PUB TYPE Speeches/Conference Papers (150)-- Reports

Recent trends in television programming, in which women characters are portrayed more frequently than in the past in what had been traditionally male occupations, present new opportunities to examine the relationship of television use to the occupational desires of male and, particularly, female adolescents. A stodv examined this relationship in the context of social status cvnstiaints on the perceived opportunities cf high school students. Subjects, 542 randomly chosen high school students in the Chicago suburbs, were given questionnaires on television viewing habits and perceptions. Findings indicated (1) that sex and social status interact to affect occupational desires, such that higher status females are more likely to desire traditionally male occupations than their lower status female counterparts; (2) identification with male and female characters in domestic and occupational roles stil