MENU

Restrictive Gender Attitudes

Restrictive Gender Attitudes is a 16-item measure of how young adolescents think about gender roles in their community. Items cover five domains: education, time use, financial inclusion and economic empowerment, relationships and marriage, and sexual and reproductive health.

Categories

Geographies Tested: Bangladesh,Ethiopia

Populations Included: Female, Male

Age Range: Adolescents

Items:

Education
1. If a family can afford for one child to go to secondary school, it should be the boy only
2. Only boys should learn about science, technology, and math
3. Girls should be sent to school only if they are not needed to help at home
4. Girls should avoid raising their voice to be ladylike
5. Boys should be able to show their feelings without fear of being teased*

Time Use
6. Girls and boys should share household tasks equally*
7. A woman’s most important role is to take care of her home and cook for her family
8. A man should have the final word on decisions in his home

Financial Inclusion and Economic Empowerment
9. Women should have the same chance to work outside of the home as men*
10. Women who participate in politics or leadership positions cannot also be good wives or mothers
11. It is important for women and adolescent girls to have their own savings*

Relationships and Marriage
12. A boy should be able to have a girlfriend if he wants to*
13. A girl should be able to have a boyfriend if she wants to*
14. A girl’s marriage can wait until she has completed secondary school*

Sexual and Reproductive Health
15. Girls should be proud of their bodies as they become women*
16. Families should control their daughters’ behaviors more than their sons’

*Items are reverse scored

Response Options:
Agree/Partially Agree - 1
Disagree/Partially Disagree - 2

Scoring Procedures

The final measure is created by summing the values of the 16 attitudes questions, with larger values reflecting highly gender-inequitable attitudes.

Original Citation

Baird, S., Bhutta, Z. A., Hamad, B. A., Hicks, J. H., Jones, N., & Muz, J. (2019). Do restrictive gender attitudes and norms influence physical and mental health during very young Adolescence? Evidence from Bangladesh and Ethiopia. SSM Popul Health, 9, 100480. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ssmph.2019.100480


Psychometric Score

Ease of Use Score

Scoring breakdown

Formative Research

Qualitative Research

Existing Literature/Theoretical Framework

Field Expert Input

Cognitive Interviews / Pilot Testing

Reliability

Internal

Test-retest

Interrater

Validity

Content

Face

Criterion (gold-standard)

Construct

KEY

Ease of Use

Readability

Scoring Clarity

Length

Join the EMERGE Community

to get the latest updates on new measures and guidance for survey researchers