A small shift, a major leap: Changing gender‐role attitudes among adolescents across two ethnic groups

Abstract

IntroductionThe current study examined a growth mindset intervention designed to promote egalitarian gender role attitudes among adolescents during a pivotal stage of their development, as these attitudes may have important implications for their identity development, well‐being, and future life decisions.MethodsA sample of 181 eighth‐grade students (61% female, Mage = 13.14, SD = 0.42) from six Israeli schools participated in the study. The sample consisted of 49% Jewish and 51% Arab adolescents, including both Muslims and Christians. Adolescents engaged in a two‐session intervention that included videos and reflective writing tasks. Pre‐and postintervention, they completed self‐administered questionnaires assessing their gender‐role mindsets, attitudes toward women, and sexism. The data collection and intervention process took place from late 2021 to early 2023.ResultsAfter the intervention, there was an increase in growth mindsets and egalitarian attitudes towards women among adolescents, and a reduction in benevolent sexism and fixed gender‐role mindsets. Hostile sexism, however, remained unchanged. No significant sex or ethnic differences were found in the effectiveness of the intervention. Gender‐role mindsets mediated the association between the intervention and egalitarian attitudes, but not the association between the intervention and benevolent sexism.ConclusionsThe findings demonstrate the potential of brief and targeted growth mindset interventions in promoting favorable changes adolescents' attitudes towards gender roles. According to this study, despite prolonged gender‐role socialization, adolescents from diverse ethnic backgrounds can move towards more egalitarian attitudes and flexibility in gender roles through a rather targeted process. This finding is promising especially in adolescence, when stereotypes are often intensified.