The influence of maternal employment on gender role attitudes of men and women

The effects of maternal employment on young adults' gender role attitudes were assessed. A random sample of 111 males and 131 females was surveyed 179 Whites (74.0%), 35 Blacks (14.5%), and 28 others (typically Asian-Americans, 11.5%)]. Results varied depending on which gender role attitudes were being examined. With respect to approval of mother working outside the home, only the respondent's age when his or her mother began working was significant. However, this relationship was not found when assessing attitudes about the separate spheres ideology. Thus, it appears that attitudes toward women working depend on whether the respondent's mother worked, whereas beliefs about adult male—female equality do not appear to be as closely related to childhood experiences. Mothers' occupations were unrelated to all of the attitudes examined, as were her children's perceptions of how satisfied she was with her primary work role (employed or nonemployed). Finally, the only significant predictors of gender role attitudes to be discovered were the sex of respondent and attendance at religious services. Females expressed more egalitarian gender role attitudes, and those who reported frequent attendance at religious services were more likely to endorse traditional gender roles.This article was part of a master's thesis conducted at the University of Virginia by the first author.We gratefully acknowledge the assistance of Paul W. Kingston in proposal formulation and survey construction, Lance C. Bloom in data collection, and the helpful comments made by the anonymous reviewers ofSex Roles.