Impact of Background Variables on Attitudes about Family Life

A Comparative Analysis of Parents and Offspring in Israel

Bibliographic Data

ID7842151
AuthorsLiat Kulik (0000-0003-1094-1886, Bar-Ilan University, corresponding author)
Year2005
Volume36
Issue1
Pages139-145
Publication date2005-03-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueJournal of Comparative Family Studies (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0047-2328 • E-ISSN: 1929-9850
PublisherUniversity of Toronto Press Inc. (UTPress) (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.3138/jcfs.36.1.139
OpenAlexW2471486258
LanguageEN
Citations received8

INTRODUCTIONThe dramatic changes that life has undergone, and which Dumon (1995) refers to as family mutation, are related to technological, economic, techno-scientific and political changes in post-industrial society since World War II, especially over the last few decades (Kain, 1990). Family values, which until recently were institutionalized (accepted and undisputed), are now open to debate. This is reflected, among other things, in decisions to cohabit or live as a childless couple and in attitudes towards homosexual relationships and divorce. In light of these changes, it is interesting to examine the relation between attitudes of the younger generation of adolescents and their parents. It is commonly assumed that parents play a major role in the socialization process, serving as agents who pass on values and norms regarding life to the next generation.Socialization can occur through social learning (e.g., reinforcement and modeling), or can be influenced by parents' background characteristics. The present research examined attitudes toward three aspects of life - gender roles, homosexuality and divorce - among Israeli adolescents at an average age of 15. The study focused on differences between parents' and adolescents' attitudes and the extent to which parental background variables affect these attitudes. Three types of background variables were analyzed: personal background variables (age, religiosity, ethnic origin), education/job variables (education level, work load, income) and variables (length of marriage, number of children).Personal background variablesThe popular assumption is that adults and people of low socioeconomic status have more traditional attitudes towards issues than adolescents and people of higher socioeconomic status. The reasoning behind this assumption is that the older the individual, the more likely he or she is to have been socialized at a time of more traditional perceptions. This is evidenced, for example, in attitudes towards homosexuality, where older people tend to have more traditional attitudes than younger ones (Britton, 1990; Wellings, Field, Johnson & Wadsworth 1999).In regard to the effect of parents' ethnic origin on attitudes toward life, Israel serves as a particularly interesting setting, as it is an immigrant society characterized by different normative streams, especially with respect to attitudes regarding life. The population of Israel can be divided into two main categories, based on country of origin: Asian-African and European-American. It is commonly believed that people of Asian-African origin have more traditional attitudes than their European-American counterparts. In addition, the study examined the impact of religiosity on attitudes regarding life. Research has found greater religiosityamong adults to be related to traditional attitudes about gender roles (Feltey & Paloma, 1991; Jensen & Jensen, 1993), sexuality (for a review, see Francover, 1997), homosexuality (Herek, 1994), and divorce (Dattner, 1988; Peres and Katz, 1991).Education/job variablesVarious studies have suggested that the higher the level of education, the more liberal the gender-role ideology (e.g., Togeby, 1995). Furthermore, relationships have been found between the mother's level of education and the gender-role atttudes of her children (Corder and Stephan, 1984; Kulik, 2002). In addition, studies indicate that employed women have more liberal attitudes towards gender roles than women who do not work outside the home (Hoff-Ginsberg & Tardiff, 1995; Moore, 1995). It on be assumed that women who work fulltime have already crossed genderrole boundaries. Regarding fathers, studies have found that the more educated they are, the greater their tendency to help around the house, which reflects more liberal attitudes towards gender roles (Brayfield, 1992; Hardesty & Bokemeier, 1989)

Affect (linguistics) · Developmental psychology · Ethnic group · Family life · Family values · Political science · Population · Religiosity · Social class · Socialization · Socioeconomic status · Sociology · Demography · Gender Roles and Identity Studies · Gender Studies · Gender, Labor, and Family Dynamics · LGBTQ Health, Identity, and Policy · Psychology · Social Psychology

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