The relationship between normative attitudes of sex-role behavior and gender identity among young people

Against the background of changes in functions and meanings in gender and family relations in Russian society, there is a growing tendency to change traditionalist behavior norms to egalitarian ones. The objective of the research is to find out how widespread traditionalist or egalitarian views regarding male or female sex-role behavior are in the modern society, and to study the influence of such attitudes on gender identity of young people. The authors carried out an empirical study, during which they obtained data on the existence of a relationship between normative attitudes towards masculinity and femininity, on the one hand, and gender identity, on the other. In the group of girls, the study identified the relationships between the gender identity level and attitudes regarding female behavior, such as the importance of attractive appearance, the dependence, self-sufficiency in relations with men, and the final indicator. The authors noted that among young men, there was no dependence between gender identity and feminine attitudes, but there is a relationship between the gender identity level and masculine attitudes, such as fixation on achievements and the final indicator. For girls, the study did not find any statistically significant relationship between the gender identity level and the presence of similar attitudes towards men. The authors conclude that the female sex is more flexible in its ideas about the norms of behavior of men. For girls, it is more important to be eye-catching and self-sufficient in relationships than for boys.