Gen Z Shift Alarms Experts as Young Men Back Traditional Gender Roles
gen z men are showing unexpectedly conservative attitudes on women’s roles, a major international survey finds, sparking urgent debate among researchers and rights groups. The Ipsos and Global Institute for Women’s Leadership at King’s College London study of 23, 000 people in 29 countries highlights rising support among younger men for statements that a wife should always obey her husband and that young men should project physical toughness. Experts warn social media and recent economic pressures may be driving the shift.
Gen Z: the numbers
The survey shows as many as 31% of men in their teens and twenties agree that “a wife should always obey her husband, ” while only 13% of men aged 60 and over endorse the same statement. Among women, 18% of the gen z cohort agreed that wives should obey, compared with 6% of older women born between 1945 and 1965. The study covered respondents across 29 countries and drew on a total sample of about 23, 000 people.
Country-level variation is stark: Sweden recorded about 4% agreement across age groups that a wife should always obey her husband, while Malaysia and Indonesia recorded roughly 60% and 66% agreement respectively. The survey also captured views on perceived gender fairness: roughly 80% of respondents in Thailand agreed society has gone so far promoting women’s equality that it is discriminating against men, compared with about 25% in Hungary. Another striking item found 43% of gen z men agreeing that “young men should try to be physically tough, even if they’re not naturally big. “
Immediate reactions from experts
Professor Heejung Chung, co-author of the study and director of the Global Institute for Women’s Leadership at King’s College London, said social media has played a “huge role” in changing attitudes worldwide and argued that some young men turn to more conservative gender views as “their way of making sense of the world. ” Professor Chung added that influencers and politicians are “tapping into people’s grievances, ” encouraging a recapture of perceived power.
Penny East, chief executive of the Fawcett Society, described the findings as evidence that public attitudes on women’s rights may be “going in the wrong direction” and pointed to high levels of misogyny online and offline that boys are exposed to daily. East said the statistics underline a worrying retreat into traditional masculinity and challenged policymakers and civil society to take the results seriously.
Why this has emerged and what comes next
Commentators in the discussion link part of the generational split to life-course events that shaped the oldest gen z cohort: the group was around 11 years old during the global financial crisis and later faced rising tuition fees in England and the severe labour-market disruption from the Covid pandemic. Those economic strains are presented as possible factors that help explain why some younger men may be attracted to clearer, more traditional gender roles.
Experts quoted in the study say the intersection of online culture and economic insecurity is central to the debate. The survey’s broad international footprint and the scale of the numbers will drive further scrutiny from researchers, rights organisations and policymakers focused on gender attitudes. The findings leave an open question for public debate: how will societies address the forces shaping gen z men’s views and whether interventions on education, online behaviour and economic opportunity will change the trend?
