Research note: Multidimensional gender ideologies, rural/urban living and self perceptions of place in a German survey

Objective: This paper aims to offer an initial description of the relationship between gender ideology and rural living from a multidimensional perspective. Background: Literature from geography and cultural studies identifies a strong connection between rurality and non-egalitarian ideologies of gender. This relationship has been rarely investigated with quantitative methods, and this paper aims to contribute to the quantitative literature on this underexplored relationship using a more novel, multidimensional approach. Method: With the use of latent class analysis on a representative sample of German men and women, I define three multidimensional gender ideologies, and then examine the relationship between them and both self-assessed and objectively measured rural living. Results: My results show a strong association between rurality (both self-assessed and objectively measured) and non-egalitarian ideologies of gender in Germany. This relationship is however mostly confined to former West Germany, while an association between gendered care and suburban living emerges among residents in former East Germany. Conclusion: Both results are significant and highlight a potentially neglected geographical divide in the German perception of gender and gender roles, worth of further exploration.