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A Cross-Cultural Examination of the Relationship between Egalitarian Gender Role Attitudes and Life Satisfaction

Abstract

In the present study, we investigated the relationship between egalitarian gender role endorsement, gender role satisfaction, and satisfaction with life among women in two cultural contexts, Kurdistan in Iraq and Norway, which differ widely in their acceptance of gender inequality according to the World Values Survey and the UN Gender Inequality Index. We predicted the relationship between egalitarian gender role endorsement (measured by the ENRICH- Equalitarian Roles Scale) and gender role satisfaction would vary across these two cultural contexts, but that gender role satisfaction would predict satisfaction with life in both cultures. Responses from 899 female university students (252 Kurdish and 246 Norwegian student teachers; 211 Kurdish and 190 Norwegian student nurses) confirmed our hypotheses. Egalitarian gender attitudes more strongly predicted gender role satisfaction in Norway than in Kurdistan (student teachers: r = .17 vs .07; nursing students: r = .37 vs. .18), but gender role satisfaction predicted life satisfaction in both cultures (r = .40 and .47; r = .49 and .47, respectively). Analyses confirmed that the mediating role of gender satisfaction was moderated by country. Our results shed light on the important role of gender satisfaction in explaining cultural differences in the relationship between egalitarian gender role attitudes and life satisfaction.

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Correspondence to Sarah E. Martiny.

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This paper and the data presented in the present paper contain no sources of potential conflicts of interest. We confirm that all authors listed on the title page have read the manuscript, attest to the validity and legitimacy of the data and its interpretation, and agree to its submission to Sex Roles. The data have not been published previously and the manuscript is not under consideration for publication elsewhere. We verify that participants in this research were treated in accordance with APA ethical guidelines. Participants were informed about their rights as participants and gave verbal consent before the data collection started.

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Soltanpanah, J., Parks-Stamm, E.J., Martiny, S.E. et al. A Cross-Cultural Examination of the Relationship between Egalitarian Gender Role Attitudes and Life Satisfaction. Sex Roles 79, 50–58 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11199-017-0859-3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11199-017-0859-3

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