The rural milieu as a variable in the maintenance of traditionalism : attitudes toward courtship, marriage, and parenthood among French-Canadian adolescents

Abstract

A questionnarie was presented to 457 rural and urban French-Canadian adolescents. Areas of investigation included attitudes toward the double standard, religion as a normative guide in dating, divorce, sex-role differentiation, family size, delay of child-bearing after marriage, birth control, interfaith and interethnic marriage, child-rearing practices and the importance of religious education. The data were compared controlling for residence and sex. Statistically significant residential differences were found with respect to attitudes toward family size, birth control, and familism, with urban subjects being less traditionally oriented than rural subjects. Statisitically significant attitudinal differences due to residential background were found in the female segment of the sample with regard to interfaith marriage, family size, birth control, and the importance of religious education. Urban females were less traditionally oriented than rural females. Statistically significant sex differences were noted in attitudes toward the double standard and religious education. Males were less traditionally oriented tha females.