Sex-role preferences and adjustment in early adolescents.

Abstract

Authorities dealing with the personality development and adjustment of children are continually stressing the major importance of achieving the role appropriate to one's sex. While there are a number of studies dealing with the masculinity-femininity dimension as it relates to adult adjustment, there is relatively little research examining sex-role preferences and adjustment in childhood. This lack of research has been acutely felt in the area of adolescent development. The present study was an effort at exploring the possible relations which might exist between sex-appropriate role preferences in early adolescents and several indices of adjust nent. The relations with which the author was principally concerned related to some variables readily observable in the school setting. Seward (12) has written that in early adolescence certain changes in sex-role expectation are introduced which strain the growing child's integrative ability. Many of the changes would appear to be related to the confusion which is being generated by a lack of clarity in the female role. For example, in a study of boys and girls at two age levels (12 and 15 years), Tryon (13) found that sexrole values for girls undergo some marked changes in the direction of greater masculine role preferences. Tuddenham (14) used Tryon's method with a younger group and concluded that girls have much more flexible role choices than boys and that masculine traits increase in value in girls with increasing age. Rabban (ii) noted that both working class and middle class boys ranging in age from 3 to 8 are more clearly aware of sex-appropriate behavior than are girls. In a study of junior high school youngsters, Helper (io) found that boys who follow the role model provided by their father gain