Positive temporal comparison facilitates a hope-induced system justification amongst women

We examined whether women’s support for gender-based pay inequality (i.e., system justification) might be explained by hope. In particular, we considered whether such hope is likely prompted by positive temporal comparisons: It is entirely possible (even if previously untested) that the more women believe that their outcomes are getting better relative to what it had been at some point in the past, the greater their optimism about a better gender-based outcome could be, prompting women to support the systems that permitted such advancements. These central propositions were derived from the social identity model of systems attitude (SIMSA) and were corroborated in a correlational study involving 611 female healthcare professionals (Study 1). Study 2 (213 Italian- and 79 Spanish-women) offered a conceptual replication and extension of the evidence from Study 1: It showed that inducing positive temporal contrasts caused women’s hope for a better gender-based outcome in the future to increase, consequently allowing them to support the prevailing gender-system