Assessing the Spectrum of Gender Norms Perceptions in Early Adolescence: A Cross-Cultural Analysis of the Global Early Adolescent Study

"Revealing the complexities of gendered outlooks at the societal and individual level challenges the utility of considering gender equality as a unique reality, with monitoring and programmatic implications."

Gender norms in adolescence are perceptions of what is expected of boys or girls. Research indicates that endorsement of unequal gender norms and stereotypes is common in early adolescence across cultural settings and is largely influenced by family and peers. Harmful gender norms that legitimise inequalities between the sexes can have profound and persisting implications for the health and well-being of adolescents. Using data from the Global Early Adolescent Study (GEAS), this study explores the consistency of adolescents' gender norm perceptions across different dimensions (roles, traits, and relations) and describes how the patterns of these perceptions vary across four culturally different settings.

The study uses baseline GEAS data, collected in 2017 and 2018 from six economically poor urban neighborhoods in four countries: Kinshasa (Democratic Republic of the Congo); Shanghai (China); Cuenca (Ecuador); and Lampung, Semarang, and Denpasar (Indonesia). The final sample comprised 8,977 adolescents aged 10-14 years: 2,767 in Kinshasa, 1,657 in Shanghai, 618 in Cuenca, and 3,935 in Indonesia. Three gender norm scales were examined: sexual double standard (SDS - e.g., "girls are the victims of rumours if they have boyfriends"), gender stereotypical traits (GST - e.g., "boys should be raised tough"), and gender stereotypical roles (GSR - e.g., "a woman should obey her husband in all matters"). The researchers investigated patterns of gender norms across dimensions (roles, traits, and relations) and compared results between sites. They also examined how adolescents' individual responses across the scales compared with average responses in their site, to assess the consistency of their gender views.

At the population level, mean gender norms scores varied substantially by site and gender domain. Scores were highest in Kinshasa, indicative of more unequal norms, and lower in Cuenca and Shanghai, signaling greater perceptions of gender equality. Adolescents were more likely to endorse stereotypical traits (high GST), followed by GSR, although in Cuenca, the highest mean score was observed for the SDS scale, and in Kinshasa, the mean GST score was slightly higher than the GSR mean score. The range in the scores also varied substantially in each site, suggesting substantial differences between individuals in these settings.

The multifaceted nature of gender norms was evident in the study when moving from a societal to an individual perspective: Most adolescents fluctuated in their views about gendered traits, roles, and relations, with 62%-67% holding at the same time more and less progressive views than their peers, depending on the dimension considered.

The researchers point to the findings' coherence with a key assumption of the gender norm theory: The "gender system is ubiquitous but manifests itself in different ways as per time, place, or situation.....Transitions toward gender equality are a manifestation of the different historical, cultural, and structural (particularly economic) forces shaping relations between people..."

One implication is that multidimensional measures of gender norm perceptions should be used to track population trends in social values so as to identify how to promote gender-equal values in specific contexts. At the individual level, "Further qualitative exploration of young peoples' own interpretation of equality could provide important insights into the meaning of gender equality for adolescents living in diverse cultures." From a programmatic perspective, both sets of results "support the need to specify the objectives of gender-transformative interventions that are unlikely to address unequal gender norms in all spheres of life. Rather, such programs should target specific norms that are assumed to be linked to specific outcomes, based on a specified theory of change..., and subsequently use tailored rather than generic gender norm measures to evaluate their actions."

In conclusion, this "study demonstrates the coexistence of multiple gender worldviews that are assessed and enacted as per adolescents' experiences and social context. Accounting for such complexities is essential for gender-transformative programs, as shifting gender attitudes in one area does not necessarily translate in more gender equitable views across other spheres of life."