Social-Psychological Dynamics of Greek Women’s Attitudes to Abortion: Internalized Misogyny and Personal Belief in a Just World Moderate Religious Opposition to Abortion

Abstract Introduction The current study examined attitudes toward abortion among Greek women between March 2 and June 30, 2021, to give a more nuanced perspective of (a) the predictive value of conservatism (in political or religious terms) and (b) whether system-justifying factors (conceptualized as one’s sense of personal belief in a just world) and ingroup discrimination (conceptualized as internalized misogyny) influence how strongly political conservatism, religiosity, and abortion attitudes are correlated. Methods A convenience non-probability sample of 236 Greek Orthodox Christian female participants ( M age = 33.31, SD = 12.56) participated in the current online study. Using the bootstrapping method, we examined whether system-justifying factors and ingroup discrimination influence the degree to which religiosity and abortion attitudes and political positioning and abortion attitudes correlate. Results Based on this study’s findings, anti-abortion attitudes are higher in more religious women who endorse personal belief in a just world and internalized misogyny. Conclusions System-justifying ideologies (in terms of personal belief in a just world) and ingroup discrimination (in terms of internalized misogyny) can serve as significant foundations of gender discriminatory attitudes, such as anti-abortion attitudes. This study underlines the critical role of intervening at both the ideological and individual levels. Policy Implications This study’s findings can be useful to organizations promoting gender equality and women’s human rights worldwide. Given the significance of these issues for today’s societies, it is most important to emphasize women’s confronting ways and styles under critical conditions.