This study investigated the effects of attributional complexity and gender role attitudes on social distance in various family types and children living in families of those types. A betweenparticipants factorial design was used to evaluate family types (living with one's biological parents, living with a single parent, living in a step family, living with foster parents, and living in an institution), attributional complexity (high vs. low), and gender role attitudes (traditional vs. egalitarian). The results were as follows: (1) participants with an egalitarian attitude towards gender roles and high attributional complexity were more likely to be accepting of children living in an institution, (2) a child’s aggressiveness was not biased towards a particular family type, and (3) attributional complexity and gender role attitudes influenced the psychological acceptance of atypical family types and children living in those types of families. Psycho-educational programs that promote egalitarian attitudes towards gender roles and high attributional complexity are needed in order to achieve social inclusion in which people accept any family type and children from various types of families.

Despite the increasing participation of women in the workforce and the establishment of laws prohibiting gender discrimination, it is not clear why gender inequality still persists in Japanese society. To address this question, this paper explains the mechanisms of the persistence of gender inequality from the perspective of work and family. First, the rapid changes in the Japanese society, laws, and economic structure over the past four decades are presented. Next, I review literature on the psychology and sociology of gender role attitudes and the longitudinal changes in these attitudes. In addition, seven gender disparities in the workplace (e.g., gender wage gap and proportion of women in managerial positions) are discussed in relation to family roles.

The overall results reveal that the following five factors contribute to the persistence of gender inequalities: 1. division of labor by gender; 2. long working hours, employment systems, and employment practices; 3. gender role stereotypes and expectations; 4. inconsistent management practices between positive attitudes towards promoting women and traditional gender role attitudes; and 5. traditional gender role attitudes and gender identity of a woman as a wife.