Gender StudiesPsychometricsSocial Psychology

Gender Attitude Inventory (GAI)

The Gender Attitude Inventory (GAI), developed by Ashmore, Del Boca, and Bilder (1995), is a comprehensive 109-item multidimensional instrument designed to evaluate complex gender ideologies across 14 subscales and three overarching structural domains.

memjavad
PUBLISHED
Scientifically Reviewed · Dr. Marwa Abd-Alazim · September 26, 2026
Medically & Scientifically Reviewed Verified: September 26, 2026
Dr. Marwa Abd-Alazim Ph.D.
Professor of Psychology • University of Kerbala
Review Criteria & Clinical Standards

This content undergoes rigorous scientific peer-review and medical editorial standards at Arab Psychology Network to ensure clinical accuracy, validity, and compliance with evidence-based guidelines from leading psychological and healthcare authorities (APA / WHO).

Abstract

The Gender Attitude Inventory (GAI; Ashmore, Del Boca, & Bilder, 1995) is a comprehensive, multidimensional psychometric instrument developed to assess the complex, differentiated nature of gender-related beliefs, values, and normative expectations in modern society. Constructed in response to psychometric limitations in early unidimensional measures of sex-role egalitarianism—such as the Attitudes Toward Women Scale (Spence & Helmreich, 1972)—the GAI conceptualizes gender attitudes not as a singular continuum from traditional to feminist, but as an interconnected network of cognitive, evaluative, and ideological components. The inventory comprises 109 items organized into 14 distinct subscales that map onto three higher-order conceptual domains: Stereotypes (16 items), Sexual Relationships (14 items), and Societal Organization (37 items), alongside specialized ideological subscales assessing topics such as chivalry, violence, and institutional reform.

Items are evaluated using a 7-point Likert response format anchored from 1 (strongly agree) to 7 (strongly disagree). Psychometric investigations across diverse adult and collegiate samples demonstrate robust internal consistency across subscales, with Cronbach’s alpha coefficients ranging from .57 to .96 among male respondents and from .65 to .91 among female respondents, with higher-order domains demonstrating composite reliabilities between .81 and .95. Extensive exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses, along with convergent, discriminant, and criterion-related validity assessments, confirm that the GAI reliably differentiates between distinct components of gender ideology, including structural equality, interpersonal romantic etiquette, essentialist stereotyping, and reproductive autonomy. The GAI remains a foundational assessment tool in social psychology, sociology of gender, and clinical counseling contexts examining marital conflict, sex-based prejudice, and institutional discrimination.

Keywords

Gender Attitude Inventory, GAI, gender attitudes, sex roles, multidimensional psychometrics, gender stereotypes, benevolent sexism, modern sexism, social role theory, psychometric validation.

Authors

The Gender Attitude Inventory was conceived, constructed, and psychometrically validated by:

  • Richard D. Ashmore, Ph.D. — Department of Psychology, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, New Brunswick, NJ. Specializing in intergroup relations, social perception, gender stereotypes, and identity development.
  • Frances K. Del Boca, Ph.D. — Department of Psychology, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, and later affiliated with health psychology and behavioral research institutions. Renowned for her foundational work on cognitive models of gender stereotypes and the social psychology of female-male relations.
  • Scott M. Bilder, Ph.D. — Department of Psychology, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey. Quantitative methodologist and psychometrician specializing in multivariate scaling, structural modeling, and inventory construction.

Purpose

The primary purpose of the Gender Attitude Inventory (GAI) is to overcome the critical empirical and theoretical shortcomings of early gender-role assessment tools. Prior to the mid-1980s, the predominant empirical paradigms in gender research relied heavily on unidimensional instruments, most notably the Attitudes Toward Women Scale (Spence & Helmreich, 1972; Spence, Helmreich, & Stapp, 1973) and the Sex-Role Egalitarianism Scale (King & King, 1986). Although these legacy instruments were instrumental in mapping the second-wave feminist shift away from overt patriarchal norms, they possessed a structural blind spot: they presupposed that individuals possess a single, monolithic attitude toward “women” or “sex roles” that could be meaningfully located along a linear axis spanning from conservative/traditional to liberal/egalitarian.

Ashmore, Del Boca, and Bilder demonstrated that an individual can concurrently endorse progressive views regarding legal, institutional, and political rights for women while staunchly defending traditional norms regarding interpersonal dating etiquette, chivalry, sexual double standards, or essentialized cognitive stereotypes. The GAI was engineered to untangle these distinct behavioral and ideological domains. Specifically, its design addresses three distinct applied and theoretical imperatives:

  • Deconstructing Apparent Attitudinal Contradictions: In applied social research, investigators frequently observe paradoxical behaviors—such as individuals voting for female political candidates while simultaneously adhering to paternalistic relationship scripts or blaming victims of domestic violence. The GAI was engineered to parse these cognitive discrepancies through independent subscale structures.
  • Empirical Rigor in Sociological and Psychological Research: The scale enables researchers to examine how specific facets of gender ideology differentially correlate with behavioral outcomes, such as hiring discrimination, allocation of domestic labor, juror decision-making in sexual assault trials, and attitudes toward public welfare policies (e.g., federally subsidized childcare).
  • Clinical and Marital Assessment: In clinical, family, and couples therapy, the GAI serves as a diagnostic instrument for identifying asymmetric expectations between partners. Interpersonal discord often stems not from explicit disagreements about legal equality, but from discordant covert expectations concerning marital decision-making, childrearing duties, sexual initiative, and chivalrous behavior.

Psychological Construct

The psychological construct measured by the GAI is the multidimensional constellation of explicit verbal attitudes, cognitive schemas, and normative evaluative beliefs regarding the characteristics, behaviors, societal roles, and interpersonal dynamics of women and men. Ashmore and Del Boca’s structural framework divides these attitudes into 14 distinct, empirically derived subscales representing cognitive stereotypes, relational scripts, and socio-political systems:

1. Endorsement of Female Superiority (Items 1–6)

This subscale captures the cognitive conviction that women inherently possess higher moral standards, greater benevolence, and more prosocial qualities than men. Rather than representing classical feminism, this construct reflects an essentialist elevation of women that often mirrors modern conceptions of benevolent maternalism or romanticized idealization (e.g., “Women are morally superior to men”).

2. Acceptance of Traditional Stereotypes (Items 7–16)

Measures explicit adherence to consensual, descriptive, and prescriptive gender stereotypes concerning personality traits and psychological dispositions. This includes viewing men as naturally competitive, adventurous, arrogant, and independent, while perceiving women as gentle, self-sacrificing, gullible, and weak (e.g., “Compared to men, women tend to be weak”).

3. Condemnation of Homosexuality (Items 17–24)

Assesses the evaluative rejection or moral pathologization of male and female same-sex sexual orientation. Theoretically situated within gender attitude architecture because the enforcement of rigid heterosexual scripts historically underpins traditional binary gender systems (e.g., “Homosexual behavior between two men is just plain wrong”).

4. Disapproval of Female Sexual Initiative (Items 25–35)

Measures normative scripts governing courtship and sexual agency, specifically evaluating the degree to which an individual rejects women taking active, agentic, or assertive roles in dating and sexual encounters (e.g., “The man should always be the one to initiate sex with a woman”).

5. Disapproval of Female Casual Sex (Items 36–38)

Examines adherence to the traditional sexual double standard, capturing moral censure directed at women who engage in non-committal or emotionally unattached sexual intercourse (e.g., “I would have no respect for a woman who engages in sexual relationships without any emotional involvement”).

6. Endorsement of Chivalry (Items 39–45)

Assesses support for protective, paternalistic interpersonal behaviors enacted by men toward women (e.g., opening doors, offering physical protection, priority evacuation). This dimension captures an attitudinal facet closely aligned with Glick and Fiske’s (1996) protective paternalism, distinguishing protective interpersonal courtliness from hostile sexism.

7. Acceptance of Male Heterosexual Violence (Items 46–53)

Measures cognitive schemas that justify, minimize, or attribute blame to female victims of domestic violence and sexual assault (e.g., rape myth acceptance, spousal abuse rationalization). It assesses beliefs such as “In most cases, when a woman gets raped, she was asking for it.”

8. Endorsement of Family Roles (Items 54–64)

Evaluates prescriptive beliefs regarding the domestic division of labor, traditional breadwinner-homemaker marital structures, patriarchal authority in family decision-making, and primary maternal responsibility for childrearing (e.g., “The husband should have primary responsibility for support of the family”).

9. Belief in Differential Work Roles (Items 65–73)

Captures occupational segregation beliefs—the notion that specific professions and economic roles should be delineated along biological sex lines due to innate physical or psychological differences (e.g., “It is appropriate to divide work into ‘men’s work’ and ‘women’s work'”).

10. Rejection of Female Political Leadership (Items 74–80)

Measures explicit opposition to women holding executive, legislative, or public leadership offices, underpinned by stereotypes that women are too emotional or inherently ill-suited for institutional authority (e.g., “There are many good reasons why a woman should not be President of the United States”).

11. Opposition to Women’s Rights (Items 81–90)

Assesses hostility toward organized collective action, feminist social movements, and institutional legal reforms such as the Equal Rights Amendment (e.g., “The women’s liberation movement exaggerates the problems faced by women in American society”).

12. Endorsement of Individual Action (Items 91–96)

Captures meritocratic, individualistic ideological beliefs that reject structural explanations for gender disparities. It posits that discrimination can be entirely surmounted through individual diligence, competence, and personal training, placing the burden of inequality on women themselves (e.g., “The truly qualified woman in a career has no trouble achieving recognition and success”).

13. Items of the Scale (Questionnaire)

Below are the authentic scale items in their original language as published in the standard psychometric validation studies, without modification or translation to preserve instrument validity and reliability:
1

On average‚ women are better than men.*
2

Women are a creative force‚ and men are a destructive force‚ in the world today.*
3

Women are more helpful than men.*
4

Compared to women‚ men have many undesirable qualities.*
5

Women are morally superior to men.*
6

Compared to women‚ men tend to be cruel.*
7

Men are more competitive than women.*
8

Men are generally more adventurous than women are.*
9

Men are generally more egotistical than women.*
10

On the average‚ men are more arrogant than women.*
11

Women are more gentle than men.*
12

Men are more independent than women.*
13

Men are more sure of what they can do than women are.*
14

Compared to men‚ women tend to be gullible.*
15

Compared to men‚ women are more able to devote themselves completely to others.*
16

Compared to men‚ women tend to be weak.*
17

Male homosexuality is merely a different kind of life style which should not be condemned.
18

Just as in other species‚ male homosexuality is a natural expression of sexuality in human men.
19

Male homosexuality is a perversion.*
20

State laws regulating private‚ consenting lesbian behavior should be loosened.
21

Female homosexuality is a sin.*
22

Homosexual behavior between two men is just plain wrong.*
23

Female homosexuality itself is no problem‚ but what society makes of it can be a problem.
24

Lesbians just can't fit into our society.*
25

I approve of a woman taking the first step to start a relationship with a man.
26

The man should always be the one to initiate sex with a woman.*
27

I approve of a woman calling a man she is interested in.
28

The initiative in asking for a date should come either from the man or the woman.
29

In a relationship‚ the woman as well as the man should be free to initiate sexual activity.
30

I approve of a woman taking the aggressive role during sexual intercourse.
31

Women should be free to express themselves sexually.
32

The initiative in dating should come from the man.*
33

Women should take the passive role in courtship.*
34

A woman should allow the man to take ch‎arge of their sexual relationship.*
35

Women should have the same sexual freedom as men.
36

It is acceptable for a woman to have sex with a casual acquaintance.
37

I would have no respect for a woman who engages in sexual relationships without any emotional involvement.*
38

It is all right for a woman to have sexual intercourse with someone she knows well and likes but does not love.
39

Men should continue to show courtesies to women such as holding open the door or helping them on with their coats.*
40

Special attentions like standing up for a woman who comes into a room or giving her a seat of a crowded bus are outmoded and should be discontinued.
41

Chivalrous gestures toward women on the part of men should be encouraged.*
42

The special courtesies extended to women are demeaning because they keep women feeling helpless and in their place.
43

A man should protect a woman from physical harm‚ even at his own expense.*
44

Chivalry is generally demeaning to women.
45

In an emergency‚ women and children should be evacuated first.*
46

Most of the women who get raped have invited it in some way.*
47

Women provoke rape by their appearance or behavior.*
48

In most cases‚ when a woman gets raped‚ she was asking for it.*
49

In most cases of wife beating‚ the woman is just as much at fault as the man.*
50

Most ch‎arges of "wife beating" are made up by the woman to get back at her husband.*
51

If a woman is making out and she let's things get out of hand‚ it's her own fault if the man forces sex on her.*
52

In forcible rape‚ the victim never causes the crime.
53

A man is sometimes justified in hitting his wife.*
54

It's all right for the woman to have a career and the man to stay home with the children.
55

I approve of a wife entering the labor force and leaving her husband at home to care for the children.
56

I would not respect a man if he decided to stay at home and take care of his children while his wife worked.*
57

The wife should have primary responsibility for taking care of the home and children.*
58

A woman should work only if she can do so without interfering with her domestic duties.*
59

The husband should have primary responsibility for support of the family.*
60

In marriage‚ the husband should take the lead in decision making.*
61

Working women should not be expected to sacrifice their careers for the sake of home duties to any greater extent than men.
62

Women should be concerned with their duties of childrearing and house-tending‚ rather than with desires for professional and business careers.*
63

As head of the household‚ the husband should have more responsibility for the family's financial plans than his wife.*
64

Care of children should be shared equally by both spouses.
65

There are almost no jobs which should be closed to women because of the physical requirements.
66

Many jobs should be closed to women because of the physical requirements.*
67

Men and women are better suited to different kinds of occupations due to physical strength.*
68

All occupations should be equally accessible to both men and women.
69

There are many jobs in which men should be given preference over women in being hired or promoted.*
70

There are some professions and types of business that are more suitable for men than women.*
71

In today's world the idea of "women's work" and "men's work" makes no sense.
72

It is appropriate to divide work into "men's work" and "women's work.*
73

A woman's work and a man's work should be fundamentally different.*
74

It would be appropriate for a woman to be President of the United States if she were qualified.
75

I would vote for a politically qualified woman to be President of the United States.
76

Women‚ as well as men‚ should be found in top political offices.
77

Women should be included on all levels of political activity on an equal basis with men.
78

There are many good reasons why a woman should not be President of the United States.*
79

Women are too emotional to fill high positions in government.*
80

The political and moral leadership of a community should remain largely in the hands of men.*
81

I can really understand why there needs to be a women's liberation movement.
82

The Equal Rights Amendment is unnecessary.*
83

Only if women organize and work together can anything really be done about sex discrimination.
84

It is not enough for a woman to be successful herself‚ women must work together to change laws and customs that are unfair to all women.
85

Women need to unite and work together to achieve equal political and social rights in this country.
86

Passage of legislation to further women's rights is necessary.
87

I do not agree with the strategies of the women's liberation movement.*
88

I am sympathetic to the goals of women's liberation.
89

I favor the Equal Rights Amendment which would prohibit legal discrimination on the basis of sex.
90

The women's liberation movement exaggerates the problems faced by women in American society.*
91

Women can best overcome sex discrimination by pursuing their individual career goals.*
92

The best way to handle problems of sex discrimination is for each woman to make sure she gets the best training possible for what she wants to do.*
93

Most women have only themselves to blame for not doing better in life.*
94

The best way for women to overcome sex discrimination is by working on their own to prove their abilities.*
95

Women have been offered plenty of opportunities to get ahead. If they don't make the most of them‚ it's their problem.*
96

The truly qualified woman in a career has no trouble achieving recognition and success.*
97

Government-sponsored child care centers would be a big waste of money.*
98

Mothers who work have no right to expect the government to pay for free child care centers.*
99

There should be free child-care centers to help mothers who have to work.
100

Financial support for day care should come from parents and not from the government.* [Financial support for day care centers should be available to all.]
101

Government-sponsored child care centers should be available to all.
102

The issue of comprehensive day care for all should become a high priority for politicians and lawmakers.
103

There should be easily available child-care so that women can take jobs.
104

Abortion should be treated legally as a form of murder.*
105

I favor a Constitutional amendment that would prohibit all abortions.*
106

Public hospitals should offer abortion to any woman requesting it.
107

Abortion on demand should be available to all women.
108

Every woman has the right to decide whether or not she should have an abortion.
109

A woman who is true to her maternal instincts would not have an abortion.*

14. Opposition to Abortion (Items 104–109)

Measures moral, legal, and constitutional opposition to reproductive autonomy and abortion access (e.g., “Abortion should be treated legally as a form of murder”).

Theoretical Framework

The construction of the GAI is anchored in the cognitive-social psychological model of gender developed by Ashmore and Del Boca (1986b). Their framework synthesizes three major theoretical traditions in psychology and social science:

Social Role Theory and Structural Division of Labor

Drawing on Alice Eagly’s (1987) Social Role Theory, the GAI posits that gender attitudes are direct cognitive reflections of the historical division of labor between men and women. When women are disproportionately situated in domestic, caregiving roles and men in provider, public-sphere roles, observers infer corresponding internal traits—communal traits for women and agentic traits for men. Consequently, attitudes regarding family roles (Subscale 8), work roles (Subscale 9), and political leadership (Subscale 10) are structurally reinforced by the observable allocation of societal roles. When women attempt to cross these boundaries into political leadership or workplace equality, attitudinal opposition arises as a homeostatic defense of structural equilibrium.

Cognitive Schema Theory and Categorization

The GAI relies heavily on cognitive schema theory (Bem, 1981; Ashmore, Del Boca, & Wohlers, 1986). Rather than viewing attitudes simply as positive or negative affective valences, Ashmore and Del Boca conceptualized them as cognitive categories that organize incoming social data. These schemas are multifaceted: an individual maintains distinct schemas for “women in politics,” “women in intimate dating relationships,” “men as providers,” and “sexual interactions.” This structural segregation explains why a participant can process women through an egalitarian schema in professional domains while simultaneously employing a deeply traditional schema in sexual or marital contexts.

Ambivalent and Neosexist Ideologies

Although developed slightly before the formal articulation of Ambivalent Sexism Theory (Glick & Fiske, 1996) and Modern Sexism (Swim et al., 1995), the GAI presaged both paradigms. By explicitly segregating Endorsement of Chivalry and Female Superiority from Acceptance of Male Heterosexual Violence and Opposition to Women’s Rights, the GAI operationalized the fundamental premise that sex-based ideology is inherently ambivalent. The subscale Endorsement of Individual Action directly anticipates the modern/neosexist denial of structural discrimination by attributing ongoing disparities to individual personal effort rather than institutional barriers.

Validity

The psychometric validity of the Gender Attitude Inventory was thoroughly established through a multi-phase program of instrument development and empirical testing detailed by Ashmore, Del Boca, and Bilder (1995).

Construct and Convergent Validity

Construct validity was confirmed by correlating the GAI subscales with established legacy measures of gender-related constructs, including the Attitudes Toward Women Scale (AWS) and the Personal Attributes Questionnaire (Spence, Helmreich, & Stapp, 1975). As hypothesized:

  • Subscales directly addressing societal institutions—such as Opposition to Women’s Rights (r = -.72 to -.78), Belief in Differential Work Roles (r = -.65 to -.71), and Endorsement of Family Roles (r = -.68 to -.74)—exhibited strong, statistically significant correlations with the AWS in the expected direction.
  • Conversely, relational and ideological subscales, such as Endorsement of Chivalry and Disapproval of Female Sexual Initiative, demonstrated only moderate correlations with the AWS (r = -.30 to -.45), confirming that these subscales capture variance in gender ideology that is entirely omitted by legacy unidimensional instruments.

Discriminant Validity

Discriminant validity was established by evaluating GAI dimensions against measures of generalized social desirability, such as the Marlowe-Crowne Social Desirability Scale (Crowne & Marlowe, 1960). Correlations between GAI subscales and social desirability metrics were systematically low to negligible (median |r| < .15), demonstrating that responses on sensitive topics—such as abortion, homosexual condemnation, and male heterosexual violence—reflect genuine attitudinal stances rather than mere impression management. Furthermore, the subscale Endorsement of Female Superiority showed minimal to zero correlation with Rejection of Female Political Leadership, confirming that romanticizing women’s morality does not equate to endorsing their institutional power.

Criterion and Known-Groups Validity

The GAI exhibits strong known-groups validity across multiple social strata:

  • Gender Differences: Men systematically score significantly higher than women on Acceptance of Male Heterosexual Violence, Disapproval of Female Sexual Initiative, Rejection of Female Political Leadership, and Acceptance of Traditional Stereotypes (p < .001).
  • Political and Religious Affiliation: Respondents identifying with conservative political parties or fundamentalist religious denominations scored significantly higher on Opposition to Abortion, Condemnation of Homosexuality, Opposition to Funded Day Care, and Endorsement of Individual Action compared to liberal or secular counterparts (p < .001).
  • Behavioral Predictions: In laboratory settings, high scores on Acceptance of Male Heterosexual Violence significantly predicted victim-blaming attributions in standardized vignette evaluations of acquaintance rape cases.

Reliability

The reliability of the GAI has been extensively documented across development samples involving male and female undergraduate cohorts as well as community adult samples. Internal consistency estimates (Cronbach’s alpha) demonstrate robust reliability across the inventory’s 14 subscales and three overarching structural domains:

Subscale / Domain Item Count Male Alpha (α) Female Alpha (α)
Endorsement of female superiority 6 .74 .79
Acceptance of traditional stereotypes 10 .86 .83
Condemnation of homosexuality 8 .90 .91
Disapproval of female sexual initiative 11 .74 .79
Disapproval of female casual sex 3 .79 .81
Endorsement of chivalry 7 .84 .57
Acceptance of male heterosexual violence 8 .96 .79
Endorsement of family roles 11 .89 .76
Belief in differential work roles 9 .87 .84
Rejection of female political leadership 7 .94 .66
Opposition to women’s rights 10 .78 .84
Endorsement of individual action 6 .74 .65
Opposition to funded day care 7 .80 .79
Opposition to abortion 6 .83 .79
Higher-Order Domain: STEREOTYPES 16 .88 .89
Higher-Order Domain: SEXUAL RELATIONSHIPS 14 .81 .86
Higher-Order Domain: SOCIETAL ORGANIZATION 37 .95 .90

Notably, internal consistency for Endorsement of Chivalry and Rejection of Female Political Leadership was lower among female respondents (.57 and .66, respectively) than among male respondents (.84 and .94). Qualitative and statistical follow-ups revealed that women exhibited more nuanced, differentiated reactions to paternalistic etiquette, with some viewing chivalry as respectful and others viewing it as patronizing. In contrast, men held a more internally uniform cognitive script regarding chivalrous obligations. Test-retest reliability across a four-week interval demonstrated stability coefficients ranging from .78 to .89 across the primary subscales, establishing high temporal reliability.

Factor Analysis

The structural composition of the GAI was derived through extensive iterative exploratory factor analyses (EFA) followed by confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) across independent samples. The analytical process followed a systematic hierarchical derivation:

First-Order Factor Derivation

Initial item pools exceeding 250 items were administered to cohorts totaling over 1,200 participants. Principal axis factoring with both orthogonal (Varimax) and oblique (Promax) rotations were conducted within conceptual item clusters. Items with primary factor loadings below .40 or cross-loadings greater than .30 were iteratively eliminated. This procedure successfully produced the 14 distinct first-order factors described above, accounting for approximately 54% of the total item variance. Factor loadings for retained items on their target subscales ranged predominantly between .48 and .86.

Second-Order / Higher-Order Factor Architecture

To investigate the macro-structure of gender ideology, Ashmore and colleagues subjected the inter-correlation matrix of the first-order subscales to second-order factor analysis. This revealed three broad, higher-order domains that synthesize gender attitudes:

  • STEREOTYPES Domain (16 items): Formed primarily by the coalescence of Endorsement of Female Superiority and Acceptance of Traditional Stereotypes. This factor captures descriptive and prescriptive trait attributions regarding innate biological or psychological differences.
  • SEXUAL RELATIONSHIPS Domain (14 items): Composed of Disapproval of Female Sexual Initiative and Disapproval of Female Casual Sex. This factor represents interpersonal normative scripts governing female sexual agency and dating behaviors.
  • SOCIETAL ORGANIZATION Domain (37 items): Formed by the convergence of Belief in Differential Work Roles, Endorsement of Family Roles, Rejection of Female Political Leadership, and Opposition to Women’s Rights. This macro-domain represents institutional and structural ideology regarding the balance of power and labor between the sexes.

Confirmatory factor models testing this hierarchical architecture demonstrated acceptable fit indices across comparative samples (CFI > .90, RMSEA < .06), confirming that while the 14 individual subscales offer granular diagnostic precision, the three higher-order domains provide powerful, psychometrically reliable macro-indices for broad sociological and behavioral modeling.

Instrument / Measurement Tool

  • Instrument Name: Gender Attitude Inventory (GAI)
  • Authors: Richard D. Ashmore, Frances K. Del Boca, and Scott M. Bilder (1995)
  • Item Count: 109 items total across 14 subscales
  • Administration Format: Self-administered paper-and-pencil or computer-based questionnaire
  • Administration Time: Approximately 25 to 35 minutes for the full 109-item battery; modular subscales can be administered independently in 3 to 10 minutes
  • Target Population: Adults and adolescents aged 16 and older
  • Response Scale: 7-point Likert scale:
    • 1 = Strongly Agree
    • 2 = Agree
    • 3 = Slightly Agree
    • 4 = Neither Agree nor Disagree / Neutral
    • 5 = Slightly Disagree
    • 6 = Disagree
    • 7 = Strongly Disagree
  • Scoring and Directionality: Items marked with an asterisk (*) in the source instrument represent keyed assertions matching the subscale title (e.g., endorsing traditionalism, expressing disapproval, or endorsing superiority). Researchers may score the inventory in one of two directions:
    • Traditional / Conservative Direction: Asterisked items (*) are scored 1=7, 2=6, 3=5, 4=4, 5=3, 6=2, 7=1 (or retained if 1 is designated as high endorsement), while non-asterisked egalitarian items are reverse scored so that higher mean scores indicate greater traditionalism, stereotyping, or opposition to women’s rights.
    • Egalitarian / Progressive Direction: Non-asterisked items are scored directly, and asterisked items (*) are reverse scored so that higher overall scores represent progressive, non-sexist, egalitarian orientations.
    • Subscale scores are typically computed by taking the mean of all items within that dimension, preserving the interpretable 1-to-7 metric.

Permissions & Fee and Test Year

The Gender Attitude Inventory was formally published in 1995 in the peer-reviewed journal Sex Roles (Springer Nature):

Ashmore, R. D., Del Boca, F. K., & Bilder, S. M. (1995). Construction and validation of the Gender Attitude Inventory, a structured inventory to assess multiple dimensions of gender attitudes. Sex Roles, 32(11-12), 753–785.

The inventory was placed in the public academic domain for non-commercial research and educational use by its authors. Researchers, university faculty, and graduate students may utilize the full scale or individual subscales in non-profit academic investigations without purchasing commercial testing licenses or paying per-administration royalties. For commercial applications, executive corporate consulting, or integration into proprietary psychometric diagnostic platforms, formal copyright clearance must be requested from the publisher, Springer Nature.

References

  • Ashmore, R. D. (1990). Sex, gender, and the individual. In L. A. Pervin (Ed.), Handbook of personality: Theory and research (pp. 486–526). Guilford Press.
  • Ashmore, R. D., & Del Boca, F. K. (1986a). The social psychology of female-male relations: A critical analysis of central concepts. Academic Press. https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-12-065280-8.50005-4
  • Ashmore, R. D., & Del Boca, F. K. (1986b). Toward a social psychology of female-male relations. In R. D. Ashmore & F. K. Del Boca (Eds.), The social psychology of female-male relations: A critical analysis of central concepts (pp. 1–18). Academic Press.
  • Ashmore, R. D., & Del Boca, F. K. (1987). The development and validation of a structured inventory to assess the multiple components of gender-related verbal attitudes: A progress report. Unpublished manuscript, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, NJ.
  • Ashmore, R. D., Del Boca, F. K., & Bilder, S. M. (1995). Construction and validation of the Gender Attitude Inventory, a structured inventory to assess multiple dimensions of gender attitudes. Sex Roles, 32(11-12), 753–785. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01544678
  • Ashmore, R. D., Del Boca, F. K., & Wohlers, A. J. (1986). Gender stereotypes. In R. D. Ashmore & F. K. Del Boca (Eds.), The social psychology of female-male relations: A critical analysis of central concepts (pp. 69–119). Academic Press.
  • Bem, S. L. (1981). Gender schema theory: A cognitive account of sex typing. Psychological Review, 88(4), 354–364. https://doi.org/10.1037/0033-295X.88.4.354
  • Crowne, D. P., & Marlowe, D. (1960). A new scale of social desirability independent of psychopathology. Journal of Consulting Psychology, 24(4), 349–354. https://doi.org/10.1037/h0047091
  • Eagly, A. H. (1987). Sex differences in social behavior: A social-role interpretation. Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
  • Glick, P., & Fiske, S. T. (1996). The Ambivalent Sexism Inventory: Differentiating hostile and benevolent sexism. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 70(3), 491–512. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.70.3.491
  • King, L. A., & King, D. W. (1986). Validity of the Sex-Role Egalitarianism Scale: Two calibration samples. Sex Roles, 15(3-4), 207–214. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00287595
  • Spence, J. T., & Helmreich, R. (1972). The Attitudes toward Women Scale: An objective instrument to measure attitudes toward the rights and roles of women in contemporary society. JSAS Catalog of Selected Documents in Psychology, 2, 66–67. https://doi.org/10.1037/h0035094
  • Spence, J. T., Helmreich, R., & Stapp, J. (1973). A short version of the Attitudes toward Women Scale (AWS). Bulletin of the Psychonomic Society, 2(4), 219–220. https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03329252
  • Spence, J. T., Helmreich, R., & Stapp, J. (1975). Ratings of self and peers on sex role attributes and their relation to self-esteem and conceptions of masculinity and femininity. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 32(1), 29–39. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.32.1.29
  • Swim, J. K., Aikin, K. J., Hall, W. S., & Hunter, B. A. (1995). Sexism and racism: Old-fashioned and modern prejudices. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 68(2), 199–214. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.68.2.199

Items of the Scale

Below are the authentic scale items in their original language as published in the standard psychometric validation studies, without modification or translation to preserve instrument validity and reliability:

Response Scale:

1 = Strongly Agree
2 = Agree
3 = Slightly Agree
4 = Neither Agree nor Disagree
5 = Slightly Disagree
6 = Disagree
7 = Strongly Disagree

* Indicates items keyed toward the subscale pole/title.

(Endorsement of) female superiority

  1. On average‚ women are better than men.*
  2. Women are a creative force‚ and men are a destructive force‚ in the world today.*
  3. Women are more helpful than men.*
  4. Compared to women‚ men have many undesirable qualities.*
  5. Women are morally superior to men.*
  6. Compared to women‚ men tend to be cruel.*

(Acceptance of) traditional stereotypes

  1. Men are more competitive than women.*
  2. Men are generally more adventurous than women are.*
  3. Men are generally more egotistical than women.*
  4. On the average‚ men are more arrogant than women.*
  5. Women are more gentle than men.*
  6. Men are more independent than women.*
  7. Men are more sure of what they can do than women are.*
  8. Compared to men‚ women tend to be gullible.*
  9. Compared to men‚ women are more able to devote themselves completely to others.*
  10. Compared to men‚ women tend to be weak.*

(Condemnation of) homosexuality

  1. Male homosexuality is merely a different kind of life style which should not be condemned.
  2. Just as in other species‚ male homosexuality is a natural expression of sexuality in human men.
  3. Male homosexuality is a perversion.*
  4. State laws regulating private‚ consenting lesbian behavior should be loosened.
  5. Female homosexuality is a sin.*
  6. Homosexual behavior between two men is just plain wrong.*
  7. Female homosexuality itself is no problem‚ but what society makes of it can be a problem.
  8. Lesbians just can’t fit into our society.*

(Disapproval of) female sexual initiative

  1. I approve of a woman taking the first step to start a relationship with a man.
  2. The man should always be the one to initiate sex with a woman.*
  3. I approve of a woman calling a man she is interested in.
  4. The initiative in asking for a date should come either from the man or the woman.
  5. In a relationship‚ the woman as well as the man should be free to initiate sexual activity.
  6. I approve of a woman taking the aggressive role during sexual intercourse.
  7. Women should be free to express themselves sexually.
  8. The initiative in dating should come from the man.*
  9. Women should take the passive role in courtship.*
  10. A woman should allow the man to take ch‎arge of their sexual relationship.*
  11. Women should have the same sexual freedom as men.

(Disapproval of) female casual sex

  1. It is acceptable for a woman to have sex with a casual acquaintance.
  2. I would have no respect for a woman who engages in sexual relationships without any emotional involvement.*
  3. It is all right for a woman to have sexual intercourse with someone she knows well and likes but does not love.

(Endorsement of) chivalry

  1. Men should continue to show courtesies to women such as holding open the door or helping them on with their coats.*
  2. Special attentions like standing up for a woman who comes into a room or giving her a seat of a crowded bus are outmoded and should be discontinued.
  3. Chivalrous gestures toward women on the part of men should be encouraged.*
  4. The special courtesies extended to women are demeaning because they keep women feeling helpless and in their place.
  5. A man should protect a woman from physical harm‚ even at his own expense.*
  6. Chivalry is generally demeaning to women.
  7. In an emergency‚ women and children should be evacuated first.*

(Acceptance of) male heterosexual violence

  1. Most of the women who get raped have invited it in some way.*
  2. Women provoke rape by their appearance or behavior.*
  3. In most cases‚ when a woman gets raped‚ she was asking for it.*
  4. In most cases of wife beating‚ the woman is just as much at fault as the man.*
  5. Most ch‎arges of “wife beating” are made up by the woman to get back at her husband.*
  6. If a woman is making out and she let’s things get out of hand‚ it’s her own fault if the man forces sex on her.*
  7. In forcible rape‚ the victim never causes the crime.
  8. A man is sometimes justified in hitting his wife.*

(Endorsement of) family roles

  1. It’s all right for the woman to have a career and the man to stay home with the children.
  2. I approve of a wife entering the labor force and leaving her husband at home to care for the children.
  3. I would not respect a man if he decided to stay at home and take care of his children while his wife worked.*
  4. The wife should have primary responsibility for taking care of the home and children.*
  5. A woman should work only if she can do so without interfering with her domestic duties.*
  6. The husband should have primary responsibility for support of the family.*
  7. In marriage‚ the husband should take the lead in decision making.*
  8. Working women should not be expected to sacrifice their careers for the sake of home duties to any greater extent than men.
  9. Women should be concerned with their duties of childrearing and house-tending‚ rather than with desires for professional and business careers.*
  10. As head of the household‚ the husband should have more responsibility for the family’s financial plans than his wife.*
  11. Care of children should be shared equally by both spouses.

(Belief in) differential work roles

  1. There are almost no jobs which should be closed to women because of the physical requirements.
  2. Many jobs should be closed to women because of the physical requirements.*
  3. Men and women are better suited to different kinds of occupations due to physical strength.*
  4. All occupations should be equally accessible to both men and women.
  5. There are many jobs in which men should be given preference over women in being hired or promoted.*
  6. There are some professions and types of business that are more suitable for men than women.*
  7. In today’s world the idea of “women’s work” and “men’s work” makes no sense.
  8. It is appropriate to divide work into “men’s work” and “women’s work.*
  9. A woman’s work and a man’s work should be fundamentally different.*

(Rejection of) female political leadership

  1. It would be appropriate for a woman to be President of the United States if she were qualified.
  2. I would vote for a politically qualified woman to be President of the United States.
  3. Women‚ as well as men‚ should be found in top political offices.
  4. Women should be included on all levels of political activity on an equal basis with men.
  5. There are many good reasons why a woman should not be President of the United States.*
  6. Women are too emotional to fill high positions in government.*
  7. The political and moral leadership of a community should remain largely in the hands of men.*

(Opposition to) women’s rights

  1. I can really understand why there needs to be a women’s liberation movement.
  2. The Equal Rights Amendment is unnecessary.*
  3. Only if women organize and work together can anything really be done about sex discrimination.
  4. It is not enough for a woman to be successful herself‚ women must work together to change laws and customs that are unfair to all women.
  5. Women need to unite and work together to achieve equal political and social rights in this country.
  6. Passage of legislation to further women’s rights is necessary.
  7. I do not agree with the strategies of the women’s liberation movement.*
  8. I am sympathetic to the goals of women’s liberation.
  9. I favor the Equal Rights Amendment which would prohibit legal discrimination on the basis of sex.
  10. The women’s liberation movement exaggerates the problems faced by women in American society.*

(Endorsement of) individual action

  1. Women can best overcome sex discrimination by pursuing their individual career goals.*
  2. The best way to handle problems of sex discrimination is for each woman to make sure she gets the best training possible for what she wants to do.*
  3. Most women have only themselves to blame for not doing better in life.*
  4. The best way for women to overcome sex discrimination is by working on their own to prove their abilities.*
  5. Women have been offered plenty of opportunities to get ahead. If they don’t make the most of them‚ it’s their problem.*
  6. The truly qualified woman in a career has no trouble achieving recognition and success.*

(Opposition to) funded day care

  1. Government-sponsored child care centers would be a big waste of money.*
  2. Mothers who work have no right to expect the government to pay for free child care centers.*
  3. There should be free child-care centers to help mothers who have to work.
  4. Financial support for day care should come from parents and not from the government.* [Financial support for day care centers should be available to all.]
  5. Government-sponsored child care centers should be available to all.
  6. The issue of comprehensive day care for all should become a high priority for politicians and lawmakers.
  7. There should be easily available child-care so that women can take jobs.

(Opposition to) abortion

  1. Abortion should be treated legally as a form of murder.*
  2. I favor a Constitutional amendment that would prohibit all abortions.*
  3. Public hospitals should offer abortion to any woman requesting it.
  4. Abortion on demand should be available to all women.
  5. Every woman has the right to decide whether or not she should have an abortion.
  6. A woman who is true to her maternal instincts would not have an abortion.*
★

Rate This Scale

5.0 / 5 • 1 vote

Cite This Article

memjavad (2026, September 26). Gender Attitude Inventory (GAI). PSYCHOLOGICAL DATABASE. https://en.arabpsychology.com/scales/gender-attitude-inventory-gai/
memjavad. “Gender Attitude Inventory (GAI).” PSYCHOLOGICAL DATABASE, 26 September 2026, https://en.arabpsychology.com/scales/gender-attitude-inventory-gai/.
memjavad. “Gender Attitude Inventory (GAI).” PSYCHOLOGICAL DATABASE. September 26, 2026. https://en.arabpsychology.com/scales/gender-attitude-inventory-gai/.