Stability of College Students' Attitudes toward Women during One School Year

Abstract

A questionnaire concerning attitudes toward the role of women in society was administered once in the fall semester and again in the spring semester to 113 university students. Separate analyses by class (freshman through senior) and sex showed that the fall and spring scores did not differ significantly and were highly correlated. The stability of scores during the school year suggests that a previously reported shift to a more liberal viewpoint with increasing years of college experience may be due more to selective dropout of traditionally oriented students than to changes in attitudes within individuals.