Social Sciences in China (Chinese Edition)

No.2, 2014

 

The Present Situation of Gender Attitudes and the Factors Influencing Them: Based on the Third Survey of Women’s Social Status in China

(Abstract)

 

Liu Aiyu and Tong Xin

 

Using data from the Third Survey of Women’s Social Status in China in 2010, our research finds that the gender attitudes of both men and women are in transition from tradition to modernity. Overall, women’s gender attitudes tend to be more modern, and the younger they are, the more modern are their attitudes. Men tend to have more traditional gender attitudes, and these are highly consistent and stable across different age groups. The shaping force of gender attitudes comes from three kinds of status practice: ascribed status, achieved status and gender status between husband and wife. Of these, achieved status plays the most important role. The gender attitudes of men and women diverge due to different gender status of husbands and wives. A woman’s gender attitudes show more modern features if she has higher economic status before marriage, makes a greater economic contribution to the family than her husband, enjoys an occupational status that is at least comparable to her husband’s, and has an equal or greater share of power in the family compared to her husband. The mechanisms affecting gender attitudes are different. For women, the acquisition through their own efforts of educational opportunities, occupations and political identity contribute more to the formation of modern gender attitudes; for men, sharing the housework equally with their wives contributes more to the formation of modern gender attitudes.