Using cultural and structural indicators to explain measurement noninvariance in gender role attitudes with multilevel structural equation modeling
Autor/in:
Seddig, Daniel; Lomazzi, Vera
Quelle: Social Science Research, (2019) 84
Inhalt: The current study explores the reasons for noninvariance of the measurements of gender role attitudes across countries. While previous studies have shown that noninvariance is a problem for comparative research and pointed out methods to alleviate the risks of drawing invalid conclusions, none has so far tried to explain why measurements of gender role attitudes are nonequivalent. Therefore, we use multilevel structural equation modeling to exploring measurement invariance and explain its absence. We use data assessing peoples' views on the specialization of roles by gender and the consequences of female employment on family's well-being from the International Social Survey Programme. We can replicate the findings from prior research indicating that scalar measurement invariance across countries is absent. Furthermore, we use two country-level variables to explain the noninvariance of particular items. The cultural value embeddedness explains noninvariance to a considerable degree while the Gender Inequality Index from the United Nations Development Programme does not. Therefore, we conclude that issues of comparability of gender role attitudes are related mainly to cultural rather than structural differences between countries.
Schlagwörter:Geschlechtsrolle; gender role; Einstellung; attitude; Messung; measurement; vergleichende Forschung; comparative research; Umfrageforschung; survey research; Datengewinnung; data capture; Datenqualität; data quality; Wertorientierung; value-orientation; kulturelle Faktoren; cultural factors; soziale Ungleichheit; social inequality; gender-specific factors; measurement noninvariance; multilevel structural equation modeling; cultural values; gender inequality; ISSP
SSOAR Kategorie:Erhebungstechniken und Analysetechniken der Sozialwissenschaften, Frauen- und Geschlechterforschung
Using Alignment Optimization to Test the Measurement Invariance of Gender Role Attitudes in 59 Countries
Autor/in:
Lomazzi, Vera
Quelle: Methods, data, analyses : a journal for quantitative methods and survey methodology (mda), 12 (2018) 1, S 77-103
Inhalt: Several repeated cross-national surveys include measurements of attitudes toward gender roles to investigate individuals’ beliefs regarding the appropriateness of men and women’s roles in a particular context. When used to compare attitudes across countries, these measurements reveal critical factors that could cause a lack of equivalence between different cultural contexts, and that could therefore produce misleading results. Nevertheless, the use of such measures to compare country means without assessing measurement equivalence is common. It should also be considered that the assessment of equivalence within a large-scale sample from cross-sectional surveys through multigroup confirmatory factor analysis (MGCFA) often fails because of the strict requirements necessary. The current article is used to assess the measurement equivalence of the gender role attitudes scale included in the last wave of the World Values Survey in 59 countries, with the main goal of identifying the most invariant model for the largest number of groups. The study involved comparing two methods belonging to the frequentist approach: MGCFA and the frequentist alignment procedure, a highly novel and promising method that is still rarely used. Using the first technique, partial scalar invariance was achieved for 27 countries. By employing the frequentist alignment optimization, an acceptable degree of noninvariance was achieved for 35 countries. Thus, the study confirmed the frequentist alignment procedure as a viable alternative to the MGCFA.
Gender role attitudes in Italy: 1988-2008 - a path-dependency story of traditionalism
Autor/in:
Lomazzi, Vera
Quelle: European Societies, 19 (2017) 4, S 370-395
Inhalt: Considering gender role attitudes as part of a broader cultural change related to the modernization process, this study adopts a path-dependency approach to analyze the support for the role of women in the public sphere in Italy since 1988. Modernization processes varied across Italian regions and the paper explores how different gender patterns developed accordingly. Using pooled data from European Values Survey, World Values Survey, and International Social Survey Program, the author assesses if this specific change is part of the postmaterialist shift and investigates the mechanisms of change carrying out cohort decomposition methods. The results address a reinforcement of traditionalism mainly due to the period effect that shows regional differences given by history.
Testing the Goodness of the EVS Gender Role Attitudes Scale
Titelübersetzung:Test de la qualité de l'échelle EVS d'attitude du rôle de genre
Autor/in:
Lomazzi, Vera
Quelle: Bulletin de Méthodologie Sociologique, (2017) 135, S 90-100
Inhalt: This study provides a critical evaluation of the gender role attitude scale included in the fourth wave of the European Values Study. The goodness of this scale is tested considering first of all its reliability and the stability of the factorial structure. The results suggest caution in the use of this instrument: the scale presents a deep variation in reliability across countries and its configuration is not stable, displaying several different factor structures from one country to another. In considering the source of this instability, this study addresses a priming effect due to questions introduced in 2008 immediately prior to the use of the gender role attitudes scale that modified the context of response.
Gender role attitudes in Italy: 1988-2008 - a path-dependency story of traditionalism
Autor/in:
Lomazzi, Vera
Quelle: European Societies, 19 (2017) 4, S 370-395
Inhalt: Considering gender role attitudes as part of a broader cultural change related to the modernization process, this study adopts a path-dependency approach to analyze the support for the role of women in the public sphere in Italy since 1988. Modernization processes varied across Italian regions and the paper explores how different gender patterns developed accordingly. Using pooled data from European Values Survey, World Values Survey, and International Social Survey Program, the author assesses if this specific change is part of the postmaterialist shift and investigates the mechanisms of change carrying out cohort decomposition methods. The results address a reinforcement of traditionalism mainly due to the period effect that shows regional differences given by history.
Testing the Goodness of the EVS Gender Role Attitudes Scale
Titelübersetzung:Test de la qualité de l'échelle EVS d'attitude du rôle de genre
Autor/in:
Lomazzi, Vera
Quelle: Bulletin de Méthodologie Sociologique, (2017) 135, S 90-100
Inhalt: This study provides a critical evaluation of the gender role attitude scale included in the fourth wave of the European Values Study. The goodness of this scale is tested considering first of all its reliability and the stability of the factorial structure. The results suggest caution in the use of this instrument: the scale presents a deep variation in reliability across countries and its configuration is not stable, displaying several different factor structures from one country to another. In considering the source of this instability, this study addresses a priming effect due to questions introduced in 2008 immediately prior to the use of the gender role attitudes scale that modified the context of response.