Predicting Gender-Role Attitudes Among Mothers and Their Adolescent Daughters in Israel

Abstract

This study compared predictors of gender-role attitudes among 60 mothers and their 60 adolescent daughters in Israel. Two sets of predictors were studied—background variables (education, religiosity, age, ethnicity, family income, and mother’s length of marriage) and personality traits (self-esteem and tolerance for ambiguity). Significant correlations were found between the mothers’ and daughters’ gender-role attitudes. Among the mothers, the main background predictors were religiosity, ethnicity, and education, and the main personality predictor was self-esteem. Among the daughters, the main predictors were religiosity, mothers’ length of marriage, and self-esteem. The variables were better predictors for the mothers than for the daughters.