If you can dream it, you can do it!—The role of sexual orientation in preferences toward boys' and girls' career orientation and gendered behaviour

Abstract

We argue that parental attitudes of (prospective) children's gendered behavior are influenced by sexual orientation and the given social climate. In Study 1 (N = 448), moderated mediations showed that sexual orientation predicted whether or not high‐status occupations are preferred for the (prospective) children through modern sexism. For girls, however, the perceived stability of the gender hierarchy moderated the effect of modern sexism. In an experiment (Study 2, N = 704), hierarchical regression analyses showed that in the case of gay people, modern sexism predicted boys’ preferred gendered behavior well. While, in the case of bisexual people, modern sexism (along with fear of backlash) predicted preferences for both boys’ and girls’ gendered behavior depending on the stability of the gender hierarchy. Unlike the other groups, in the case of straight people, modern sexism only predicted preferences regarding girls’ gendered behavior. Implications of the studies are discussed.

The role of parents in predicting gender‐stereotypic attitudes towards HEED occupations and gender‐stereotypic interest in these careers

“…It should be noted that studies on the association between parental stereotypic attitudes and children's gender-stereotypic attitudes and interests often relied on measurements that might be outdated (i.e., developed around 30 years ago; Halpern & Perry-Jenkins, 2016). According to gender schema theory, gender messages about appropriate roles for men and women are culture-specific and can change over time (Bem, 1981(Bem, , 1983Kantas et al, 2022). Therefore, taking contemporary genderstereotypic attitudes of parents into account is necessary when examining the transmission of gender-stereotypic attitudes from parents to adolescents.…”

“…In addition, (perceived) pressure from others to conform to gender norms predicts adolescent and young adults’ gender‐stereotypical attitudes (Halimi et al., 2021) and interest in occupations (Dinella et al., 2014; Van Grootel et al., 2018). Parents who find it important that their children conform to the expectations of society might add to this pressure to conform to gender norms, whereas parents who focus more on self‐expression might lower this pressure (Kantas et al., 2022; Stacey & Padavic, 2021). Further, the first group of parents might be more inclined to advise their children to alter their preferences and behaviour when facing negative reactions from others than the latter group (Kantas et al., 2022).…”

“…Parents who find it important that their children conform to the expectations of society might add to this pressure to conform to gender norms, whereas parents who focus more on self‐expression might lower this pressure (Kantas et al., 2022; Stacey & Padavic, 2021). Further, the first group of parents might be more inclined to advise their children to alter their preferences and behaviour when facing negative reactions from others than the latter group (Kantas et al., 2022). In doing so, a group of parents who emphasize self‐expression could empower children to develop and maintain interests that are not accepted by others (Kane, 2006).…”

Advancing research into the social psychology of sexual orientations and gender identities: Current research and future directions

“…The results seem to support more strongly the reactive distinctiveness thesis, while the feminization-threat thesis received partial support when considering feminine (vs. masculine) straight, but not gay victims. Kántás, Faragó, and Kovacs (2022), through a correlational and an experimental study (Ntot = 1152), aimed at exploring the mediating effect of modern sexism between sexual orientation and (prospective) children's occupational interests, traits, and activities, considering the moderating effect of the perceived stability of the gender hierarchy. The authors showed that gay people were more likely to endorse gender-nonconforming occupations and activities for boys and girls through modern sexism, regardless of the perceived stability of the gender hierarchy.…”