Sex Roles: Their relationship to cultural and biological determinants

Abstract

This paper examines relevant research on comparative sociology, social anthropology with primitive societies, the behaviour of primates, the hormonal control of social behaviour, and contemporary social psychology. The reciprocal influence of social and biological factors on human societies is discussed. The effect of attitudes on social roles is considered crucial. Because modern societies that value egalitarianism appear to be moving toward greater equalisation of sex roles, this phenomenon–although far from being achieved–could be studied in future research as a ‘convergence hypothesis’. The author argues that sex roles are not universal, need not be permanent, and are affected by both biology and social custom in varying degrees among different groups.