Winter Report From The Research Committee

Gender-role orientation and social expectations regarding female adolescents' coping with developmental tasks 1The preparation of this article was facilitated by a grant from the Swiss National Foundation for young researchers, financed by the local research committee of the University of Fribourg to the first author during her stay at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, USA. We are grateful to Susan B. Cleary for editing the English version of this article.

Swiss Journal of Psychology ◽

10.1024//1421-0185.58.4.273 ◽

1999 ◽

Vol 58 (4) ◽

pp. 273-286 ◽

Cited By ~ 4

Author(s):

Regula P. Berger ◽

Alexander Grob ◽

August Flammer

Keyword(s):

Gender Role ◽

Female Gender ◽

Role Orientation ◽

Developmental Tasks ◽

Developmental Task ◽

Gender Role Orientation ◽

Research Committee ◽

National Foundation ◽

Normative Expectations ◽

The University

This study focuses on the importance of social developmental expectations, assessed as emotional and cognitive evaluations regarding the timing and the gender-role conformity of normative developmental tasks. Two central questions were raised. First, to what degree do the timing and the gender-role conformity affect the adults' expectations? Second, how much does the adults' own gender-role orientation (GRO), classified as traditional vs. liberal, affect their expectations? A 4 (timing modus) × 2 (developmental task) × 2 (gender-role conformity)-factorial design was administered to a sample of 140 adults of both sexes, 20 to 81 years old. Coping in time and with gender-role typical career received the most approval. Typical developmental tasks were more approved by persons with a traditional than with a liberal GRO. However, the evaluation of non-typical developmental tasks was not affected by the GRO. The possibility of a shift in normative expectations toward more liberal, diverse, and self-defined female gender-roles is discussed.

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