Cultural contradictions and sex roles: the masculine case.

Abstract

Role conflicts in women have been amply documented in numerous studies. The purpose of this study of a random sample of male seniors in an Ivy League college was to ascertain wheter recent social changes and consequent malintegration with regard to sex roles have created stressful repercussions for men as well as for women. It was hypothesized that male seniors would suffer from socially structured scarcity of resources for living up to the norm of masculine intellectual superiority in their relationships with female friends who are also college students of nearly the same age. This hypothesis was confirmed for one-third of the sample. An explanation for the adjustment of the majority is supported by data from the study. The male attitudes toward their future marital roles are replete with inconsistencies. Underlying the inconsistencies are some basic conflicts of interests and of norms. Much of the ideology wich buttressed the traditional sex role differentiations in marriage has been undermined, but the belief that the husband must be the superior achiever in the occupational world and the wife the caretaker of young children, is still deeply rooted.