantly affects sexism perceptions, especially in male-to-female interactions within a traditionally-male context (i.e., banking). Neosexism introduced a bias toward higher sexism ratings and showed more pronounced effects in the opposite-sex banking scenario but not the daycare scenario. This study extends our understanding of individual and situational factors that affect sexism attributions in ambiguous situations and offers implications for decision making.