DP16740 The Gender Gap in Preferences: Evidence from 45,397 Facebook Interests
Author(s): | Ruben Cuevas Rumin, Angel Cuevas Rumin, Klaus Desmet, Ignacio Ortuño-Ortín |
Publication Date: | November 2021 |
Keyword(s): | cross-country differences, evolutionary psychology, Facebook interests, Gender equality, Gender Gap, gender-related preferences, non-gender-related preferences, preferences, social role theory |
JEL(s): | D01, D10, D90, D91, J16, O57, Z1 |
Programme Areas: | Labour Economics, Political Economy |
Link to this Page: | cepr.org/active/publications/discussion_papers/dp.php?dpno=16740 |
This paper uses information on the frequency of 45,397 Facebook interests to study how the difference in preferences between men and women changes with a country's degree of gender equality. For preference dimensions that are systematically biased toward the same gender across the globe, differences between men and women are larger in more gender-equal countries. In contrast, for preference dimensions with a gender bias that varies across countries, the opposite holds. This finding takes an important step toward reconciling evolutionary psychology and social role theory as they relate to gender.