The objective of this study was to investigate the orientations of boys and girls towards marriage and procreation, a neglected area of sociological study, and to ascertain the manner in which the sexes may differ in these orientations. Reported are findings from a survey of Negro and white high school seniors and their dropout age peers residing in economically depressed areas of rural East Texas. Although the youth evinced a general desire to marry in their early twenties, Negro and white girls desired to marry earlier than their male counterparts. Regardless of sex or race, the overwhelming majority of youth desired and expected from 2 to 4 children. The white boys evidenced slightly lower desires for children than the white girls. Except for the Negro girls, the boys and girls preferred their spouses or themselves, respectively, not to work outside the home after children. However, regardless of race, girls were considerably more inclined towards working outside the home, at least until children, than the boys were towards their wife working. The central tendency in every sex-race grouping, except the Negro males, was to rank "desire to marry and raise a family" moderately relative to other goals. The Negro boys tended to rank these goals low. (Author)