Native Bias by Donghyun Danny Choi;Mathias Poertner;Nicholas Sambanis;

Author:Donghyun Danny Choi;Mathias Poertner;Nicholas Sambanis;
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Princeton University Press
Published: 2022-07-07T00:00:00+00:00

Attitudes Toward Gender Equality Among Muslims

Cross-country evidence from surveys of public opinion suggests that there is a gap between the cultural values reflected in majority opinion in Middle Eastern and North African countries and the prevailing norms and shared cultural values in Western European societies (Inglehart, 2000). For example, data from the Arab Barometer show that when asked whether they agree or disagree with the statement that “husbands should have the final say” in the family, a majority of respondents agrees with the statement across a dozen Muslim-majority countries (Thomas, Arab Barometer, 2019). There are significant cross-country differences with 70% or more of respondents agreeing with the statement in Iraq, Algeria, and Sudan compared with just around 50% in Lebanon and Jordan (and just below 50% in Morocco). But there is little evidence of a generational gap as these beliefs permeate age groups and seem relatively stable over time. There is a notable gap in the degree to which these beliefs are held by men and women, with women much more likely to support women’s rights issues, such as equal inheritance shares for women or women’s access to education. According to the Arab Barometer, more men now support statements about the dominant role of men in the family than was the case in surveys fielded a few years ago.

A 2013 study by the PEW Research Center (PEW Forum on Religion and Public Life) explored the role of women in society in Muslim-majority countries and the survey results reveal clear support for positions that, from the perspective of the majority of European citizens, might be considered conservative or regressive. According to the report, “in nearly all countries surveyed, a majority of Muslims say that a wife should always obey her husband” (PEW Forum on Religion & Public Life, 2013, p. 91), though there are pronounced differences with respect to other issues that are central to debates about gender rights. Large majorities support unequal inheritance laws that favor men over women in most countries from the Middle East that were included in the survey with the exception of Turkey.6 There are significant differences in the share of Muslims who say that a wife should be able to divorce her husband. Whereas there are large majorities in favor of this right in Bosnia (94%), Albania (84%), Tunisia (81%), and Turkey (85%), support is much lower in Lebanon (56%), Palestine (33%), Egypt (22%), Jordan (22%), and Iraq (14%) (PEW Forum on Religion & Public Life, 2013, p. 94).

Such attitudes are at odds with the trend toward greater gender equality that is evident in the surveys of public opinion in Germany that we reviewed earlier in this book. Undoubtedly, these cultural differences are at the core of public perceptions of a significant distance separating native Germans from Muslim immigrants because Germans likely ascribe to immigrants the views of the majority in their countries of origin. These perceptions may be misguided, however. Surveys of public opinion among Muslim immigrants in Germany reveal important differences between the

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