Swiss Journal of Psychology 58 (4), 1999, 273–286 Social-cultural demands generate important guidelines for development and the establishment of normative devel- opmental tasks during adolescence and the transition into adulthood. As proposed by ecological developmental ap- proaches (e.g., Brandtstaedter & Schneewind, 1977; Bronfenbrenner, 1979; Flammer, 1996; Nurmi, 1991; Oerter, 1986; Riegel, 1980), cultural and historical con- texts co-construct developmental trajectories and transi- tions of individuals. According to ecological develop- mental approaches development is defined as a future ori- ented and dynamic process of constantly coping with de- velopmental tasks within a certain culture and a specific historical time period. This raises the question: To what extent does the social-cultural context contribute to the de- velopmental outcomes of individuals? For example, the age at which a developmental task should ideally be solved in order to pass successfully to the next task or stage in life (e.g., finishing school in order to start a vocational training) is often represented by an institutional norm that guides our developmental curriculum. Aside from age-re- lated institutional norms the occurrence and importance of normative developmental tasks may also vary depend- Swiss J Psychol 58 (4), 1999, © Verlag Hans Huber, Bern Gender-role orientation and social expectations regarding female adolescents’ coping with developmental tasks 1 Regula P. Berger 1 , Alexander Grob 2 and August Flammer 3 1 University of Fribourg 2 University of Bonn 3 University of Berne This study focuses on the importance of social developmental expectations, assessed as emotional and cognitive evaluations regarding the timing and the gender-role conformity of normative developmental tasks. Two central questions were raised. First, to what degree do the timing and the gender-role conformity affect the adults’ ex- pectations? Second, how much does the adults’ own gender-role orientation (GRO), classified as traditional vs. liberal, affect their expectations? A 4 (timing modus) × 2 (developmental task) × 2 (gender-role conformity)-fac- torial design was administered to a sample of 140 adults of both sexes, 20 to 81 years old. Coping in time and with gender-role typical career received the most approval. Typical developmental tasks were more approved by persons with a traditional than with a liberal GRO. However, the evaluation of non-typical developmental tasks was not affected by the GRO. The possibility of a shift in normative expectations toward more liberal, diverse, and self-defined female gender-roles is discussed. Key words: Social developmental expectations, gender-role orientation, timing, developmental task, adolescence 1 The preparation of this article was facilitated by a grant from the Swiss National Foundation for young researchers, fi- nanced by the local research committee of the University of Fribourg to the first author during her stay at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, USA. We are grateful to Susan B. Cleary for editing the English version of this article.