Research on Empirical Evidence for Individualization of Gender Roles across Generations in China
- DOI
- 10.2991/assehr.k.210519.042How to use a DOI?
- Keywords
- Gender role, Individualization theory, Role assignment
- Abstract
This study aims to understand the trends in perceptions, preferences, and choices of gender roles among Chinese women born in different generations during the process of modernization and westernization. Individualization theory predicts that as industrialization progresses, traditional moral and social responsibilities shift from social values and family obligations to individual judgments and decisions. We predict that in modern China, while gender equality and feminist consciousness are more prominent, women are more explicitly supportive of gender rights and equality in terms of stereotypical expectations and family role assignments. However, we also predict that implicit perceptions and stereotypes still exist in the form of individual choices and social judgments. In a study comparing the attitudes of men (N=210) and women (N=249) born over a fifty-year period (from 60’ to 00’) toward marital responsibilities and personal choices of daily activities, we found that, consistent with our predictions, younger women showed significantly higher explicit support and preference for daily activities that violate traditional gender stereotypes compared to men. However, their judgments of women who openly violate gender expectations in their marriages did not increase, and their personal choices of daily activities were consistent with gender stereotypical role assignments.
- Copyright
- © 2021, the Authors. Published by Atlantis Press.
- Open Access
- This is an open access article distributed under the CC BY-NC license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/).
Cite this article
TY - CONF AU - Shuying Huang PY - 2021 DA - 2021/05/20 TI - Research on Empirical Evidence for Individualization of Gender Roles across Generations in China BT - Proceedings of the 7th International Conference on Humanities and Social Science Research (ICHSSR 2021) PB - Atlantis Press SP - 208 EP - 212 SN - 2352-5398 UR - https://doi.org/10.2991/assehr.k.210519.042 DO - 10.2991/assehr.k.210519.042 ID - Huang2021 ER -