Egalitarian Gender Role Attitudes Research Articles

Premenstrual syndrome in university students: its correlation with their attitudes toward gender roles

Introduction: Psychosocial factors causing premenstrual syndrome (PMS) are closely correlated with gender. Thus, this study’s aim was to identify correlations between gender role attitudes (GRA) and PMS status of university students.Methods: The participants of this descriptive study were 1515 female students from 13 departments of Hacettepe University using stratified sampling method. Data were collected between February and May 2014 using a semi-structured questionnaire, the Premenstrual Syndrome Scale (PMSS), and the Gender Roles Attitude Scale (GRAS). Correlations between PMSS and GRAS scores were analyzed using the Spearman correlation coefficient. The difference between PMSS and GRAS scores in terms of sociodemographic characteristics was analyzed using the t-test and one-way analysis of variance.Results: The mean total PMSS score was 117.96 ± 34.41, indicating moderate PMS levels. The total mean GRAS score was 162.71 ± 17.50, indicating an egalitarian GRA. As the gender roles in marriage of the participants became traditional, depressive thoughts and swelling became more common (rs= −0.620, p < .05; rs= −0.560, p < .05). The educational level of the mothers and perceived economic status were sociodemographic factors affecting both GRA and PMS.Discussion: GRA and sociodemographic characteristics should be considered in healthcare services for PMS.

English

This research aims to gain a better understanding of a popular term in gender-talk, using a quantitative approach. It proposes a working definition of ‘new masculinities’ and explores some of its antecedents, paying special attention to the concept of emotional intelligence (EI). Given the lack of empirical research on the nature of ‘new masculinities’ and its components this study is based on a selection of proxy measures associated with its core characteristics, described in the literature. We proposed that adoption of egalitarian gender role attitudes, low levels of sexism, low conformity to traditional masculine norms and a tendency toward androgyny, may represent the concept effectively. In search of potential correlates of new masculinity we hypothesized that EI will positively associate with measures of new masculinities even after controlling for background variables known to interact with gender role attitudes (e.g.: age and education). Two hundred and fifteen men sampled from educational and work settings in northern Israel filled out measures of the above- detailed variables. Structural equation modeling analysis demonstrated that: a) The proxy measures converged on a single factor, suggesting they represent a single essence we call ‘new masculinities’ and (b) EI associated with the latent factor representing ‘new masculinities’, as did age. The potential implications of our findings are discussed. Key words: maculinitiy, new masculinity, inclusive masculinities, emotional intelligence.

Couples’ Division of Employment and Household Chores and Relationship Satisfaction: A Test of the Specialization and Equity Hypotheses

This article investigates associations between couples' divisions of time spent on employment and household chores and respondents’ satisfaction with their partner relationship. Theoretical notions of specialization and equity were used to derive hypotheses. Specialization relates to differentiation in the content of tasks, whereas equity in hours indicates similarity in time devoted to family needs. We study direct effects of hours-equity and specialization with relationship satisfaction, but more importantly we investigate to what extent associations differ for people with egalitarian gender role attitudes, and for people with young children. We analysed dyadic data from the British Household Panel Survey. Surprisingly, no main effects of hours-equity and specialization on relationship satisfaction were found. Our results did show that for men with egalitarian gender role attitudes, equity in hours positively affected relationship satisfaction. Moreover, specialization was related to lower relationship satisfaction for men with egalitarian gender role attitudes. Conditional effects were not found for women or for the presence of children.

Gender, ethnicity and the division of household labour within heterosexual couples in Australia

Women continue to undertake substantially more unpaid labour than men, with the gaps closing if women bring economic resources to the household, spend time in paid work, or both partners hold egalitarian gender-role attitudes. Some attention has been given to how these patterns vary across ethnic groups, but the research is sparse and dominated by US studies. We examine the relationships between gender, ethnicity and housework supply within heterosexual couples in Australia using longitudinal data and individual- and couple-level panel regression models. We find large and statistically significant ethnic differences in gender divisions of household labour in Australia, with particularly egalitarian arrangements within Indigenous couples. These results have implications for understanding the processes underlying gender divisions of household labour, and highlight important, previously unknown, issues in Indigenous family processes. Particularly, our findings constitute first-time evidence of positive gender-equality outcomes for this subpopulation and call for further research on this topic.

An investigation of the unexpectedly high fertility of secular, native-born Jews in Israel

Secular, native-born Jews in Israel enjoy the socio-economic status of many affluent populations living in other democratic countries, but have above-replacement period and cohort fertility. This study revealed a constellation of interrelated factors which together characterize the socio-economic, cultural, and political environment of this fertility behaviour and set it apart from that of other advanced societies. The factors are: a combination of state and family support for childbearing; a dual emphasis on the social importance of women's employment and fertility; policies that support working mothers within a conservative welfare regime; a family system in which parents provide significant financial and caregiving aid to their adult children; relatively egalitarian gender-role attitudes and household behaviour; the continuing importance of familist ideology and of marriage as a social institution; the role of Jewish nationalism and collective behaviour in a religious society characterized by ethno-national conflict; and a discourse which defines women as the biological reproducers of the nation.Supplementary material for this article is available at: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/00324728.2016.1195913

Associations between parental gendered attitudes and behaviours and children’s gender development across middle childhood

The present study used a longitudinal, multi-informant approach to examine which specific elements of parents’ gendered attitudes and behaviours were predictive of multiple dimensions of children’s gender development. One hundred and six families with two children (older sibling M = 7.45 years and younger sibling M = 5.19 years at Time 1) were assessed at two time points four to five years apart. At Time 1, parents reported on division of household labour, their own gender-role attitudes (GRAs), and children’s gendered preferences. At Time 2, children reported on their gendered preferences, GRAs and gendered personality traits. Results from multilevel modelling showed that fathers’ egalitarian GRA and egalitarian division of household tasks were predictive of egalitarian child GRA and outcomes, but child sex did not moderate these relationships. As some gender measures were more strongly correlated than others, these findings highlight the importance of examining multiple dimensions of both children’s and parents’ gendered attitudes and behaviours.

Which men become involved fathers? The impact of men's own attitudes on paternal involvement in the Netherlands

Using data from the first two waves of the Netherlands Kinship Panel Study, I examine to what extent men's own attitudes explain their paternal involvement after the transition into parenthood. This study moves beyond previous work by incorporating multiple dimensions of paternal involvement, by unravelling issues of causality regarding the measurements of attitudes and behaviour and by taking important father, mother, and child characteristics into account. In line with my expectations, the results show that men with more egalitarian gender role attitudes and higher scores on parenthood status salience are more (relatively) more involved in childcare tasks. However, results vary depending on the outcome measure studied. First, my finding reveal that men with more egalitarian gender role attitudes and higher scores on parenthood status salience spend more time (in absolute terms) on playing with their child, but the strength of this association depends on the age of the child. Furthermore, only men with more egalitarian gender role attitudes are relatively more involved in physical and logistic tasks. Both men with more egalitarian gender role attitudes and men with higher scores on parenthood status salience are relatively more involved in child care tasks labelled as ‘responsibility’

Combining Egalitarian Working Lives with Traditional Attitudes: Gender Role Attitudes in Taiwan, Japan, and Korea

AbstractIn a simple theoretical framework, egalitarian gender role attitudes emerge as more and more women participate in the labor market. Most advanced Western nations enjoy relatively gender‐egalitarian working environments, and consequently more egalitarian gender attitudes than their East Asian counterparts. Women in East Asian societies, on the other hand, are said to support both the conditions resulting in stagnant female labor‐force participation and traditional attitudes toward gender roles. In Taiwan, however, women are more economically active than in two other East Asian societies—Japan and South Korea—even though women in all three societies favor the traditional gender division of labor. Thus, in Taiwan, women experiencing inconsistencies between their active working lives and their traditional values. This study hypothesizes that this inconsistency, or the coexistence of the old and the new, is reflected in the very mind‐set of women. Using comparative data from the 2006 East Asian Social Survey, we analyzed the gap between responses to questions on gender attitudes in relation to working conditions, and other general gender role attitudes. We found there were significant differences in the size of these gaps. Taiwanese women expressed more egalitarian views insofar as the questions were concerned with practical economic interests, while they retained their basic traditional attitudes towards gender roles in their homes. This gap is larger in Taiwan than in Japan or South Korea.

Gender Role Attitudes and Male Adolescent Dating Violence Perpetration: Normative Beliefs as Moderators.

Commonly used dating violence prevention programs assume that promotion of more egalitarian gender role attitudes will prevent dating violence perpetration. Empirical research examining this assumption, however, is limited and inconsistent. The current study examined the longitudinal association between gender role attitudes and physical dating violence perpetration among adolescent boys (n=577; 14% Black, 5% other race/ethnicity) and examined whether injunctive (i.e., acceptance of dating violence) and descriptive (i.e., beliefs about dating violence prevalence) normative beliefs moderated the association. As expected, the findings suggest that traditional gender role attitudes at T1 were associated with increased risk for dating violence perpetration 18months later (T2) among boys who reported high, but not low, acceptance of dating violence (injunctive normative beliefs) at T1. Descriptive norms did not moderate the effect of gender role attitudes on dating violence perpetration. The results suggest that injunctive norms and gender role attitudes work synergistically to increase risk for dating violence perpetration among boys; as such, simultaneously targeting both of these constructs may be an effective prevention approach.

Does the Cultural Context Matter? The effect of a country's gender-role attitudes on female labor supply

ABSTRACTDespite substantial country variation in gender-role attitudes and female labor supply and theoretical arguments stressing the consequences of contextual attitudes for individual behavior, prior research did not find evidence for an effect of a country's gender-role attitudes on female labor supply. In this study I reassess this finding using a powerful multilevel design on the 2008 wave of the European Values Study on 33 countries. I find a substantial positive and independent effect of a country's egalitarian gender-role attitudes on individual women's odds of labor market attachment. The original, gross effect can for one-fourth be attributed to an effect of individual gender-role attitudes and one-tenth to an institutional effect. These findings indicate that the cultural (attitude) context matters for female labor supply.

Women’s working hours

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to show how the interplay between individual women’s gender role attitudes, having young children at home, as well as the country-context characterized by gender egalitarianism and public childcare support, relates to women’s working hours in 23 European countries. Design/methodology/approach – This study presents results of multilevel regression analyses of data from the European Social Survey (Round 2). These micro-level data on 23 European countries were combined with country-level measures on gender traditionalism and childcare expenditure. Findings – The authors found that the negative association between having young children at home and women’s working hours is stronger for women with traditional gender role attitudes compared to women with egalitarian attitudes. The gap in working hours between women with and without young children at home was smaller in countries in which the population holds egalitarian gender role attitudes and in countries with extensive public childcare support. Furthermore, it was found that the gap in employment hours between mothers with traditional or egalitarian attitudes was largest in countries with limited public childcare support. Social implications – Policy makers should take note that women’s employment decisions are not dependent on human capital and household-composition factors alone, but that gender role attitudes matter as well. The authors could not find evidence of the inequality in employment between women with different gender role attitudes being exacerbated in association with childcare support. Originality/value – The originality of this study lies in the combined (rather than separate) analysis of how countries’ social policies (childcare services) and countries’ attitudes (gender traditionalism) interact with individual gender role attitudes to shape cross-national variation in women’s working hours.

Young people’s understanding of domestic violence: evidence from a school based survey of Grade 6 and Grade 12 students in Indonesia

Normal 0 14 false false false IT X-NONE X-NONE MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Tabella normale"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-priority:99; mso-style-qformat:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0cm; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:11.0pt; font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-fareast; mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;} International research has shown that more traditional gender role attitudes are associated with greater acceptance of domestic violence at both the societal and individual level. To date, most research has focused on the attitudes of adult men and women, and little is known about the role of gender role attitudes in shaping views on domestic violence among children. Children’s understanding about the behaviours surrounding and violence they see or experience in their home is important because their views will contribute to their behaviour later in life when they form families of their own. Using data from the 2010 Gender and Reproductive Health study, we investigate children’s’ understanding of domestic violence in four provinces of Indonesia. The analysis covers a sample of 1,772 students in Grade 6, and 6,502 students in Grade. For each grade we explore the direct and indirect role of gender role attitudes in predicting whether students classify the hypothetical scenario of a father verbally abusing a mother, and a father physically hitting a mother, as domestic violence. We find that more egalitarian gender role attitudes are associated with a significantly greater likelihood of identifying physical violence towards a mother as constituting domestic violence. Normal 0 14 false false false IT X-NONE X-NONE MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 Iwu Dwisetyani UTOMO, Fellow and HDR Convenor, Australian Demographic and Social Research Institute, The Australian National University, Coombs Building, Canberra, ACT, 0200, Australia. E-mail: Iwu.Utomo@anu.edu.au . Ariane UTOMO, Crawford School of Public Policy, College of Asia-Pacific, The Australian National University, Canberra ACT 0200, Australia. E-mail: Ariane.Utomo@anu.edu.au . Anna REIMONDOS, Australian Demographic and Social Research Institute, The Australian National University, Coombs Building, Canberra, ACT, 0200, Australia. E-mail: Anna.Reimondos@anu.edu.au . Peter MCDONALD, Professor, Crawford School of Public Policy, College of Asia-Pacific, The Australian National University, Canberra ACT 0200, Australia. E-mail: Peter.Mcdonald@anu.edu.au . Terence H. HULL, Professor, Australian Demographic and Social Research Institute, The Australian National University, Coombs Building, Canberra, ACT, 0200, Australia. E-mail: terry.hull@anu.edu.au . /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Tabella normale"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-priority:99; mso-style-qformat:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0cm; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:11.0pt; font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-fareast; mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;}

Differences in Gender Norms Between Countries: Are They Valid? The Issue of Measurement Invariance.

The values and attitudes towards gender roles are often investigated and compared from a cross-country perspective without the proper statistical treatment of the measurement invariance (MI) assessment. This implies that the conclusions based on composite scales of gender norms, gender role attitudes or gender egalitarianism, to name only a few, may be questionable. In this study, we address this lack by investigating the cross-country MI properties of the Gender Equality Scale (GES) based on World Value Survey data. We use multi-group confirmatory factor analysis with and without alignment to determine the configural, weak, strong and strict MI. The results show that the concept of gender equality is not comparable across all countries involved in the survey. In particular, it seems to differ between Western Europe and Central and Eastern Europe. We claim that only selected Central and Eastern European countries exhibit a configural MI but fail to show full weak MI and definitely fail to show full strong and full strict MI. However, under the aligned measurement framework, we succeeded in showing that for these countries, comparisons of the country rankings with respect to the GES are valid provided that a correction for non-invariance of certain factor loadings and/or intercepts is applied. Our study shows that the most egalitarian gender role attitudes measured by the GES are observed in the Czech Republic, Hungary, Lithuania and Croatia. They are significantly higher than the gender equality attitudes recorded in the lowest scoring countries Poland, Slovakia, Albania and Romania.

Traits and Roles in Gender Stereotypes: A Comparison between Moroccan and Spanish Native Samples

This study examines gender role attitudes and attitudes toward “man” and “woman” in two native samples from Spain and Morocco. The samples were made up of 400 participants, 200 in each country, containing the same number of men and women and selected with a similar procedure. We expected differences based on the independent variables of nationality, gender and educational level. The Spanish sample, female and student participants were predicted to present more egalitarian gender role attitudes and more positive attitudes toward “woman” than participants in the Moroccan sample, male and non-student participants. Overall MANOVAs were used to show the differences in gender role attitudes and attitudes toward “man” and “woman”. Results confirmed the role of the nationality variable in the expected way. The Spanish sample showed a more egalitarian view and more favorable attitudes toward “woman” than the Moroccan one. Educational level and gender showed significant effects on the Moroccan sample but only partially. Moroccan student females and non-student males presented a more egalitarian view than non-student females and student males respectively.

Influence of gender role attitudes on smoking and drinking among girls from Jujuy, Argentina

ObjectiveEvaluate effect of gender role attitudes on tobacco and alcohol use among Argentinean girls. MethodCross-sectional survey of 10th grade students attending 27 randomly selected schools in Jujuy, Argentina. Questions about tobacco and alcohol use were adapted from global youth surveys. Five items with 5-point response options of agreement–disagreement assessed attitude towards egalitarian (higher score) gender roles. Results2133 girls, aged 13–18years, 71% Indigenous, 22% mixed Indigenous/European, and 7% European responded. Of these, 60% had ever smoked, 32% were current smokers, 58% ever drinkers, 27% drank in previous month, and 13% had ≥5 drinks on one occasion. Mean response to the gender role scale was 3.49 (95% Confidence Intervals=3.41–3.57) out of 5 tending toward egalitarian attitudes. Logistic regression models using the gender role scale score as the main predictor and adjusting for demographic and social confounders showed that egalitarian gender role was associated with ever smoking (Odds Ratio=1.25; 95% Confidence Intervals 1.09–1.44), ever drinking (Odds Ratio=1.24; 95% Confidence Intervals 1.10–1.40), drinking in prior month (Odds Ratio=1.21; 95% Confidence Intervals 1.07–1.37) and ≥5 drinks on one occasion (Odds Ratio=1.15; 95% Confidence Intervals 1.00–1.33), but was not significant for current smoking. ConclusionGirls in Jujuy who reported more egalitarian gender role attitudes had higher odds of smoking or drinking.

Predicting Perceptions of Date Rape

The purpose of the current study is to examine the influence of multiple offender motivations (including no indication of a motivation), relationship length, and gender role beliefs on perceptions of a male-on-female date rape. A sample of 348 U.S. college students read a brief vignette depicting a date rape and completed a questionnaire regarding their attributions about the victim (culpability, credibility, trauma, pleasure) and perpetrator (culpability, guilt, sentencing recommendations). Results indicate that providing observers with information about the perpetrator's motivation was associated with lower victim blame. Relationship length is not predictive of rape attributions. Egalitarian gender role attitudes are associated with lower levels of victim blame. Overall, gender role attitudes exert a more significant influence on rape attributions than participant gender. The findings suggest that knowledge of an offender's motivation as well as observers' gender role attitudes can influence attributions about the culpability of victims and perpetrators of date rape.

The influence of gender role attitudes on riskysexual behaviour: evidence from the 2008Botswana AIDS impact survey III

Previous studies have posed seemingly contradictory arguments that either traditional attitudes or egalitarian attitudes are associated with riskier behaviour. Little research has been conducted to document how gender role attitudes influence sexual behaviour in Botswana. The purpose of this study is to examine the association between gender role attitudes and risky sexual behaviour. Data used in this study are from the 2008 Botswana AIDS Impact Survey which was a nationally representative, population-based survey. Cross-tabulations and logistic regression analysis were used to assess the influence of gender role attitudes on risky sexual behaviour such non-use of condom and multiple sexual partners. The cross-tabulated results of the study showed that generally women had egalitarian gender role attitudes towards sexual behaviours compared to the men. Bivariate analysis showed that about 47% of the respondents believed men can have more than one sexual partner at a time while 42% indicated that women can have more than one sexual partner at a time. Over one in ten reported that it is a wife’s duty to have sex with her husband even if she does not want to and about 24% of the respondents reported that it is not a woman’s right to decide if she will have safe sex. The logistic regression results showed that the selected gender role attitude variables were not significantly associated with risky sexual behaviour except the belief that it is acceptable for a partner to be in possession of a female condom. In short, after controlling for important socio-demographic variables, the analysis showed that traditional gender role attitudes were not significantly associated with risky sexual behaviour of non-use of condoms and engagement in multiple sexual relationships. The relationship between gender role attitudes and sexual behaviour is very complex and detailed qualitative research may provide more answers to the research questions than a cross-sectional study design. Additional research is required to understand this complex relationship.

Gender Role Attitudes around the Globe: Egalitarian vs. Traditional Views

Over the last 50 years a shift towards more egalitarian gender role attitudes has been observed in most modern societies, including those in East Asia. This article addresses variations in gender role attitudes among 20- to 55-year-old women and men across highly developed countries. Using comparative survey data from 24 regions the study investigates factors that explain gender role attitudes on the basis of educational attainment, family background, personal experience as working women, and cost-benefit considerations, as well as the influence of cultural climate and structural context. Results show that individuals with a higher level of educational attainment, as well as those who were themselves offspring of a working mother, had a higher propensity to support more egalitarian gender roles. Furthermore, being employed made women more prone to hold rather gender equal role attitudes. Having a child had a ‘traditionalising’ effect among women, but not among men. On the societal level, structural rather than cultural gender equality emerged as the more influential force toward gender role attitudes.

The Influence of Social and Individual Variables on Ethnic Attitudes in Guatemala

Ethnic attitudes may be a consequence of both group membership, as posited by Social Identity Theory (SIT), and of individual difference characteristics, as posited by Social Dominance Theory. University students in Guatemala (N = 196) reported their ethnic identity and completed a battery of surveys including Social Dominance Orientation (SDO), social distance, gender role attitudes, and social desirability scales. Results indicated that similar ethnicity, low SDO, close social distance and egalitarian gender role attitudes accurately predicted positive attitudes toward the Indigenous group. Similar ethnicity, close social distance, and high social desirability predicted positive attitudes toward the super-ordinate (Ladino) group. These results imply that many factors affect attitudes toward ethnic groups, such as SDO, gender role attitudes and social desirability. These results have implications for theories of inter-group relations and also for potential interventions to improve ethnic relations in Guatemala.

Assessing Cultural Assimilation of Mexican Americans: How Rapidly Do Their Gender-Role Attitudes Converge to the U.S. Mainstream?*

Objective. This study assesses the pace of cultural assimilation of Mexican Americans by comparing changes in their gender-role attitudes over generations to the European-origin U.S. mainstream. Methods. Using cumulative data from the 1972–2004 General Social Survey, we examine the rate at which progressive generations of Mexican Americans approach the mainstream gender-role attitudes. We also employ a set of logistic regressions to assess the differences in gender-role attitudes between Mexican and European Americans. Results. For five out of the eight gender-role-related questions considered in the study, Mexican Americans of the third or later generations show more liberal or egalitarian gender-role attitudes than those of the first or second generations. A comparison between Mexican and European Americans suggests that Mexican Americans in the sample have more conservative gender-role attitudes than European Americans in terms of division of labor at home and women's participation in politics. Conclusion. Mexican Americans become more likely to adopt egalitarian gender-role attitudes as generation progresses. The differences between Mexican and European Americans in terms of gender-role attitudes are sensitive to the particular domains of attitudes under consideration.