ANTECEDENTS OF WORK AND FAMILY ROLE EXPECTATIONS OF COLLEGE MEN

A sample of 190 male college juniors add seniors completed a questionn aire regarding their orientation toward work, marriage, and family lif e as well as their experiences while growing up in their family of ori gin. The self-report questionnaire also included measures assessing va rious psychological dimensions that have previously been associated wi th orientations to work and family roles in studies of college women. Results indicate that an orientation toward a marriage and family life style in which traditionally divided roles are shared by both spouses is associated with father's participation in household work, a percept ion of oneself and one's friends as being more liberal regarding work and family role attitudes, and higher levels of expressiveness. The st udy supports social learning theory concepts as they relate to the dev elopment of gender role ideology.