Socio-cultural beliefs establish gender expectations that position men above women; nevertheless, these beliefs are not merely societal but also exist in the minds of employed women who are harmed by this hierarchy. This study investigated the moderating effects of marital status (MS), reproductive status (RS), emancipative values, and secular values on the relationship between gender status beliefs (GSB) and relative centrality of work (RCW) for employed women. Using representative samples (N = 57,240) from 170 societies across Waves 5, 6, and 7 of the World Values Survey, we find that GSB are negatively associated with RCW. At the individual level, this negative relationship is stronger among unmarried women and those with more children. At the societal level, the relationship is attenuated in contexts characterized by high emancipative values, while strengthened in societies with high secular values. These findings support prevailing theories regarding the mechanisms through which GSB shape women’s work attitudes, while also offering novel insights that extend and refine the existing literature. The results further suggest important practical implications for addressing persistent gender inequality in the workplace.
AkaliyskiP. (2023). Distinct conceptions of freedom in east Asia and the protestant west underpin unique pathways of societal development. Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology, 54(2), 173–194. https://doi.org/10.1177/00220221221143320
2.
AkaliyskiP.TaniguchiN.ParkJ.GehrigS.TormosR. (2024). Values in crisis: Societal value change under existential insecurity. Social Indicators Research, 171(1), 1–21. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11205-023-03226-2
3.
AkaliyskiP.WelzelC. (2020). Clashing values: Supranational identities, geopolitical rivalry and Europe’s growing cultural divide. Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology, 51(9), 740–762. https://doi.org/10.1177/0022022120956716
4.
AlexanderA. C.InglehartR.WelzelC. (2016). Emancipating sexuality: Breakthroughs into a bulwark of tradition. Social Indicators Research, 129(2), 909–935. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11205-015-1137-9
5.
AugusteD. (2022). Varieties of gendered capitalism: Status beliefs and the gender gap in entrepreneurship. Social Currents, 9(4), 311–342. https://doi.org/10.1177/23294965211053836
6.
BaggerJ.LiA. (2012). Being important matters: The impact of work and family centralities on the family-to-work conflict-satisfaction relationship. Human Relations, 65(4), 473–500. https://doi.org/10.1177/0018726711430557
7.
BalP. M.KooijD. (2011). The relations between work centrality, psychological contracts, and job attitudes: The influence of age. European Journal of Work and Organizational Psychology, 20(4), 497–523. https://doi.org/10.1080/13594321003669079
8.
BergerJ.CohenB. P.ZelditchM.Jr. (1972). Status characteristics and social interaction. American Sociological Review, 37(2), 241–255. https://www.jstor.org/stable/2093465
9.
BhagatR. S. (2004). The rise of the creative class: And how it’s transforming work, leisure, community, and everyday life. Administrative Science Quarterly, 49(2), 321–325. https://www.jstor.org/stable/4131484
10.
BianchiS. M.SayerL. C.MilkieM. A.RobinsonJ. P. (2012). Housework: Who did, does or will do it, and how much does it matter?Social Forces, 91(1), 55–63. https://doi.org/10.1093/sf/sos120
11.
BlochK. R.TaylorT.ChurchJ.BuckA. (2021). An intersectional approach to the glass ceiling: Gender, race and share of middle and senior management in US workplaces. Sex Roles, 84(5), 312–325. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11199-020-01168-4
12.
BoerD.FischerR. (2013). How and when do personal values guide our attitudes and sociality? Explaining cross-cultural variability in attitude–value linkages. Psychological Bulletin, 139(5), 1113–1147. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0031347
13.
BouckenoogheD.BuelensM.FontaineJ.VanderheydenK. (2005). The prediction of stress by values and value conflict. The Journal of Psychology, 139(4), 369–384. https://doi.org/10.3200/JRLP.139.4.369-384
14.
BuchananA.PowellR. (2018). The evolution of moral progress. Oxford University Press.
ChaY.WeedenK. A. (2014). Overwork and the slow convergence in the gender gap in wages. American Sociological Review, 79(3), 457–484. https://doi.org/10.1177/0003122414528936
17.
ChanC. K.AntebyM. (2016). Task segregation as a mechanism for within-job inequality: Women and men of the transportation security administration. Administrative Science Quarterly, 61(2), 184–216. https://doi.org/10.1177/0001839215611447
18.
ChenS.ChenY.JebranK. (2023). Beyond the glass ceiling: Informal gender-based status hierarchy and corporate misconduct. Journal of Business Research, 169, 114281. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2023.114281
19.
ChenX.GeS. (2018). Social norms and female labor force participation in urban China. Journal of Comparative Economics, 46(4), 966–987. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jce.2018.02.002
20.
ChesleyN.FloodS. (2017). Signs of change? At-home and breadwinner parents’ housework and child-care time. Journal of Marriage and Family, 79(2), 511–534. https://doi.org/10.1111/jomf.12376
21.
CinamonR. G.RichY. (2002). Gender differences in the importance of work and family roles: Implications for work-family conflict. Sex Roles, 47, 531–541. https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1022021804846
22.
ConstantinA.VoicuM. (2015). Attitudes towards gender roles in cross-cultural surveys: Content validity and cross-cultural measurement invariance. Social Indicators Research, 123, 733–751. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11205-014-0758-8
23.
ConwayM.PizzamiglioM. T.MountL. (1996). Status, communality, and agency: Implications for stereotypes of gender and other groups. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 71(1), 25. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.71.1.25
24.
CorrellS. J.RidgewayC. L. (2003). Expectation states theory. In Handbook of social psychology (pp. 29–51). Springer.
25.
DaldropC.BuengelerC.HomanA. C. (2023). An intersectional lens on young leaders: Bias toward young women and young men in leadership positions. Frontiers in Psychology, 14, Article 1204547. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1204547
26.
DaltonR. J.WelzelC. (2014). The Civic Culture Transformed from Allegiant to Assertive Citizens. Cambridge University Press.
27.
DorroughA. R.LeszczyńskaM.WernerS.SchaefferL.GalleyA. S.AkinE.BachmannJ.BruskeM.BurghardtU.SimandiF. (2022). Equal performance, different grade: Women’s performance in discussion perceived worse than men’s. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 48(2), 222–238. https://doi.org/10.1177/0146167221992213
28.
DulaL. (2022). These are the people in your neighborhood: Community logics and board gender composition in United Ways. Nonprofit Management and Leadership, 33(1), 33–57. https://doi.org/10.1002/nml.21506
29.
EaglyA. H.WoodW. (2012). Social role theory. Handbook of Theories of Social Psychology, 2(9), 458–476.
FiskeS. T. (1992). Thinking is for doing: Portraits of social cognition from daguerreotype to laserphoto. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 63(6), 877. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.63.6.877
32.
FiskeS. T.CuddyA. J. C.GlickP.XuJ. (2002). A model of (often mixed) stereotype content: Competence and warmth respectively follow from perceived status and competition. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 82(6), 878–902. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.82.6.878
33.
FismanR.O’NeillM. (2009). Gender differences in beliefs on the returns to effort: Evidence from the world values survey. Journal of Human Resources, 44(4), 858–870. https://doi.org/10.3368/jhr.44.4.858
34.
FulmerC. A.GelfandM. J.KruglanskiA. W.Kim-PrietoC.DienerE.PierroA.HigginsE. T. (2010). On “feeling right” in cultural contexts: How person-culture match affects self-esteem and subjective well-being. Psychological Science, 21(11), 1563–1569. https://doi.org/10.1177/0956797610384742
35.
GhaempanahB.KhapovaS. N. (2023). Gender inequality in academia from the perspective of the dialogical self: Beyond “autonomous men” and “relational women.”Gender and Education, 35(6–7), 605–622. https://doi.org/10.1080/09540253.2023.2242367
36.
GhalebeigiA.GekaraV.MadaniS. (2023). The reproduction and perpetuation of workplace gender inequality in male-dominated industries through biased executive ideologies: A study of the Australian transport and logistics industry. Labour and Industry, 33(3), 364–384. https://doi.org/10.1080/10301763.2023.2254565
37.
GoldmanD. R. (1973). Managerial mobility motivations and central life interests. American Sociological Review, 38(1), 119–126. https://doi.org/10.2307/2094335
38.
GreenhausJ. H.CollinsK. M.ShawJ. D. (2003). The relation between work-family balance and quality of life. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 63(3), 510–531. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0001-8791(02)00042-8
39.
GuoJ.BrowneC. V. (2022). Women’s employment, work-life balance policies, and inequality across the life course: A comparative analysis of Japan, Sweden and the United States. Journal of Women & Aging, 34(3), 294–308. https://doi.org/10.1080/08952841.2021.1917242
40.
GutekB. A.NakamuraC. Y.NievaV. F. (1981). The interdependence of work and family roles. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 2(1), 1–16. https://doi.org/10.1002/job.4030020102
41.
HarpazI.FuX. (1997). Work centrality in Germany, Israel, Japan, and the United States. Cross-Cultural Research, 31(3), 171–200. https://doi.org/10.1177/10693971970310030
42.
HofmannD. A.GavinM. B. (1998). Centering decisions in hierarchical linear models: Implications for research in organizations. Journal of Management, 24(5), 623–641. https://doi.org/10.1177/014920639802400504
InglehartR. F.BakerW. E. (2000). Modernization, cultural change, and the persistence of traditional values. American Sociological Review, 65(1), 19–51. https://doi.org/10.1177/000312240006500103
45.
InglehartR. F.OysermanD. (2004). Individualism, autonomy, self-expression: The human development syndrome. In VinkenH.SoetersJ.EsterP. (Eds.), Comparing cultures: Dimensions of culture in a comparative perspective (pp. 76–96). Brill.
46.
InglehartR. F.WelzelC. (2005). Modernization, cultural change, and democracy: The human development sequence. Cambridge University Press.
47.
JamshedN.StewartA. L.OverstreetN. M. (2022). Social dominance, sexual double standards, and violence against women in tight and loose cultures. Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology, 53(9), 1145–1165. https://doi.org/10.1177/00220221221104950
48.
KillewaldA. (2013). A reconsideration of the fatherhood premium: Marriage, coresidence, biology, and fathers’ wages. American Sociological Review, 78(1), 96–116. https://doi.org/10.1177/0003122412469204
49.
KimS. Y. (2022). Analyzing the impacts of informal institutional factors affecting gender inequality: Evidence from 43 countries. World Development Perspectives, 28, 100470. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.wdp.2022.100470
50.
KleinF. B.HillA. D.HammondR.Stice-LusvardiR. (2021). The gender equity gap: A multistudy investigation of within-job inequality in equity-based awards. Journal of Applied Psychology, 106(5), 734. https://doi.org/10.1037/apl0000809
51.
KnightC. R.BrintonM. C. (2017). One egalitarianism or several? Two decades of gender-role attitude change in Europe. American Journal of Sociology, 122(5), 1485–1532. https://doi.org/10.1086/689814
52.
KrayL. J.HowlandL.RussellA. G.JackmanL. M. (2017). The effects of implicit gender role theories on gender system justification: Fixed beliefs strengthen masculinity to preserve the status quo. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 112(1), 98–115. https://doi.org/10.1037/PSPP0000124
53.
KundaZ.SpencerS. J. (2003). When do stereotypes come to mind and when do they color judgment? A goal-based theoretical framework for stereotype activation and application. Psychological Bulletin, 129(4), 522. https://doi.org/10.1037/0033-2909.129.4.522
54.
LeeI. C.HuF.LiW. Q. (2020). Cultural factors facilitating or inhibiting the support for traditional household gender roles. Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology, 51(5), 333–352. https://doi.org/10.1177/0022022120929089
55.
LortieJ.BarretoT.CoxK. (2019). The implications of national and regional long-term orientation on entrepreneurial activity. International Journal of Entrepreneurial Behavior & Research, 25(6), 1236–1258. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJEBR-01-2018-0026
56.
LoscoccoK. A.KallebergA. L. (1988). Age and the meaning of work in the United States and Japan. Social Forces, 67(2), 337–356. https://doi.org/10.1093/sf/67.2.337
57.
LuQ.HuangX.BondM. H. (2016). Culture and the working life: Predicting the relative centrality of work across life domains for employed persons. Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology, 47(2), 277–293. https://doi.org/10.1177/0022022115615235
58.
LuQ.HuangX.BondM. H.XuE. H. (2019). Committing to work at the expense of other life pursuits: The consequences of individuals’ relative centrality of work across job types and nations differing in performance orientation. Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology, 50(7), 848–869. https://doi.org/10.1177/0022022119865614
59.
MahmoodS. (2009). Religious reason and secular affect: An incommensurable divide?Critical Inquiry, 35(4), 836–862. https://doi.org/10.1086/599592
60.
MannheimB. (1975). A comparative study of work centrality, job rewards and satisfaction: Occupational groups in Israel. Sociology of Work and Occupations, 2(1), 79–102. https://doi.org/10.1177/073088847500200104
61.
MannheimB. (1984). Managerial orientations and workers’ job responses in labour-owned and private industrial plants in Israel. Organization Studies, 5(1), 23–42. https://doi.org/10.1177/017084068400500102
62.
MannheimB. (1993). Gender and the effects of demographics, status, and work values on work centrality. Work and Occupations, 20(1), 3–22. https://doi.org/10.1177/0730888493020001001
63.
MarkóczyL.SunS. L.ZhuJ. (2021). The glass pyramid: Informal gender status hierarchy on boards. Journal of Business Ethics, 168(4), 827–845. https://doi.org/10.1177/0730888493020001001
64.
MeliouE.OzbilginM. (2024). How is the illusio of gender equality in entrepreneurship sustained? A Bourdieusian perspective. Journal of Management Studies, 61(4), 1536–1561. https://doi.org/10.1111/joms.12930
65.
MinkovM.HofstedeG. (2012). Hofstede’s fifth dimension: New evidence from the world values survey. Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology, 43(1), 3–14. https://doi.org/10.1177/0022022110388567
66.
MitraA.BondM. H.LuQ.GuayR. P.ShawJ. D. (2021). Work and nonwork engagements between life domains: Effects on subjective health and life satisfaction of employees across 53 nations varying in economic competitiveness. International Journal of Cross-Cultural Management, 21(2), 331–352. https://doi.org/10.1177/14705958211034052
67.
MitraS. K.GoyalV.AliS.ChattopadhyayM. (2023). Difference in the relationship between tourism growth and gender inequality in East Asia Pacific and South Asian countries. Asia Pacific Journal of Tourism Research, 28(5), 485–501. https://doi.org/10.1080/10941665.2023.2250019
PatelP. C.WolfeM. T. (2022). Of free markets and a secular mind: The value of economic decentralization and individual secular values in entrepreneurship. Small Business Economics, 58(1), 93–119. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11187-020-00401-4
70.
Pérez-CárcelesM. C.Nicolás-MartínezC. (2025). How has COVID-19 affected the gender gap in elite occupations? A study of the Ibero-American labor market. International Journal of Comparative Sociology. https://doi.org/10.1177/00207152241311809
71.
PowellG. N.GreenhausJ. H. (2010). Sex, gender, and the work-to-family interface: Exploring negative and positive interdependencies. Academy of Management Journal, 53(3), 513–534. https://doi.org/10.5465/amj.2010.51468647
72.
PrenticeD. A.CarranzaE. (2002). What women and men should be, shouldn’t be, are allowed to be, and don’t have to be: The contents of prescriptive gender stereotypes. Psychology of Women Quarterly, 26(4), 269–281. https://doi.org/10.1111/1471-6402.t01-1-00066
73.
QinX.ChuaR. Y.TanL.LiW.ChenC. (2023). Gender bias in cultural tightness across the 50 US states, its correlates, and links to gender inequality in leadership and innovation. PNAS Nexus, 2(8), pgad238. https://doi.org/10.1093/pnasnexus/pgad238
74.
RamosA.LatorreF.TomásI.RamosJ. (2022). Women’s promotion to management and unfairness perceptions-A challenge to the social sustainability of the organizations and beyond. Sustainability, 14(2), 788. https://doi.org/10.3390/su14020788
RidgewayC. L. (1997). Interaction and the conservation of gender inequality: Considering employment. American Sociological Review, 62(2), 218–235. https://doi.org/10.2307/2657301
RidgewayC. L. (2015). The gender frame and social order. In Order on the edge of chaos: Social psychology and the problem of social order (pp. 189–207). Cambridge University Press.
82.
RidgewayC. L.CorrellS. J. (2004). Unpacking the gender system: A theoretical perspective on gender beliefs and social relations. Gender & Society, 18(4), 510–531. https://doi.org/10.1177/0891243204265269
83.
RidgewayC. L.MarkusH. R. (2022). The significance of status: What it is and how it shapes inequality. RSF: The Russell Sage Foundation Journal of the Social Sciences, 8(7), 1–25. https://doi.org/10.7758/RSF.2022.8.7.01
84.
RiveraL. A. (2015). Go with your gut: Emotion and evaluation in job interviews. American Journal of Sociology, 120(5), 1339–1389. https://doi.org/10.1086/681214
85.
RudmanL. A.Moss-RacusinC. A.PhelanJ. E.NautsS. (2012). Status incongruity and backlash effects: Defending the gender hierarchy motivates prejudice against female leaders. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 48(1), 165–179. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jesp.2011.10.008
86.
RuizL. E.AmorósJ. E.GuerreroM. (2023). Does gender matter for corporate entrepreneurship? A cross-countries study. Small Business Economics, 60(3), 929–946. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11187-022-00617-6
87.
ScarboroughW. J.MoederJ. (2022). Culture’s gendered consequences: The relationship between local cultural conditions and the gender wage gap. Social Currents, 9(6), 526–557. https://doi.org/10.1177/23294965211045088
88.
ScholariosD.TaylorP. (2011). Beneath the glass ceiling: Explaining gendered role segmentation in call centres. Human Relations, 64(10), 1291–1319. https://doi.org/10.1177/0018726711416265
89.
ShahidS.NoguchiK.BishopR.ShahidS.StepanovaE. V. (2025). Role of hostile and benevolent sexism in shaping prejudice against working women in the United States and Pakistan. Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology, 56(5), 511–527. https://doi.org/10.1177/00220221251320353
90.
SitzmannT.CampbellE. M. (2021). The hidden cost of prayer: Religiosity and the gender wage gap. Academy of Management Journal, 64(4), 1016–1048. https://doi.org/10.5465/amj.2019.1254
91.
SmithD. G.RosensteinJ. E.NikolovM. C.ChaneyD. A. (2019). The power of language: Gender, status, and agency in performance evaluations. Sex Roles, 80, 159–171. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11199-018-0923-7
92.
SongE. Y.VernetA.PrykeS. (2022). In women we trust? Gender-status mismatch and trust in professional networks. Gender & Society, 36(6), 869–894. https://doi.org/10.1177/08912432221128548
93.
SoyarsM. (2017). Firms’ productivity rises as women become executives. Monthly Labor Review, 140, 1–2. https://doi.org/10.2307/90001353
94.
Suárez-OrtegaS. M.SuarezM.García-CabreraA. M. (2024). National culture favouring gender equality, supervisor gender and supportive behaviours towards employees. Gender in Management, 39(8), 1114–1132. https://doi.org/10.1108/GM-04-2023-0147
95.
Terpstra-TongJ.RalstonD. A.TreviñoL.KaramC.FurrerO.FroeseF.TjemkesB.DarderF. L.RichardsM.DabicM.LiY.FuP.MolteniM.PalmerI.TučkováZ.SzaboE.PoeschlG.HemmertM.ButtA.. . . Crowley-HenryM. (2022). The impact of gender-role-orientations on subjective career success: A multilevel study of 36 societies. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 138, 103773. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jvb.2022.103773
96.
ThébaudS. (2015). Status beliefs and the spirit of capitalism: Accounting for gender biases in entrepreneurship and innovation. Social Forces, 94(1), 61–86. https://doi.org/10.1093/sf/sov042
97.
ThébaudS. (2016). Passing up the job: The role of gendered organizations and families in the entrepreneurial career process. Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, 40(2), 269–287. https://doi.org/10.1111/etap.12222
98.
TianF. F.LiuX. (2018). Gendered double embeddedness: Finding jobs through networks in the Chinese labor market. Social Networks, 52, 28–36. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.socnet.2017.05.001
99.
TostL. P.HardinA. E.RobersonJ. W.GinoF. (2022). Different roots, different fruits: Gender-based differences in cultural narratives about perceived discrimination produce divergent psychological consequences. Academy of Management Journal, 65(6), 1804–1834. https://doi.org/10.5465/amj.2020.0339
100.
TrapidoD. (2022). The female penalty for novelty and the offsetting effect of alternate status characteristics. Social Forces, 100(4), 1592–1618. https://doi.org/10.1093/sf/soab053
101.
UmS. (2023). The militarized workplace: How organizational culture perpetuates gender inequality in Korea. Gender, Work & Organization, 30(5), 1676–1693. https://doi.org/10.1111/gwao.13005
102.
Van de VliertE.HuangX.LevineR. V. (2004). National wealth and thermal climate as predictors of motives for volunteer work. Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology, 35(1), 62–73. https://doi.org/10.1177/0022022103260379
103.
van VianenA. E. M. (2018). Person-environment fit: A review of its basic tenets. Annual Review of Organizational Psychology and Organizational Behavior, 5(1), 75–101. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-orgpsych-032117-104702
104.
VerhoevenP. (2024). The innovation of values: Exploring the role of news media exposure and communication in moral progress in the Netherlands. Mass Communication and Society, 27(1), 173–195. https://doi.org/10.1080/15205436.2022.2070501
105.
WagnerD. G.BergerJ. (2018). Gender and interpersonal task behaviors: Status expectation accounts. In Status, power, and legitimacy (pp. 229–262). Routledge.
106.
WangY.GeR.GaoW.TangD. (2024). How does fertility policy relaxation affect household financial asset allocation? Evidence from the universal two-child policy in China. Sustainability, 16(3), 1018. https://doi.org/10.3390/su16031018
107.
WeiY.WangL.ZhouQ.TanL.XiaoY. (2022). Reciprocal effects between young children’s negative emotions and mothers’ mental health during the COVID-19 pandemic. Family Relations, 71(4), 1354–1366. https://doi.org/10.1111/fare.12702
108.
WeisshaarK. (2017). Publish and perish? An assessment of gender gaps in promotion to tenure in academia. Social Forces, 96(2), 529–560. https://doi.org/10.1093/sf/sox052
109.
WelzelC. (2013). Freedom rising. Cambridge University Press.
WelzelC.InglehartR. (2005). Liberalism, postmaterialism, and the growth of freedom. International Review of Sociology, 15(1), 81–108. https://doi.org/10.1080/03906700500038579
YanZ.BaiN.MansorZ. D.ChooW. C. (2022). Effects of psychological capital and person-job fit on hospitality employees’ work-family conflict, family-work conflict and job performance: The moderating role of marital status. Frontiers in Psychology, 13, Article 868971. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2022.868971
114.
ZhaoK.WangH.YinX. (2023). How women entrepreneurs influence reward-based crowdfunding performance: The mediating role of social and economic value orientation. International Entrepreneurship and Management Journal, 19(4), 1771–1802. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11365-023-00887-w
