Bangladesh e-Journal of Sociology. Volume 7, Number 1, January 2010. 4 Influence of Age, Marital Status and Environment on Sexism in Nigeria Adedeji J. Ogunleye and Sulaiman O. Adebayo * Although the potential deleterious effects of sex discrimination (sexism) have been well documented the world over, less is known about the variables that affect the phenomenon (sexism) in Nigeria. Scholars (e.g. Leaper and Tenenbaum, 2002; Akrami.2005) have classified some of the variables as ‘person centered characteristics’ or as ‘contextual characteristics’. Person centered characteristics, in this context, include attributes as age and marital . Abstract This study attempts to find out the demographic factors for the ingrained sex discrimination in Nigeria.779 research participants completed the Ambivalent Sexism Inventory (ASI) developed by Glick and Fiske (1996). The independent t- test statistics was employed for data analysis and results showed that age, marital status and environment of living are significant factors influencing sex discrimination (sexism) in Nigeria. The findings were discussed in the light of available literature. Introduction The Social Dominance Theory, a major integrative framework seeking to understand and explain group-based prejudice and oppression (Pratto, 1999), postulates that every complex society can be characterized by the existence of group based hierarchy in which at least one group is dominant over others and enjoys a disproportionate share of privilege and at least one group occupies a subordinate position. The theory recognizes three basic types of group based social hierarchies which are: an age system, a gender system, and an arbitrary set system. The arbitrary set system consists of hierarchies of socially constructed groups based on any social relevant group distinctions. Such group distinctions may include, among others, marital status, employment or occupational status etc. These distinctions are environmental relative and may be different in their effects on social stratification but they, basically, influence sex discriminations. The prevalence of sex discriminations (sexism) and its attendant gender role expectation is evident in most social institutions such as: the family, work environment, politics, the military, the Church, and even education and the milieu of the street (Connell, 1987). * Department of Psychology, Faculty of the Social Sciences, University of Ado, Nigeria. Email: lanryadd@yahoo.com