Mounting evidence from both historical and social-psychological perspectives is pointing to the conclusion that evangelicals are relying upon patriarchal gender ideologies, specifically the male breadwinner and female domestic family roles, as identity markers to distinguish themselves from others in mainstream America. One would expect that gender ideology as an identity boundary marker would have little to no effect on the actual gendered behavior of evangelicals. The evidence from this study supports this notion in that three gender ideology scales constructed of attitudinal items were utilized, with limited success, to understand their impact on the actual performance of household labors.
KeywordsSexual Division of Household LaborSocial Group IdentitySubcultural Identity Theory
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