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Gender-Typed Behaviors and School Adjustment

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Abstract

This study investigates whether gender-typed behaviors are associated with two aspects of school adjustment—engagement and attachment. The analysis uses a nationally representative sample of middle and high school students in US schools in 1995 (n = 6,349 girls and 5,954 boys). Ordinary least square models show that both boys and girls with extremely gender-typed behaviors report lower levels of school engagement and attachment than gender-typical peers, consistent with previous research that documented adjustment problems linked to hypergender. Among boys but not among girls, gender-atypical students report lower levels of engagement and attachment than gender-typical peers, indicating stigma attached to boys’ feminine behaviors at school. Interpersonal problems with peers and teachers explain large portions of these group differences.

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Acknowledgement

The authors thank Irene Padavic, Robert Hood, and anonymous Sex Roles reviewers for their thoughtful comments on drafts as well as Richard Udry, Kim Chantala, and Harrington Cleveland and for their permission to use their gender type measure. This research uses data from Add Health, a program project directed by Kathleen Mullan Harris and designed by J. Richard Udry, Peter S. Bearman, and Kathleen Mullan Harris at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and funded by grant P01-HD31921 from the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, with cooperative funding from 23 other federal agencies and foundations. Special acknowledgment is due Ronald R. Rindfuss and Barbara Entwisle for assistance in the original design. Information on how to obtain the Add Health data files is available on the Add Health website (http://www.cpc.unc.edu/addhealth). No direct support was received from grant P01-HD31921 for this analysis.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Sociology, Florida State University, Tallahassee, FL, USA

    Koji Ueno & Summer McWilliams

  2. Department of Sociology, Florida State University, 526 Bellamy Building, Tallahassee, FL, 32306-2270, USA

    Koji Ueno

Authors
  1. Koji Ueno
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  2. Summer McWilliams
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Koji Ueno.

Appendix A

Appendix A

Items for Gender Type Measure

1.

In the past, 12 months, how often have you cried frequently? (F)

2.

In the past, 12 months, how often have you been moody? (F)

3.

In the past, 12 months, how often have you had a poor appetite? (F)

4.

Generally, for the parts of this interview that you have answered by yourself using the computer, how honestly have you answered the questions? (F)

5.

During the past seven days, how often were you bothered by things that usually don’t bother you? (F)

6.

You are physically fit. (M)

7.

In the past, 12 months, how often did you get into a serious physical fight? (M)

8.

During the past week, how many times did you do exercise, such as jogging, walking, karate, jumping rope, gymnastics or dancing? (M)

9.

During the past week, how many times did you go roller-blading, roller-skating, skate-boarding, or bicycling? (M)

10.

You are emotional. (F)

11.

You like yourself just the way you are. (M)

12.

You live your life without much thought for the future. (M)

13.

You are sensitive to other people’s feelings. (F)

14.

You like to take risks. (M)

15.

Difficult problems make you very upset. (M)

The scale created by Udry and Chantala (2004) was modified for the present analysis. (M) indicates that the item positively predicts being a boy and negatively predicts being a girl. (F) indicates that the item positive predicts being a girl and negatively predicts being a boy.

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Ueno, K., McWilliams, S. Gender-Typed Behaviors and School Adjustment. Sex Roles 63, 580–591 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11199-010-9839-6

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