Religiosity, ideology and gender determine the attitudes of Latin American elites towards equality

Asbel Bohigues, professor of the Department of Constitutional Law and Political Asbel Bohigues, professor of the Department of Constitutional Law and Political Science and Administration of the University of Valencia.
A study co-led by Asbel Bohigues, a professor at the University of Valencia (UV), explains that holding opinions in favour of equality (opposed to sexist ones), recognising that gender inequality is a problem and supporting State action to encourage gender equality are three different dimensions within attitudes towards gender equality, and they are not mutually exclusive. The work, published in the journal Political Research Quarterly, analyses the factors that define attitudes towards gender equality in these three dimensions of Latin American political elites.

In the conclusions, the doctor in Political Science and professor of the Department of Constitutional Law and Political Science and Administration of the UV highlights that religiosity, together with ideology and gender, determine attitudes towards gender roles. This makes religion the most important factor for equality (contrary to male chauvinism) and the recognition of equality. Bohigues also highlights that the key finding is that women systematically show a more egalitarian orientation in all three dimensions.

The expert maintains that the results represent an advance in research on gender equality because "they indicate that even the elites that have opinions in favour of equality will not necessarily support the action of the State" in terms of equality. The article analyses the data from the Latin American Elites Database survey, specifically 10 questions to legislators from 13 Latin American countries about gender roles, whether gender inequality exists and what should be done about it.

The article, that can be found here , also concludes that these findings show the need to refine the measurement and analysis of attitudes towards gender equality. In addition to this research, the professor from the University of Valencia has published an article on the scientific dissemination platform The Conversation in which he explains the consequences of democratic counterwaves in the world.

The research is co-authored with Amy Alexander, Professor of Political Science at the University of Gothenburg (Sweden), and Jennifer M. Piscopo, Professor of Political Science at Occidental College (United States).

Article : Alexander, A., Bohigues, A. and Piscopo, J. M. (2022). ’Opening the Attitudinal Black Box: Three Dimensions of Latin American Elites’ Attitudes about Gender Equality’. Political Research Quarterly. https://doi.org/10.1177/1065912­9221133101