Support for gender equality in West Europe

. This paper examines attitudes to the role of women in the public and private spheres among West European men and women. There are inter‐country differences that are partly explained by history, politics, and religion. There are also consistent gender differences in these attitudes, a finding quite different from that in the U.S. Over time, gender role attitudes have become more egalitarian. The sources of these changes seem to be changing attitudes of individuals toward the public role of women, and generational replacement in the case of the private roles. Finally, the determinants of men's and women's attitudes vary across countries in patterns that are generally predictable.