Sex-role Attitudes Research Articles

Family Members' Perceptions of Actual and Ideal Maternal Roles as a Function of Maternal Employment

Using Arnott's 1972 scale, ideal and actual maternal sex-role attitudes were assessed for father, mother, and an adolescent family member in 181 rural and urban families from the midwestern United States. Although family members' perceptions of the attitudes were significantly and positively correlated, adolescents were significantly less traditional than their parents, and mothers less traditional than fathers. For all family members, ideal and actual maternal roles were closest when mothers were actually employed part-time. Furthermore, family members agreed more on mother's actual role (both in terms of high correlations and smaller mean differences) than on mother's ideal role.

Self-Esteem and Sex-Role Attitudes: A Comparison of Italian- and Anglo-Australian Adolescent Girls

Two groups of 15-year-old girls, one Italian-Australian (IA, n = 60), and one Anglo-Australian (AA, n = 48), were compared on self-esteem and a wide range of measures associated with sex roles, including sex-role satisfaction, sex-role orientation, and assessment of and attitudes toward sex-role differentiation in the family and the culture. Self-esteem and sex-role satisfaction did not differ in the two groups. Nor were there differences in attitudes toward sex-role differentiation, even though cultural and familial differentiation were greater in the IA group and males were accorded relatively more value. However, the groups did differ in the pattern of variables associated with self-esteem and with these sex-role measures. In the more traditional IA subculture, girls' sex-role attitudes correlated with situational constraints. Unlike the AA girls, self-esteem was, in part, associated with stereotypic feminine attributes and preoccupations, and conformed to the androgyny model of well-being. In the AA group, sex-role attitudes and self-esteem were associated with perceptions of personal qualities valued in the broader, more egalitarian culture, such as intellectual ability and masculinity, thus confirming the masculinity model.

Sex Differences in Sex-Role Attitudes in Children of Women Professionals

Previous research has shown that young girls tend to be less sexist than young boys. In this study, 40 children aged 5 to 7 yr. whose mothers were professionals were asked to classify sex-role attributes. Few sex differences in sex-role attributions were found while age differences remained.

Changes in Speech Pathology Students over the Decade 1975–1986

A questionnaire survey was conducted to compare backgrounds, ambitions and sex role attitudes of incoming female speech pathology students in 1976 (N = 43) and 1986 (N = 62). The back-grounds of the two groups were similar. Students expressed significantly greater career commitment in 1986 in terms of aspiring to higher status positions and planning to remain in the workforce. Students in 1986 wanted fewer children and had more egalitarian attitudes towards sex roles but their androgyny scores (Bem, 1974), were not significantly different than in 1976. Implications of the findings for students' future work histories are discussed.

The portrayal of men and women in U.S. television commercials: A recent content analysis and trends over 15 years

This article summarizes the content analyses of male and female portrayals in U.S. television commercials that have been published since 1971. The paper also includes the results of a content analysis of television commercials conducted on a 1985 sample. Where possible, the data from the present study are compared to the findings of previous research to illustrate trends over time. The results reveal several differences between the portrayal of men and women, but many of the gaps seem to be narrowing. Men and women now appear equally often as central characters in prime-time commercials. Although a prior study indicated a difference between male and female primary characters' use of arguments, the present data revealed no differences in this regard. A lower percentage of female than of male central characters are depicted as employed, but males are being presented in increasing numbers as spouses and parents, with no other apparent occupation. Women are still more likely than men to be seen in domestic settings, advertising products used in the home. Although the difference seems to have become smaller, women are more likely than men to be shown as users of the products they advertise. The most striking gap persists with regard to narrators. Consistent with other content analyses conducted over the past 15 years, approximately 90% of all narrators are male. The findings are discussed in terms of the potential effect of exposure to stereotyped depictions on viewers' sex role attitudes.

Sex-role attitudes and divorce experience.

Abstract ex-role attitudes measured by the Personal Attributes Questionnaire (PAQ) were used to investigate postdivorce experience. Subjects (124 Canadian francophones, males and females), recently divorced, were classified into androgynous, masculine, feminine, and undifferentiated according to their scores on the PAQ. Postdivorce adjustment and attachment to exspouse constituted the dependent variables. Two different models were tested. First, the androgyny model suggests that androgynous subjects, with both their masculine and feminine characteristics, are better able to adapt to different situations, including divorce. The masculinity model suggests that masculine and androgynous subjects (who have masculine traits) are better able to cope with divorce, which requires coping traits such as autonomy and independence. Results support the androgyny model for postdivorce adjustment. Androgynous subjects received the highest adjustment scores, compared to the three other groups. Results also support the ma...

Developmental Effects of Athletic Participation among High School Girls

This study examined the impact of athletic participation on the academic, social, and social–psychological development of high school girls. A panel design and multistage sampling were used to assess the effect of athletic participation on perceived popularity, sex-role attitudes, psychological well-being, sociability, delinquency, academic achievement, educational aspiration, and extracurricular involvement. Data were obtained from transcript records and survey questionnaires administered during the subjects’ sophomore (1980) and senior (1982) years. Multiple regression analysis revealed that athletic participation was strongly related to extracurricular involvement, modestly related to perceived popularity, but only slightly related to delinquency and educational aspiration. Athletic participation was not related to psychological well-being or sex-role attitudes.

Reliability, validity, and cross-cultural comparisons for the simplified attitudes toward women scale

This article investigates the use of the simplified version of the Attitudes Toward Women Scale with 278 American adults taken from the general population. Normative data and estimates of internal consistency reliability are reported, both for the overall sample and for selected subgroups. Females are found to have more liberal sex role attitudes than males, younger people to have more liberal attitudes than older people, and those of higher social status to have more liberal attitudes than those of lower status, supporting the construct validity of the scale. A cross-cultural comparison is also made between the scores of British and American women.

Sex-role attitudes of tertiary students in 1976 and 1986

Abstract Sex-role attitudes of incoming tertiary students were measured on the Attitudes Toward Women Scale (Spence & Helmreich, 1972) in 1976 (N - 265) and 1986 (N = 510). Students' total and six subscale scores were analysed using 2&2 anovas. Four significant sex effects occurred. Females' scores on the total, vocational, freedom, and marital roles scales were more egalitarian than male attitudes. Six significant year effects occurred. Students' attitudes on the total scale and on all subscales except sexual behaviour were more liberal in 1986. No significant interactions occurred. There was only limited evidence of the trends documented by American sex-role researchers since the mid-1970s. Australian attitudes had not become more traditional nor was there evidence of stabilisation except in the area of sexual behaviour. Similarity of male and female attitudes was only apparent in the areas of sexual and dating behaviour and drinking, swearing, and joking.

Canadian Families-Men's Involvement in Family Work: A Case Study of Immigrant Men In Toronto

The study presents empirical data, based on interviews with 117 immigrant fathers/husbands, about their involvement in family work. We found that their pattern of behaviour and participation in family work can be grouped into three types: (1) Traditionalists who refused to do more in compensation for their spouses' decrease in time availability for family chores due to employment; (2) Situationalists' who did a minimal amount of domestic labour and believed that they had limited choice in the matter due to situational constraints; and (3) Adaptors or prioritizors who because of the presence of preschoolers and/or their wives being employed fulltime did a fair number of domestic chores as a necessary strategy to maximize their family's well-being. The involvement of these husbands/fathers did not support the theoretical underpinnings of the Exchange/Resource Theory in explaining the family relation/interaction between husband and wife within the context of family work. The analysis points to the need for a critical re-assessment of this theory. However, the findings suggest that changes in sex role attitudes and in the socio-economic and socio-cultural milieu as a result of their migration to Canada, and importantly, how they cope with these changes are important factors in explaining the division of labour in family work.

Consequences of Maternal Employment for Adolescent Behaviour and Attitudes

The present study compared the reported behaviours, attitudes and self-images of a large group of Dublin adolescents whose mothers were in employment outside the home (36 per cent of the whole sample) with a group of adolescents whose mothers worked exclusively in the home. The major difference emerging related to sex-typing, with children of employed mothers tending to reject traditional sex-role attitudes to a greater extent than did the comparison group. Contrary to popular belief, there was no indication of an association of maternal employment with anti-social behaviour, poor self-image or drug use. Furthermore, the employed mothers were seen to be no less adequate as parents than were the fulltime mothers. Finally, in comparison to children of fulltime mothers, the children of mothers in employment had higher academic aspirations in the sense that they predicted that it was more likely that they would go on to third-level education.

Television, Sex-Role Attitudes, and Sex-Role Behavior

Amount of television viewing, sex-role attitudes, and sex-role behavior were measured at two points in time in a sample of 287 adolescents. The sex-role measures concern respondents' attitudes about the sex-specific appropriateness of various household chores and their own self-reported tendency to perform those chores. The data show that television viewing makes an independent contribution to adolescents' sex-role attitudes over time, but that television is not related to their actual behavior. The relationship between viewing and attitudes, however, is mediated by behavior, but in different directions for boys and girls. Finally, there is a reciprocal relationship between amount of viewing and the degree of congruence between sex-role attitudes and behavior.

The Convergent and Discriminant Validity of the Need for Cognition Scale

This article reports two studies that examined the convergent and discriminant validity of the Need for Cognition Scale (Cacioppo & Petty, 1982). Using samples of college students and prison inmates, need for cognition scores were found to be positively associated with measures of self-esteem, masculine sex role attitudes, absorption, and private self-consciousness. Modest negative associations between need for cognition and measures of public self-consciousness and social anxiety were also uncovered. Need for cognition scores were generally unrelated to measures of feminine and androgynous sex role attitudes, shyness, sociability, and loneliness. These findings add further evidence supporting the construct validity of the Need for Cognition Scale and expand our understanding of the construct of need for cognition.

Gender, sex roles, and attitudes toward war and nuclear weapons

The observation that men are usually more supportive of war than women had led several authors to suggest that masculinity plays a causal role in the decision to make war and stockpile nuclear arms. In order to examine the relationship between sex role orientation and attitudes towards war and nuclear weapons, gender and measures of sex role orientation were used to predict three attitudes about nuclear weapons and the use of military force. Two specific and two classes of hypotheses regarding the possible relationships among these variables were tested: masculinity, femininity, Masculinity × Femininity interaction, and Gender × Sex Role Orientation hypotheses. The results provided limited support only for the femininity hypothesis—that attitudes toward war are associated with feminine traits. However, neither masculinity nor femininity was found to be the only mediators of the gender/war attitude relationship, indicating that sex role orientation (and especially masculinity) should be given less emphasis when trying to explain the relationship between gender and attitudes toward war.

The Impact of Television: A Natural Experiment in Three Communities.

T.M. Williams, Background and Overview. R.S. Corteen and T.M. Williams, Television and Reading Skills. L.F. Harrison and T.M. Williams, Television and Cognitive Development. T.M. Williams and A.G. Handford, Television and Other Leisure Activities. T.M. Williams and M.C. Boyes, Television-Viewing Patterns and Use of Other Media. M.M. Kimball, Television and Sex-Role Attitudes. L.A. Joy, M.M. Kimball, and M.L. Zabrack, Television and Children's Aggressive Behavior. P. Suedfeld, B.R. Little, A.D. Rank, D.S. Rank, and E.J. Ballard, Television and Adults: Thinking, Personality, and Attitudes. T.M. Williams, Summary, Conclusions, and Implications. Each chapter includes references. Author Index. Subject Index.

Black-White Differences in Mother-to-Daughter Transmission of Sex-Role Attitudes

We construct a model of sex-role transmission from mothers to daughters using three survey years from the National Longitudinal Surveys of Labor Market Experiences of Mature Women and Young Women. ...

Religious Orientations and Women's Expected Continuity in the Labor Force

Most observers concur that during the past 20 years there have been remarkable changes in the employment attitudes and behaviors of US women; today there is considerably greater variation among married womens work orientations and behaviors than there was 20 years ago. While certain religious orientations and perspectives may support womens adoption of the secularized work ethic other contemporary religious perspectives may view that adoption more dimly. This study examines the relationship between womens religious orientations and their expectations regarding paid employment. Data were collected through a mailed questionnaire sent to senior women students from 2 land grant universities in spring 1983. College programs selected for study were either predominantly female or predominantly male. Usable returns from both samples numbered 318. Religious devoutness was measured by a Guttman-type scale. Other measures included a self-esteem scale and items designed to solicit background information regarding mothers education and her paid employment activity; sex-role attitudes were measured with the 30-item Sex-Role Attitude Scale; a personality-style scale was used to measure assertiveness and responsiveness. A path model was constructed and the several sets of influences on womens work expectations were discovered and interpreted. Empirical conclusions tend to suggest that religion operates on expected work continuity mainly via gender role preferences. Greater devoutness tends to increase degree of gender role stereotyping and conventionality which in turn decreases expectations for a high degree of continuity in the paid labor force.

The Psycho-Economics of Feeling Underpaid: Distributive Justice and the Earnings of Husbands and Wives

A national sample of married couples helps to untangle the complex relationship between levels of pay and the feeling of being underpaid. The data show that as income rises, people shift from comparisons based on the amount needed to "get along" to the amount needed to "get ahead," thereby producing a U-shaped relationship betweenn income levels and perceived underpayment. Moreover, this pattern is influenced by relative husband-wife earnings. As spouse's income increase, employed women feel less underpaid while employed men feel just the opposite-though couples with more egalitarian sex-role attitudes are less extreme in this response. Finally, the paper considers the implcations of Jasso's Law of Justice Evaluations, which says that the injustice of underpayment should be judged relative to average inocome levels. Women's perceived dollar underpayment is about the same as that for men. But given that they are at significantly lower average income levles than men, Jasso's Law suggests that the relative injustice for women is much greater.

Factors predicting employed women's interest in promotion

Logistic regression analysis is used to test the relative importance of familial role factors and organization of workplace factors in predicting interest in promotion among employed women. None of the familial role factors (marital status, number of children, sex role attitudes. reasons for employment) influenced interest in promotion. Three of the four organization of workplace factors were significantly related to interest in promotion: perceived chance for advancement, relative opportunities for men and women on the job, and occupational status, with perceived chance for advancement being the strongest predictor.

Sex role attitude and perception of psychological abuse

This study focuses on the relationship between sex role attitude—traditionality and nontraditionality—and perception of psychological abuse. It was hypothesized that nontraditional women would be more adept at perceiving abuse than traditional women. Two hundred and fourteen subjects were polled using the Attitude Toward Women Scale. The 30 most traditional and 30 least traditional women were compared in terms of their reactions to vignettes depicting marital interactions. Several factors were analyzed in an attempt to explain why the nontraditional women were more sensitive in their perception of psychological abuse. Among these factors were educational level, tolerance for conflict, participation in consciousness-raising groups, “psychological sophistication,” and religious background.