Schooling, Age, and Culture as Moderators of Role Perceptions (cross-Cultural, American, Javanese, Indonesia)

Abstract

Role differentials which were developed separately in the U.S. and in Java were presented to American (N = 183), schooled Javenese (N = 196), and non-schooled Javanese (N = 212) female subjects of three age groups (9 years - 13 years - adults.)

The first hypothesis, that schooling will not affect role perceptions of the Javanese adult samples was supported in this study. In addition, the four universal dimensions suggested by Triandis (1977, 1982) was supported to the extent that three of the four factors extracted from the adult Javanese data converged with Triandis' dimensions. The second hypothesis, that schooling will not affect role perception at different age levels was only supported partially. The third hypothesis, that the association-dissociation and subordination-superordination factors will develop earlier was supported in the three samples. Finally, the hypothesis that subordination (obedience) will be emphasized in the role perceptions of the Javanese, and association (enjoyment) in the role perceptions of American subjects was also supported.

Furthermore, by comparing schooled with non-schooled samples, Javanese with American samples, and younger with older samples, it was possible to conclude that age and culture affect role perceptions, while schooling does not.

In addition, the study also tested the differentiation and organization of roles in the family of orientation (Foa, Triandis, & Katz, 1966; Foa, & Foa, 1974) by analyzing data from 4 age levels in each sample. The results showed that, in comparison to earlier findings, the American data are in close agreement, while the Javanese data show some inconsistencies.