Attitudes towards women: A study of gender and academic domain differences in a sample of Turkish university students

In this study the effects were examined of gender, academic domain, and grade level on attitudes towards women in 626 university students. Undergraduates were drawn from Faculty of Education, the School of Health, Faculty of Economics and Administrative Sciences, and Faculty of Engineering at a Turkish university. A Turkish version of the short version of the Attitude Towards Women Scale (Spence, Helmreich, & Stapp, 1973) was administered and factor analyzed. Variance analysis applied to total scores revealed a significant main effect of gender on attitude towards women only. Females reported significantly more liberal views than males. Multivariate variance analysis results applied on 6 subscales showed that females were more liberal in vocational, educational, and intellectual behavior; freedom and independence; drinking, swearing, and dirty jokes; and marital relations. Dating, etiquette, and courtship; and premarital sexual behavior subscales indicated males’ and females’ views were not significantly different.