Gendersocialisatie en de kwaliteit van romantische relaties

Abstract

Romantic relationships play an important role in young adulthood. They become more serious and intimate. A low quality of the relationship is associated with internalizing and externalizing problems. Therefore it is important to examine the determinants of a high relationship quality. The present study examines whether there is an association between socialization by parents regarding gender roles in a romantic relationship and the quality of romantic relationships of young adults and whether this association was different for young adults with different genderformated groups of friends. The quality of romantic relationships consists of two variables; “the ability to function properly in a romantic relationship” and “the ability to be yourself in a romantic relationship”. The sample includes 379 Dutch adolescents from several ethnic backgrounds (42.6% men, 57.4% female) with an age range from 18 to 25 years, M = 21.58, SD = 2.065. Data were gathered by using several questionnaires. Results show that there is a negative association between the socialization by parents regarding traditional gender roles in romantic relationships and the quality of romantic relationships in young adulthood, including the ability to function properly in a romantic relationship and the ability to be yourself in a romantic relationship. This association did not differ between different genderformated groups of friends. This shows that socialization by parents regarding gender roles plays an important role in the quality of romantic relationships in young adulthood, which indicates that interventions based on traditional gender socialization may improve relationship quality.