Gender Roles in Latina/os and Whites: The Influence of Sex, Ethnicity, Language and Nativity

Abstract

This study demonstrates that ethnicity, gender, language, and nativity affect Latina/os’ and whites’ attitudes about gender roles. Participants in the study completed a priming task (word sorting) in either English or Spanish. They completed a questionnaire packet measuring sex roles and attitudes about gender roles. A three-way interaction was found between gender, ethnicity, and primed language, such that white women endorse the most liberal views, followed closely by Latina women and then white men. These three groups all endorsed significantly more liberal views in the Spanish language condition than in the English language condition. The Latino males endorsed the most traditional views across both conditions. Main effects were also found for sex and primed language on one’s own attitudes about gender roles: Women and those primed with Spanish endorsed more liberal attitudes about gender roles than men and those primed with English, respectively. In addition, in each subgroup, participants reported less traditional views for themselves than they reported for their ethnic groups. Ethnicity predicted only Affective (positive) Femininity on the Sex Role Inventory, and parent’s nation of birth also predicted some subscales (Assertive Masculinity, Aggressive Masculinity, and Affective Femininity). In addition, whether a participant’s mother worked outside the home is the only item that predicted the Submissive Femininity/marianismo subscale.