Open Access
Tracing the gender gap in political interest over the life span : a panel analysis
Loading...
Files
SANCHEZ_FRAILE_2020.pdf (1.44 MB)
Embargoed until 2021.
License
Access Rights
Cadmus Permanent Link
Full-text via DOI
ISBN
ISSN
0162-895X; 1467-9221
Issue Date
Type of Publication
Keyword(s)
LC Subject Heading
Other Topic(s)
EUI Research Cluster(s)
Initial version
Published version
Succeeding version
Preceding version
Published version part
Earlier different version
Initial format
Author(s)
Citation
Political psychology, 2020, Vol. 41, No. 1, pp. 89-106
Cite
FRAILE, Marta, SANCHEZ VITORES, Irene, Tracing the gender gap in political interest over the life span : a panel analysis, Political psychology, 2020, Vol. 41, No. 1, pp. 89-106 - https://hdl.handle.net/1814/70160
Abstract
Despite recent advances in gender equality in political representation and the availability of resources, this article shows that there is a persistent gender gap in declared political interest over the life cycle. Using evidence from the British Household Panel Survey (BHPS), we track the gender gap through the life span of citizens. At age 15, there is already a substantial gender gap of 20 percentage points in the probability of respondents reporting being politically interested, pointing to gendered socialization processes as the key explanation for such differences. In the following 10 years, as people develop into adults and unravel their political orientations, the extent of the gender gap continues to grow by about 10 additional percentage points. Following these formative years, attitudes crystallize and so does the gender gap, remaining at the same size (around 30 percentage points of difference between women and men) over the life course. These findings suggest that the development of gender roles during early childhood is a crucial phase in the source of the gender gap, deserving further attention from scholars.
Table of Contents
Additional Information
First published online: 29 May 2019