Women, Karate, and Gender Typing*

Publisher Website
Google Scholar
Abstract
When women have the physical ability to overcome men, a major basis of cognitive categorization is violated and dissonance created. Two dissonance‐resolving mechanisms take place‐derision and denial. A study of women trained in Karate1 provided an opportunity to examine these dissonance‐reducing mechanisms. Results from fieldwork and questionnaires administered to both participants in Karate and a sample of students reveal that dissonace created by women's skills is most often resolved by denying skill. rather than by denigration of the woman's self. Field observations suggest that a psychology of tokenism operates; men discount women's achievement presumably gained by satisfying gender‐independent criteria.

This publication has 1 reference indexed in Scilit: