The attitude of three different generations of married women and men concerning gender roles and the relation between their family functions

In this study, the attitudes of X, Y, and Baby Boomer Generation married men and women towards social gender roles, their evaluations of familial functions, and the relationships between their attitudes towards the social gender roles and familial functions have been researched. In the study, to determine the attitudes of individuals regarding the social gender roles the Gender Roles Attitude Scale developed by Zeyneloğlu ve Terzioğlu (2011); to evaluate the familial functions Family Assessment Device developed by Epstein, Baldwin, and Bishop (1983) which was adapted to Turkish by Bulut (1993); to evaluate the individual's division of roles and responsibilities within the family and the decision making process close ended questions developed by the researcher, were used. Data was gathered from 600 married men and women living in the Ankara province between the ages of 18 and 69. According to the result of the study, of the respondents 27.0% were of the Y Generation, 41.0% were of the X Generation, and 32.0% were of the Baby Boomer Generation. In all three generations the number of men and women are equal. With respect to education, in the Y and X Generations more people have "college" level education whilst in the Baby Boomer Generation the dominant group has "primary education or less". Across all generations the level of education of men are higher than that of women. Across all generations surveyed in the research, and in both genders and all levels of education, a majority of individuals have responded that "cooking", "cleaning", "washing the dishes and the clothes", "ironing" and "childcare" were done "more by women"; whilst "repairs around the house" were done "more by men". In the Y and X Generations, "earning money" and "paying the bills" were done "together" with the spouse; whilst in the Baby Boomer Generation a majority responded that these were done "more by men". In all three generations "use of income" was decided "together" with the spouse whereas "childcare and education" was reportedly decided "more by women". When the data from the Gender Roles Attitude Scale has been analysed, it has been observed that the Y Generation has higher egalitarian attitudes than both of the other generation, and that the X Generation has higher egalitarian attitudes than the Baby Boomer Generation (p<.01). In the research it was found that the women of X and Baby Boomer Generations held higher egalitarian values than the men of the same generations (p<.01). In all three generations while the levels of education increase so do the number of individuals with egalitarian attitudes (p<.01). In light of the data gathered from the Family Assessment Device it has been found that in terms of "problem solving", "giving proper attention", "giving emotional responses" and "behavioral control" the X and Baby Boomer Generations rank higher than the Y Generation; in terms of "communication" the Baby Boomer Generation ranks higher than the Y and X Generations; and in term of "roles" the Y Generation ranks higher than the X and Baby Boomer Generations when it comes down to having healthier functions (p<.01). In all three generations women have healthier functions in terms of "communication" and "roles" than the men. The percentage of healthy family functions increases for all of the three generations as the levels of education increase. When the relation between social gender roles and evaluation of familial functions of the respondents' are evaluated, it has been found that in all three generations and in both genders that as egalitarian attitudes increase so do the percentage of those with healthy familial functions.