A Study of Fundamentalist Christian College Students' Sex Roles and Their Relationship to Parental Sex Roles and Academics
Date of Award
1982
Document Type
Dissertation
Degree Name
Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.)
Institution Granting Degree
Georgia State University
Cedarville University School or Department
Psychology
Keywords
Sex roles, gender, Christians, fundamentalists, academics
Abstract
This dissertation explores the sex roles of students at a Fundamentalist Christian liberal arts college in Ohio. Students' sex roles are compared to parents' sex roles and sex role distributions of students at secular colleges. The relationship of sex roles to two study skills and grade point average are analyzed. The relationships and differential effects of biological sex and sex role are also investigated. Sex roles were measured by the Bem Sex Role Inventory and study skills by the Survey of Study Habits and Attitudes.
Cedarville College students are not significantly more feminine than the groups to which they are compared. Their parents are the most feminine of all groups examined. Students' sex roles most frequently correspond to their same sexed parents' sex role and are independent of the opposite sexed parent's sex role. Daughters but not sons of sex-typed parental dyads are frequently sex-typed. Androgynous sons are more likely than daughters to have androgynous parents.
While a significant main effect was found for biological sex on both GPA and SO, no main effect was found for sex role. Sex role does not contribute notably more variance to GPA or SO than does sex. The correlation between SO and GPA is higher for feminine than masculine students.
The fundamentalist Christian orientation of Cedarville College does not result in students who are more feminine than the norm groups. The comparatively high degree of femininity among Cedarville College students' parents may, however, suggest a feminizing effect of Christianity.
The significance of sex roles in academics has been called into question by the results of this dissertation. While biological sex was predictive of GPA and SO, sex roles were not.
No support was found for the androgyny-effectiveness hypothesis nor for the theory that masculinity is the efficacious element of androgyny.
Recommended Citation
Dolph, Charles D., "A Study of Fundamentalist Christian College Students' Sex Roles and Their Relationship to Parental Sex Roles and Academics" (1982). Faculty Dissertations. 81.
https://digitalcommons.cedarville.edu/faculty_dissertations/81
