Changes in predictors of gender role ideologies among women: A multivariate analysis

Abstract

Using data from the National Opinion Research Center's General Social Surveys for 1974-1994, we analyze changes in gender role ideology among women in the U.S. We focus on women tied to previous research indicating increasing labor force participation among various groups of women such as those with preschool children and those of Hispanic origin, and the purported egalitarian impact of labor force participation on gender role attitudes. The General Social Surveys include 9833 women who responded to the gender role questions, with 1132 black (11.5%) and 351 Hispanic (3.6%) women. Our results refine earlier bivariate findings about the impact of specific types of life experiences and family power dynamics on women's views about appropriate roles for men and women. Most importantly, we find that there may be an ubiquitous shift toward more egalitarian gender role attitudes among women in the U.S. regardless of their individual characteristics and circumstances.