Annotated Bibliography

Waite, L. J., Goldschneider, F. K., & Witsberger, C. (1986). Nonfamily living and the erosion of

traditional family orientations among young adults. American Sociological Review, 51 (4), 541-

554.

The authors, researchers at the Rand Corporation and Brown University, use data from the

National Longitudinal Surveys of Young Women and Young Men to test their hypothesis that

nonfamily living by young adults alters their attitudes, values, plans, and expectations, moving

them away from their belief in traditional sex roles. They find their hypothesis strongly

supported in young females, while the effects were fewer in studies of young males. Increasing

the time away from parents before marrying increased individualism, self-sufficiency, and

changes in attitudes about families. In contrast, an earlier study by Williams cited below shows

no significant gender differences in sex role attitudes as a result of nonfamily living.