Evaluation of Gender Role Perceptions in Adolescents According to Sociodemographic Factors

Objective: The main focus of the study is to evaluate the relationship between the development of gender role perception during the adolescence and the social demographic backgrounds such as sex; age; educational level, financial situation and working status of the parents. Methods: One hundred individuals aged between 12 and 17 were chosen as a study group. To analyze the sociodemographic backgrounds of the participants, a semistructured questionnaire designed by the researcher was applied to all subjects. To describe the sexual role and gender role perceptions of each individual, two existing measures are used: “BEM sex role inventory” (BSRI) and “gender roles attitude scale” (GRAS). Results: The subcategories of “gender roles attitude scale” (GRAS) (egalitarian gender roles, female gender roles, marriage gender roles, traditional gender roles and male gender roles) were significantly different according to different age and gender groups. Similar results were obtained for the subgroups of “BEM sex role inventory” (femininity, masculinity, and neutral) as well. Furthermore, the novel finding of this study was the significant relationship between the educational and financial situation of the parents and the gender role perception in their children. While children of the families with low education and low income were more prone to have traditional view; the children with highly educated parents, working mother and high income tended to have more egalitarian view. Conclusion: Results of the present study clearly suggest that certain sociodemographic backgrounds of adolescents are significantly associated with certain aspects of their gender role perceptions.