Did Descriptive and Prescriptive Norms About Gender Equality at Home Change During the COVID-19 Pandemic? A Cross-National Investigation
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Authors
Using data from 15 countries, this article investigates whether descriptive and prescriptive gender norms concerning housework and child care (domestic work) changed after the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. Results of a total of 8,343 participants (M = 19.95, SD = 1.68) from two comparable student samples suggest that descriptive norms about unpaid domestic work have been affected by the pandemic, with individuals seeing mothers’ relative to fathers’ share of housework and child care as even larger. Moderation analyses revealed that the effect of the pandemic on descriptive norms about child care decreased with countries’ increasing levels of gender equality; countries with stronger gender inequality showed a larger difference between pre- and post-pandemic. This study documents a shift in descriptive norms and discusses implications for gender equality—emphasizing the importance of addressing the additional challenges that mothers face during health-related crises.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Journal | Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin |
| Volume | 51 |
| Issue number | 9 |
| Pages (from-to) | 1745-1759 |
| Number of pages | 15 |
| ISSN | 0146-1672 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 09.2025 |
Bibliographical note
Publisher Copyright:
© 2024 by the Society for Personality and Social Psychology, Inc.
- SDG 5 - Gender Equality
- SDG 10 - Reduced Inequalities
Sustainable Development Goals
- COVID-19, cross-national comparison, descriptive gender norms, domestic work, gender stereotypes, prescriptive gender norms, work-family division
- Psychology
Research areas
- Social Psychology