Traditional Family Ideology and Its Relation to Personality*

Abstract

AND PHYLLIS E, HUFFMAN, Western Reserve UmversttyTHE PROBLEM 1 HIS PAPER IS concerned with current ways of thinking, or ideologtcal orientatwns, regarding family structure and functioning These orientations can be labeled and grouped in many ways, none of which will do full justice to their individual distinctiveness In the present study they are placed along an autocratic-democratic continuum The autocratic extreme is represented by various forms of "traditional family ldeolc^jy"-^viewpoints which involve an hierarchical conception of familial relationships, emphasis on discipline in child-rearing, sharp dichotomization of sex roles, and the like The democratic orientations tend to decentralize authonty within the family, to seek greater equality m husband-wife and parent-child relationships, and to maximize individual self-determination The terms "democratic" and "autocratic" refer not to a simple dichotomy but to antipodes of a broad and internally complex continuum Moreover, there are important qualitative variations within each ideological camp and there are numerous "intermediate" positions The present study focuses only on certain gross differences between the two extreme positions and is therefore only a first step in the analysis of the total continuum This study has one technological and several theoretical aims The former involves the construction of a device-the Traditional Family Ideology (TFI) Scale-^for assessing an individual's position on the democratic-autocratic continuum The theoretical aims ln-'The initial research was earned out by the authors at Western Reserve University m 1949/1950 The present paper is a revision of an earlier report and contains additional data obtained at the Laboratory of Social Relations, Harvard University The study was facilitated by a grant from the Laboratory of Social Relations

The effect of self-affirmation on sexual prejudice

“…Next, we administered three shortened measures of traditional ''family values." These scales were originally developed by Levinson and Huffman (1955), but were recently updated by Callahan and Vescio (2007). They include three subscales: parent-child relationships (e.g., ''If children are told too much about sex, they are likely to go too far in experimenting with it," ''It helps the children in the long run if they are made to conform to their parents' ideals"; a = .62), husband-wife relationships (e.g., ''A marriage should not be made until the couple plans to have children," ''Women who want to remove the word 'obey' from marriage vows don't understand what it means to be a wife"; a = .60), and traditional male-female gender roles (e.g., ''The most important qualities of men are strength of will and ambition," ''It goes against nature to put women in positions of authority over men"; a = .50).…”

Paternal Involvement with School-aged Children in Brazilian Families: Association with Childhood Competence

“…Family ideology scale Fathers' ideological beliefs were assessed via a modified version of the Traditional Family Ideology Scale developed by Levinson and Huffman (1955). The scale contains ten Likert-type items (5=I totally disagree to 1=I totally agree) designed to tap into men's attitudes toward gender roles within the family.…”

Effects of a parent education program on parents and their preadolescent children

“…Parents were administered three instruments including the Parent Attitude Survey (Hereford, 1963), the Traditional Family Ideology Scale (Levinson & Huffman, 1955), and the Attitude Toward Parental Control of Children's Activities (Stott, 1940). The Parent Attitude Survey (PAS) yields scores on five scales including confidence, causation, acceptance, understanding, and trust.…”