Why Do Young Men Oppose Gender Quotas? Group Threat and Backlash to Legislative Gender Quotas

Bibliographic Data

ID6300440
AuthorsJeong Hyun Kim (0000-0001-6584-6793, Yonsei University), Yesola Kweon (0000-0003-1245-2779, Sungkyunkwan University, corresponding author)
Year2022
Volume47
Issue4
Pages991-1021
Publication date2022-11-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueLegislative Studies Quarterly (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0362-9805 • E-ISSN: 1939-9162
PublisherWiley (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1111/lsq.12371
OpenAlexW4206931231
LanguageEN
Citations received38
References cited66

Despite increasing efforts to implement legislative gender quotas, many countries still encounter substantial popular opposition to this policy. Previous work cannot explain why opposition to legislative gender quotas persists, particularly among young men, a group believed to be open to diversity. We develop and test a theoretical framework linking group threat to men's attitudes toward legislative gender quotas. While the salience of perceived group threat could trigger men's opposition to legislative gender quotas, we expect that this effect will be more profound among young men due to the heightened degree of economic insecurity experienced by younger generations. Using original survey experiments in South Korea, this study demonstrates the strong influence of group threat in the formation of negative attitudes toward legislative gender quotas among young men. These effects, however, are not mediated by traditional gender norms. Our findings have significant implications for the study of gender and politics and democratic representation

Backlash · Corporate governance · Demographic economics · Economics · Gender diversity · Legislature · Opposition (politics · Political science · Politics · Salience (neuroscience · Electoral Systems and Political Participation · Gender Politics and Representation · Law · Populism, Right-Wing Movements · Psychology · Social Psychology

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