[Influences of gender conception on gender-role attitudes and preference]

This study investigated the influences of age and length of education on gender conception, and the influences in turn of the conception on gender-role attitudes and preference, with multiple regression analysis. Of a random sample of 1,500 Tokyo residents, aged between 20 and 60, 342 women and 313 men completed a questionnaire concerning their views of gender. The questions were structured to measure their agreement to gender-stereotyped opinions and behaviors. Results were as follows: (1) The older both men and women were, the more rigid their gender conception was. (2) The longer the respondent's education was, the more flexible their gender conception was. (3) These tendencies were stronger for women than men. (4) Pass analysis indicated that age, education, and parents' gender-typed expectation affected gender conception, which in turn influenced gender-role attitudes, and also that gender-roles were chosen on the basis of gender-role attitudes. It was concluded that age and length of education affected gender-role attitudes and preference, through gender conception in the context of gender schematic processing.