The Effect of Community Size on Women’s Attitudes Toward Gender Equality

Evidence points out that women’s adoption of egalitarian attitudes depends on micro and macro conditions. Households’ and women’s characteristics, such as education level, number of children, and age, define their attitudes toward gender equality. Macro-social factors such as media, social programs, place of residence, religion, and institutions, also significantly influence women’s attitudes toward gender equality. In addition, macro-social factors have been found to moderate the effects of a number of determinants of women’s attitude toward gender equality. Communities provide the contexts that shape women’s attitudes and define the meaning of their experiences and characteristics. Using hierarchical linear modeling this paper explores the nature of residential community size on women’s development of egalitarian attitudes. Results indicate that community size moderates the impact of women’s education, empowerment, and employment on their attitudes toward gender equality.