An Economic Origin of Attitudes toward Gender Equality

An Economic Origin of Attitudes toward Gender Equality

How does people’s perception of economic circumstances affect their attitudes toward gender equality? To answer this question, we examine how social psychology of intergroup relations mediates the effect of people’s perception of economic circumstances on their attitudes toward gender equality in South Korea. Using an original survey experiment in South Korea and a causal mediation analysis model, we find that men’s perception of macroeconomic difficulties weakens their support for gender equality by strengthening their social dominance orientation. The result implies that people’s disapproval of gender equality not only indicates their backlash against social changes but also exposes their economic helplessness. Therefore, the result provides a policy implication on how policies that safeguard citizens’ economic security can induce social changes with weakening hostile reactions to them.