A study of sex role stereotyping among students of Lunenburg County high schools

Abstract

In this study 862 students from six high schools in Lunenburg County, Nova Scotia were surveyed. The questionnaires were administered by guidance counsellors to a random sampling of grades 10, 11 and 12 students in all six high schools. The survey consisted of 72 questions which measured four attitude scales; Burt's Sex Role Stereotype Scale (SRS), Rubin and Peplau's Just World Scale (JWS), Burt's Adversarial Sexual Beliefs (ASB), and Bardis' Acceptance of Violence Scale (VS). Six of the questions solicited demographic information.

The results of the study showed that males had more conservative scores on the attitude scales than females, i.e. males were more sexist, had a greater belief that the opposite sex was an adversary, and were more accepting of violence. In addition the study confirmed two hypotheses--that students who are more sexist are more inclined to be accepting of violence and that students who are more sexist have a greater tendency to view the opposite sex as an adversary.

The results of the study also supported previous research by Martha Burt (Burt, 1980) which suggested that attitudes such as sex role stereotyping, adversarial sexual beliefs and acceptance of violence were attitudinal antecedents to female abuse.