A Comparison of Traditional and Non-Traditional Women's Preferences for Family Oriented Vs. Career Oriented Men

One hundred sixty two female university students were divided into two groups according to their level of traditionality as measured by the Attitude Toward Women Scale. They were shown a photograph of a moderate to high attractive male along with a short description identifying the male as having either a high-career/low-family orientation, or a low-career/high-family orientation, and asked to report their degree of preference for this target. Analysis found significant main effects for traditionality of the subjects, career/family orientation of the targets, and an interaction of traditionality of the subjects and attractiveness of the targets. Further analysis indicated the presence of a fourth factor involving class or status of the target. More traditional women tended to rate more attractive targets more positively, regardless of target orientation. Less traditional women indicated clear preferences according to target orientation, without regard to target attractiveness.