Adolescents' Views of Maternal Employment as a Threat to the Marital Relationship

Women in Male-Dominated Professions: Distinguishing Personality and Background Characteristics

“…The higher maternal employment among As can be seen as fostering atypical career choice by influencing the degree to which parental sex roles are differentiated by the young child. The child whose parents have both been employed develops a broader conceptualization of both masculine and feminine roles, a view supported by numerous studies (Altman & Grossman, 1977;Hartley, 1960;Hoffman, 1976;King, McIntyre, & Axelson, 1968;Tangri, 1972;Vogel, Brovertnan, Broverman, Clarkson, & Rosenkrantz, 1970). Having a mother who is or has been involved in outside employment appears to contribute not only to an acceptance of work as congruent with the female role, but also to the perception of even "men's work" as appropriate for women.…”

“…The child whose parents have both been employed develops a broader conceptualization of both masculine and feminine roles, a view supported by numerous studies (Altman & Grossman, 1977;Hartley, 1960;Hoffman, 1976;King, McIntyre, & Axelson, 1968;Tangri, 1972;Vogel, Brovertnan, Broverman, Clarkson, & Rosenkrantz, 1970). The child whose parents have both been employed develops a broader conceptualization of both masculine and feminine roles, a view supported by numerous studies (Altman & Grossman, 1977;Hartley, 1960;Hoffman, 1976;King, McIntyre, & Axelson, 1968;Tangri, 1972;Vogel, Brovertnan, Broverman, Clarkson, & Rosenkrantz, 1970).…”

Developing Attitudes Toward the Role of Women

“…Examining the intercorrelations shows that this drop occurs because the mother's greater input into family decisions is associated with the son's lower-rated similarity to the father, the mother being less satisfied with her life, and, to some extent, the father having more liberal attitudes. This lack of influence of family decision-making patterns when other variables are included in the analysis indicates that earlier findings (King et al, 1968; Lipman-Blumen, 1972) may be spurious and that the influence of parental division of authority may largely reflect other more salient aspects of family interaction patterns. With the stated expectations, the impact of the mothers' attitudes toward sex roles is largely accounted for by the fathers' views, whose impact remains large in the multiple regression.…”

“…It suggests that people's attitudes are influenced by the expectations, both stated and inferred, of significant others; by their emotional relationship with these others; by their cognitive reaction to the others; and by experiences outside the parental family. Because many previous studies suggested that people from higher status backgrounds have more liberal attitudes toward the role of women (King et al, 1968;Sterrett and Bollman, 1970;Mason et al, 1976;Bayer, 1975;Mason and Bumpass, 1975), this variable is also included. The signs in the model indicate the direction of influence that is expected from previous research.…”

“…For instance, several studies show that children who grow up in more egalitarian homes have more liberal sex role attitudes. This may include having a mother who works, a mother in a Figure 1: Model of Influences on Females' and Males' Attitudes Toward the Role of Women more prestigious occupation, a more egalitarian parental division of labor and decision-making patterns, or having a mother with more education than the father (Meier, 1972;King et al, 1968;Sterrett and Bollman, 1970;Lipman-Blumen, 1972).…”