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The Child Gender Socialization Scale: A Measure to Compare Traditional and Feminist Parents

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Abstract

This paper presents four studies conducted to develop a measure of parents’ attitudes about gendered behaviors in their children. Participants were US college students and community residents. It was expected that scores on the measure would distinguish between parents of sons and daughters, and between parents with traditional and feminist beliefs. To begin, we created a self-report questionnaire consisting of ratings of 84 gender-related behaviors, characteristics, and educational and occupational aspirations for children. Based on factor analysis and other analyses of scale scores to refine the measure, our final measure has 28 items on five scales. In keeping with expectations, the five scales consistently differentiated between boys and girls and/or traditional and feminist parents.

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Acknowledgments

The authors thank Christy Lewis and Katherine Kuhne for their assistance in collecting data. An earlier version of this paper was presented at the biennial meeting of the Society for Research in Child Development in April 2003. The research was supported by a Grant-in-aid from the Society for the Psychological Study of Social Issues (SPSSI) to both authors.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Indiana University-Purdue University Fort Wayne, Fort Wayne, IN, USA

    Judith E. Owen Blakemore & Craig A. Hill

  2. Department of Psychology, Indiana University-Purdue University Fort Wayne, Fort Wayne, IN, 46805, USA

    Judith E. Owen Blakemore

Authors
  1. Judith E. Owen Blakemore
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  2. Craig A. Hill
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Judith E. Owen Blakemore.

Appendices

Appendix A

Items Used in Studies 1 and 2

Appendix B

Measure Used in Studies 3 and 4. Parents Received only a Son or Daughter Questionnaire with the Appropriate Nouns and Pronouns

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Blakemore, J.E.O., Hill, C.A. The Child Gender Socialization Scale: A Measure to Compare Traditional and Feminist Parents. Sex Roles 58, 192–207 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11199-007-9333-y

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