According to the literature on gender role attitudes, an individual's personal, demographic and structural characteristics can affect and also be affected by gender role attitudes. Studying these relationships can contribute to our understanding of the cultural structures and processes underlying gender stratification.

This study examines the gender role attitudes, their correlates and consequences, of the Greek women of Cyprus during a period of great upheaval and change following the 1974 Turkish invasion. Data were obtained from a representative sample (N=972), who answered an interview questionnaire in 1978. The study tests previously used and established hypotheses in three of the most important areas in gender-related research (Individual Characteristics, Labor Force Participation of women, and Family Issues, exemplified by Parenthood and Parity), and compares the results to existing studies that utilized similar data and hypotheses.

The findings indicate that there is clearly an association between the subjects’ individual characteristics and their gender role attitudes. There could be a reciprocal relationship between some characteristics such as education, marital status and parenthood and those attitudes. The subjects’ labor force participation is associated with less traditional gender role attitudes, even after controlling for individual characteristics. Traditional gender role attitudes affect the likelihood of labor force participation net of other individual characteristics. Education is positively associated with labor force participation. Fertility is positively related with traditional gender roles attitudes, lower education and lower labor force participation. When education and age are controlled, most of the effect of fertility on gender role attitudes is explained through education. In the more complex models, labor force participation and fertility have two-way effects of opposite signs. Gender role attitudes mitigate some of the effects of the individual characteristics on labor force participation and fertility in the more comprehensive model.

With some exceptions, these findings were similar to those found in U.S. studies, implying similar cultural structures and processes underlying gender stratification.

This dissertation fills a gap in the existing comparative research literature on gender roles, adds to the social and demographic information on Cypriot society, and serves as a baseline study of gender roles in Cyprus for future research.