Isän merkitys pojan sosiaaliselle sukupuolelle

Abstract

The aim of the study was to investigate what similarities exist in the sex-role orientation of fathers and their sons. Father - son correlations were studied in relation to the frequency and quality of father - son interaction, especially with regard to the warmth and paternal control involved. The degree of fathers' involvement in the gender-role socialization process was investigated. The research project was carried out in 1989 in Jyväskylä and the subjects comprised 113 twelve-year-old boys and their fathers. The boys were tested in their classrooms at school and afterwards questionnaires were mailed to their fathers. A sex-role inventory (SRI) was designed for the measuring of sex-role orientation. The SRI consisted of the masculinity (MS) and the femininity (FS) scales. Both MS and FS are sum rating scales, comprising-two uncorrelated, unidimensional variables, which show the frequency of a subject's masculine and feminine behavior. SRI can be understood as a revised form of the Bern Sex Role Inventory (BSRI) adjusted to Finnish sex role stereotypes. As with the BSRI each subject can be assigned to one of four gender categories: masculine, feminine, androgynous or undifferentiated. The reliability of the MS scale in the fathers' sample was α = .82 and in the sons' sample α = .79, with FS reliabilities α = .84 and α = .85, respectively. According to the results, the son's masculinity correlated positively with the father's masculinity(ɸ = .23) and negatively with the father's femininity(ɸ = .25). Both the warmth of the father-son relationship and paternal control strengthened these associations. The femininity of the son did not correlate either with the femininity or the masculinity of the father. As to the four gender types, only 28 % of the fathers and sons fitted into the same gender category. Hence, there was.no explicit tendency for fathers and sons to occupy the same gender category as to 25 % can be attributed to chance. However, as a curiosity, it might be noted that 50 % of the sons of masculine fathers were found to be androgynous. The percentage of androgynous sons among the rest of the fathers was only 18 %.