Predicting Gender Role Stereotypes among Adolescents in Israel: The Impact of Background Variables, Personality Traits, and Parental Factors

Abstract

This study examined predictors of gender role stereotypes among a sample of 121 Israeli adolescents aged 13–17. Specifically, the contribution of three sets of variables was tested: background variables, parental factors, and adolescents’ personality traits (self-esteem and tolerance for ambiguity). The findings indicate that background variables contributed most toward predicting adolescents’ gender role types. The adolescent boys expressed more stereotyped gender role perceptions than did the girls. In addition, the older the adolescents, the less stereotyped their perceptions. The contribution of ethnicity was also found to be significant: adolescents of Asian-African background tended to have more stereotyped gender role perceptions than did their counterparts of mixed ethnicity. As for intergenerational transmission of stereotypes, mothers’ gender role stereotypes were found to be more significant predictors than fathers’ stereotypes: mothers transmitted stereotypes equally to sons and daughters, whereas fathers influenced their daughters more than their sons. Finally, adolescents’ personality traits contributed significantly toward predicting their gender role stereotypes: the higher the adolescents’ self-esteem and the greater their tolerance for ambiguity, the less stereotyped their gender role perceptions.