Skip to main content

Advertisement

Log in

Beliefs in Equality for Women and Men as Related to Economic Factors in Central and Eastern Europe and the United States

  • Original Article
  • Published:
Sex Roles Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Do economic indicators predict the general level of support for gender equality? This question was investigated in a sample of countries in Central and Eastern Europe, a region that has been undergoing rapid economic changes since the early 1990s. In this overall sample of male and female college students from ten countries, including the United States as a comparison, the predicted association between stronger beliefs in gender role egalitarianism and positive economic factors was generally supported. Also, consistent with other research, women were more in support of gender equality than men were. There was no support for a predicted trend in less support for gender equality over the time period of the present study.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Adler, M. A. (2002). German unification as a turning point in East German women’s life Course: Biographical changes in work and family roles. Sex Roles, 47, 83–98.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Beere, C. A. (1990). Gender roles: A handbook of tests and measures. Westport, CT: Greenwood.

    Google Scholar 

  • Blumberg, R. L. (1984). A general theory of gender stratification. In R. Collins (Ed.), Sociological theory (pp. 23–101). San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bolzendahl, C. I., & Meyers, D. J. (2004). Feminist attitudes and support for gender equality: Opinion change in women and men, 1974–1998. Social Forces, 83, 759–790.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bryant, A. N. (2003). Changes in attitudes towards women’s roles: Predicting gender-role traditionalism among college students, Sex Roles, 48, 131–142.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chadha, B., Coricelli, F., & Krajnyak, K. (1993). Economic restructuring, unemployment, and growth in a transition economy. International Monetary Fund Staff Papers, 40, 744–780.

    Google Scholar 

  • Commission for Women’s Politics, Republic of Slovenia (1992). Report of the position of women in Slovenia (1992). Ljubljana: Assembly of the Republic of Slovenia.

    Google Scholar 

  • Deacon, B. (1992). East European welfare: Past, present and future. In B. Deacon, M. Castle-Kanerove, N. Manning, F. Millard, E. Orosz, J. Szalai, & A. Vidinova (Eds.), The new eastern Europe: Social policy past, present, and future (pp. 1–30). London: Sage.

    Google Scholar 

  • Epstein, C. F. (1988). Deceptive distinctions: Sex, gender, and the social order. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ferligoj, A., Ule, M., & Rener, T. (1991). Sex differences in don’t know rate: The case of Slovenia. Wisdom, 4, 1–22.

    Google Scholar 

  • Frieze, I. H., Ferligoj, A., Kogovsek, T., Rener, T., Horvat, J., & Sarlija, N. (2003). Gender-role attitudes in university students in the United States, Slovenia, and Croatia. Psychology of Women Quarterly, 27, 256–261.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Funk N., & Mueller M. (Eds.) (1993). Gender politics and post-communism: Reflections from eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union. New York: Routledge.

  • Gal, S., & Kligman, G. (2000). The politics of gender after socialism: A comparative-historical essay. Princeton: Princeton University.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gibbons, J. L., Hamby, B. A., & Dennis, W. D. (1997). Researching gender-role ideologies internationally and cross-culturally. Psychology of Women Quarterly, 21, 151–170.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Glick, P., & Fiske, S. T. (1996). The Ambivalent Sexism Inventory: Differentiating hostile and benevolent sexism. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 70, 491–512.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Glick, P., Fiske, S. T., Mladinic, A., Saiz, J. L., Abrams, D., Masser, B., et al. (2000). Beyond prejudice as simple antipathy: Hostile and benevolent sexism across cultures. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 79, 763–775.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Goodwin, R., & Emelyanova, T. (1995). The perestroika of the family? Gender and occupational differences in family values in modern day Russia. Sex Roles, 32, 337–351.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gordon, R. J. (2006). Macroeconomics (10th edn.). Boston: Pearson.

    Google Scholar 

  • Henderson-King, D., & Zhermer, N. (2003). Feminist consciousness among Russians and Americans. Sex Roles, 48, 143–155.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Henry, S. (1994). The deep divide: Why American women resist equality. New York: Macmillan.

    Google Scholar 

  • International Monetary Fund. (2006). International financial statistics. Washington: IMF, April.

    Google Scholar 

  • Johnson, A. G. (1997). The gender knot: Unraveling our patriarchal legacy. Philadelphia: Temple University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kemmelmeier, M., Krol, G., & Kim, Y. H. (2002). Values, economics, and proenvironmental attitudes in 22 societies. Cross-Cultural Research, 36, 256–285.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Khalid, R., & Frieze, I. H. (2004). Measuring perceptions of gender roles: The IAWS for Pakistanis and U.S. immigrant populations. Sex Roles, 51, 293–300.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • King, L., & King, D. W. (1990). Abbreviated measures of Sex Role Egalitarian Attitudes. Sex Roles, 23, 659–673.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Leana, C., & Feldman, D. (1992). Coping with job loss: How individuals, organizations, and communities respond to layoffs. Boston: Lexington.

    Google Scholar 

  • Leven, B. (1994). The status of women and Poland’s transition to a market economy. In N. Aslanbeigui, S. Pressman, & G. Summerfield (Eds.), Women in the age of economic transformation: Gender impact of reforms in post-Socialist and developing nations (pp. 27–42). New York: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Loo, R., & Thorpe, K. (1998). Attitudes towards women’s roles in society: A replication after 20 years. Sex Roles, 39, 903–912.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Malinowska, E. (1995). Socio-political changes in Poland and the problem of sex discrimination. Women’s Studies International, 18, 35–43.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Massey, G., Hahn, K., & Sekulic, D. (1995). Women, men, and the “second shift” in socialist Yugoslavia. Gender & Society, 9, 359–379.

    Google Scholar 

  • McHugh, M. C., & Frieze, I. H. (1997). The measurement of gender-role attitudes: A review and commentary. Psychology of Women Quarterly, 21, 1–16.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • McMahon, P. C. (1994). The effect of economic and political reforms on Soviet/Russian women. In N. Aslanbeigui, S. Pressman, & G. Summerfield (Eds.), Women in the age of economic transformation: Gender impact of reforms in post-Socialist and developing nations (pp. 59–73). New York: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Miluska, J. (1998). Culture as a determinant of the professional position of women. Kobieta i Biznes, 1–2, 72–79.

    Google Scholar 

  • Miluska, J. & Bogacka, H. (1987). Wartosci studentow: Preferencje, znaczenie a ich zmiana [The values of students: Preferences, meaning, and change]. Przeglad Psycholoiczny, 30, 389–429.

    Google Scholar 

  • Olson, J. E., Frieze, I. H., Wall, S., Zdaniuk, B., Telpuchovskaya, N., Ferligoj, A., et al. (2006). Economic influences on ideals about future jobs in young adults in formerly socialist countries and the United States. Cross-Cultural Research, 40, 352–376.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Raabe, P. H. (1998). Women, work, and family in the Czech Republic-and comparisons with the West. Community, Work, & Family, 1, 51–63.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rener, T., & Ule, M. (1998). Back to the future: Nationalism and gender in post-socialist societies. In R. Wilford & R. L. Miller (Eds.), Women, ethnicity and nationalism: Politics of transition (pp. 120–132). London: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Reszke, I. (1995). How a positive image can have a negative impact: Stereotypes of unemployed women and men in liberated Poland. Women’s Studies International Forum, 18, 13–17.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rice, T. W., & Coates, D. L. (1995). Gender role attitudes in the southern United States. Gender & Society, 9, 738–750.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rudd, E. C. (2000). Reconceptualizating gender in postsocialist transformation. Gender & Society, 14, 517–539.

    Google Scholar 

  • Russo, N. F. (1997). Editorial: Forging new directions in gender role measurement. Psychology of Women Quarterly, 21, i–ii.

  • Samuelson, P. A., & Nordhaus, W. D. (2005). Economics (10th edn.). New York: McGraw-Hill.

    Google Scholar 

  • Santorum, R. (2005). It takes a family: Conservatism and the common good. Wilmington, DE: Intercollegiate Studies Institute.

    Google Scholar 

  • Severova, J. (1989). Struktura hodnotove orientace adolescentnich chlapcu a divek [The structure of value orientation in adolescent boys and girls]. Psychologia a Patopsychologia Dietata, 24, 305–319.

    Google Scholar 

  • Shebloski, B., & Gibbons, J. L. (1998). Intergenerational patterns in the beliefs about women’s roles among adolescents and their parents in the Czech Republic. Cross-Cultural Research, 32, 241–256.

    Google Scholar 

  • Spence, J. T., & Hahn, E. D. (1997). The Attitudes Toward Women Scale and attitude change in college students. Psychology of Women Quarterly, 21, 17–34.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Spence, J. T., & Helmreich, R. (1972). The Attitudes Toward Women Scale: An objective instrument to measure attitudes toward the rights and roles of women in contemporary society. Catalog of Selected Documents in Psychology, 2, 66 (manuscript No. 153).

    Google Scholar 

  • Stulhofer, A., & Sandfort, T. (2005). Introduction: Sexuality and gender in times of transition. In A. Stulhofer & T. Sandfort (Eds.), Sexuality and gender in postcommunist eastern Europe and Russia (pp. 1–28). New York: Haworth.

    Google Scholar 

  • Svejnar, J. (2002). Transition economies: Performance and challenge. Journal of Economic Perspectives, 16, 3–28.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Twenge, J. (1997). Attitudes toward women, 1970–1995: A meta-analysis. Psychology of Women Quarterly, 21, 35–52.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Vecernik, J. (2003). Skating on thin ice: A comparison of work values and job satisfaction in CEE and EU countries. International Journal of Comparative Sociology, 44, 444–471.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wall, S. N., Frieze, I. H., Ferligoj, A., Jarosova, E., Pauknerova, D., Horvat, J., et al. (1999). Gender role and religion as predictors of attitude toward abortion in Croatia, Slovenia, the Czech Republic, and the United States. Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology, 30, 443–465.

    Google Scholar 

  • Weil, D. (2005). Economic growth. Boston: Addison-Wesley.

    Google Scholar 

  • World Bank, (2005). World development indicators online. Retrieved July 2005 from http://devdata/worldbank.org/dataonline.

  • World Bank, (2006). World development indicators online. Retrieved May 2006 from http://devdata/worldbank.org/dataonline.

  • Yakushko, O. (2005). Ambivalent Sexism and relationship patterns among women and men in Ukraine. Sex Roles, 52, 589–596.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

The authors thank Janna Korobanova and Nadejda Sukhareva, formerly at Moscow Pedagogical State University, Russia, for their assistance with data collection in Saransk.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Josephine E. Olson.

Additional information

Portions of the present research were funded by the Fulbright Foundation, the University of Ljubljana, the Russian and East European Studies Program of the University of Pittsburgh, and the Women’s Studies Program of the University of Pittsburgh.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Olson, J.E., Frieze, I.H., Wall, S. et al. Beliefs in Equality for Women and Men as Related to Economic Factors in Central and Eastern Europe and the United States. Sex Roles 56, 297–308 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11199-006-9171-3

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11199-006-9171-3

Keywords

Navigation