Worldwide Patterns and Change in Gender Egalitarianism

在过去的几十年里，在美国和其他工业化的低生育率国家，支持女性机会平等的信念和态度急剧增长。尽管程度不同，但在南美、亚洲和非洲的许多低收入和中等收入国家，性别平等主义观点也有所增长。是什么导致了这些变化？一种理论认为，在发达工业经济体中，女性在教育和工作中扮演的新角色尤为重要。另一种理论认为，随着经济和社会的发展，所有角色的人--无论是传统的还是现代的，男性的还是女性的--的价值观都变得更加平等。这个项目提出了第三种扩散理论，它结合了其他两种理论的组成部分。它认为，经济和社会发展首先在那些处于现代地位和角色的人中增加了性别平等主义，从而在传统主义者和女权主义者之间造成了差距。然而，后来，平等主义价值观向那些扮演传统角色的人扩散，创新者和其他人之间的差距缩小，性别平等的目标得到广泛接受。该项目的方法是使用1983年至2002年对全球84个国家的公民进行的调查来检验这些理论。这些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，这项分析可以考察教育、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赋予妇女在日常生活中的权力，改善妇女和儿童的健康，增加获得有报酬的工作的机会，在家庭角色中提供更多选择，并鼓励政治参与。了解对两性平等的支持如何在社会内部和社会之间传播，有助于改善全世界的平等机会。

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.