ATTITUDES AND SEX-ROLE PERCEPTIONS AMONG WORKING COUPLES IN INDIA

Three hundred and twenty six working couples in India, differing in te rms of wives' professional status (career vs. non-career) and belongin g to two socio-cultural settings (traditional vs. non-traditional) wer e compared with respect to their attitudes towards women in paid labou r and their sex-role perceptions. It was expected that career women an d their spouses, and those belonging to a less traditional sociocultur al setting, would have a more positive attitude and more non-tradition al sex-role perceptions compared to their counterparts. Wives' career status positively influenced couples' attitudes. However, sex-roles co ntinued to be perceived along traditional lines highlighting men in th e provider role and women in the homemaker role. Findings suggest that women's career status fails to be used as resource mainly because wor king couples in India have so far not been successful in overcoming th e traditional values and norms governing gender roles.