Using a longitudinal national sample of married individuals, we examine changes in gender ideologies of married men and women regarding family roles, defined as wife's economic role, husband's and wife's provider role, and wife's maternal role. We also test two competing hypotheses: the threat hypothesis and the benefit hypothesis, which view the impact of women's employment on men's gender beliefs from different perspectives. Whereas the threat hypothesis asserts that women's sharing of the provider role with men may cause men to be resistant to the gender equality ideal for fear of losing their masculine identities and their wives' domestic services, the benefit hypothesis anticipates an ideological shift of men toward egalitarianism because men benefit materially from their wives' financial contributions to the family. The empirical results suggest that both genders are moving in the direction of egalitarianism. Men of lower breadwinner status and women of higher status are less likely to hold conventional gender ideologies. Because the decline in men's breadwinner status tends to promote egalitarian ideology among men, the benefit hypothesis is supported.

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This study employs a Chinese sample to explore children's privacy rights within the family. For the purpose of comparison, parental views of children's privacy rights and children's own perceptions are examined. Privacy rights are defined to include three spheres—spatial, physical, and mental. Results show that age differences in perceptions of privacy rights exist not only between generations but also between the junior high and senior high school students. However, the three cohorts are relatively consistent in their ratings of aspects of privacy rights. Gender differences are manifest in the mental sphere of privacy and move in the opposite directions, with the male students valuing their privacy rights less but the male parents respecting them more. Perceptions of privacy rights also differ dependent on whether privacy is defined as rights or secrets. Developmental and cultural perspectives are employed to examine these findings.

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