Who else likes it? Perceived gender of social endorsers predicts gender equality support

Abstract

Research suggests that messaging by men can garner broader support from both men and women around gender equality issues. How might this influence operate in a social media environment which includes peripheral cues in addition to the message sender's identity such as the number and identities of people who are engaging with the message? The present online experiment (N = 344) examines how the actual and presumed gender identity of a tweet's social endorsers influence group norms and solidarity for gender equality among men. Results reveal that higher estimates of male endorsement lead men to have greater support for gender equality policies. These results highlight the importance of ingroup norms communicated through social endorsements in garnering men's support for gender equality within a social media context.