Exposure to Media Causes More Heterosexual Disgust? Evidence from China

• In Event: Lightning Round: Feminism, Gender, and the State in Japan, Korea, and China

Abstract

The issue of gender antagonism has become increasingly prominent in media and society, yet how it leads to heterosexual disgust remains unclear. This study explores how media influences this phenomenon within the context of China's patriarchal system. Through an online randomized controlled experiment (N=579), we analyzed participants' attitude changes after reading two different types of texts. The experimental group read a commentary supporting Western democracy by a female user, while the control group read a purely academic description of democracy. The results revealed that male participants in the experimental group showed a 37% increase in their aversion to females compared to the control group. A similar effect was observed in female participants, albeit to a lesser extent. Further analysis indicated that those more inclined to believe "women are less knowledgeable in politics than men" were more influenced by the experiment. Subsequent follow-up studies (n=50) uncovered the primary reason for this phenomenon: the perception that women are less knowledgeable in politics, making them more susceptible to "hostile" Western information. This study reveals how media exacerbates gender bias in a patriarchal cultural context, providing a new perspective on relevant theories through the lens of "gendered political cognitive bias."

Author

• Yang Fan, Hangzhou Normal University