Do men and women really have different gender role attitudes? Experimental insight on gender-specific attitudes toward paid and unpaid work in Germany

Abstract

This article uses a novel experimental approach to measure whether men and women actually differ in their gender role attitudes. Recent research has shown that operationalizing gender role attitudes on a unidimensional scale ranging from “egalitarian” to “traditional” is problematic. Instead, their multidimensionality must to be taken into account. Similarly, an ideal measurement tool should consider that gender norms are applied conditionally, i.e., extensive information on the situational context must be provided. In this article, both preconditions are met by using a multifactorial survey experiment. The vignettes used in the survey experiment contain extensive contextual information on fictional couples' division of paid and unpaid work. In addition, the experimental variation of this information (e.g., the vignette persons' gender, the presence and age of children, and the partners' shares of paid and unpaid work) allows to disentangle the different dimensions that may influence (different) gender role attitudes of men and women. Results show no gender difference in attitudes: On average, men and women have “classical” egalitarian gender role attitudes.