Recent research suggests that occupational status is crucial in determining women's and men's occupational preferences. To examine individuals' reactions to occupations that varied in status and sex-typing, 184 college students (102 females, 82 males) rated items in the Career Expectations Booklet. Subjects indicated their affective reactions, performance expectations, and perceptions of the sex-typing for each occupation. Subjects also completed the Personal Attributes Questionnaire. An analysis of the results showed that affective reactions were influenced by status, whereas expected performance was determined by subject sex and status. Specifically, women's affective reactions to high status-masculine occupations were no different than men's, and were positive. Women's and men's affective reactions to low status occupations were less positive than their reactions to both masculine and feminine high status occupations. Men expected to do less well than women in low status-feminine occupations. These findings suggest that women are becoming more motivated for high status occupations, while accepting the reality that they are still likely to work in low status jobs. (Author/BL)