The Effect of the Attitude towards Women and Value Orientation on Gender Role Perception

Abstract

Today, in almost all societies in which the gender equality and the position of women in society are often discussed, it is historically a social reality that individuals with different social, cultural, political and psychological backgrounds are subject to discrimination due to these differences. This study aims to examine the effect of the attitude towards women and value orientation on gender role perception and it was conducted with 6054 students studying in different departments at Atatürk University Open Education Faculty. The data collection instruments used in this research are personal information form to determine the sociodemographic attributes of the participants, Attitudes Towards Women Scale, Schwartz Value Orientations Scale, Gender Role Perception Scale. According to the findings of the study there is a significant relationship between gender role perception and attitude towards women, but there is also a negative relationship between gender role perception, attitude towards women and traditionality. It was found that the most effective variable predicting the gender role perception is attitude towards women. This finding shows that individuals' perceptions of gender role are more egalitarian when attitudes towards women are positive. It is considered that it would be beneficial to organize programs aiming at gaining the values of self-direction and universalism instead of the values of traditionality and security to ensure a positive change of attitudes towards women. In addition to this, it is considered that there is a need for longitudinal studies to change those attitudes.