Misperception of peer beliefs reinforces inequitable gender norms among Tanzanian men
Gender role ideology, i.e. beliefs about how genders should behave, is shaped by social learning. Accordingly, if perceptions about the beliefs of others are inaccurate this may impact trajectories of cultural change. Consistent with this premise, recent studies report evidence of a tendency to over...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Cambridge University Press
2024-01-01
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| Series: | Evolutionary Human Sciences |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.cambridge.org/core/product/identifier/S2513843X24000069/type/journal_article |
| _version_ | 1797255713897054208 |
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| author | David W. Lawson Zhian Chen Joseph A. Kilgallen Charlotte O. Brand Alexander M. Ishungisa Susan B. Schaffnit Yusufu Kumogola Mark Urassa |
| author_facet | David W. Lawson Zhian Chen Joseph A. Kilgallen Charlotte O. Brand Alexander M. Ishungisa Susan B. Schaffnit Yusufu Kumogola Mark Urassa |
| author_sort | David W. Lawson |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Gender role ideology, i.e. beliefs about how genders should behave, is shaped by social learning. Accordingly, if perceptions about the beliefs of others are inaccurate this may impact trajectories of cultural change. Consistent with this premise, recent studies report evidence of a tendency to overestimate peer support for inequitable gender norms, especially among men, and that correcting apparent ‘norm misperception’ promotes transitions to relatively egalitarian beliefs. However, supporting evidence largely relies on self-report measures vulnerable to social desirability bias. Consequently, observed patterns may reflect researcher measurement error rather than participant misperception. Addressing this shortcoming, we examine men's gender role ideology using both conventional self-reported and a novel wife-reported measure of men's beliefs in an urbanising community in Tanzania. We confirm that participants overestimate peer support for gender inequity. However, the latter measure, which we argue more accurately captures men's true beliefs, implies that this tendency is relatively modest in magnitude and scope. Overestimation was most pronounced among men holding relatively inequitable beliefs, consistent with misperception of peer beliefs reinforcing inequitable norms. Furthermore, older and poorly educated men overestimated peer support for gender inequity the most, suggesting that outdated and limited social information contribute to norm misperception in this context. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-07T23:18:47Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-3f721414b2eb4b1c8873e5a6bc0fb13a |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2513-843X |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-24T22:10:14Z |
| publishDate | 2024-01-01 |
| publisher | Cambridge University Press |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Evolutionary Human Sciences |
| spelling | doaj.art-3f721414b2eb4b1c8873e5a6bc0fb13a2024-03-20T08:55:12ZengCambridge University PressEvolutionary Human Sciences2513-843X2024-01-01610.1017/ehs.2024.6Misperception of peer beliefs reinforces inequitable gender norms among Tanzanian menDavid W. Lawson0https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1550-2615Zhian Chen1Joseph A. Kilgallen2Charlotte O. Brand3https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1285-2174Alexander M. Ishungisa4Susan B. Schaffnit5Yusufu Kumogola6Mark Urassa7Department of Anthropology, University of California, Santa Barbara, USADepartment of Anthropology, University of California, Santa Barbara, USADepartment of Anthropology, University of California, Santa Barbara, USAHuman Behaviour and Cultural Evolution Group, College of Life and Environmental Sciences, University of Exeter, Penryn, UKNational Institute for Medical Research, Mwanza, Tanzania Muhimbili University of Health and Allied Sciences, Dar es Salaam, TanzaniaDepartment of Anthropology, Pennsylvania State University, USANational Institute for Medical Research, Mwanza, TanzaniaNational Institute for Medical Research, Mwanza, TanzaniaGender role ideology, i.e. beliefs about how genders should behave, is shaped by social learning. Accordingly, if perceptions about the beliefs of others are inaccurate this may impact trajectories of cultural change. Consistent with this premise, recent studies report evidence of a tendency to overestimate peer support for inequitable gender norms, especially among men, and that correcting apparent ‘norm misperception’ promotes transitions to relatively egalitarian beliefs. However, supporting evidence largely relies on self-report measures vulnerable to social desirability bias. Consequently, observed patterns may reflect researcher measurement error rather than participant misperception. Addressing this shortcoming, we examine men's gender role ideology using both conventional self-reported and a novel wife-reported measure of men's beliefs in an urbanising community in Tanzania. We confirm that participants overestimate peer support for gender inequity. However, the latter measure, which we argue more accurately captures men's true beliefs, implies that this tendency is relatively modest in magnitude and scope. Overestimation was most pronounced among men holding relatively inequitable beliefs, consistent with misperception of peer beliefs reinforcing inequitable norms. Furthermore, older and poorly educated men overestimated peer support for gender inequity the most, suggesting that outdated and limited social information contribute to norm misperception in this context.https://www.cambridge.org/core/product/identifier/S2513843X24000069/type/journal_articleCultural evolutionsocial learningsocial normsglobal healthgender |
| spellingShingle | David W. Lawson Zhian Chen Joseph A. Kilgallen Charlotte O. Brand Alexander M. Ishungisa Susan B. Schaffnit Yusufu Kumogola Mark Urassa Misperception of peer beliefs reinforces inequitable gender norms among Tanzanian men Evolutionary Human Sciences Cultural evolution social learning social norms global health gender |
| title | Misperception of peer beliefs reinforces inequitable gender norms among Tanzanian men |
| title_full | Misperception of peer beliefs reinforces inequitable gender norms among Tanzanian men |
| title_fullStr | Misperception of peer beliefs reinforces inequitable gender norms among Tanzanian men |
| title_full_unstemmed | Misperception of peer beliefs reinforces inequitable gender norms among Tanzanian men |
| title_short | Misperception of peer beliefs reinforces inequitable gender norms among Tanzanian men |
| title_sort | misperception of peer beliefs reinforces inequitable gender norms among tanzanian men |
| topic | Cultural evolution social learning social norms global health gender |
| url | https://www.cambridge.org/core/product/identifier/S2513843X24000069/type/journal_article |
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