The first-of-its-kind Australian study, funded by the Office of National Intelligence, surveyed 1,122 young people aged 13-17 and 2,307 adults, to compare attitudes on women, gender equality, online influences and violent extremism. The study also surveyed more than 500 Australian school teachers about their experiences of misogyny and extremism in classrooms.

Study author Dr Sara Meger, from the University of Melbourne's Faculty of Arts, said the findings were concerning.

“These attitudes were far more prevalent among the young people surveyed, and of everything we measured, these hostile views were the single strongest predictor of support for violent extremism,” Dr Meger said.

Among boys aged 13-17 the study found:

• 31.8 per cent believed that attempts to give equal opportunities to women in Australia have gone too far
• 30.1 per cent believed men have more of a right to a job than women when jobs are scarce
• 24.7 per cent believed feminism is damaging to our society and should be resisted with violence if necessary.

On several measures, teenage girls shared similar views to adult men surveyed. Gen Z women were twice as likely as Millennial women, and four times as likely as Gen X women, to agree that marriage entitles a husband to sex with his wife, even if she does not want to.

The study found these attitudes were associated with the online content young people were consuming.

“Engagement with ‘manosphere' content, pornography and online dating showed the strongest links to misogynistic views,” Dr Meger, said.