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Abstract

Measuring attitudes toward gender norms among young men in Brazil: Development and psychometric evaluation of the GEM scale (HTML) 
Pulerwitz,Julie; Barker,Gary
Men and Masculinities 10(3): 322-338
Publication date: 2008

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This article describes the development and psychometric evaluationof a twenty-four-item scale to measure attitudes toward gendernorms among young men: the Gender-Equitable Men (GEM) Scale.Scale items on gender norms related to sexual and reproductivehealth, sexual relations, violence, domestic work, and homophobiaare designed. Items are based on previous qualitative work inthe community and a literature review and administered to ahousehold sample of 742 men, including 223 young men ages fifteento twenty-four, in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The current analysisfocuses on the young men, as they were the main audience fora planned intervention to promote gender equitable and HIV riskreduction behaviors. Factor analyses support two subscales,and the scale is internally consistent (alpha = .81). As hypothesized,more support for equitable norms (i.e., higher GEM Scale scores)is significantly associated with less self-reported partnerviolence, more contraceptive use, and a higher education level.

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