Personality Needs, Social Status, and Preferences for an "Ideal Woman" in Black and White College Males

Abstract

This research was designed to investigate the preferences of Black and White college males for an ideal in terms of selforientation (non-traditional) or other-orientation (traditional) womens' roles, social class of the males, and their personality needs. Sex role perceptions and beliefs play a critical role in the patterning of human behavior. Sex role is the behaviors, attitudes, and psychological characteristics expected of an individual within a society because of his or her sex. These expectations may vary from one social group to another; they may vary over time, depending upon economic and social factors within a given social group. Recent years have seen a great deal of emphasis upon women's sex roles. Traditionally, society has maintained that place is in the home, functioning as a wife and mother. She was expected to be passive and to subordinate herself to the wishes and needs of her family. Gump' has called this other-orientation, in that a woman's identity and fulfillment are to be derived primarily from fostering fulfillment in others, mainly her husband and children. In contrast, Gump describes the self-oriented woman in whom identity and fulfillment come primarily from pursuing her own interests and abilities more so than fostering the