Brave men and compassionate women: gender attitudes in England and Finland

The aim of this thesis is to examine gender-related attitudes in England and Finland. The thesis investigates the development of these attitudes in children, the effects that age and sex have on these attitudes, and how culture influences the perception of sex and gender roles. Specifically, this thesis explores the attitudes and stereotypes relating to academic ability, occupational choices, family roles and personality traits.

Review of literature shows that overall males tend to be more traditional and stereotypical in their gender attitudes than females. In relation to age, it has been found that the older children get, the more flexible they become in their attitudes to the roles of the two sexes. Cross-culturally, very little research has included both English and Finnish samples, but based on international indices of gender equality Finland appears to be more progressive in its gender-related policies than England.

In Study One (N=3313) results of secondary analysis on the ISSP data on gender role attitudes are presented. The results show that despite the Finnish perceiving women’s employment as more normative than the British, they also hold traditional family values in a greater esteem. Study Two examines gender attitudes of Finnish and English children and adolescents (N=1856), and the results indicate that the Finnish participants hold more stereotypical attitudes than the English, and that attitudes towards personality traits and occupations are strongly influenced by gender stereotypes across the nationalities and age groups. Studies Three (N=302) and Four (N=304) further examine attitudes towards instrumental and expressive personality traits, occupational stereotypes and ambivalent sexism. Study Five (N=204) compares Finnish adults’ scores on ambivalent sexism to other international samples and examines developmental trends in the endorsement of hostile and benevolent attitudes towards women.

It is concluded that despite being viewed as a haven of gender equality, the gender attitudes are more traditional in Finland than in England. Possible reasons for this are discussed, and suggestions for further research outlined. Overall, the research presented suggests that while the 21st century children and adolescents still believe that men and women are innately different, this perception of differences does not directly determine their future aspirations in terms of occupations or parental roles.