Beyond Sowing and Growing: The Relationship of Sex Typing To Socialization, Family Plans, and Future Orientation¹

The speculation, appearing frequently in the birth‐planning and population literature, that family‐size desires are associated with sex‐role norms, was empirically investigated with the Bem (1974) Sex Role Inventory. Forty college students in a 2 (sex‐typed vs. androgynous) × 2 (male or female) design responded to a demographic and future‐plans inventory. Results indicated that androgynous females, as compared with sex‐typed females, ( a ) moved frequently during childhood ( p < .02); ( b ) were raised in larger communities ( p < .02); ( c ) had fathers ( p < .03) and mothers ( p < .003) of higher occupational status; ( d ) tended toward higher educational aspiration ( p < .09); ( e ) desired fewer children ( p < .05); and ( f ) placed more importance on competence at work ( p < .004). Male responses were not generally related to the sex‐typing variable. Results were discussed in terms of implications of sex‐role socialization for the problem of overpopulation.