Conception and self-attribution of sex-role behavior: A cross-cultural comparison between Swedish and kibbutz-raised lsraelian children

The conception of typical female and male sex-role behavior and self-attribution of sex-role behavior in Swedish children were compared to conception and self-attribution in kibbutz-raised Israelian children. Two hundred and fourteen Swedish children aged 7–8 years and 68 Swedish and 56 Israelian children aged 10–12 years participated. It was hypothesised that Swedish children would be more traditional regarding sex-role behavior both with respect to their conception and to their self-attribution than the kibbutz-raised Israelian children since the strive for equality between the sexes, according to the kibbutz ideology, has been more pronounced in Israel than in Sweden. The results did not confirm the hypothesis. No cultural difference was found neither with respect to conception of typical female and male sex-role behavior, nor to the proportion of traditional and androgynous sex-typing regarding self-attribution.