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.