GENDER
IDENTITY AND SEX ROLES
Abu Ali, Azhar and Carol A. Reisen. 1999. “Gender Role Identity among Adolescent Muslim Girls Living in the Us.” Current Psychology: Developmental, Learning, Personality, Social vol. 18, pp. 185-192.
Abstract: Examined societal
influences on gender identity, and beliefs about behaviors and characteristics
appropriate for males and females among 96 Muslim adolescent girls (aged 13-18
yrs) living in the US and attending an Islamic high school. Over 75% of the sample
characterized themselves as Middle-Eastern or Arab-American. Ss completed a
survey in English or Arabic containing background questions, the Bem Sex Role
Inventory, the Multigroup Ethnic Identity Measure, and a religiosity scale.
Results show that Ss had comparable femininity scores, but higher masculinity
scores than normative female samples. Results also indicated that those Ss who
had lived in the US for longer periods reported more masculine attributes.
Greater sense of belonging to one's ethnic group and greater religiosity were
associated with greater femininity. Thus, identification with one's own
culture, adherence to religious practices, and exposure to foreign cultural
values were related to gender role identity.
[Source: PI]
Christopherson, N. 1999. “Accommodation and Resistance in Religious Fiction: Family Structures and Gender Roles.” Sociology of Religion vol. 60, pp. 439-455.
Abstract: The relationship
between religion and secular culture has often been one filled with tension. For
conservative Protestants. this relationship has been reflected in a tension
between resisting secular culture, and accommodating certain aspects of faith
to secular ideals. This paper offers a content analysis of Christian formulaic
fiction written for teenage girls. The analysis compares gender roles and
family structures within religious and secular novels, to explore how the
forces of accommodation and resistance work within religious popular culture.
The analysis reveals that in Christian formulaic fiction written for teenage
girls there is some evidence of accommodation to more "progressive"
gender roles. However, most depictions of family structures and gender roles
tend to support traditional notions, and resist recent cultural developments. [Source: SC]
Mercer, Joyce Ann. 1999. “Educating for Subordination: Adolescent Girls, Gender Identity, and School Violence.” Journal of Religion & Abuse vol. 1, p. 19+.
Abstract: Article addresses
questions of school violence and violence education programs from perspective
of adolescent girls and how girls' fear of violence is exploited to maintain
female subordination
This article uses interviews with adolescent girls to address the questions of school violence, violence education programs, and gender construction. A central assumption is that schools function alongside church and popular culture as sites for the construction of female gender identity. While research indicates the need to focus attention and intervention upon boys because of their greater likelihood of encountering violence, this article argues that such research discounts the particularly insidious ways adolescent girls experience violence in school and the way their fear of violence is exploited to maintain female subordination. The assumption that violence education programs are gender neutral is therefore problematized. After a critical treatment of three common models of violence education in schools (conflict resolution, violence prevention, and nonviolence education), the article addresses problematic theological supports for young women's ro les as victims or as deviant perpetrators in the "culture of violence" operating in school violence. The author then draws upon positive resources from Christian tradition for vital self-assertion and self-defense. She concludes with constructive proposals from a feminist perspective for transformative theological and educational practices. [Source: CW]
Dentith, Audrey Marie. 1998. “Identities through Agency, Accommodation and Resistance: A Multi-Ethnic Study of Urban Adolescent Girls in Las Vegas, Nevada.” Ph.d. Thesis, The Pennsylvania State University.
Abstract: Las Vegas, Nevada
was the setting for this multi-ethnic study of urban adolescent girls. New
forms of capitalism in the postmodern context of this city lend ambiguity to
the labor practices and consumer logic which influences young women's social
relations, career choices and cultural understandings. Cultural practices
apparent in casino life and the sex industry place women on the margins of
society and the conservative ideologies apparent through the highly visible
Christian Right and public schooling practices within the city reinforce
patriarchy and women's subordinate position. This ethnographic investigated the
lives of nine girls, ages 13 through 18 years from White, Asian and Latina
heritage. It examined girls' lives and the production and transmission of
cultural phenomena as well as the reception and response to cultural knowledge
from within the context of a specific community and in relationship to the
wider social movements and mediated information. A multi-theoretical framework
was used to capture the disruptions and intricacies of adolescent social life
in this context. Postmodernism as an aesthetic descriptor of the changing
cultural landscape within the Western world; critical postmodernism and
feminism as discourses of social critique were used to describe contemporary
life and as tools to disrupt notions within it. Girls exercised agency through
close-knit friendships, schooling practices, and sexuality. Measures of
resistance were seen in the formation of counterculture groups, alternate
sexual mores, and defiance of conservative religions. Girls negotiated tenuous
relations between traditional gender roles and sexual behaviors. [Source: DA]
Scott, Sue M. 1998. “Exploring God-Images of Children: Implications for Pastoral Counseling.” Thesis, Garrett Evangelical Theological Seminary.
Abstract: This project
analyzes and compares the God-images of three children, each distinguished by a
different parental figure: intact, blended, and single parent. Grounding the
study in Sallie McFague's model of God as parent, the project employs David
Heller's methodology to investigate each child's image of God in a two-hour
interview, finding several common themes: sexual identity, female identity
development, separation and inequality, intimacy, creation, comforter,
authority, and dynamic action. A child's parental experience does inform who
God gets to be. [Source: RI]
Ajrouch, Kristine Joyce. 1997. “Ethnicity, Gender and Identity among Second-Generation Arab Americans: Growing up Arabic in America.” Ph.d. Thesis, Wayne State University.
Abstract: This study
implements the use of focus group discussions and life history interviews with
Muslim Lebanese immigrants and their adolescent children in order to explore
the process by which an Arab-American identity develops among the second
generation. The participants reside in Dearborn, Michigan which has the largest
and most visible Arab population outside of the Middle East. The adolescents
were accessed through the Dearborn Public school system on a voluntary basis.
Immigrant parents were accessed through the adolescents or volunteered through
the Kfarhouna Lebanese Club of America. This study was informed by the
interactionist perspective and therefore approaches ethnic identity formation
as a process which is continuously negotiated. The major goal of this research
is to ascertain the impact of both the American culture and the Arab culture
upon the formation of personal and community identities among these
adolescents. Focus group discussions and life history interviews were
audio-taped, transcribed and then analyzed through the development of major
themes. Gender relations is a central theme to discovering the process of
ethnic identity formation in this study. Much of the dialogue by parents and
adolescents revealed that ethnic identity formation is a gendered process.
Specifically, there are a set of restrictions placed upon the females by
parents with regard to social outings, particularly with regards to dating,
which does not apply to males. This difference marks not only the parent child
relationship, but extends to the relationship between brother and sister.
Brothers often times assume the role of protector as they watch over their
sister. The social structure of the community places the female in a position
where her actions not only represent herself, but extend to her family and to
community members generally. She is the bearer and transmitter of the Arab
ethnic identity in America. Religion is a central theme because it not only
serves as a justification for the structure of gender relations, but also often
times becomes conflated with definitions of Arab culture. The respondents often
drew upon religious precepts to underscore the meaning of an Arab identity in
America. Immigration also became a core theme. The experiences of the parents
in Lebanon as well as the adolescents' perceptions of their experiences
contribute to their understanding of Arab culture and an Arab identity. Respect
is the aspect of traditional Arab culture which faces a major threat from the
American cultural value of freedom. The negotiation of these forces arises
within each major theme of gender, religion, and immigration to produce the
finding that ethnic identity formation is a gendered process among children of
Lebanese Muslim immigrants living in Dearborn.
[Source: DA]
Mercer, Joyce Ann. 1997. “Gender, Violence, and Faith: Adolescent Girls and a Theological Anthropology of Difference.” Ph.D. Thesis, Emory University.
Abstract: This dissertation
explores gender and faith identities among a group of adolescent girls. Drawing
from interview research I bring girls' discourses on gender, violence, and faith
into dialogue with feminist theologians. A gap exists between the situations of
these adolescent girls and the ability of feminist theologies to speak to their
situations because of problems created by overly immanental theologies that
cannot deal adequately with difference from a non-essentialist framework. To
function in critical and visionary ways in relation to the subject positions of
girls in the study group, feminist theologies need a nuanced theory of gender,
an alternative perspective on Divine transcendence, a notion of community that
protects difference, and a critical utopia. The central question guiding this
project concerns how to configure the interplay of sameness and difference in
theologically informed perspectives on gendered subjectivity without resulting
in either the erasure of difference on the one hand or of relationality on the
other. After surveying theories of adolescence, I propose alternative
background theories from the works of Michel Foucault, Pierre Bourdieu,
Drucilla Cornell, and themes from feminist theologians as alternative
perspectives on human personhood highlighting the productive power of discourse
and social practices in constructing subjectivities. I develop a feminist
qualitative research methodology, asserting the educational and pastoral
functions of interview research. A sub-theme of the dissertation concerns the
role that education plays in the construction of subjectivity. As a discursive
social practice embodying cultural norms and values, education like religion
can function negatively, contributing to the production of problematic subject
positions for women. Both religion and education also have the potential to
function as emancipatory discourses in relation to women's subjectivity. In
interviews, girls explored their experiences of the educational roles of
parents, schools, and religious communities in relation to becoming a female
self. The work concludes with a constructive theological account of human
personhood based upon the interviews with girls and their dialogue with
feminist theologies, as well as the alternative background theories proposed
for construing subjectivity. [Source:
DA]
Rubinstein, G. 1995. “Right-Wing Authoritarianism, Political Affiliation, Religiosity, and Their Relation to Psychological Androgyny.” Sex Roles vol. 33, pp. 569-586.
Abstract: The authoritarian
personality is characterized by a traditional attitude towards gender roles
that reflects its conservative ideology [T. W. Adorno, E. Frenkel-Brunswik, D.
J. Levinson, and R. N. Sanford (1950) The Authoritarian Personality, New York:
Norton]. The present study investigated the relationship between S. L. Bem's
[(1974) sex roles ''The Measurement of Psychological Androgyny,'' Journal of
Consulting and Clinical Psychology, Vol. 42, pp. 155-162], on the one hand, and
right- wing authoritarianism [RWA; B. Altemeyer (1988) Enemies of Freedom:
Understanding Right-Wing Authoritarianism, San Francisco], political
affiliation, and religiosity level, on the other Subjects were 365 Jewish
undergraduate students (227 women and 138 men) at a number of universities; 81
were second generation Israelis, 90 were children of Ashkenazic parents, 75
were children of Sephardic parents, and 113 were children of parents from mixed
background. They completed Altemeyer's RWA scab and a shortened version of
Bem's Sex Role Inventory. Political affiliation and religiosity level
(variables strongly linked to the authoritarian personality theory) were also
measured. Among women, the RWA mean score of the cross-sex typed subjects was
significantly lower than that of the sex- typed and the undifferentiated
subjects, and most of the cross- sex typed women supported the political left
and defined themselves as secular while among men, no statistically significant
RWA, political affiliation, and religiosity differences were found between
Bem's four personality types. These results highlight gender differences in the
relationships between authoritarian personality and gender-role identification.
While it seems that cross-sex-typed women. tend to rebel against the status
quo, the question of why similar patterns do not appear among men still remains
open to speculation. [Source: SC]
Lottes, Ilsa L. and Peter J. Kuriloff. 1992. “The Effects of Gender, Race, Religion, and Political Orientation on the Sex Role Attitudes of College Freshmen.” Adolescence vol. 27, pp. 675-688.
Abstract: 556 1st-yr
undergraduates completed a questionnaire examining the effects of gender, race
(Asian, Black, and White), religion (Catholic, Jewish, and Protestant), and
political orientation (liberal and conservative) on 4 areas of sex-role
ideology. They were (1) traditional attitudes toward female sexuality, (2)
justification of male dominance, (3) negative attitudes toward homosexuality,
and (4) attitudes toward feminism. The study assumed a social learning
perspective: that sex-role beliefs are culturally determined. Of the 4
independent variables, religion and political orientation produced significant
differences on all 4 sex-role measures. Liberals as compared to conservatives,
and Jews as compared to Protestants were less traditional in their attitudes
toward female sexuality, less accepting of male dominance and negative
attitudes toward homosexuality, and more accepting of feminist attitudes. [Source: PI]
Jackson, Ellen Pastorino. 1990. “The Influence of Gender, Family Cohesion and Family Adaptability on the Domains of Adolescent Identity.” Ph.d. Thesis, The Florida State University.
Abstract: The purpose of
this study was to investigate the influence of gender, family cohesion and
family adaptability on identity exploration and identity commitment in six
domains: occupation, religion, politics, friendships, dating, and sex roles.
Specific objectives included the assessment of (1) the interaction between
family functioning and gender, and their effect on identity exploration and
identity commitment, (2) the domains by which males and females define
themselves, and (3) the typical sequence in which the identity domains are
resolved by late adolescents. Subjects were 210 male and female college
students. The FACES III Inventory provided measures of perceived cohesion and
adaptability of families. The Ego-Identity Interview provided measures of
identity exploration and commitment for the six domains. The findings of this
study indicated a complex association between family functioning, gender, and
identity. Females perceived more cohesion in the family environment than males,
and higher levels of family cohesion were associated with higher levels of
identity commitment. An interaction between adaptability and gender on identity
exploration also was found. High-exploring males perceived high levels of
adaptability in the family whereas high-exploration in females was related to
low and high levels of family adaptability. Gender differences by domain also
were observed. Males were more likely to have explored in politics and females
were more likely to have explored sex role values. Males were more committed in
the political domain whereas females were more committed in the domains of
religion and dating. The results also indicated little evidence of exploration
by the subjects in pursuit of religious or political identity. [Source: DA]
Schoellmann, Edward R. 1990. “A Comparative Study of Paternal Nurturance as Experienced by Select Categories of Early Adolescent Children.” Ed.d. Thesis, Texas Southern University.
Abstract: This study
investigated and compared the experiences of paternal nurturance by early adolescent
children. It was designed to determine if there is a difference in a father's
nurturance as experienced by the early adolescent child in varying groups in
the select categories of sex, ethnicity, religious affiliation, family
configuration, and family income. The child's experience of paternal nurturance
was measured with the Buri, Misukanis, and Mueller Paternal Nurturance Scale
(1988). This is a 24-item Likert-type scale used to measure parental nurturance
from the viewpoint of an adolescent evaluating the nurturance he or she has
received from his or her father (Buri, Hengel, Komar, and Richtmeier, 1989). A
child begins acculturation within the setting of his/her family. There is a
commonness in the socialization of persons experiencing the same culture and
society. Parents and family members bring this into the home of the child;
however, mothers and fathers each represent differing modes of socialization
(Johnson, 1972). This study focused on the early adolescent child's experience
of a father's nurturance. Aspects of the father's nurturant activity affect
attachments, self-concepts, self-esteem, gender orientation, and cognitive
development. Normal and healthy development in all of these areas assist
socialization of the child in preparation for a wholesome, and satisfying life
in the adult world. This study tested twenty Null Hypotheses of a child's
experience of paternal nurturance by the father. Ten of the hypotheses were
supported and ten were rejected. When one compares variables of ethnicity,
family configurations, religion, age, and income, it shows that there are
differences in experienced nurturance among children within these groupings.
The findings of this study provide information for parents, religious leaders,
teachers, counselors, and persons working in the delivery of social services.
Information in this study is also of value for family life awareness programs.
It can alert fathers to their parenting habits, the needs of their children,
and with this awareness, possibly help them avoid future family crises. [Source: DA]
Boyer, Debra. 1989. “Male Prostitution and Homosexual Identity.” Journal of Homosexuality vol. 17, pp. 151-184.
Abstract: Investigates how gay
male adolescents who are exposed to public forms of homosexuality may develop a
self-understanding that links their homosexual identity with prostitution. Data
from the author's study of 47 male adolescent prostitutes and 50 controls (male
adolescent delinquents) are summarized. Topics addressed include demographic
characteristics, sexual orientation, religion, law, medicine and psychiatry,
gender and social sex role, and the intersubjective world of homosexuality.
Case study materials are provided. Homosexual prostitution is analyzed as a
product of culture. [Source: PI]
Harrison, Dianne F. and R. Clark Pennell. 1989. “Contemporary Sex Roles for Adolescents: New Options or Confusion?” Journal of Social Work and Human Sexuality vol. 8, pp. 27-45.
Abstract: Reviews the
various sources of social influence (parents, peers, media, schools, race,
social class, and religion) and known effects of these influences on adolescent
sex role development. It is suggested that the contemporary gender role
development of teens may be characterized primarily by role strain and
confusion, yet the new options available to them pose potential for increased
individual freedom and flexibility. Social workers have the opportunity and
obligation to turn confusion to positive challenge by changes at both the macro
and micro levels. [Source: PI]
Schwab, Ellen Marks. 1989. “The Father-Daughter Relationship During Adolescence: Its Perceived Impact on Sex Role and Sexual Identity, Heterosexuality, Personal Adjustment and Achievement.” Ed.d. Thesis, Boston University.
Abstract: The purpose of
this research was: (1) to examine a group of high school sophomore and junior
adolescent females' perceptions of their relationships with their fathers,
retrospectively before and during adolescence; (2) to explore whether or not
any changes in the relationship reportedly occurred after the daughter's
adolescence began, and if so, what the changes were; (3) to explore the impact
the father-daughter relationship reputedly had on female sex role identity,
both before and after adolescence began; (4) and additionally, to explore its
purported impact on the daughter's personal adjustment, heterosexuality and
achievement. A volunteer group of 74 sophomore and junior high school girls
were recruited from a suburban town approximately 25 miles outside of a major
northeastern city in the United States. They were primarily white, Protestant
or Catholic females from middle income families. Each subject was asked to
complete a demographic questionnaire, and three paper and pencil instruments:
Schaefer's (1965) Children's Report of Parent Behavior Inventory; Bem's (1981)
Sex Role Inventory; and Gough and Heilbrun's Adjective Check List, including
subscales measuring heterosexuality, personal adjustment and achievement. In
addition, in order to collect some illustrative information, four girls were
randomly selected to participate in individual, semi-structured interviews.
Analysis of the data yielded by the scales confirmed or partially confirmed (p
<.05) five out of seven hypotheses. Generally, these were that: (1)
differences tended to exist between the androgynous and undifferentiated sex
role rated groups in terms of the perceived relationships they had with their
fathers, (2) relationships were found to exist between heterosexuality scores
and some of the perceived paternal behaviors, (3) differences tended to exist
between the androgynous and undifferentiated sex role rated groups in
relationship to their heterosexuality scores, (4) a relationship was found
between the masculine sex role rated group and high scores on the achievement
scale, (5) and differences were found in the before and after age twelve
paternal behavior ratings. The data analysis for each hypothesis were assessed
and discussed as were the results of the demographic variables. Recommendations
for future research, as well as implications for counseling practice, were
made. [Source: DA]
Futterman, Jack Robert. 1987. “Identity Status, Sex Role, and Gender Identity in Late Adolescent Males and Females.” Ph.d. Thesis, The University of Michigan.
Abstract: The relationships
between identity status, sex role, and gender identity were investigated in 59
male and 59 female undergraduates. Identity status was assessed by a version of
the Identity Status Interview (Marcia, 1966; Grotevant and Cooper, 1981)
containing intrapersonal content areas of occupation, religion, and politics,
and interpersonal content areas of friendship, dating, sex roles, and sexual
values. Sex role was assessed by the original and short versions of the Bem Sex
Role Inventory (Bem, 1974; 1979) and by the short version of the Personal
Attributes Questionnaire (Spence and Helmreich, 1978). Gender identity was
assessed by the Franck Drawing Completion Test (Franck and Rosen, 1949) and by
the May Measure of Gender Identity (May, 1966). The investigation of the
relationship between identity status in intrapersonal areas and instrumental
traits (Masculinity) such as independence and competitiveness indicated that
instrumental traits were associated with high identity status in the area of
occupation for both sexes and in the area of religion for females. Instrumental
traits were also associated with high identity status in the areas of dating
and sex roles for females. The investigation of the relationship between
identity status in interpersonal areas and expressive traits (Femininity) such
as kindness and sensitivity indicated that expressive traits were associated
with high identity status in the areas of dating, and sex roles for males. With
regard to sex role orientation, Androgyny, or the possession of a high level of
both instrumental and expressive characteristics, was found to be associated
with high identity status more frequently than either a Feminine or
Undifferentiated sex role. Sex-typed individuals demonstrated significantly
higher rates of Foreclosure than individuals of other sex role orientations.
Undifferentiated individuals also demonstrated higher rates of Diffusion than
Androgynous or Masculine individuals. Gender identity was related only weakly
to identity status; Feminine males, as classified by the Franck Drawing
Completion Test, demonstrated a tendency towards a higher rate of Diffusion
than Masculine males. While there were several replications of previous
research findings, the main finding of this study is the high degree to which
instrumentality was associated with high identity status for females. [Source: DA]
Glass, Jennifer, Vern L. Bengtson, and Charlotte Chorn Dunham. 1986. “Attitude Similarity in Three-Generation Families: Socialization, Status Inheritance, or Reciprocal Influence?” American Sociological Review vol. 51, pp. 685-698.
Abstract: The hypotheses of
attitude transmission across three ideological domains (gender roles, politics,
religion) are examined to access the adequacy of direct socialization, status
inheritance, & reciprocal influence models in a developmental aging
perspective. Data are from mailed questionnaires completed by 2,044 members of
3-generation families, grouped to form parent-youth (G2-G3) &
grandparent-parent (G1-G2) dyads. Results suggest that: there is little
convergence of parent-child attitudes with age when viewed cross-sectionally;
status inheritance processes account for a substantial amount of observed parent-child
similarity, but parental attitudes continue to significantly predict children's
orientations after childhood; & child influences on parental attitudes are
relatively strong & stable across age groups, while parental influence
decreases with age, although the exact pattern of influence varies by attitude
domain. [Source: SA]
Blake, Judith. 1984. “Catholicism and Fertility: On Attitudes of Young Americans.” Population and Development Review vol. 10, pp. 329-340.
Abstract: The fertility
expectations of practicing Catholic, nominal Catholic, & non-Catholic
youths are compared. Analysis of a subsample (N = 29,495) of data obtained from
the National Center for Education Statistics Study, "High School &
Beyond" (1980, no publication information given) reveals that: (1)
practicing Catholic girls expect 19% more children than non-Catholic ones, (2)
practicing Catholic boys expect 17% more than their non-Catholic counterparts;
(3) Catholics attending Catholic schools expect more children than those
attending public schools; & (4) the more religious the Catholic youth, the
larger the family size anticipated. Results suggest a positive relationship
between adherence to Catholic doctrine & the definition of the maternal
role in terms of traditional sex-role differentiation. [Source: SA]
Canter, Rachelle J. and Suzanne S. Ageton. 1984. “The Epidemiology of Adolescent Sex-Role Attitudes.” Sex Roles vol. 11, pp. 657-676.
Abstract: The results of an
examination of the epidemiology of sex-role attitudes among a national
probability sample of 1,626 US adolescents generally corroborate earlier
findings with more limited samples: more traditional sex-role attitudes are
reported by M, Lc, & minority Rs. The magnitude of the sex difference
overshadows the remaining differences. In addition, the impact of sex-role
attitudes on conventional & delinquent behaviors & values is assessed.
Sex-role groups differ in their involvement in the conventional settings of
family, school, religion, & work, as well as in minor forms of delinquency
& in their values concerning conventional & delinquent behaviors. The
findings are discussed in terms of their contribution to general understanding
of adolescent sex-role attitudes.
[Source: SA]
Ireson, Carol J. 1984. “Adolescent Pregnancy and Sex Roles.” Sex Roles vol. 11, pp. 189-201.
Abstract: An examination of
the relationship between traditional sex roles & adolescent pregnancy.
Sex-role orientation & related variables were measured by a multiple-choice
questionnaire administered to 161 Fs aged 13-18 when they sought pregnancy
tests or birth control information at one of several clinics. The hypothesis
that adolescents who get pregnant are more likely than other sexually active
young women to be traditional in sex-role orientation receives some support
from the findings. Pregnant adolescents, in comparison with those seeking birth
control, perceive themselves to be competent in more highly sex-typed
activities, have lower aspirations & school grades, & have less sense
of personal control over events in their lives. Pregnant teens do not seem to
differ much in sex-role values from those seeking birth control, & seem
less likely to aspire to traditionally F occupations. SES is the strongest
discriminator between pregnant & birth control seeking teens, with the
former having lower SES. Pregnant adolescents, in comparison with those
experiencing negative pregnancy tests, are younger & more likely to rely on
God to determine the course of their personal lives. [Source: SA]
Tzuriel, David. 1984. “Sex Role Typing and Ego Identity in Israeli, Oriental, and Western Adolescents.” Journal of Personality and Social Psychology vol. 46, pp. 440-457.
Abstract: 1,129 Oriental and
Western Israeli students from religious and secular high schools participated
in a study to investigate (a) the relation between sex-role typing and ego
identity, (b) the distribution of sex-role typing within different cultural
groups, and (c) the relative contribution of masculinity (M), femininity (F),
religiousness, sex, and ethnic origin to prediction of ego identity variables.
Ss completed the Bar-Ilan Sex Role Inventory and the Adolescent Ego Identity
Scale, which measures 3 factors: commitment and purposefulness, solidity and
continuity, and social recognition. More androgynous, less sex-typed, and less
undifferentiated Ss were found among Orientals than among Westerners. Sex-role
type was significantly related to each of the ego identity variables,
indicating that androgynous Ss were highest followed by masculine, feminine,
and undifferentiated Ss. Boys were higher than girls on Solidity and
Continuity, but lower on Social Recognition. Westerners were higher than
Orientals on Commitment and Purposefulness and on Total Ego Identity. Religious
Ss were higher than secular Ss on Commitment and Purposefulness. Regression
analyses revealed high prediction of ego identity variables with greater
prediction power for M than for F in both ethnic groups. Ego identity was
predicted by M among boys, whereas both M and F predicted ego identity with
greater prediction power for M than for F.
[Source: PI]
Pompa, Janiece Lynn. 1983. “Aspects of Sex Role and Self-Esteem in Mormon Adolescents Following a Wilderness Experience.” Ph.d. Thesis, Michigan State University.
Abstract: This study described
the psychological sex role characteristics of 67 Mormon adolescents prior to a
five-day wilderness experience, as compared to a control group of 71 Utah high
school students. In addition, the relationship of sex role and self-esteem in
these two groups, as well as changes in the Mormon sample following their
outdoor experience, were investigated. T-tests revealed that at pre-test,
experimental and control females scored significantly higher than experimental
and control males on sub-scales of the Tennessee Self-Concept Scale (TSCS)
measuring moral-ethical worth and social self-esteem. Experimental group
females also scored significantly higher than experimental group males on TSCS
measures of behavioral satisfaction and global self-esteem. With regard to
psychological sex role, subjects' scores on the Bem Sex Role Inventory (BSRI)
revealed that at pre-test, most Mormon adolescent males were classified as
Masculine, while most Mormon adolescent females were classified as Feminine and
Androgynous. In addition, the number of subjects classified as cross-sex-typed
was very small. A Chi-square test of independent samples revealed that the
distribution of experimental group subjects in sex role categories was
significantly different than the distribution in Bem's standardization sample.
Although McNemar tests showed that neither male nor female experimental group
members shifted from sex-typed to androgynous from pre- to post-test to a
significant degree, multiple regression analyses revealed that mid-and high-scoring
experimental females' BSRI Masculinity scores increased significantly from pre-
to post-test, when compared to mid- and high-scoring control females. There was
no significant difference in these males' BSRI Masculinity or Femininity
scores, or females' Femininity scores, from pre- to post-test. Finally, it was
found that the experimental group as a whole showed significantly increased
TSCS global self-esteem scores from pre to post-test. A main effect for sex
role was also found, and Scheffe post-hoc analyses revealed that Masculine and
Androgynous subjects' scores considered together were significantly higher than
Feminine and Undifferentiated subjects' scores at both pre- and post-test. [Source: DA]
Archer, Sally L. 1982. “The Lower Age Boundaries of Identity Development.” Child Development vol. 53, pp. 1551-1556.
Abstract: 80 female and 80
male early and midadolescent 6th, 8th, 10th, and 12th graders were interviewed
to document the lower age boundaries of ego identity development in the content
areas of vocational choice, religious beliefs, political philosophies, and
sex-role preferences. Frequency of the identity achievement status increased
significantly with increase in grade level. The diffusion and foreclosure
statuses were most evident at all grade levels. Frequency of identity status
differed by content area, with the majority of instances of identity
achievement in the vocational choice and religious beliefs content areas,
moratorium in vocational choice, foreclosure in sex-role preferences, and
identity diffusion in political philosophies. Similar patterns of development
were found for both sexes. [Source: PI]
Suziedelis, Antanas and Raymond H. Potvin. 1981. “Sex Differences in Factors Affecting Religiousness among Catholic Adolescents.” Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion vol. 20, pp. 38-51.
Abstract: Three factorially
derived aspects of religiousness--intrinsic, orthodoxy, practice--are examined
with indices of sex-role identity and interpersonal style. The data were analyzed separately for boys
(N=297) and girls (N=344) from several Catholic parochial schools. The result indicate that religiousness is
related to sex-role definition in boys,
but not in girls; conversely, interpersonal style is more predictive of
religiousness in girls. [Source: RI]
Fischer, Kay Pamela Justman. 1979. “Precocious Pregnancies: Patterns of Sexuality among White Adolescent Women in the Rural South.” Ph.d. Thesis, University of Florida.
Abstract: Adolescent
pregnancy has been noted as a social phenomenon capable of affecting population
trends relatively recently in America. However, patterns of early birth have
long been recognized as contributors to dense populations in developing
countries. Sexuality among adolescents has been explained primarily as a
variant of deviant behavior and pregnancy as the result of either contraceptive
incompetence or psychological forces. Study populations have commonly been
derived from urban settings and often are black and/or lower socio-economic
class. Clinic populations are frequently utilized. Surveying techniques have
been the most prevalent investigative methodology. Adolescent sexuality
represents a complex behavioral issue that can significantly affect health
status and has been investigated from multiple viewpoints. The theoretical
context for this study was compiled from research in human sexuality,
adolescence, sex roles, demography and social anthropology. Strawberry
Junction, a community in north central Florida, was selected as the study site
on the basis of a field trial and demographic investigation as conforming to
the typical southern rural pattern: land- based economy, religious
fundamentalism, racial segregation, kin-based social organization, and
complementary sex roles. The town accounts for approximately one-third of the
15,000 county residents and serves as the county seat. It contains the only
high school in addition to a middle and vocational school for adolescents which
together enroll about 2,500 students. The study group included one hundred
white woman aged 13 to 19 and drawn primarily from the schools and seventy-
five adults judged as having insight into adolescent concerns, e.g. parents,
young marrieds, teachers, ministers, social agency personnel, and so forth. A
small number of males (fifteen) were included as corroborative informants. A
natural historical approach was used for this study in order to avoid bias
inherent in a clinical population of medically-assisted contraceptors.
Information was elicited via structured and informal interviews and participant
observation during the period of community residency from September 1974
through June 1976. The study provides contextual information about adolescent
sexuality and contraceptive behavior of white rural adolescent women. The
following findings of the study are significant in understanding the behavior
of these teenagers. Sexual relations are important to adolescent life and begin
early. Expression differs between boys and girls. Girls' sexual aggressiveness
is not intrinsically sexual but is related to achievement of social goals.
Adolescents are ineffective contraceptors due to the inadequacy of their
knowledge base and difficulties in accessing medical services. Folk techniques
are often relied upon. Intergenerational interaction is minimal with
generational insularity maintained by parents as well as teenagers. Adults do
not educate their young in sexual matters and covertly allow adolescent sexual
activity by according teenagers a high degree of social autonomy. The failure
of adults to provide sexual instruction to youth is due in part to religious
sanctions and in part to their own inadequate knowledge base. Due to sex role
differentiation in the rural south adolescence is a period of apprenticeship
for males but a period of deviance for girls which will terminate upon
marriage. This female role-deviation is described as
"male-mimicking." Marriage and childbearing are ultimate female
goals; alternate role models for women are rare in the community. Precocious pregnancy
is not tragic but rather begins the preordained course early. Community
religious tenets and social structure prescribe the options for pregnant girls.
In order of preference, they are marriage, adoption, raising by the unwed
mothers, or abortion. Abortion appears to be rare. Choice of sexual partners
appears to be different than described for urban settings. The pattern is often
young girls partnered by older men, occasionally in incestuous
relationships. [Source: DA]
Green, Richard. 1976. “One-Hundred Ten Feminine and Masculine Boys: Behavioral Contrasts and Demographic Similarities.” Archives of Sexual Behavior vol. 5, pp. 425-446.
Abstract: Reports interview
data from an ongoing study in which 60 boys, referred for extensive
cross-gender behavior, and their families were compared with a matched group of
50 boys showing typical gender/role behavior and their families. There were no
significant differences between families on a variety of demographic variables,
including ages or educational levels of mothers or fathers, number of children
per family, ordering of younger and older siblings, ethnic background,
religion, political party affiliation, or current marital status of the
families. Compared to masculine boys, feminine boys participated less in sports
and rough-and-tumble play; were more often voluntary loners or rejected by
peers; related better to girls (vs boys) of the same age; were more frequent
cross-dressers; reported that female-type dolls were their favorite toy (17%);
had greater interest in play-acting and taking roles in fantasy games;
commented more frequently on their mothers' clothing; more often verbalized the
wish to grow up to be like their mothers or to have been born a girl (83%);
more often preferred their mothers (masculine boys were divided in affection
between parents or preferred their fathers); were more likely to have been
hospitalized at least once; and were more often separated from their biological
fathers before age 5. [Source: PI]
Gecas, Victor, Darwin L. Thomas, and Andrew J. Weigert. 1973. “Social Identities in Anglo and Latin Adolescents.” Social Forces vol. 51, pp. 477-484.
Abstract: Examined social
identities, conceptualized as self-designations and measured by the Twenty
Statement Test, for samples of high school adolescents in 3 societies: the
United States, Puerto Rico, and Mexico. 4 identities (IDs) were explored in
terms of salience, frequency, and valence: gender, religion, family, and peer.
For both males and females in Latin and Anglo cultures gender emerged as the
most prominent ID. Religious IDs were more frequent for Catholic adolescents.
The strongest cultural difference was found with respect to negative religious
IDs: these were significantly more frequent for Anglo adolescents. Positive
gender and family IDs were more frequent for Latin adolescents, while peer IDs
were slightly more common self-designations for Anglos. These tendencies were
generally in the expected direction. Social and cultural differences between
the Anglo and Latin societies were considered as explanations for variations in
adolescent ID structures. (20 ref.)
[Source: PI]