One way that benevolent sexism contributes to gender inequality is by offering wellbeing benefits to women and men who fulfil idealised gender roles, such as taking on differentiated parenting roles and priorities. Yet, how benevolent sexism relates to parenting outcomes has received little attention. Extending a pre-pandemic study of heterosexual couples with young children (N = 175 dyads), we provide initial tests of the associations between benevolent sexism, parenting strain, and psychological distress. We assess whether benevolent sexism predicted parenting strain and psychological distress during two lockdowns at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic (Lockdown 2020) and 17 months later (Lockdown 2021). Accounting for pre-pandemic psychological distress, actors’ and partners’ higher pre-pandemic benevolent sexism was associated with lower psychological distress, and these associations were accounted for by lower parenting strain during lockdowns. However, the associations between mothers’ benevolent sexism and parenting outcomes dissipated at Lockdown 2021, suggesting that any protective benefits benevolent sexism offers to women are precarious. These results provide novel, preliminary evidence for the palliative function of benevolent sexism in the parenting domain, and advance understanding on why benevolent sexism is appealing and helps sustain gender inequalities.

仁慈的性别歧视导致性别不平等的一种方式是为履行理想化性别角色的女性和男性提供福利福利，例如承担不同的养育角色和优先事项。然而，仁慈的性别歧视与养育结果之间的关系却很少受到关注。我们扩展了一项针对有幼儿的异性夫妇（N = 175 对）的大流行前研究，对仁慈的性别歧视、养育压力和心理困扰之间的关联进行了初步测试。我们评估了在 COVID-19 大流行初期（Lockdown 2020）和 17 个月后（Lockdown 2021）的两次封锁期间，仁慈的性别歧视是否可以预测养育子女的压力和心理困扰。考虑到大流行前的心理困扰，演员和伴侣在大流行前较高的仁慈性别歧视与较低的心理困扰有关，而这些关联是由于封锁期间较低的养育压力造成的。然而，母亲的仁慈性别歧视与养育结果之间的联系在 2021 年封锁期间消失了，这表明仁慈的性别歧视为女性提供的任何保护性好处都是不稳定的。这些结果为仁慈的性别歧视在育儿领域的姑息功能提供了新颖的初步证据，并促进了对为什么仁慈的性别歧视有吸引力并有助于维持性别不平等的理解。