Graduate Student Nicole Filler recently published an article in Politics & Gender that she co-authored with Professor M. Kent Jennings. The article is titled "Familial Origins of Gender Role Attitudes" and examines the role that family has in shaping gender role attitudes involving politics. To read Filler and Jennings article, see attached PDF.

Abstract:

Although gender role attitudes involving politics have been studied extensively among adults, relatively little is known about the role of the family in shaping these attitudes.  Working in the tradition of political socialization via social learning processes, we use data from a national survey that include mother-father-offspring combinations to assess the transmission fidelity of gender role attitudes.  We find strong but variable support for the transmission model across five attitudinal indicators and taking into account other predictors.  Both mothers and fathers are influential, with same-sex modeling being more common, especially among mothers and their daughters.  Consistency of parental greatly enhances parent-child concordance.  Comparisons based on other types of attitudes show the unique aspects of gender role transmission.  We speculate about the implications of these micro-level processes on societal trends regarding attitudes about gender roles and politics.