Development of the India Patriarchy Index: Validation and Testing of Temporal and Spatial Patterning

Abstract

While existing indices of gender equality measure the role of women’s status and position, they inadequately contextualize the broader construct of patriarchy, a social system that underlies many gender inequitable practices. An index capturing patriarchy may afford increased understanding of this social system, and may serve to complement other gender equality indices. This paper involves the development and testing of a novel composite measure, the India Patriarchy Index, to quantify the social and ideological construct of patriarchy using empirical data on family structure and gender roles. Using data from India’s National Family Health Survey, we develop an India Patriarchy Index to measure gendered social positioning in families based on sex by age, patrilocality, sex ratio imbalance among offspring, and gendered economic roles. Psychometric testing demonstrates good internal reliability and construct validity of this index, with validity indicated by its association with three gender equality indices used in India. Spatial and temporal analyses further indicate much state-level variation in India Patriarchy Index scores as well as slow change on this indicator over time, based on time trend analyses from 1992–93 to 2015–16. Results demonstrate the utility of the India Patriarchy Index to measure and track gender equality progress in India.

Men’s Attitude Towards Contraception and Sexuality, Women’s Empowerment, and Demand Satisfied for Family Planning in India

“…Sterilization is also increasing over time for younger and lower parity women, as it accelerates the acquisition of autonomy by altering power dynamics between mothers-in-law and daughters-in-law in settings where most decisions, including those related to reproductive status, are taken by the senior members of the family ( Pallikadavath et al, 2015 ). It is worth mentioning that our male attitudinal norms were more prevalent in the Southern compared to Northern regions in India, contrary to Singh et al ( A. Singh et al, 2021 ) findings of higher prevalence of patriarchal norms in the Northern relative to Southern states. The reason for this discrepancy can be attributed to our selected indicators, which are imperfect/partial measures of patriarchal norms, as they differ substantially—both conceptually and in terms of computation—with comprehensive indicators proposed in the literature for the assessment of patriarchal norms ( Gruber and Szołtysek 2016 ; A. Singh et al, 2021 ).…”

“…It is worth mentioning that our male attitudinal norms were more prevalent in the Southern compared to Northern regions in India, contrary to Singh et al ( A. Singh et al, 2021 ) findings of higher prevalence of patriarchal norms in the Northern relative to Southern states. The reason for this discrepancy can be attributed to our selected indicators, which are imperfect/partial measures of patriarchal norms, as they differ substantially—both conceptually and in terms of computation—with comprehensive indicators proposed in the literature for the assessment of patriarchal norms ( Gruber and Szołtysek 2016 ; A. Singh et al, 2021 ).…”

“…Few studies have investigated the role of men and community-level factors—particularly with regard to the persistence of cultural factors, traditional family roles, gender egalitarian values, and patriarchal gender order—in India and other regions, which tend to undermine women’s equality and empowerment ( Schensul et al, 2015 ; Mishra et al, 2014 ; Gruber and Szołtysek 2016 ; Cislaghi et al, 2020 ; A. Singh et al, 2021 ). For instance, patriarchy is “a system of society or government in which men hold the power and women are largely excluded from it” 1 , with implications on women’s decision making, well-being, and health ( Jewkes and Morrell 2018 ; L. Heise et al, 2019 ; Rivera and Scholar 2020 ).…”

Women’s Empowerment, Income, and Nutrition in a Food Processing Value Chain Development Project in Touba, Senegal

“…Our study participants live in a very conservative religious area of Senegal called Touba. While patriarchal norms exist globally, there are subnational variations in levels of patriarchy within countries (e.g., [ 75 , 76 ]). Within Senegal, the context that women face in Touba is unique, given its hierarchical religious relationships and rigid gender norms.…”

How Interviewers Affect Responses to Sensitive Questions on the Justification for Wife Beating, the Refusal to have Conjugal Sex, and Domestic Violence in India

“…(Singh et al. 2022). Due to such traditionally held customs and norms, the prevalence of sensitive items might vary from community to community in LMICs in general and India in particular (Leone, Sochas, and Coast 2021).…”