The significance of place: The impact of urban and regional residence on gender-role attitudes

ABSTRACT

The study assesses the overall impact of place of residence (urban and Southern) on gender-role attitudes. Past research has often implicated timing of socialization, posing that attitudinal formation occurs either during childhood or adulthood. We propose an additional and more nuanced model that points to place by arguing that social relations in urban and Southern locations have long-lasting and powerful effects on attitudes. Using nationally representative data, we test this theoretical model by assessing whether the attitudes of urban and Southern in- and out-migrants differ from those of lifelong residents. Looking at lifelong residents and migrants, we further assess whether the impact of place will eventually diminish over time. Overall, results show that, particularly for lifelong urban residents, early socialization may be more important in impacting gender-role attitudes. With respect to region, the place based model appears more appropriate. However, it is the non-South location that seems more potent in maintaining and changing gender-role attitudes. Findings also suggest the importance of place on gender role attitudes has declined over the last 30 years. Theoretical and practical implications of these findings are discussed.

Notes

¹ Our measure of urban residency omitted suburban areas. We did this for two reasons. First and foremost, Wirth’s (1938) theory of urbanism specifically noted interactions among culturally diverse groups, which is much more relevant in urban areas. Suburban residents are less likely to have a high level of diverse interactions. With regard to data analysis, a separate analysis showed quite similar attitudes for suburban and non-urban residents. Accordingly, we included suburban residents in the “non-urban” category.

² The formula for the t test is: .Knoke, Bohrnstedt and Mee (2002) note that this type of test can be used to assess whether regression coefficients differ statistically between groups in a given population.

³ It should be noted that this shift over time represents a linear change and may not reflect non-linear ebbs and flows that may have occurred over time. Thus our linear model is somewhat limited in this respect. The linear model, however, represents a useful and parsimonious starting point that future research can expand upon.

⁴ It is important to note here that while the change in the parameter estimate from the 1970s to the 1990s appears to be steep and stable, the shift in the effect size does not reach statistical significance using the t test for differences. Because the question is no longer asked in the ANES, a different data set will be required to follow this trend and to determine whether or not the decline noted here persists and becomes significant in the 2000s.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

J. Scott Carter

J. Scott Carter is Associate Professor of Sociology at the University of Central Florida. His research interests include race and politics, racial and gender-role attitudes, racial inequality in education, and Southern and urban place. He has published in the Annual Review of Sociology, Sociology of Race and Ethnicity, Social Science Research, Social Science Quarterly and the Journal of Family Issues. His current work looks particularly at race, politics, and framing effects. He is also examining racial attitudes and attitudes toward the police.

Shannon K. Carter

Shannon K. Carter is Associate Professor of Sociology at the University of Central Florida. Her primary research interests are gender and race inequalities and sociology of reproduction. She is currently conducting research on African American mothers’ breastfeeding experiences and peer breast milk sharing in Central Florida. Her work has been published in journals such as Sociology of Race & Ethnicity, Health, Risk & Society, Breastfeeding Medicine, and Sociology of Health & Illness.

Mamadi Corra

Mamadi Corra is Associate Professor of Sociology at East Carolina University. His current research interests are in sociological social psychology (focusing on formal models of power and status structures), race, ethnic, gender and class inequalities (broadly defined) and their intersections, and the racial/ethnic context within which transnational migration occurs. His work has been published in such journals as Sociological Theory, Sociological Perspectives, Social Science Quarterly, The Canadian Journal of Sociology, Journal of Family Issues, Ethnic and Migration Studies, Journal of Negro Education, and Race and Social Problems. His current NSF funded work, “Inequality and Multiracial Gatekeeping,” seeks to investigate the impact of racial status on gatekeeper–client relations.