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The price of belonging: National attachment and perceived gender fairness across European regions

Chen, Yanan LU (2026) SIMZ51 20261
Master of Science in Social Scientific Data Analysis
Abstract
Gender inequality persists in contemporary Europe despite decades of legal reform. Yet, the emotional bond to the nation may lead women to perceive the unequal gender arrangements as fair and legitimate, a process rooted in system justification motivation. This study examines the association between national attachment and perceived gender fairness among women, and whether this association varies across European regional contexts (the Nordic, Western Europe, Mediterranean Europe, and Post-communist Europe). This study used multilevel regression models to analyse data from 16,554 women across 26 European countries in the European Social Survey Round 11, and drew on Walby’s gender regime framework to interpret regional variation. National... (More)
Gender inequality persists in contemporary Europe despite decades of legal reform. Yet, the emotional bond to the nation may lead women to perceive the unequal gender arrangements as fair and legitimate, a process rooted in system justification motivation. This study examines the association between national attachment and perceived gender fairness among women, and whether this association varies across European regional contexts (the Nordic, Western Europe, Mediterranean Europe, and Post-communist Europe). This study used multilevel regression models to analyse data from 16,554 women across 26 European countries in the European Social Survey Round 11, and drew on Walby’s gender regime framework to interpret regional variation. National attachment was positively associated with perceived gender fairness across regions. The association was found significantly stronger in Mediterranean Europe compared to the Nordic region, while the anticipated difference between Post-communist Europe and the Nordic region did not reach statistical significance. This study provides large-scale cross-national evidence for the relationship between national attachment and gender system justification, and demonstrates that multidimensional composite regional proxies capture contextual variation in system justification that single continuous indicators fail to detect. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
Chen, Yanan LU
supervisor
organization
course
SIMZ51 20261
year
type
H2 - Master's Degree (Two Years)
subject
keywords
National attachment, Perceived gender fairness, System justification, Gender regime, European regions
language
English
id
9239798
date added to LUP
2026-06-25 11:13:00
date last changed
2026-06-25 11:13:00
@misc{9239798,
  abstract     = {{Gender inequality persists in contemporary Europe despite decades of legal reform. Yet, the emotional bond to the nation may lead women to perceive the unequal gender arrangements as fair and legitimate, a process rooted in system justification motivation. This study examines the association between national attachment and perceived gender fairness among women, and whether this association varies across European regional contexts (the Nordic, Western Europe, Mediterranean Europe, and Post-communist Europe). This study used multilevel regression models to analyse data from 16,554 women across 26 European countries in the European Social Survey Round 11, and drew on Walby’s gender regime framework to interpret regional variation. National attachment was positively associated with perceived gender fairness across regions. The association was found significantly stronger in Mediterranean Europe compared to the Nordic region, while the anticipated difference between Post-communist Europe and the Nordic region did not reach statistical significance. This study provides large-scale cross-national evidence for the relationship between national attachment and gender system justification, and demonstrates that multidimensional composite regional proxies capture contextual variation in system justification that single continuous indicators fail to detect.}},
  author       = {{Chen, Yanan}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  note         = {{Student Paper}},
  title        = {{The price of belonging: National attachment and perceived gender fairness across European regions}},
  year         = {{2026}},
}