Effects of occupational prestige,employment status,and marital status on perceptions of mothers

Perceptions of mothers were investigated as a function of their marital status, employment status and prestige of their jobs. College students (128 females and 96 males) evaluated a briefly described adult female stimulus person on 24 7-point bipolar scales that described job performance characteristics and personality traits. Each subject rated one of 16 mothers of a young child. The mother was portrayed as either divorced or married and as either currently employed or formerly employed (by choice) in an occupation of either moderate or low prestige. Employed mothers were perceived as more competent in their jobs but as less well-adjusted than nonemployed mothers. Mothers with moderate-prestige occupations were viewed as more competent than those in low-prestige occupations, especially if they were currently employed. Married mothers were seen as better adjusted than divorced mothers.Portions of this paper were presented at the meeting of the Midwestern Psychological Association, Chicago, Illinois, May 1989.     

Effects of employment status and marital status on perceptions of mothers

Forty-eight female and 48 male adults at a shopping mall evaluated a briefly depicted adult female stimulus person on 24 7-point bipolar scales that described personality traits and professional performance characteristics. Each subject rated one of four mothers of a young child. The mother was portrayed as either employed or nonemployed, and as either divorced or married. Employed mothers were perceived as more professionally competent but as less dedicated to their families than were nonemployed mothers. Married mothers were rated as more nurturant and as better adjusted than divorced mothers.Portions of this paper were presented at the meeting of the American Psychological Association, Atlanta, Georgia, August 1988.     

Perceptions of mothers: Effects of employment status,marital status,and age of child

Ninety-six female and 96 male college students evaluated a briefly described adult female stimulus person on 24 7-point bipolar scales that described personality traits and professional performance characteristics. Each subject rated 1 of 8 mothers, who was described as either employed or nonemployed, either divorced or married, and as having either a 1-year-old or 11-year-old child. Employed mothers were viewed as less family oriented, but as more instrumental than nonemployed mothers. Divorced mothers were perceived as less well adjusted but more instrumental than married mothers. Employed mothers with a 1-year-old child were rated as most professionally competent, while employed mothers with an 11-year-old child were rated as most instrumental.Portions of this paper were presented at the meeting of the Midwestern Psychological Association, Chicago, May 1987.     

Perceptions of women: Effects of employment status and marital status

Eighty-four female and 84 male college students evaluated a briefly described female stimulus person on 20 seven-point bipolar scales which described personality traits and professional competencies. Each subject rated 1 of 12 women who were described as either never married, divorced, widowed, or married and as either employed full-time, employed part-time, or unemployed. As hypothesized, the personal traits and professional competencies of employed women were evaluated more favorably than those of unemployed women, and the personality traits of married women were perceived more positively than those of unmarried women. Contrary to predictions, unmarried and married women were perceived as equally competent.Portions of this paper were presented at the meeting of the American Psychological Association, Washington, D.C., August 1982.     

职业母亲的工作倦怠与自尊、社会支持的关系

本研究从护士、教师、商业服务人员三个女性集中的领域抽取380名职业女性进行调查研究,考察职业母亲的工作倦怠状况及其与自尊、社会支持的关系.结果:(1)职业母亲的工作倦怠水平显著高于无子女的职业女性.(2)自尊与工作倦怠的三个维度均呈显著负相关,不同来源的社会支持与工作倦怠的一个或多个维度显著负相关.(3)自尊是社会支持影响职业母亲工作倦怠的中介变量.     

Job and home attitudes of undergraduate women and their mothers

Seventy-seven undergraduate women and their mothers participated in a study of job/home attitudes. All subjects rated 10 conflict elements and 8 conflict types: mothers also rated the conflict elements and types retrospectively, as young adults, and responded to related open-ended questions. Cohort effects were stronger than historical period or stage-of-life effects. Mothers' current and retrospective responses both indicated significantly more interest, confidence, and perceived external support for home-related than job-related activities, whereas daughters' responses reflected approximately equal interest, confidence, and support for home- and job-related activities.     

Parental imagery vividness: gender differences and relationships to emotional closeness

This research was an investigation of the vividness with which individuals see their parents in different situations. In 3 studies, the Vividness of Visual Imagery for Parents Questionnaire (VVIPQ; S. J. McKelvie, 1998a) was completed by university undergraduates (201 women, 167 men). Visual imagery of mothers was reported to be more vivid than that of fathers, but only by the female students. For intact families, the female students also reported more imagery of mothers than of fathers, whereas the male students reported more vivid imagery of fathers than of mothers. However, for divorced or separated families in which individuals spent more time with their mothers, both men and women rated their mothers more vividly than their fathers. More vivid imagery was positively related to reported emotional closeness to parents and to more vivid imagery for general scenes. VVIPQ scores were associated with social desirability but were not related to measures of response leniency or general intelligence. Split-half reliability of the VVIPQ was very good, and both test-retest and alternate-format reliability were acceptable. The correlational evidence supports the construct validity of the VVIPQ, which is a promising tool for studying parental imagery.     

Motherhood: a potential source of bias in employment decisions

Results of 2 experimental studies in which job incumbents were said to be applying for promotions to traditionally male positions demonstrated bias against mothers in competence expectations and in screening recommendations. This bias occurred regardless of whether the research participants were students (Study 1) or working people (Study 2). Although anticipated job commitment, achievement striving, and dependability were rated as generally lower for parents than for nonparents, anticipated competence was uniquely low for mothers. Mediational analyses indicated that, as predicted, negativity in competence expectations, not anticipated job commitment or achievement striving, promoted the motherhood bias in screening recommendations; expected deficits in agentic behaviors, not in dependability, were found to fuel these competence expectations. These findings suggest that motherhood can indeed hinder the career advancement of women and that it is the heightened association with gender stereotypes that occurs when women are mothers that is the source of motherhood's potentially adverse consequences.     

Person perception: Effects of sex,marital status,and sex-typed occupation

A sample of 208 male college students evaluated a briefly described stimulus person on 20 7-point bipolar scales which described personality traits and professional performance characteristics. Each subject rated one of 16 persons who were described as either female or male; never married, divorced, widowed, or unmarried; and employed in either a feminine or masculine sex-typed occupation. Female stimulus persons generally were rated more favorably than male stimulus persons. The personality traits of married persons of both sexes were evaluated more favorably than those of unmarried persons. Individuals in sex-typical and sex-atypical occupations received similar evaluations.Parts of this article were presented at the meeting of the American Psychological Association, Los Angeles, August 1981.     

Absolute and Relative Biases in Estimations of Personal Risk1

Two studies examined the accuracy of personal risk estimates, as determined by comparing mean estimates made by college students with population statistics for college-educated individuals. Study 1 suggested that optimistic biases (the tendency for people to think they are less at risk than the average person) arise more because people overestimating the average person's risk than because they underestimate their own risk. In Study 2, subjects rated their risk after being presented with risk statistics that were 150%, 100%, or 50% of the true values. Subjects' estimates decreased with decreases in the comparison statistics, as if subjects attempted to preserve their “below-average” status, but they changed less than did the statistics and were actually pessimistic in comparison to the 50% values. Implications for interventions designed to influence risk perceptions are discussed.     

The Effect of Nonverbal Behaviors Associated With Sexual Harassment Proclivity on Women's Performance

We explored whether exposure to nonverbal behaviors that mirror those used by men with sexual harassment proclivity (i.e., high dominance and/or high sociosexual nonverbal behaviors) leads women to perceive those men as potential sexual harassers and lowers women's actual performance on the job. In our first experiment, women's performance was negatively affected when they interacted with a task administrator enacting dominant nonverbal behaviors. The women also perceived the dominant task administrator as more sexual. In our second experiment, viewers rated the task administrator enacting dominant nonverbal behaviors as more likely than the less dominant task administrator to show gender-based attention, social attention, and sexually harassing behaviors. Taken together, our findings suggest an association between perceptions of dominance and sexuality.     

Success strivings and their relationship to affective work behaviors: gender differences.

Gender differences in the importance of six life success dimensions and their relationships to job satisfaction, job involvement, and propensity to stay on the job were examined among 756 working women and men in southeast Florida. Results showed that the female participants rated family relationships, personal fulfillment, and security as more important success measures than their male counterparts did, and they rated status/wealth as less important. Professional fulfillment and security were not significantly different. The relationships between measures of success and work behaviors also varied significantly by gender, even after controlling for demographic and job position variables.     

Mother, Father, and Self: Sources of Young Adults' God Concepts

Following developmental attachment theory, we predicted a path in which nurturing parents affect young adults' self-concepts and self-esteem, which in turn predicts the image of a nurturing God. To ascertain how images of parents and images of self predict God images, 132 young adults aged 18–22 (M = 19) completed the Tennessee Self-Concept Scale, and a six-item measure of God's perceived involvement in their lives (religiosity scale). In a follow-up interview, they rated their parents, God, and selves on scales of closeness, nurturing, power, and punishing/judging. For men, mothers were responsible, more than fathers, for creating a climate for sons' self-esteem through nurturance and discipline, which in turn contributed to seeing God as nurturing, feeling close to God, and being more religious. For women, mothers and fathers created a model of nurturance and power, which contributed to seeing God as nurturing and powerful. Punishing/judging parents directly affected punishing/judging God images in these young adults. Men perceived God to be more punishing/judging than did women, while women perceived God to be more nurturing. Even in adulthood, parents, especially mothers, continue to exert influences on young adults' faith and images of God.     

Balancing Act: Career and Family During College-Educated Women’s 30s

We assessed career, marriage, and motherhood expectations of 118 White Women and 82 Women of Color in 1993, when they were seniors at five northeastern U.S. colleges. Sixteen years later, in 2009, 77.5 % responded to our survey and answered questions about their career, marriage, motherhood, attitudes, and life satisfaction outcomes. As seniors, they wanted it all, career, marriage, and motherhood. In 2009, nearly two thirds were employed full time, 91 % had married, nearly three quarters were mothers, and about 57 % were combining full-time employment and motherhood. Comparisons are made among three role-status outcome groups: Have It All (mothers, employed full time); Traditional (mothers, employed part time or not at all), and Employed Only (childfree, employed full time). Educational level of the women did not predict role status. Spouses’ educational level relative to the women’s predicted role status, with Have It All women more likely to be married to less educated spouses than Traditional or Employed Only women. The role-status groups did not differ in their attitudes toward women in general, but Have It All mothers had lower levels of employment-related concerns about separation from their children than Traditional mothers. Most of the women still wanted to have it all. Many Traditional women looked forward to returning to employment, and many of the Employed Only women wanted to have children. Being a mother was associated with higher life satisfaction than being childfree. Results are discussed in terms of multiple-role theory and the positive influence of having family roles in the mix.     

Physical symptoms and the interplay of work and family roles

The paradigm underlying research on the relationship between work and physical-health symptoms in men has focused on workplace stressors and has ignored men's family roles. Research on women, work, and health suggests several necessary additions to this paradigm, including (a) a focus on job rewards and job concerns and (b) attention to the impact of family roles on the relationship between job rewards and concerns and physical health. We included these variables in a study of a disproportionate random sample of 403 employed 25- to 55-year-old women. Major findings are that (a) work rewards (e.g., helping others at work) are related to reports of low levels of physical symptoms; (b) work concerns (e.g., overload) are associated with reports of high levels of physical symptoms; (c) particular work rewards, which may be different for women than for men, mitigate the negative health effects of work concerns; (d) among employed mothers, satisfaction with salary is negatively related to physical-health symptoms; and (e) women in positive marriages or partnerships were more likely to reap physical-health benefits from the rewards of helping others at work and from supervisor support.     

Sense of Coherence, Ways of Coping, and Well Being of Married and Divorced Mothers

The study examines sense of coherence and ways of coping as personality resources capable of helping divorced mothers deal with the divorce crisis. The findings show that although mothers from two parent families enjoy a higher sense of well being than divorced mothers, the well being of both groups was predicted by sense of coherence. They also show that mothers with higher sense of coherence used more effective coping strategies and derived more benefit from the strategies they used. The married and divorced mothers have a similar sense of coherence level. More study is needed to ascertain precisely how sense of coherence contributes to well being, as well as to the choice and effectiveness of coping strategies.     

Employment Status and Sex Role Attitudes in Middle-class Suburban Mothers

Twenty-one employed and 31 nonemployed suburban mothers of 2nd and 6th grade children were administered the Bern Sex Role Inventory (BSRI), Welledey Role Orientation Scale (WROS), and items from the Traditional Family Inventory (TFI items). Employed mothers agreed with more nontraditional attitudes on the WROS and described themselves in more masculine or androgynous terms than did nonempldyed mothers. These differences were not affected by grade or sex of child. While the directionality of effect could not be established, it was clear that these employed women viewed themselves and their roles as wives and mothers differently than did their nonemployed counterparts. This was true despite differences in conditions of employment, and despite a more traditional overall attitude among these women than has been reported in studies using younger, upper middle-class university women. In this study, mothers employed part time were more traditional in their responses to TFI items concerned with child rearing attitudes than were mothers employed full time. Again, while directionality of effect could not be established, the decision to work part time and thus spend more time with the children is compatible with a more traditional attitude. The usefulness of these easily administered measures in dividing groups of women for further research on sex roles outside university communities is apparent.     

Attitudes of Employed Women Toward Parents Who Choose Full-Time or Part-Time Employment Following Their Child's Birth

Perceptions of married parents were examined as a function of their gender and their employment status following their child's birth. Women employed in hourly staff positions at a university (92% White, 8% African American, Asian American, or Hispanic American) evaluated a briefly described married employed parent on thirty-one 7-point bipolar scales that described nurturance behaviors, job performance characteristics, role overload variables, and personal adjustment characteristics. Each participant rated one of four parents portrayed as either a mother or a father who, following their child's birth, either continued to work full-time or reduced her/his work hours. Full-time employees were perceived as experiencing more stress and as being less family-oriented than reduced-hour employees. Mothers were viewed as better adjusted but as experiencing more stress than fathers.     

Stigma and hostility towards pregnant smokers: Does individuating information reduce the effect?

Australia is at the forefront of tobacco control, yet 17% of Australian women smoke during pregnancy. Negative attitudes to smoking are intensified when the smoker is pregnant, consistent with a discourse that encourages surveillance of pregnant women. Such overt anti-smoking attitudes create a context which may make it difficult for pregnant smokers to seek assistance to stop. However, there is little evidence on the extent to which pregnant smokers are stigmatised by community members. We used vignettes to examine the degree of smoking-related stigma expressed by 595 Australian university students who rated a woman, described as a mother who was smoking or not, and pregnant or not. Further, we examined whether provision of individuating information reduced the degree of stigma. Mothers described as smokers were rated more negatively than those not, particularly if they were pregnant: smokers were perceived as unhealthy, and also as bad mothers. Provision of individuating information slightly reduced these effects. These findings support the view that smokers – particularly if pregnant – are subject to negative moral judgement. Our findings contribute to the ethical debate about stigma-inducing tobacco control efforts, and suggest that anti-smoking campaigns that contextualise smoking in pregnancy might reduce stigma and assist cessation.     

Children's estimates of their parents' job satisfaction

319 3rd and 5th grade children were asked to rate their parents' job satisfaction. These ratings were compared to parents' self-reports of job satisfaction. Older children were more accurate in their estimates. Girls were more accurate in rating their mothers, while boys were more accurate in rating fathers. Children who perceived their parents as satisfied with their jobs were more likely to aspire to their parents' occupations than those who rated their parents less satisfied.