Reactions Toward Affirmative Action Measures for Women

this paper examines whether there are differences between women and men in their reactions towards different types of specific affirmative action measures (aams) for women. 192 women and 128 men from a variety of jobs responded to a survey. we conclude that women react more positively than men towards aams, although the reactions of both men and women vary depending on the type of aam. thus, reactions become increasingly positive when personnel decisions were made on the basis of merit and increasingly negative when decisions were made on the basis of gender. we also found that reactions towards aams are related to the variables "unfairness perception" and "threat perceived to men", and especially to the former. also, reactions towards the generic concept of affirmative action are more positive than towards specific aa measures. implications of these results for research and practice are discussed.