Gender Attitudes at the Individual and Societal Level as Factors of Subjective Well-Being: Comparative Analysis
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.14515/monitoring.2026.4.3289Keywords:
gender attitudes, subjective well-being, multilevel regression, person-culture fit, WVSAbstract
This paper examines the relationship between gender attitudes and subjective well-being, focusing on life satisfaction as its core indicator. It covers both individual and country‑level gender attitudes and tests whether a mismatch between them affects individual well‑being. The analysis draws on the 7th wave of the World Values Survey, covering 55 countries. Gender attitudes are captured by composite indices at the individual and societal levels. Since our respondents are nested in countries and determinants operate at multiple levels, we use multilevel regression modeling. On average, individuals with more egalitarian gender attitudes report higher life satisfaction. At the country level, more dominant egalitarian gender attitudes are also associated with higher levels of subjective well-being. However, this individual‑level association depends on the broader societal context. In societies with high gender inequality the positive link is weaker, and in the most unequal contexts egalitarian views are associated with lower life satisfaction. Initially, the moderation effect of public gender attitudes was not found, but additional analysis showed its presence for respondents with moderate and egalitarian views. Overall, the results underscore the importance of person — culture fit for subjective well‑being and show that the well‑being effects of egalitarian gender attitudes vary with both the level of gender inequality and the prevailing normative climate.
Acknowledgments. The article is an output of a research project HSE-BR-2025-52 implemented as part of the Basic Research Program at HSE University.
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Copyright (c) 2026 Асланбек Вячеславович Догузов, Анна Михайловна Алмакаева, Екатерина Александровна Настина, Кира Дмитриевна Легут
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