The Gender Paradox in Public Opinion Surveys

Abstract

The results of public opinion surveys clearly reflect real gender differences in society on questions directly pertaining to gender, but there is no fundamental difference between the opinions of men & women on other questions of civic politics or life values. Investigated here is whether gender is a subject separate from other areas of life, drawing on data from public opinion surveys conducted in the Czech Republic, 1990-1997. On civic & political questions, the only difference was the greater tendency to extreme positions on the part of men, while women tended to be noncommittal. Among the values tested, no difference was discovered between men & women. It is concluded that gender as an ascribed social status modifies values directly through acquired elements of social status, eg, education. For the values of work & social prestige, the dominant influence among lower & middle education groups is age, which is reinforced by gender. Among people with higher education, the influence of age virtually disappears & gender gains in strength.