Internalized Misogyny Scale (IMS) Test

For readers examining whether learned gender stereotypes shape women’s judgments about their own gender, the Internalized Misogyny Scale (IMS) Test offers a structured way to reflect on attitudes. The questions examine misogynistic attitudes through authority, trust, competition, and the social value assigned to women. The Internalized Misogyny result concerns women’s internalization of negative gender stereotypes and related barriers, best approached with curiosity rather than as a fixed label.

What This Assessment Explores

This questionnaire examines gendered judgments about women’s credibility, emotions, competence, authority, competition, and trust. It suits people reflecting on their own attitudes, including women examining whether stereotypes are directed inward. Its profile describes gender bias rather than a label.

The dimensions are:

• Male Superiority (1-7) measures agreement that men are superior: Low endorsement (1-2), Moderate endorsement (3-5), High endorsement (6-7).
• Devaluation of Women (1-7) measures seeing women as less valuable than men: Low devaluation (1-2.9), Moderate devaluation (3-5), High devaluation (5.1-7).
• Distrust of Women (1-7) measures perceiving women as unreliable or prone to manipulation: Low (1-2), Moderate (3-5), High (6-7).
• Internalized Misogyny (1-7) measures women’s internalization of negative attitudes and biases toward their own gender: Low internalization (1-2.9), Moderate internalization (3-5), High internalization (5.1-7).

Together, the scores show which sexist beliefs are strongest.

Methodology and Evidence Base

Methodologically, the test uses a seven-point agreement scale from Strongly disagree to Strongly agree. Its statements describe social judgments rather than symptoms, so scores reflect the attitudes endorsed in these situations. Online scoring reports separate dimension scores on the displayed 1-7 metrics; it does not infer motives or personal history.

The questionnaire is conceptually consistent with Piggott’s 17-item Internalized Misogyny Scale (2004), developed in an honours thesis, but this English online version is not presented as a standardized adaptation. Szymanski, Gupta, Carr, and Stewart (2009) used the instrument when examining links between sexist events, internalized misogyny, and psychological distress. Yaman Sozbir, Vural, and Unal Toprak (2021) retained 17 items and three related factors in a Turkish validation, providing evidence about that version rather than validating this English online questionnaire.

To examine internalized sexism, read the profile across dimensions rather than treating one response as decisive. As an online self-report measure without stated population norms, its bands are descriptive rather than clinical cutoffs, and scores may shift with current context, self-presentation, or self-awareness.