Scrolling Backwards? The Link Between Social Media Use and Gender Attitudes in Europe

This study examines the intersection of social media usage and attitudes toward gender issues, leveraging a cross-national survey dataset from six European countries (France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Poland, and Spain) collected in 2021. By linking digital media studies with attitudinal studies on gender, we show that extensive use of social media (Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, Instagram) is significantly associated with more regressive views on gender-related issues. The survey assesses gender issues in the labor market, LGBT rights, and the perceptions of feminists. Linear regressions reveal that intense social media usage is associated with more regressive attitudes on these issues. To validate these findings, we conduct extensive sensitivity tests, confirming the robustness of our results across diverse model specifications. This study advances scholarly debates on the role of social media in shaping sociopolitical attitudes and provides novel empirical insights into the intersection of social media use and gender-related conflicts in Europe.