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' expectations? 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)-factorial 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.
