GENDER ROLE ATTITUDES AND MARRIAGE AMONG YOUNG WOMEN

Although sociological research on family change has emphasized the importance of gender role attitudes for decades, relatively few empirical studies have demonstrated behavioral consequences of these attitudes. We formulate hypotheses predicting both an impact of gender role attitudes on early marriage behavior and a reciprocal impact of early marriage behavior on changes in gender role attitudes. We also investigate the role of cohabitation in these relationships. While previous research has found that women who believe that wives should be homemakers enter marriage more quickly, we find that under some conditions these attitudes delay marriage. We use multiwave panel data to show that the behavioral impact of gender role attitudes on early marriage depends on plans for attending school. Among young women who expect to complete a four-year college degree or more, believing that wives should be homemakers leads to lower rates of marriage; however, among young women with low educational expectations, believing that wives should be homemakers leads to higher rates of marriage. In addition, we show that experiencing a marriage in early adulthood leads to more agreement that wives should be homemakers.