Date of Award

Summer 8-2-2024

Degree Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

PhD Counseling Psychology

Department

Professional Psychology and Family Therapy

Advisor

Pamela F. Foley, Ph.D.

Committee Member

Peggy Brady-Amoon, Ph.D.

Committee Member

Minsun Lee, Ph.D.

Committee Member

Fanli Jia, Ph.D.

Committee Member

Chenguang Du, Ph.D.

Keywords

gender inequality, Chinese women, feminist identity, marriage, fertility

Abstract

Inspired by China’s current low fertility rate issues, this dissertation explored how Chinese women’s perceptions on gender inequality might shape their attitudes towards marriage and intent to marry, through the influences of different dimensions of feminist identity development. Through an online survey, 251 Chinese women who met the inclusion criteria were participants in this study. Hypotheses were tested through mediation analysis using the PROCESS Macro Model 4.

The following hypotheses were supported: 1) Chinese women’s perception of gender inequality is associated with their attitudes toward marriage. The greater they perceive gender inequality, the more negative their attitudes toward marriage will be. 2) Chinese women’s perception of gender inequality is associated with their intent to marry. Those who perceive higher levels of gender inequality will report lower desire and intent to marry in the future. These findings highlight the negative associations between perceptions of gender inequality and marital attitudes and intent to marry among Chinese women.

The following hypotheses were partially supported: 3) Each of Chinese women’s feminist identity development dimensions (passive acceptance, revelation, embeddedness/emanation, active commitment, femininity synthesis, or autonomous synthesis) will mediate the association between perceived gender inequality and attitudes toward marriage. 4) Each of Chinese women’s feminist identity development dimensions will mediate the association between perceived gender inequality and intent to marry. The findings showed that passive acceptance and revelation acted as complete mediators in the relationship between perceived gender inequality and attitudes toward marriage and intent to marry. Other dimensions of feminist identity development, such as embeddedness/emanation, femininity synthesis, autonomous synthesis, and active commitment, did not serve as mediators. Notably, women with higher passive acceptance tended to have a more positive view of marriage and a stronger intent to marry, whereas those with higher levels of revelation exhibited the opposite. Additionally, the study found that as Chinese women perceive greater gender inequality, they tend to show lower passive acceptance and higher revelation within their feminist identity development. This indicates that the impact on attitudes toward and intent to marry is not due to the mere perception that inequality exists, but rather the meaning these women assign to it.

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