Determinants of Gender-Role Attitudes Among Japanese Regular Employees: A Generational Analysis of Adolescent Family Environment

Abstract

To understand and address gender inequality in Japan, it is necessary to clarify the processes through which individuals acquire traditional or egalitarian gender-role attitudes. Individuals likely learn and internalize gender-role attitudes by modeling the attitudes of parents and other family members within the household. Therefore, examining people's past family environments is essential for understanding the formation of gender-role attitudes. This study used a retrospective design to examine family environments during early adolescence (junior high school years). The sample consisted of regular full-time employees across Japan (N = 1,102, 552 men and 550 women, age range 20–61 years, M_age = 43.89, SD = 12.53). They were recruited through an online survey company. A multiple regression analysis using the mean gender-role attitude score as the dependent variable showed that current gender-role attitudes were significantly predicted by the perceived gender-role attitudes of the influential role model, whether the mother had held a managerial position, and age. The role model’s gender-role attitudes exerted the strongest effect. A three-way between-subjects (2 × 2 × 3) analysis of variance further revealed a significant two-way interaction effect. Among older participants in their fifties and sixties, having a mother who held a managerial position was associated with stronger egalitarian gender-role attitudes, particularly when the role model also held egalitarian values. In contrast, younger generations in their twenties exhibited more traditional attitudes toward gender roles. The study discusses potential socio-cultural and economic factors underlying this pattern.