A step back: A third of Gen Z men expect their wives to obey them

(CN) — As International Women’s Day inches closer, a global survey suggests progress on gender equality may be regressing among younger generations of men.

In a study released Wednesday, researchers interviewed over 23,000 adults and young adults of varying ages from 29 countries. The results highlighted a stark generational divide in attitudes toward gender roles — with younger generations of men, Generation Z in particular, more likely than older generations to endorse traditional expectations about masculinity, women’s independence and marriage.

The survey was conducted over 16 days by the United Kingdom’s Ipsos office in partnership with the Global Institute for Women’s Leadership at King’s College London.

They found that around 31% of men born between 1997 and 2012 agreed that a wife should always obey her husband, while 33% agreed that husbands should have the final say on important decisions. These results, among others, found that Gen Z men were roughly twice as likely as baby boomer men — born between 1946 and 1964 — to endorse those views.

The results for Gen Z women could not be further from their male counterparts — only 18% of respondents agreed that a wife should always obey her husband. Still, this number was three times that of baby boomer women.

“It is troubling to see that attitudes towards gender equality are not more positive, particularly among young men,” Julia Gillard, Chair of the Global Institute for Women’s Leadership at King’s Business School, said in a statement. “Not only are many Gen Z men putting limiting expectations on women, they are also trapping themselves within restrictive gender norms.”

The survey also highlighted some ironic contradictions: Despite Gen Z men expressing more traditional views on women’s independence than other generations, they were also the most likely to find women with successful careers more attractive. About 41% of Gen Z men agreed with this, compared to 27% of total baby boomers.

Beyond age group discrepancies, the survey’s results indicated a disconnect between personal beliefs and what people think their society expects of them.

“This gap is particularly pronounced among Gen Z men, who not only appear to feel intense pressure to conform to rigid masculine ideals, but in some cases seem to also expect women to retreat to more traditional ways of being,” Heejung Chung, Director of the Global Institute for Women’s Leadership at King’s Business School, said in a statement.

Across the globe, only 17% of respondents said women should handle most childcare duties, and 16% said women should manage most household chores. However, 35% of individuals believed that the majority of people in their country expect women to be responsible for childcare and domestic work.

Similarly, while only 24% of respondents felt that men should be chiefly responsible for earning money for their households, around 40% believed that most people in their country expect men to be the primary earners. Also, globally, while 31% of individuals thought people in their country believe men should have the final say on important household decisions, only 21% of respondents actually agreed with this view.

Researchers from market researcher Ipsos and King’s College London said that the survey’s results provided essential knowledge and insight into global gender equality trends, highlighting shifts and slicing through misperceptions while opening the floor for important and inclusive conversations for the future.

“As a society, we need to resist the pressure to go backwards and accelerate the pace of change,” Gillard said. “Good research is critical to reasoned debate and forward progress.”