Egalitarian gender relations threaten men’s privileged position and deter collective guilt

Evidence

Material Costs of Reparations Establishing gender equality is not just a matter of increasing women’s collective power and resources, but also reducing (at least, in a relative sense) men’s collective power and resources. Social identity theory (Tajfel & Turner, 1986) suggests that under conditions in which a dominant group’s social position is threatened, group members will be motivated to protect the group’s collective interests. Thus, these costs are likely to function as deterrents to collective guilt. … Furthermore, the development of egalitarian gender relations is likely to require that men participate in a greater share of domestic work and childcare. Such changes in social roles are likely to constitute a cost to men because they will require men to engage, at least partly, in the “double-duty” that women currently face as they balance work outside of the home and work inside of the home. In addition, “women’s work” tends to be low status and under-compensated, and it often involves skills that many men have not yet acquired. — Nyla R. Branscombe and Bertjan Doosje (eds.), Collective Guilt, 583

Categorization

• XREF: Links to the reader’s core question: this is the threat-response mechanism Roccas tests against attachment-vs-glorification moderators. — connects to: Believing gender equality is possible but too costly suppresses men’s collective guilt. — Nyla R. Branscombe and Bertjan Doosje (eds.), Collective Guilt: International…, 601; Gender equality threatens men’s identity by eliminating status difference — Nyla R. Branscombe and Bertjan Doosje (eds.), Collective Guilt: International…, 584; Romantic interdependence makes both sexes invested in preserving gender hierarchy (+3 more)

Broader Connections

• Believing gender equality is possible but too costly suppresses men’s collective guilt. #expands (0.95) — Nyla R. Branscombe and Bertjan Doosje (eds.), Collective Guilt, 601
• Gender equality threatens men’s identity by eliminating status difference #expands (0.90) — Nyla R. Branscombe and Bertjan Doosje (eds.), Collective Guilt, 584
• Romantic interdependence makes both sexes invested in preserving gender hierarchy #expands (0.78)
• Heterosexual interdependence makes both sexes invested in sexist arrangements #expands (0.78)
• People prefer elevated rank within hierarchy over egalitarian equal respect #expands (0.75) — W. David Marx, Status and Culture, 61