If you can dream it, you can do it!—The role of sexual orientation in preferences toward boys' and girls' career orientation and gendered behaviour

Abstract

AbstractWe argue that parental attitudes of (prospective) children's gendered behavior are influenced by sexual orientation and the given social climate. In Study 1 (N = 448), moderated mediations showed that sexual orientation predicted whether or not high‐status occupations are preferred for the (prospective) children through modern sexism. For girls, however, the perceived stability of the gender hierarchy moderated the effect of modern sexism. In an experiment (Study 2, N = 704), hierarchical regression analyses showed that in the case of gay people, modern sexism predicted boys’ preferred gendered behavior well. While, in the case of bisexual people, modern sexism (along with fear of backlash) predicted preferences for both boys’ and girls’ gendered behavior depending on the stability of the gender hierarchy. Unlike the other groups, in the case of straight people, modern sexism only predicted preferences regarding girls’ gendered behavior. Implications of the studies are discussed.