Gender Roles in Ireland

Margret Fine-Davis is Senior Research Fellow (Emeritus), Department of Sociology, School of Social Sciences & Philosophy, Trinity College Dublin and Director of the Social Attitude & Policy Research Group. Her research interests include social attitudes; changing gender role attitudes and behaviour and related social policy issues; attitudes to family formation and well-being. She is co-author of Fathers and Mothers: dilemmas of the work-life balance -- a comparative study in four European countries (Kluwer, 2004; Italian version, Il Mulino, 2007).

"Gender Roles in Ireland: Three Decades of Attitude Change is a significant and timely work. Fine-Davis conducted five studies between 1975 and 2010, and the culmination of these data provides a unique vignette of Irish society when attitudes toward gender and the role of women underwent major change. Well contextualised, insightful and clear, Fine-Davis has crafted this book expertly and her findings illustrate the complexities of gender and gender role attitudes."- Clay Darcy, University College Dublin"Her analyses of attitudes towards abortion is particularly revealing. Fine-Davis finds an 'unexpectedly high degree of consensus between those who voted for and against the [Eighth] Amendment' (156) in their acceptance of exceptional circumstances under which abortion should be made permissible.[...]Given the incongruence between public attitudes and legislative and constitutional bans, Fine-Davis’ conclusion is the only one possible: 'It is obvious that legislation [regarding abortion] is not keeping pace with the wishes of the population' (174)."- Katherine Side, Memorial University of Newfoundland

• 1. Introduction 1.1. Background 1.2. Changing Gender Role Attitudes: The international context 1.3. Socio-Cultural and Historical Background to Study 1.4 . Overview of Studies 2. Method 2.1. Overview of Studies: 1975 – 2010 2.2. 1975 Study 2.3. 1978 Study 2.4. 1986 Study 2.5. 2005 Study 2.6. 2010 2.7. Data Analysis Techniques 2.8. Comparisons of Data Sets 3. Dimensions of Attitudes toward the Role and Status of Women 3.1. Factor Structure of Attitudes Toward the Role and Status of Women 3.2. Relationships among Attitudes Toward the Role and Status of Women 3.3. Determinants of Attitudes Toward the Role and Status of Women 3.4. Discussion 4. Social Psychological and Personality Correlates of Attitudes Toward the Role and Status of Women 4.1. Background and Literature Review 4.2. Method 4.3. Path Analysis 4.4. Discussion 5. Attitudes Toward the Role of Women as Part of a Larger Belief System 5.1. Introduction 5.2. Method 5.3. Results: The societal context 5.4. Results: Attitudes toward the role of women as part of a larger belief system 5.5. Discussion and Implications 6. Attitude Change: 1975 – 2005 6.1. Changing Gender Role Attitudes Cross-Culturally 6.2. The Irish Context for Social and Attitude Change 6.3. A Time Series Analysis of Attitudes in Ireland 1975 – 2005 6.4. Method 6.5. Comparisons of Datasets 6.6. Changing Attitudes: Dublin 1975 – 1986 6.7. Attitude Shifts Among Groups: Dublin 1975 – 1986 6.8. Changing Attitudes: Nationwide samples – 1978, 1986, 2005 6.9. Effects of Demographic Characteristics on Attitudes over Time 6.10. Discussion and Conclusions 7. Attitudes to Divorce 7.1. Introduction 7.2. The 1986 Divorce Referendum: An analysis of attitudes and voting patterns 7.3. The 1986 Divorce Referendum: Conclusions and implications 7.4. The 1995 Divorce Referendum and its Impact 8. Attitudes to Abortion 8.1. The 1983 Abortion Referendum: Attitudes and voting patterns 8.2. Attitudes Towards Abortion Under Various Circumstances 8.3. Medical Implications of the Amendment 8.4. Changing Attitudes to Abortion: 1986 – 2013 8.5. Cross-Cultural Comparisons and the Influence of Religion 8.6. Legal and Other Developments 1983 – 2013 9. Attitudes to Moral Issues 9.1. Background and Context 9.2. An Examination of Attitudes to Moral Issues 9.3. Summary, Current Attitudes and Conclusions 10. Current Attitudes and Policy Issues 10.1. Background and Context 10.2. Demographic Changes 10.3. The Relationship Between Women’s Labour Force Participation and Fertility 10.4. Changing Attitudes to Gender Roles 10.5. Implications of Changing Gender Role Attitudes