A study of gender roles in thirty countries from Peru to Malaysia, which tests the perceptions of both children and adults. The authors uncover an array of ideas about gender and sex roles that are almost universally held across the cultures studied. Does this mean that sex stereotypes have an empirical basis in something other than cultural conditioning? This and many other questions and the implications for individual people and whole societies are considered. The meticulous methodology used in the study is described in detail, and should be of interest to people doing similar research.

`The most extensive review currently available of sex stereotypes in cross-cultural perspective.' -- Choice, July/August 1983

`...Williams and Best bring to the study a decade of research experience on sex-related stereotypes, reflected in a book that makes important reading for professionals and students of measurements, cross-cultural psychology, women's studies, childhood socialization, education, and the social sciences in gerneral.' -- Resources for Feminist Research

`Measuring Sex Stereotypes does a very good job of providing a conceptual framework for future cross-cultural studies and, it is to be hoped, will stimulate more cross-cultural research.' -- The Annals of the American Academy, Vol 472, March 1984

`This book is highly recommended also for its wealth of related information; discussions of ongoing research projects, speculations about the significance of such variables as religion in shaping sex stereotypes, and the excellent eleven page bibliography at the end.' -- Journal of psychology and Theology, Spring 1985, Vol 13 No 1