Sex-role orientations of high school and college students

Abstract

Previous studies (e.g., Matthews & Tiedeman, 1964; Rand & Miller, 1972) have found a decrease in career commitment of women between the junior high school and senior high school years. These studies hypothesized that this decrease may be a result of senior high school women giving marriage a greater priority in their plans. Interest in the psychology of women, however, has increased in recent years, with particular emphasis on the emotional, intellectual, and behavioral consequences of stereotypic sex-role connotations. The traditional roles of women in the educational and occupational sectors of society have been challenged by thoughtful and vocal advocates of equality and social change, necessitating reevaluation and redefinition of sex-appropriate behavior by both men and women. To explore possible reevaluations of sex-role attitudes, the present study analyzed sex-role orientations of 86 (43 females, 43 males)undergraduate introductory psychology students enrolled at Washington State University and 86 (43 females, 43 males) students attending Pullman, Washington, Public High school. All class levels were represented in the high school sample. Participation in the study was voluntary on the part of all students. Each student was issued a copy of the revised French-Lesser Student Attitude Scale, a 65-item true-false questionnaire (French & Lesser, 1964). This attitude scale consists of two subscales: a 34-item scale, which measures the extent to which subjects value various aspects of intellectual (career) attainment,