The impact of sex and situational cues on the endorsement of traditional gender-role aptitudes and behaviors in dating couples

This investigation examines the effects of sex of participant, sex-role orientation and conversation topic on women's and men's endorsement of traditional gender-role attitudes and behaviors within intimate relationships. Sixty dating couples were randomly assigned to one of three conditions: a discussion about the intimacy in their relationship, a discussion about everyday things, or a no-treatment control condition. The intimate-conversation condition elicited greater subscription to traditional gender-role attitudes and behaviors than the other two conditions. This was true for both men and women. Participants' own feminine or masculine sex-role orientation was not related to their endorsement of gender-role attitudes and behaviors. These findings underscore the importance of examining specific situational influences, such as the nature of the conversation topic, in understanding the dynamic nature of peoples' gender-role attitudes and behaviors.