Instrumental or Expressive? Heterosexual Men's Expectations of Women in Two Contexts

Contextualized studies of gender have been published, but these studies typically compare men and women in a single context. In this study, we examined men's expectations for women across two interpersonal contexts, dating and the workplace, with particular attention to the gender-related traits of expressiveness and instrumentality. Data were provided by eighty-seven unmarried, heterosexual young adult males. Significant differences were found for trait preference as a function of context, with young men reporting stronger preference for expressive traits in the romantic context and stronger preference for instrumental traits in the work context. Contextual differences became nonsignificant when egalitarian beliefs were added to the model. Discussion focuses on the importance of context for understanding gender.