Does the Gender Equality Paradox in Personality Manifest at the Within-country Regional Level? Insights from Germany, Russia, and the United States

Objective: The aim of this study was to contribute to the understanding of the gender equality paradox by examining within-country variation in the size of the gender/sex gap in the Five-Factor Model (FFM) personality traits within three geographically large and socially diverse countries and to explore whether gender/sex differences in personality trait scores across regions in these countries were associated with various regional-level indicators. Method: Multilevel analysis was conducted to assess regional gender/sex differences in FFM personality trait scores using data from Germany (three samples), Russia (one sample), and the United States (two samples). When the gender/sex gap varied across regions, we assessed whether this variation was explained by regional indices of human development and its subcomponents, gender equality, individualism/collectivism, and survival/self-expression values. Results: Significant regional differences were observed for Openness and Conscientiousness across most samples, with further multilevel analysis revealing significant gender/sex differences in these two traits. These differences were explained by regional educational attainment in four out of seven samples. Conclusions: Some evidence of a within-country gender-equality paradox was found for Openness and Conscientiousness, with higher regional educational attainment associated with widening gender/sex gaps in these traits.