Changing Family Roles

Interviews with 253 women in the process of divorce suggest that women who hold nontraditional sex role attitudes or whose attitudes become more nontraditional during the process of divorce experience less distress, more well-being and personal growth, higher self-esteem, and a greater sense of personal effectiveness than women who maintain traditional sex role attitudes. Various attitudinal stances of women during divorce are discussed, as are implications for the helping professions.