Global survey reveals Gen Z men agree wives should obey their husbands; what do Indonesian men say?

JAKARTA, KOMPAS.com - Nearly a third of men and young men of Generation Z, i.e., those born between 1997 and 2012, believe that a wife should obey her husband. Quoted from The Guardian, on Sunday (8/3/2026), the global survey of 23,000 individuals found that young men hold more conventional views on gender roles than older generations. One third, or 33 percent, of Gen Z men also say that a husband has the right to determine the final decisions on important matters, based on a survey across 29 countries, including the United Kingdom, the United States, Brazil, Australia, and India. Only 13 percent of men in the Baby Boomer generation agreed that wives should always obey their husbands. Among women, 18 percent of Gen Z and 6 percent of Baby Boomers agreed.

People of both sexes in Indonesia, i.e., 66 percent, and in Malaysia 60 percent, were most likely to endorse the statement, compared with 23 percent in the United States and 13 percent in the United Kingdom. The annual study of people over 16 was conducted by Ipsos and the Global Institute for Women’s Leadership at King’s College London. The research found striking differences in beliefs among different male generations regarding gender roles: While they are the group most likely to believe that women should not appear too independent or capable of taking care of themselves, Gen Z men are also the group most likely to believe that women with successful careers are more attractive to men. As many as 41 percent agreed with this statement.

Note that the views of the interviewees do not represent the entire male population in Indonesia, so differences between the interviewees’ views and readers’ views are entirely natural. Responding to the global research results, Devandra (26), who is still single, disagrees with the concept that wives must always obey their husbands. According to him, marriage is the union of two individuals that requires discussion and equal cooperation.

‘When you get married, two people become one; it’s like being on a ship where someone will steer and someone will read the map. So always obeying seems too extreme,’ said Devandra. He linked conventional views of absolute obedience to remnants of patriarchy in society. Nevertheless, he notes that many modern couples nowadays prefer to make important decisions through mutual agreement.