1. Almost any woman is better off in the home than in a job or profession. (I‚ III)
2. It’s a pretty feeble sort of man who can’t get ahead in the world. (III)
3. A teen-ager should be allowed to decide most things for himself. (II‚ IV)*
4. A marriage should not be made unless the couple plans to have children. (I‚ V)
5. A wife does better to vote the way her husband does‚ because he probably knows more about such things. (II)
6. It is a reflection on a husband’s manhood if his wife works. (III‚ V)
7. Whatever some educators may say‚ “Spare the rod and spoil the child “still holds‚ even in these modern times. (IV)
8. Women have as right as men to so wild oats. (III‚ V)*
9. Women think less clearly than men and are more emotional. (III)
10.Faithlessness is the worse fault a husband could have. (I‚ III)
11.It isn’t healthy for a child to like to be alone‚ and he should b0e discouraged from playing by himself. (I‚ V)
12.Even today women live under unfair restrictions that ought to be done away with. (II‚ III)*
13.Petting is something a nice girl wouldn’t want to do. (III‚ V)
14.Some equality in marriage is a good thing‚ but by and large the husband ought to have the main say-so in family matters. (III)
15.It helps the child in the long run if he is made to conform to his parents’ ideas. (II‚ IV)
16.If children are told much about sex‚ they are likely to go too far in experimenting with it. (I‚ V)
17.Women can be too bright for their own good‚ (II‚ III)
18.The most important qualities of a real man are strength of will and determined ambition. (III)
19.In making family decisions‚ parents ought to take the opinions of children into account. (II‚ IV)*
20.One of the worst problems in our society today is “free love‚” because it mars the true value of sex relations. (I‚ V)
21.Women who want to remove the word obey from the marriage service don’t understand what it means to be a wife. (II‚ III)
22.It doesn’t seem quite right for a man to be visionary; dreaming should be left to women. (III‚ V)
23.A well-raised child is one who doesn’t have to be told twice to do something. (II‚ IV)
24.It is only natural and right for each person to think that his family is better than any other. (I‚ II)
25.A man who doesn’t provide well for his family ought to consider himself pretty much a failure as husband and father. (I‚ III)
26.It is a woman’s job more than a man’s to uphold our moral code‚ especially in sexual matters. (III)
27.A child should not be allowed to talk back to his parents‚ or else he will lose respect for them. (II‚ IV)
28.There is a lot of evidence such as the Kinsey Report which shows we have to crack down harder on young people to save our moral standards. (IV‚ V)
29.Women should take an active interest in politics and community problems as well as in their families. (I‚ III)*
30.In choosing a husband‚ a woman will do well to put ambition at the top of her list of desirable qualities. (III)
31.The saying “Mother knows best” still has more than a grain of truth. (I‚ II)
32.A man can scarcely maintain respect for hid fiancée if they have sexual relation s before they are married. (III)
33.The unmarried mother is morally a greater failure than the unmarried father. (III)
34.It goes against nature to place women in position of authority over men. (II‚ III)
35.It is important to teach the child as early as possible the manners and morals of his society. (I)
36.A lot of the sex problems of married couples arise because their parents have been too strict with them about sex. (IV‚ V)*
37.The family is a sacred institution‚ divinely ordained. (I‚ II)
38.A woman whose children are messy or rowdy has failed in her duties as a mother. (II‚ V)
39.A child who is unusual in any way should be encouraged to be more like other children. (I‚ V)
40.There is hardly anything lower than a person who does not feel a great love‚ gratitude‚ and respect for his parents. (II)
* Reverse scored
********
ABBREVIATED TRADITIONAL FAMILY IDEOLOGY SCALE (FORM FERPT)
1. Some equality in marriage is a good thing‚ but by and large the husband ought to have the main say-so in family matters.
2. If children are told much about sex‚ they are likely to go too far in experimenting with it.
3. Women who want to remove the word obey from the marriage service don’t understand what it means to be a wife.
4. The most important qualities of a real man are strength of will and determined ambition.
5. A child should never be allowed to talk back to his parents‚ or else he will lose respect for them.
6. A man should not be expected to have respect for a woman if they have sexual relations before they are married.
7. It is somehow unnatural to place women in positions of authority over men.
8. The family is a sacred in situation‚ divinely ordained.
9. A woman whose children are at all messy or rowdy has failed in her duties as a mother.
10.If a child is unusual in any way‚ his parents should get him to be more like other children.
11.There is hardly anything lower than a person who does not feel a great love‚ gratitude‚ and respect for his parents.
12.The facts on crime and sexual immorality show that we will have to crack down harder on young people if we are going to save our moral standards.
(I) Conventionalism‚ (II) Authoritarian submission‚ (III) Exaggerated masculinity and femininity‚ (IV) extreme emphasis on discipline‚ and (V) a moralistic rejection of impulse life
+3 (strong agreement) to -3 (strong disagreement)
A. Parent-child relationships: child-rearing techniques (items 3‚ 7‚ 11‚ 15‚ 16‚ 19‚ 23‚ 27‚ 28‚ 31‚ 35‚ 36‚ 38-40); B. Husband and wife roles and relationships (items 4-6‚ 10‚ 14‚ 20‚ 21‚ 24‚ 25‚ 29‚ 30); C. General male-female relationships; concepts of masculinity and femininity (items 1‚ 2‚ 8‚ 9‚ 12‚ 13‚ 17‚ 18‚ 22‚ 26‚ 32-34); D. General values and aims (item 37)
This instrument can be found at: https://www.psc.isr.umich.edu/dis/infoserv/isrpub/pdf/Measuresofsocialpsychologicalattitudes_2928_.PDF
Levinson‚ D. and Huffman‚ P. (1955). Traditional family ideology and its relation to personality. Journal of Personality‚ 23(3)‚ 251-273.
Robinson‚ John P.‚ Shaver‚ Phillip R. (1969). Measures of Political Attitudes. Institute for Social Research‚ University of Michigan/. Ann Arbor‚ Michigan