Intergenerationele overdracht tussen genderstereotypen van ouders en de toekomstverwachting van het kind: wat krijgen kinderen mee uit de taakverdeling binnen het gezin?

Abstract

Background. Dutch mothers often spend twice as much time on household tasks and childcare than fathers. When families do decide to divide the household tasks and childcare equally, there is often still a traditional division of tasks. It seems likely that both parents’ implicit and explicit gender stereotypes are related to their children’s future expectations and that these associations may differ when parents employ a traditional versus egalitarian divisions of household tasks. Aim. This study examined the association between parents' implicit and explicit gender role stereotypes on their children's future expectations, and whether this association was moderated by the division of household and childcare tasks within the family. Method. Various questionnaires and tasks were administered to 91 families with children aged 8 – 12 years (59% girls and 41% boys; Mage = 9.72, SD = 1.24) to investigate parents’ explicit gender role stereotypes, division of household tasks and children’ future expectations. Parents’ implicit gender stereotypes were measured with the Implicit Association Test. Results. The results of the hierarchical multiple regression analysis revealed that there was no significant association between the parents’ implicit and explicit gender stereotypes and their children’ future expectations. In addition, this association was not moderated by the division of household tasks within the family. Implications. In conclusion, it is an important implication for the daily practice to look further than the influences of parents, and consider the influences of peers and (social) media on the formation of ideas about the child’s future expectations.