Maternal influences on daughters' gender role attitudes

This study concerns the gender role attitudes of girls. These attitudes included their ideas on motherhood as well as their ideas on female roles in general. We examined whether the relations between mothers' employment status and their level of education, and daughters' gender role attitudes were mediated by mothers' own gender role attitudes and child-rearing style. In this study, 165 adolescent girls and their mothers participated. Overall, the data demonstrate the importance of mothers in the development of daughters' gender role attitudes. A mother's child-rearing style as well as her own gender role attitudes do influence the gender role attitudes a daughter develops. Level of education and mothers' employment have indirect effects.