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The Cultural Divide and Changing Beliefs about Gender in the United States, 1974–2010

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Abstract

The present paper examines claims of a growing cultural divide in the United States. We analyze social change in beliefs about gender over a period of 36 years (from 1974 to 2010) in the United States using data from the nationally representative General Social Survey (GSS). We find evidence of growing gender egalitarianism until the mid-1990s, with a reversal between 1996 and 2000, and a decline in state differences in beliefs about gender over time in our decomposition analysis and multilevel models. Although we find significant differences in gender beliefs among states in the 1970s based on their voting record on the Equal Rights Amendment and based on patterns of family formation and family life associated with the Second Demographic Transition, these differences among states decreased or disappeared entirely by the early years of the twenty-first century. We highlight the implications of our findings for the ongoing public and academic debate surrounding growing cultural differences among states.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Sociology, University at Buffalo, SUNY, 430 Park Hall, Buffalo, NY, 14260, USA

    Kristen Schultz Lee

  2. Department of Sociology and Social Work, University of Bucharest, Bucharest, Romania

    Paula A. Tufiş

  3. Department of Sociology and Population Research Institute, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA, USA

    Duane F. Alwin

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  1. Kristen Schultz Lee
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  2. Paula A. Tufiş
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  3. Duane F. Alwin
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Correspondence to Kristen Schultz Lee.

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Some of the data used in this analysis are derived from Sensitive Data Files of the GSS, obtained under special contractual arrangements designed to protect the anonymity of respondents. These data are not available from the authors. Persons interested in obtaining GSS Sensitive Data Files should contact the GSS at GSS@NORC.org.

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Lee, K.S., Tufiş, P.A. & Alwin, D.F. The Cultural Divide and Changing Beliefs about Gender in the United States, 1974–2010. Sex Roles 79, 393–408 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11199-017-0874-4

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