Creator: Warner Bros - The Big Sleep | Credit: PickPik
Copyright: Public Domain List
Rosalind Shorrocks' article aims to address two research questions: 1) whether there is a generational gender gap in left-right self-placement and vote choice and, if so, 2) what factors contribute to this gap. As a result, the researcher analyses the changing dynamics of left-right political orientations between genders across different generational cohorts in Europe and Canada. She confirms that older cohorts tend to show a pattern in which men lean more to the left than women, while younger cohorts show the opposite. Shorrocks argues that traditional explanations focusing solely on factors such as labour force participation, education, and marital status overlook other factors such as religiosity, economic attitudes, and political affiliations. Contrary to previous modernisation theories (Inglehart and Norris), she explains that secularisation, particularly its lower salience among younger cohorts, plays a key role in shaping the gender gap. Moreover, Shorrocks suggests that women's growing support for left-wing economic policies attracts them to left-wing political positions, especially as the importance of religiosity declines. In summary, the researcher explains the interconnections between economic attitudes, political affiliations, and gender differences in various cohorts, and concludes that the gender gap at the aggregate level captures the true extent of political disparities in correlation with the analysis of gender differences.
John Burn-Murdock writes an article for the Financial Times. He considers that in the wake of emerging global shifts in young people's ideological perspectives, the phenomenon of the gender gap is becoming increasingly pronounced and significant. Similarly to Sorrocks, he suggests that the younger generation, particularly Zoomers, experience a profound divergence in their worldviews, and a re-evaluation of traditional notions of generational unity in politics and ideology is being raised.
The Financial Times journalist uses poll data from sources such as Gallup or the Service Center for American Life to conclude that previous generations tended to move in unison, sharing formative experiences and ideological inclinations that drastically changed in just a few years. In addition, he analyses Alice Evans from Stanford University to deduce that today's under-30s experience a marked separation along gender lines. Such a gender generation gap is evident in several countries, with young women tending towards progressive values while young men lean towards conservatism. These divisions are especially marked in Western countries such as the US, Germany, and the UK, where ideological disparities between young men and women have widened considerably in recent years, mirroring Shorrocks' conclusions.
Finally, Burn-Murdock suggests that catalysts for this divergence are movements such as #MeToo. Moreover, this gender divergence, as seen in polarised South Korean society, warns of the potential social consequences when young men and women diverge in their ideological outlooks. The implications go beyond political alignments and affect social institutions such as marriage and birth rates.
How were generational cohorts defined and delimited in the study?
Were sensitivity analyses conducted to check the robustness of the results?