Beliefs and Attitudes About Women's Opportunity: Comparisons with Beliefs About Blacks and a General Perspective

Public perceptions of sex discrimination and women's economic opportunity, and attitudes toward the implementation of equal opportunity, are analyzed in data from a 1980 national survey. Results are interpreted in the context of previous findings on whites' beliefs about black's opportunity, in terms of a general stratification beliefs, self-interest, and affective responses on beliefs about specific groups such as women. Though some of these influences lead to similarities between views on women and blacks, others produce differences, such that overall, barriers to opportunity are more widely perceived in the case of women. Discussion focuses on the psychological processes and aspects of intergroup relations that contribute to opportunity-related beliefs and attitudes, and on their implications for future progress toward equality of opportunity for the sexes.