Societal attitudes towards women's reproductive autonomy: Findings from the New Zealand Attitudes and Values Study Event as iCalendar

Yanshu Huang | University of Auckland

Although New Zealand has historically been on the forefront of women's rights, gender inequity across various domains continues to endure. However, in recent years, the topic of reproductive rights has received elevated attention, both nationally and globally. To these ends, we investigated New Zealanders' perceptions of women’s reproductive autonomy.

Specifically, we examined how the endorsement of sexist attitudes may affect attitudes toward two areas of women’s reproductive experiences:

• Attitudes toward abortion
• Attitudes toward breastfeeding in public

Analyses were conducted using data from the New Zealand Attitudes and Values Study, a large national longitudinal panel sample of New Zealand adults. Our results suggest that although attitudes toward gender roles are shifting toward increasingly egalitarian views, sexism nonetheless continues to affect public support for women's reproductive autonomy in New Zealand.

Yanshu Huang is a doctoral candidate in the School of Psychology at the University of Auckland. Her doctoral dissertation focuses on the interface between gender role ideologies and attitudes toward women’s reproductive autonomy.