Worldwide Patterns and Change in Gender Egalitarianism

过去几十年来，在美国和其他低生育率的工业化国家，赞成妇女机会平等的信念和态度急剧增长。在南美洲、亚洲和非洲的许多低收入和中等收入国家，性别平等主义的观点也有所增长，尽管程度不同。是什么导致了这些变化？一种理论认为，在发达的工业经济体中，女性的新教育和工作角色尤为重要。另一种理论认为，随着经济和社会的发展，所有角色的人的价值观——传统的和现代的，男性的和女性的——都变得更加平等。这个项目提出了第三种理论，扩散理论，它结合了前两种理论的组成部分。它认为，经济和社会发展首先增加了现代职位和角色中的性别平等主义，从而造成了传统主义者和女权主义者之间的差距。然而，后来，平等主义价值观向传统角色的人传播，创新者和其他人之间的差距缩小，性别平等的目标被广泛接受。该项目的方法是通过1983年至2002年对全球84个国家的公民进行调查来检验这些理论。调查提出了许多关于妇女适当的工作和家庭角色的问题。因此，分析可以检查教育、工作、家庭和宗教如何影响不同经济发展水平、性别平等和政治权利的国家的性别平等观。这项研究具有重要的更广泛的社会影响。妇女机会平等已成为大多数国家和政府间组织广泛接受的目标。性别平等主义观点有助于增强妇女在日常生活中的权能，改善妇女和儿童的健康，增加获得有益工作的机会，在家庭角色方面提供更多选择，并鼓励政治参与。了解对性别平等的支持如何在社会内部和跨社会传播，有助于改善世界范围内的平等机会。

Beliefs and attitudes favoring equality of opportunities for women have grown dramatically over the last decades in the United States and other industrialized, low-fertility nations. Although not to the same extent, gender egalitarian views have also grown in many low- and middle-income nations of South America, Asia, and Africa. What caused these changes? One theory attributes special importance to new education and work roles for women in advanced industrial economies. Another theory posits that values of people in all roles -- traditional as well as modern, male as well as female -- become more egalitarian with economic and social development. This project proposes a third, diffusion theory that combines components of the other two. It posits that economic and social development first increase gender egalitarianism among those in modern positions and roles, thus creating a gap between traditionalists and feminists. Later, however, diffusion of egalitarian values to those in traditional roles occurs, the gap between innovators and others diminishes, and goals of gender equality become widely accepted. The methodology for the project tests these theories using surveys of citizens in 84 nations across the world from 1983 to 2002. The surveys ask numerous questions on the proper work and family roles of women. The analysis can thus examine how education, work, family, and religion affect gender egalitarian views across nations at different levels of economic development, gender equality, and political rights.This research has important broader social impacts. Equal opportunity for women has become a widely accepted goal of most nations and inter-governmental organizations. Gender egalitarian views help empower women in daily life, improve health of women and children, increase access to rewarding work, lend more choice in family roles, and encourage political participation. Understanding how support for gender equality spreads within and across societies can contribute to improving worldwide equal opportunity.