Gender identity more important to women than men, survey suggests

Gender identity matters more to women than men and people without degree-level education are more likely to say they feel very masculine or very feminine, according to a social attitudes report.

Two-thirds of survey respondents who identified as women (66%) said being female is extremely or very important to how they think of themselves, according to the polling which asked people how important their self-reported gender identity was to them.

This compared with just over half of men (52%) who felt the same about being a man, the latest report in the British Social Attitudes (BSA) survey found.

Respondents were asked how important being a man or woman was to the way they think about themselves and researchers relied on people self-reporting their gender identity.

Of all those identified as women by the questioners, none self-identified as a man, while 13 of those identified as male by the interviewers self-identified as women.

The report stated: “Self-reported gender identity appears more important for women than for men.”

People over 35 and those without higher education qualifications were more likely to describe themselves as feeling very masculine or very feminine, the report findings suggested.

While less than a third (30%) of men aged under 35 said they feel very masculine, this compared with 41% of men 35 and over.

Among women in the same age groups, some 35% of younger women described themselves as very feminine, compared with 46% of older women.

When taking education into account, 44% of men without any educational qualifications said they felt very masculine, compared with 31% of men with degrees.

There was a similar trend among women, with 49% of those without educational qualifications saying they felt very feminine, compared with 36% of women with degrees.

Those considered “hyper-feminine” – those with a strong attachment to femininity and a corresponding weak attachment to masculinity – had lower levels of support for equal parental leave (56% compared with 61% of all women) and adoption rights for same-sex couples (68% compared with 76% of all women).

Those falling into the “hyper-masculine” category – people researchers said had an extreme masculine identity and a weak or non-existent feminine identity – were less likely to support these issues than people classed as having androgynous identities, meaning they identified strongly with neither masculine nor feminine identities.

Just half of “hyper-masculine” men said they supported equal parental leave compared with 57% of those with androgynous identities (57%), while 57% backed adoption rights for same-sex couples compared with 89% of those with androgynous identities.

Susan Banducci, report co-author and professor of political science at University of Birmingham, said: “These findings show that traditional gender norms remain deeply embedded in British society, but there are signs of change, especially among younger and more educated groups.

“Gender identity plays a powerful role in shaping how people view equality and LGBTQ+ rights, suggesting that how society understands masculinity and femininity will continue to influence public attitudes and policy debates for some years to come.”

– For the report, data from more than 1,800 interviews from the European Social Survey (ESS) by Ipsos from 2023 was analysed.