Sexism May Be Improved With The Help Of Social Media

Sexism continues to be present even in modern-day society.

Researchers at Wilfrid Laurier University looked to see if publically speaking out against sexism could help improve women's wellbeing by giving them a chance to express themselves in ways that could potentially make a difference.

"We know women can be badly affected by experiences of sexism and that responding publically can be stressful and risky. This study examined whether using Twitter to respond to sexism could be done in a public way without any negative effects to their wellbeing," said researcher Dr. Mindi Foster, in a news release.

For the study, researchers examined 93 female undergrads who were randomly assigned to one of three conditions over a three-day period. One condition required participants to tweet publicially while the second condition required them to tweet privately. The third condition received no instructions.

A thorough analyzation showed that women who tweeted publically showed feelings of increased wellbeing by the third-day period.

"We know that popular online campaigns such as EverydaySexism have empowered women to speak out and share their experiences. However, this study demonstrates how tweeting publically has the potential to improve women's wellbeing," Foster concluded. "More research is required to understand whether this form of collective action has any further health benefits."

More information regarding the findings can be seen via the British Journal of Social Psychology.

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