Political Ideology Outdoes Personal Experience in Predicting Support for Gender Equality

Research output: Contribution to journalResearch articleContributedpeer-review

Contributors

  • A. Timur Sevincer - , Chair of Social Psychology, University of Hamburg, TUD Dresden University of Technology (Author)
  • Cindy Galinsky - , TUD Dresden University of Technology (Author)
  • Lena Martensen - , TUD Dresden University of Technology (Author)
  • Gabriele Oettingen - , University of Hamburg, New York University (Author)

Abstract

Indices of gender equality provide an inconsistent picture of current gender inequality in countries with relatively high equality. We examined women's and men's subjectively perceived gender inequality and their support for gender equality in the general population and in politicians, respectively, in three countries with relatively high gender equality: the United States, the United Kingdom, and Germany (total N = 1,612). In both women's and men's perceptions, women were treated more unequally than men. However, the inequality that women perceived was larger than the inequality men perceived. Additionally, women reported they personally experience less inequality than women as a group (person-group discrepancy). Finally, women's and men's left/liberal (vs. right/conservative) political ideology turned out to be a relatively more powerful predictor of support for gender equality than perceived personal and societal inequality. We discuss reasons for why political ideology emerged as the strongest predictor of equality support and sketch out implications for policy efforts toward promoting gender equality.

Details

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)829-855
Number of pages27
JournalPolitical Psychology
Volume44
Issue number4
Publication statusPublished - Sept 2023
Peer-reviewedYes

Keywords

Sustainable Development Goals

Keywords

  • gender equality, perceived inequality, person-group discrepancy, pluralistic ignorance, political ideology