Perception of gender differences in competition in the post-socialist Hungary

Abstract

Hungary is a society that has gone through profound social, political and economical changes in the last two decades. In the transition of post-communist states to market economy, competition has been a key concept. Since 1989, competition, a previously ideologically denied and banned phenomenon, has become a highly required and praised one at all levels of the society, from politics to everyday individual life in Hungary. The state-socialist concept of gender equality during the socialist system that was limited to women’s and men’s equal labour force participation may have resulted in the fact that Hungary proved to be the most gender egalitarian in the societal practice among 62 countries within the GLOBE Study. This chapter presents a summary of gender-related research in Hungary. It focuses on masculinity and femininity and how women and men in the competitive Hungarian society are seen as competitors. It presents the results of two studies: a study with university students that revealed how the respondents see themselves and the ideal man and woman along a series of characteristics including competition. The second study is an in-depth interview study carried out among men and women in leadership positions in the Hungarian business world about the perception of gender differences among the female and male leaders. The studies demonstrate that in spite of the gender-egalitarian labour force practice of the socialist system and the gender-egalitarian democratic discourse, young men still wish for a traditionally feminine woman and while young women find a more masculine woman ideal than they themselves are, at the same time they wish for a masculine man as well. The second study revealed that women’s competition and competitive women evoke more tension and are seen in a more negative light than men’s competition and competitive men in the business context.