Relationships between critical thinking and attitudes toward women's roles in society.
This exploratory study is the first examination of the relationships between critical thinking--as measured by subscales on the Watson-Glaser Critical Thinking Appraisal Form S (WGCTA Form S; G. B. Watson & E. M. Glaser, 1994)-and attitudes toward women's roles in society--as measured by subscales on the Attitudes Toward Women Scale (AWS: J. T. Spence & R. L. Helmreich, 1972). The authors hypothesized that greater critical thinking skills would be associated with more liberal attitudes toward women's roles in society. Results from a sample of 90 nursing and management undergraduates supported the hypothesis. There were moderate correlations between scores from the WGCTA Form S Inference (.24 to .37) and Deduction (.19 to .26) subtests and scores from the AWS Freedom and Independence; Marital Relationships and Obligation; and Vocational, Educational, and Intellectual Roles subscales. These findings suggest that further research with larger samples and cross-cultural samples is warranted.
Loo
Robert
R
Faculty of Management, University of Lethbridge, Lethbridge, Alberta, Canada. loo@uleth.ca
Thorpe
Karran
K
D000328:Adult; D001290:Attitude; D003071:Cognition; D005260:Female; D005783:Gender Identity; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D012933:Social Identification; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D013850:Thinking