Bridging Awareness and Action: The Roles of Gender Inequality,Power Distance,and Individualism in Shaping Collective Action Intentions for Gender Equality Across 61 Societies

Abstract

Although awareness of gender inequality can motivate collective action, it does not always translate into a greater willingness to engage in collective action to promote gender equality. This study investigated how sociocultural contexts and individual awareness of gender inequality jointly shaped normative and non-normative collective action intentions. Drawing on cross-cultural data from 61 societies (N = 31,393), we found that individual awareness of gender inequality was associated with stronger collective action intentions, both normative and non-normative, aimed at promoting gender equality. However, macrolevel sociocultural factors moderated this relationship. Specifically, higher levels of societal gender inequality and power distance weakened the translation of individual awareness into action intentions. In contrast, greater societal individualism strengthened this translation. These findings underscore that promoting gender equality globally requires a dual focus on addressing not only individual-level awareness but also the broader structural environments that affect collective action intentions.