Comparison of intergenerational transmission of gender roles between single-parent families and two-parent families: The influence of parental child-rearing gender-role attitudes

Abstract

The characteristics of parents' gender roles directly impact the children's gender roles, thus forming intergenerational transmission of gender roles (ITGR). Based on the bioecological theory, this study conducted a paired survey of adolescents (generation 2 [G2]) and their parents (generation 1 [G1]), and explored the ITGR in different family structures, examining the influence mechanism of various factors in the family microsystem on ITGR. Results: Both in single-parent families and two-parent families, the distribution of gender-role types of G2 is similar to that of G1, and the distribution of undifferentiated and androgyny in the two generations is bipolar. In single-parent families, the proportion of undifferentiated is the highest in both G1 and G2, and is significantly higher than that in two-parent families. In two-parent families, the proportion of androgyny is the highest in both G1 and G2, which is significantly higher than that of single-parent families. Family socioeconomic status, family structure, and parental child-rearing gender-role attitudes as three family environment factors, as well as the gender and age of children as two individual factors, significantly influence ITGR. The mediating analysis shows parental child-rearing gender-role attitude plays a mediating role in the influence of family structure on ITGR.