Abstract
Research on the development of gender roles has focused narrowly on the acquisition of knowledge about the roles. The present study investigated children's attitudes as evaluative aspects of their stereotypes of gender roles. The objectives of the research were (a) to examine the development of attitudes toward gender roles from both cognitive and emotional points of view, and (b) to examine the effect of environmental factors on these attitudes in elementary school children in the second, fourth, and sixth grades (total N=542). The results indicated that (1) the flexibility of children's attitudes increased with age, and (2) the frequency of watching television, and fathers' participation in homework were correlated with boys' cognitive attitudes, and the parental rearing measures were correlated with boys' emotional attitudes. For the girls who participated in this study, parents' expectations about jobs that have traditionally been men's work were correlated with the girls' cognitive and emotional attitudes.
