Introduction to the study
This study was trying to text the hypothesis that participants would rate a breastfeeding mother higher in warmth but lower in competence when compared to another mother who bottle-feeds. This prediction is in alignmnent with objectification theory which states that people who are sexualized are seen as objects or "things" without feelings. By showing the mother is a breastfeeder, she will be sexualized on the basis of her breasts and therefore seen as having lower levels of competence.
Independent and Dependent Variables
The independent variables were the two conditions participants were randomly assigned to.
The first condition was the breastfeeding condition and the other was the bottle-feeding
condition.
The dependent variables were the ratings of warmth and competence that participants
used after being exposed to one of the two conditions. Another measure used was sexist events
in which participants indicated how often they believe the person in the condition they were assigned to
encountered obstacles in their career.
What was the experiment testing for?
This particular experiment was testing for a comparison between how people perceieve
bottle-feeding mothers and breastfeeding mothers when there are no other differences between them.
Participants had to read a resume and biographical information on Brooke Shields, an actress.
Those in the breastfeeding condition were told she had recently written a book about breastfeeding while those
in the bottle-feeding condition were told she had just written a book about bottle-feeding.
Then, their measures of warmth and competence as well as a measure of sexist events was taken.
Main Result #1
Results showed that the breastfeeding mother was viewed as more warm and friendly than the bottle-feeding mother, but significantly less competent in general and in math specifically. They predicted that the breastfeeding mother would experience significantly more sexist events in her career compared to the bottle-feeding mother.
Main Result #2
Results also showed evidence of paternalistic prejudice (high warmth but low competence ratings) for breastfeeding mothers These results did not differ by gender, meaning that even female participants displayed paternalistic prejudice. However, this study did not indicate direct evidence of the bias associated with the breastfeeding and the sexual objectification of the breast.
What does this imply?
This means that mothers who want to enter the workforce may be discriminated against
on the basis of breastfeeding. It has large implications for mothers everywhere.
