Adolescents' Reasoning About Parental Gender Roles

In an examination of how adolescents reason about several factors related to division of childcare labor, 38 adolescents, including 20 girls (M age = 16.36 years, SD = .50) and 18 boys (M age = 16.59 years, SD = .62) were interviewed about conflicts between a mother and a father over which parent should stay home with the child, the authority of the father, and similar issues in a traditional culture. The relative income of each parent was varied. Participants considered the needs of the child most when reasoning about infants, and the right to work most frequently when reasoning about preschoolers (p < .001, ?2 = .35). The majority (71%) did not endorse the husband's authority over the wife. However, boys were more likely than girls to emphasize the mother's responsibility to the child over her right to work (p < .01, ?2 = .23). Implications for gender equity and adolescents future goals were discussed.