The impact of social background on gender-role ideology - Parents' versus children's attitudes

The study examines the effects of parental background variables on parent-c hild differences in sex typing of roles and occupations, using a sample of Israeli fathers and mothers and their adolescent children (n = 134 in each group). In general, mothers held more liberal attitudes, followed by their children, whereas fathers appeared to be the most conservative. Parents' ba ckground variables were found to have some effect on their own attitudes as well as their children's attitudes to gender roles, but no impact on sex t yping of occupations was found. Mothers' and fathers' education, as well as the mother's work status, significantly affected the views of both parents and children on the question of gender role. Parents with more education a nd families with full-time working mothers tended to be more liberal. The m other's place of birth, degree of family's religiosity, and number of child ren influenced parental attitudes but not those of offspring.