Towards Gender Harmony

On Towards Gender Harmony project:

More than 160 researchers from 62 countries participated in the Towards Gender Harmony research project. This international consortium analyzed contemporary understandings of masculinity and femininity in 62 countries from 6 continents using quantitative and qualitative research – the first such extensive multination study in the history of social research.

To gather relevant data, we carefully developed a comprehensive questionnaire that included a series of scales measuring various variables related to gender beliefs and stereotypes (the complete list is available at https://osf.io/7tza3). Data collection occurred between January 2018 and February 2020 and involved undergraduate students completing randomized scales. The data was primarily collected through the SurveyMonkey or Qualtrics platforms, with paper surveys used only in rare instances. The dataset comprises 33,313 observations and 286 variables, including measures of gendered self-views, gender attitudes, stereotypes, and relevant demographic information.

The Towards Gender Harmony dataset is published, fully open-access waiting, and fully at your disposal! You can access it by clicking the button below:

For details of the sample composition and country scores developed using the surveys included in TGH data collection, see our interactive map! You can also download graphs and tables, including information on our sample diversity and geographical distribution and an overview of standardized scores of selected measures across 62 countries. Click the following link to access the map: https://ie-tc.shinyapps.io/TGHMap/

Selected insights from Towards Gender Harmony project:

Gender stereotypes in 62 countries

Using data from over 33,000 university students from around the world, we show that most often, traits considered masculine are associated with agency and dominance, while we consider traits such as communality to be feminine. University students overall rated agency as more desirable for men than communion is for women, but this was mostly evident in less gender-equal countries where men were expected to be competent, determined, and independent more strongly than women were prescribed to be compassionate, understanding, and warm. However, in most countries, students rated men’s weaknesses as less desirable than women’s dominance.

Precarious manhood around the world

Our results also confirm that in most cultures, masculinity is something other than being a man – that is, manhood needs to be earned… and it can also be lost. People differ in how much they believe masculinity must be constantly affirmed.

Cross-cultural research within the Towards Gender Harmony project has shown that beliefs about masculinity threat are deeply rooted in the culture. In countries such as Kosovo, Albania, and Nigeria, beliefs that masculinity must be constantly proven through strict patterns of behavior are more strongly endorsed than in countries such as Finland, Germany, and Spain, where masculinity is not as easy to challenge. In our study, we have also found that the higher a country’s development and gender equality index, the less pronounced the belief that manhood is precarious. Cultural beliefs about the requirements of manhood may affect men’s physical health. Overall, men live over six fewer years in countries higher versus lower in precarious manhood beliefs. Similarly, threatened masculinity predicts men engaging in risky, health-damaging behavior.

When men (do not) support gender equality?

Feelings of threat may also be related to perceptions of gender equality. Gender equality benefits both men and women at individual and societal levels. It is associated with greater human rights observance, higher levels of happiness and well-being, better physical and mental health, and greater relationship satisfaction and economic benefits, including higher average levels of GDP. In our multination study, we showed that irrespective of the national level of gender equality, the more men believe in “zero-sum” thinking, i.e., they perceive women’s gains at home, in business or in politics as men’s losses – the less likely they are to support gender equality and the more often they express hostile sexism toward women. Moreover, the higher the national level of gender equality, the less likely men are to engage in activities such as signing petitions for gender equality in the workplace or supporting the promotion of women in politics or business. This ‘zero-sum’ thinking, where gains for women equate to losses for men, remains a crucial barrier to further improvements in gender equality. Ironically, ‘her gain = his gain’ thinking is more true and needs to be promoted if we are to move towards gender harmony.

Find out more about the research in our publications:

• Country-level and individual-level predictors of men’s support for gender equality in 42 countries. (2020)

• Gender belief systems through the lens of culture—Differences in precarious manhood beliefs and reactions to masculinity threat in Poland and Norway. (2021)

• Psychometric properties and correlates of precarious manhood beliefs in 62 nations. (2021)

• Harder won and easier lost? Testing the double standard in gender rules in 62 countries. (2022)

• Cultural beliefs about manhood predict anti-LGBTQ+ attitudes and policies. (2023)

• Precarious manhood and men’s physical health around the world. (2023)

• Gendered self-views across 62 countries: a test of competing models. (2023)

• Does culture moderate gender stereotypes? Individualism predicts communal (but not agentic) prescriptions for men across 62 nations. (2024)

• Endorsing precarious manhood beliefs is associated with sexual harassment myths acceptance in Italian men and women. (2024)

Moscatelli, S., Mazzuca, S., Guizzo, F., Ciaffoni, S., Bertolli, C., Kosakowska-Berezecka, N., Sacino, A., & Menegatti, M. (2024). Endorsing precarious manhood beliefs is associated with sexual harassment myths acceptance in Italian men and women. Violence Against Women. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1177/10778012241248453

• Measuring collective action intention toward gender equality across cultures. (2024)

• Towards gender harmony dataset: gender beliefs and gender stereotypes in 62 countries. (2024)