The impact of parents as socialization agents for the gender development of their children is controversial in the literature. This study tested the assumption that parental socialization influences found to be of importance for one kind of variation in gender development are not necessarily the same as those that are of relevance to explain another kind of variation. A longitudinal study was conducted with 44 boys and girls, ages 5 to 10, and their parents. For the children, data were collected on the development of different components of gender typing; their mothers and fathers completed a questionnaire on gender role socialization. Results showed that although the gender concepts and preferences of most children reflected the typical gender roles of the adult world that were experienced by the children, the observed age changes in the gender typing of boys and girls and the differences between boys and girls in their gender development did not correlate with parental gender concepts and the parents' role division of household chores. However, the individual differences in the rigidity-flexibility of gender concepts and in the gender role preferences within the groups of boys and girls were related to the individual parents' gender concepts and attitudes, especially in mother-son dyads. No relationship was found between the individual parents' gender role behaviors and the inter-individual differences of children's gender typing. Results support the assumption that the impact of parental socialization influences varies systematically with the kind of variation to be explained. (Contains 12 references.) (Author/EV)