Ugandan Adolescents’ Descriptive Gender Stereotypes About Domestic and Recreational Activities, and Attitudes About Women

Abstract

In Eastern Uganda, 201 adolescents aged 11- to 17-years old (48% girls; Mage = 14.62) answered close- and open-ended questions about gender stereotypes of domestic and recreational activities and gender-role attitudes about women’s behavior, rights, and roles. Adolescents answered questions such as “who is more likely to . . .?” assessing descriptive stereotypes (i.e., stereotype knowledge) and questions such as “is it ok for women to . . .?” assessing prescriptive stereotypes (i.e., stereotype endorsement) about gender roles. Data were analyzed via descriptive statistics, correlations, and thematic coding. Findings indicate that Ugandan adolescents were fairly egalitarian in some domains (e.g., leisure and recreation) but were non-egalitarian in other domains (e.g., marital and domestic roles). Adolescents held a mix of gender-stereotyped and non-stereotyped views about domestic and recreational activities as well as attitudes about women. Findings present reasons for hope and for continued work toward gender equality in Uganda. Results may inform interventions that foster gender egalitarian attitudes in youth.

Ugandan Adolescents’ Attitudes Toward, and Shared Activities with, Same- and Other-Gender Peers and Friends

“…Using the same dataset as the present paper, we found that Ugandan adolescents were fairly egalitarian in domains such as leisure, recreation, and job occupations, but were non-egalitarian in other domains (e.g., marital and domestic roles; Farago et al, 2019Farago et al, , 2020. Although we examined adolescents' stereotypes about domestic and recreational activities and attitudes about women's rights (Farago et al, 2019), as well as gender stereotypes about occupations (Farago et al, 2020), we did not assess gender-related attitudes in the context of friendships.…”

“…The current project was part of a larger study. Findings about stereotyping of domestic and recreational activities and attitudes about women’s roles and rights are published in Farago et al, 2019; findings about stereotyping of jobs are published in Farago et al, 2020; and, findings about social withdrawal are published in Eggum-Wilkens et al, 2018.…”

“…No study, to our knowledge, has examined Ugandan adolescents' gender segregation, gender-related attitudes, or shared activities in the context of friendships. Some research has explored adolescents' gender-role attitudes in Uganda, outside the context of friendships (Adams et al, 2013;Farago et al, 2019Farago et al, , 2020Lundgren et al, 2019;Ninsiima et al, 2018;Vu et al, 2017). Although women in Uganda have more social power and status than in the past, and some adolescents actively resist unequal gender norms, many adolescents still view women and girls as subordinate to men and boys, especially in domestic and marital roles (e.g., Adams et al, 2013;Farago et al, 2019;Lundgren et al, 2019;Vu et al, 2017).…”

“…Some research has explored adolescents' gender-role attitudes in Uganda, outside the context of friendships (Adams et al, 2013;Farago et al, 2019Farago et al, , 2020Lundgren et al, 2019;Ninsiima et al, 2018;Vu et al, 2017). Although women in Uganda have more social power and status than in the past, and some adolescents actively resist unequal gender norms, many adolescents still view women and girls as subordinate to men and boys, especially in domestic and marital roles (e.g., Adams et al, 2013;Farago et al, 2019;Lundgren et al, 2019;Vu et al, 2017). Using the same dataset as the present paper, we found that Ugandan adolescents were fairly egalitarian in domains such as leisure, recreation, and job occupations, but were non-egalitarian in other domains (e.g., marital and domestic roles; Farago et al, 2019Farago et al, , 2020.…”

“…Although women in Uganda have more social power and status than in the past, and some adolescents actively resist unequal gender norms, many adolescents still view women and girls as subordinate to men and boys, especially in domestic and marital roles (e.g., Adams et al, 2013;Farago et al, 2019;Lundgren et al, 2019;Vu et al, 2017). Using the same dataset as the present paper, we found that Ugandan adolescents were fairly egalitarian in domains such as leisure, recreation, and job occupations, but were non-egalitarian in other domains (e.g., marital and domestic roles; Farago et al, 2019Farago et al, , 2020. Although we examined adolescents' stereotypes about domestic and recreational activities and attitudes about women's rights (Farago et al, 2019), as well as gender stereotypes about occupations (Farago et al, 2020), we did not assess gender-related attitudes in the context of friendships.…”