Sex-role Concepts Research Articles

Sex role concepts of women.

Sex role concepts of women.

Role Variation as a Determinant of Attributed Masculinity and Femininity.

One-hundred twenty-seven men and women college students attributed items from a sex-role stereotype questionnaire to one of six hypothetical stimulus persons who varied as a function of gender and role designation (adult, undergraduate, graduate student). Results hypothesized from previous studies of sex-role stereotypes and theoretical conceptions of the attribution process and social learning influences on personality were obtained: the adult stimuli yielded predictable sex-role stereotypy; the undergraduate stimuli produced no differential attributions; and the graduate student stimuli generated greater masculine attributions for the female. The results were interpreted in terms of the significance of situationally specific stimuli as determinants of attributions about men and women.

Current sex role conceptions and conflict

Beliefs about role sharing or sex typing in occupations, positions of authority, the care of infants and children, housekeeping chores, responsibility for the economic support of the family, and the handling of family finances were investigated for 1,048 men and women residing in New York City. Beliefs about goals of the women's movement, about equality of the sexes, and about the elimination of sex typing in the socialization of children were also investigated. Questionnaires were distributed in the spring and fall of 1973 at several business firms, university campuses, shopping centers in black and white working class districts, and at a professional building. All of the independent variables — gender, age, marital status, occupation, educational level, religion, and ethnicity — were significantly related to beliefs about sex roles. Gender was the overriding independent variable, however. Significant differences in beliefs between the sexes persisted within the categories established by the other independent variables. For the total sample, discrepancies in the beliefs of men and women ranged from very highly significant to significant on almost all items on the questionnaire, although a majority of both sexes opted for more equality, less sex typing, and more role sharing. Role conflict, insofar as this stems from a lack of mutuality in role definitions and expectations, would appear to be a likely experience of many of the men and women interviewed. The role conflict model is a valuable tool that should be applied to actual interactional settings, involving men and women, in future research.

The relationship among sex-role stereotyping, sex-role preference, and the sex difference in spatial visualization

At an early age, children attain concepts of sex-appropriate activities, behaviors, attitudes, and goals, i.e., sex-role stereotypes. These conceptual stereotypes seem to assign a less favorable role to females. Thus it seems plausible that their acceptance (by both sexes) might be at least partly responsible for the performance differences that begin to arise in adolescence and adulthood. In view of the importance of early adolescence as a transitional period during which sex-role requirements are augmented and intellectual sex differences emerge, 105 11-year-olds and 102 14-year-olds were selected as subjects. Their spatial abilities, sex-role concepts, and sex-role preferences were assessed. Stereotyping sex roles (in general) was not associated with spatial performance; stereotyping sex roles that included information regarding subjects' views about intellectual competence was related to performance. The sex difference in spatial ability that emerged at age 14 was among subjects with own-sex preferences only; there were no sex differences among subjects who preferred to be boys.

On the Origin of Sex-Roles

The aim of this brief paper is to use recently-obtained knowledge about the sexual division of labor in pre-historic times as a perspective for the evaluation of our current usage of the concept of sex roles as an analytical tool in the study of contemporary male-female relationships. The data on which the major part of this presentation are based are, therefore, not derived from contemporary sociology per se, but rather from the published works of a number of anthropologists, ethnologists, and primatologists. Concepts are viewed here as analytical tools; that is, terms defined to provide us with theoretical access to the phenomena of our subject matter. As such, they are not judged on their empirical truth, but rather on their potential fruitfulness in the formulation of theoretical statements about the empirical phenomena under study. The question raised about the utility of the concepts of masculinity and femininity thus concerns their potential toward our understanding of current male female relationships in general, and more specifically, the participation of contemporary men and women in institutional arrangements such as, for example, the realms of work, marriage, and the family.

Sexual restraints: A comparison of perceived and self‐reported reasons for college students∗

In this study we examined and compared both personal reasons for not engaging in sexual intercourse, and students' conceptions of which reasons were most important for other men and women. We have both practical and theoretical reasons for studying students' sex role conceptions in this area. To the extent that there are significant errors in perception, it is possible that the data may help to identify problems in communication and understanding between the sexes, problems which may be dealt with once recognized. In addition, accounting for such errors or inaccurate stereotypes, makes use of role interaction and learning processes. Misperceptions of sex role related characteristics have been found in other studies focusing on how men and women see each other, and what they think each wants and expects from the other in their interpersonal interactions. Kirkendall (1961) states in his book on premarital interpersonal relations that it is easier to engage in actual intercourse than it is to refer to it openly. The results of this lack of communication are dealt with in the present study. METHOD

Concepts of social sex roles among Chilean adolescents.

The study reports the findings with 210 Chilean male and female adolescents on a 12-point semantic differential scale. Comparisons were made for 7 concepts (men, my mother, women, my father, myself, t

Sex-Role Concepts of Children: A Comparison of Father-Absent and Father-Present Children

Sex-Role Concepts of Children: A Comparison of Father-Absent and Father-Present Children

Adolescent concepts of social sex roles in the United States and the two Germanies.

Adolescent concepts of social sex roles in the United States and the two Germanies.

The Contribution of the Social Sciences to Psychotherapy.

This monograph contains the papers presented at a recent symposium sponsored by the Milwaukee Psychiatric Hospital and the Marquette University School of Medicine. The participants represented the fields of psychoanalysis, sociology, anthropology, and psychology. The task for the meeting was to focus on the problem of integrating social science concepts with psychotherapy. Because much impetus for the above-stated task comes from the pressure of current social changes, there is apparent the tendency to evaluate psychotherapy as a tool in solving social problems. The issue of the conceptual integration of social science with psychodynamic theory is lost occasionally, so that a more inclusive view of behavior is not forthcoming. The article by Otto Pollak does offer a redefinition of psychotherapeutic goals through examination of traditional, outmoded sex role concepts and the exposition of these goals within the framework of middle-class ideology. Hollingshead presents a resume

Sex-Role Concepts and Sex Typing in Childhood as a Function of School and Home Environments

Sex-Role Concepts and Sex Typing in Childhood as a Function of School and Home Environments

Sex role-conceptions and the patient role in a state mental hospital.

Sex role-conceptions and the patient role in a state mental hospital.

Sex-Role Concepts among Elementary-School-Age Girls

Sex-Role Concepts among Elementary-School-Age Girls