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.
Geographies Tested: Bangladesh,Ethiopia
Populations Included: Female, Male
Age Range: Adolescents
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
The final measure is created by summing the values of the 16 attitudes questions, with larger values reflecting highly gender-inequitable attitudes.
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
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