Citation

Hershey MR, Sullivan JL. Sex Roles 1977; 3(1): 37-57.

Copyright

(Copyright © 1977, Holtzbrinck Springer Nature Publishing Group)

DOI

10.1007/BF00289689

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

This study examines whether sex-role identities and attitudes toward sex roles are part of a more general liberal--conservative dimension of political ideology. Survey data are analyzed from two independent random samples of Indiana University students in 1974-1975. Sex-role attitudes are measured by two scales, dealing with evaluations of the traditional sex-based division of labor and levels of sex-stereotyping of various tasks. The Bem Sex Role Inventory is used to measure respondents' sex-role identities. Those who score more liberal or flexible on each measure of sex-role attitudes are also very likely to hold liberal political attitudes. These correlations are strong and consistent enough to indicate that sex-role attitudes fit into a more general liberal--conservative ideology, at least among college students. Correlations between sex-role identities and political attitudes are much weaker. Among men, liberal political attitudes are associated with a more flexible (androgynous) sex-role identity; among women, in contrast, liberal political attitudes are related more consistently to a more traditionally masculine sex-role identity.