The majority of Indians completely or mostly agree with the notion that “a wife must always obey her husband” and support traditional gender roles but at the same time favour women having the same rights as men, according to a recent study by an American think tank.

The report by the Pew Research Centre released on Tuesday looks into how Indians view gender roles at home and in society more generally. The report is based on a face-to-face survey of 29,999 Indian adults fielded between late 2019 and early 2020, before the Covid-19 pandemic.

The survey was conducted by local interviewers in 17 languages and covered nearly all of India’s states and Union Territories.

“Indian adults nearly universally say it is important for women to have the same rights as men, including eight in ten who say this is very important. At the same time, however, there are circumstances when Indians feel men should receive preferential treatment,” the report said.

Eighty per cent agree with the idea that “when there are few jobs, men should have more rights to a job than women”.

Nearly nine in ten Indians (87 per cent) completely or mostly agree with the notion that “a wife must always obey her husband”. This includes a majority of Indians (64 per cent) who completely agree with this sentiment.

“Women are only modestly less likely than men to say that wives should obey their husbands in all situations, and most Indian women express total agreement with this sentiment (61 per cent vs 67 per cent among men),” the report said.

The report said Indians broadly accept women as political leaders.