Mothers' subjective employment experiences and the behaviour of their nursery school children

Most research on the effects of maternal employment on children has followed the ‘maternal deprivation’ hypothesis, which focuses on differences in the behaviour of children of employed and non-employed mothers. Yet this framework may have impeded an examination of a more relevant question, namely the impact of mothers' employment-related experiences. Accordingly, this study assesses the influence of mothers' job satisfaction, job involvement and role conflict on the behaviour of their nursery school sons and daughters (n=46 and 45 respectively). The effects of maternal employment on their nursery school children were found to be mediated by (a) the nature and quality of the employment experience (i.e. positive or negative), (b) the type of child behaviour assessed, and (c) the sex of the child. Mothers' job satisfaction was positively associated with daughters' self-control and negatively with conduct problems; their role conflict was negatively related to sons' and daughters' self-control, and positively associated with sons' conduct problems and daughters' immaturity. These results support the hypothesis that the quality of the maternal employment experience influences nursery school children's behaviour.     

Does Mother Know Best? An Actor–Partner Model of College‐Age Women's Human Papillomavirus Vaccination Behavior

This study examined the associations of perceived threat, perceived efficacy, and parent–child communication with the extent to which college‐age women received the human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine. Daughters and their mothers completed a survey about the HPV vaccine (N = 182 dyads). The results showed that mothers' perceived self‐efficacy to talk to their daughters and mothers' response efficacy of the vaccine were indirectly related to mother–daughter communication about HPV. Further, mother–daughter communication mediated the relation between mothers' intention to talk to their daughters and daughters' HPV vaccination behavior. This study demonstrates the importance of the social context of health behavior and the role of communication in understanding maternal influence on the HPV vaccination behavior of young adult women.     

Mothers’ Gender-Role Attitudes and Their Responses to Young Children’s Hypothetical Display of Shy and Aggressive Behaviors

The purpose of this study was to investigate the role of child gender and maternal gender-role attitudes in mothers’ reactions to hypothetical vignettes depicting their preschool-aged child displaying aggressive and shy behaviors. Participants were 78 mothers of preschool-aged children (43 girls, 35 boys; M _age?=?47.44?months, SD?=?11.00) living in a mid-sized city in Ontario, Canada. Mothers provided reports of their gender-role attitudes and rated their expectancies and emotional/behavioral reactions following hypothetical vignettes depicting their child displaying physically aggressive and shy-withdrawn behaviors. It was hypothesized that mothers would respond with more negative (and less positive) emotions and expectancies in response to children’s gender-incongruent problem behaviors (i.e., shyness among boys, aggression among girls). It was further hypothesized that these gender effects would be more pronounced among mothers espousing more traditional (i.e., less egalitarian) gender-role attitudes. Results of multiple regression analyses indicated that mothers anticipated more negative consequences to aggression among boys than among girls. Several significant interaction effects also emerged between child gender and maternal gender-role attitudes, particularly with regards to children’s shyness. Among mothers of boys, a more egalitarian gender-role attitude was associated with greater anticipated benefits of shyness, and both more positive and more negative emotional responses to shyness. For mothers of girls, however, the opposite pattern emerged. Results provide some support for the notion that mothers may enforce gender-typical social behaviors in their children, particularly if they themselves hold more traditional gender-role attitudes.     

Maternal career-orientation as related to parental identification in college women

The relation of identification preferences in college women to maternal work history and maternal career attitudes was examined, using direct, forced-choice questions concerning perceived similarity and desire to emulate (“pattern preference”) the mother or the father. It was expected that mothers who participated in work and desired a career would be more attractive models, compared to the father, than mothers who were not career-oriented. These expectations were based upon the assumption that role status, power, and satisfaction, which are important in identification motivation, are generally greater in working mothers. Findings tended to support this argument and were interpreted with the aid of subjects' explanations of their identification choices.     

THE INFLUENCE OF MOTHER-DAUGHTER RELATIONSHIPS ON WOMEN'S SENSE OF SELF AND CURRENT ROLE CHOICES

This study investigates the relationship of women's current role choices, role satisfaction, and self-esteem to their perceptions of the earlier relationship with their mothers and to their perceptions of their mothers' role choices and role satisfaction. Sixty-seven married women with preschool children were interviewed and completed self-report inventories. Results indicated that the women's primary role decisions of career, non-career work, or homemaking did not parallel those of their mothers but was related to their mothers' messages to them. In addition, career women and women at home reported having more choice in their decisions than did non-career working women. Women's self-esteem and role satisfaction were significantly enhanced ( p <.05) when the relationship with the mother was perceived as loving and accepting, with low hostility and low psychological control. In contrast, women's self-esteem and role satisfaction were generally unrelated to the retrospective reports of the mothers' roles and role satisfaction.     

Adolescent motherhood: a Q‐methodological re‐evaluation of psychological and social outcomes

Traditionally, adolescent motherhood has been associated with numerous negative social, psychological and societal outcomes. However, in recent years there has been a gradual acceptance that there are many positive features to adolescent motherhood, but methodological issues have been identified within the field. This study aimed to examine adolescent motherhood from the mothers' own perspectives, exploring their attitudes towards the issues that they described as being important in their lives, by using Q‐methodology in an attempt to counter some of these methodological limitations. The mothers within the study appeared to be coping positively in their role in that levels of symptomatology, as determined from questionnaire assessment, appeared to be relatively low and they indicated through Q‐sort analysis that motherhood had been beneficial to their lives. Three independent factors (clusters of attitudes) were identified within the sample (N = 23) which differed over the dimensions of: employment, social support, coping, partner co‐habitation, financial support, maternal role satisfaction, aspirations for the future, as well as the nature of the relationship with their child(ren)'s father and their satisfaction with the fathers' role. The significance of these findings with regard to educational and social services is discussed. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Predicting Gender Role Ideology Among Husbands and Wives in Israel: A Comparative Analysis

In this study, differences in gender role ideology among middle-aged husbands (n=126) and wives (n=126) in Israel were examined. In addition, the contribution of several sets of variables were tested to predict gender role ideology. The sets of variables were background variables (personal background, education/employment, family variables), personality traits (self-esteem, tolerance for ambiguity), spouse's gender role ideology, and life satisfaction. The findings indicate that husbands have more traditional gender role ideology than their wives, even though the correlations between spouses were moderate and significant. In addition, the variables were found to contribute more significantly to predicting the gender role ideology of wives than of husbands. For both partners, self-esteem was the most significant predictor. Moreover, one partner's gender role ideology was found to affect the other partner's ideology. Education/employment and some personal background variables were significant predictors of wives' gender role ideology, whereas life satisfaction predicted gender role ideology only for husbands.     

Sex-role expectations changes by fathers for their sons

One hundred nineteen white father-son pairs served as subjects in an effort to examine the impact on sex-role redefinitions of boys' behavior as a result of shifting cultural attitudes toward androgyny. Two major questions were addressed: a) Do fathers' general sex-role beliefs influence their attitudes about sex roles they would like their sons to hold? and b) Do fathers' desires for the sex role attitudes they would like their sons to hold influence the attitudes their sons actually hold? A strong, positive relationship between fathers' and sons' sex-role beliefs and expectations emerged, especially among fathers of adolescent boys. The results are discussed in terms of the fathers' role in shaping their sons' beliefs.     

Internalization of Appearance Ideals and Cosmetic Surgery Attitudes: A Test of the Tripartite Influence Model of Body Image

The Tripartite Influence Model of Body Image was adapted to examine the role of body satisfaction, perceived pressure to have cosmetic surgery, and internalization of societal appearance ideals in understanding cosmetic surgery attitudes. Participants were 2,048 men (N?=?445) and women (N?=?1,603) American college students from Florida who completed a range of measures that assessed levels of body satisfaction, perceived appearance pressures, internalization of appearance standards, and cosmetic surgery attitudes. A structural equation model was used to test hypothesized relations independently for men and women. Results indicated a moderate-good fit to the data, with both internalization and body satisfaction mediating the effect of perceived pressures on cosmetic surgery attitudes. Invariance testing revealed significant differences in pathway estimates between samples of men and women. The findings offer further support for the Tripartite Influence Model of Body Image and indicate potential factors that may influence cosmetic surgery attitudes.     

Graduating from high school: The role of gender-related attitudes,self-concept and goal clarity in a major transition in late adolescence

An 11-month longitudinal study (T1: N = 520, M _age = 19 years) investigated the role of gender-related self-concept and goal clarity during the transition period surrounding graduation from upper secondary school in Switzerland. The first assessment took place a few months before graduation and assessed participants' gender-related self-concept (instrumentality, expressivity), gender-role attitudes, goal clarity, and job-related aspirations. Despite the high level of education, gender-related differences in attitudes and self-concept showed that boys endorsed more traditional gender-role attitudes than girls. Relationships between gender-related self-concept and attitudes showed different patterns for girls and boys. Regarding adaptation to the transition, gender-related self-concept predicted change in career-related goal clarity, which, in turn, predicted an increase in life satisfaction over time. Our results highlight the important role of instrumentality, expressivity, and career-related goal clarity during the transition of graduating from high school.     

Intergenerational occupational transmission: Do offspring walk in the footsteps of mom or dad,or both?

The purpose of this research was to apply the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) in order to investigate intergenerational occupational transmission between parents and their children. A sample of 260 undergraduate students completed a questionnaire measuring TPB variables, and congruence was calculated between the parents' occupations and their offspring's chosen profession. Intention to work in the parents' occupations was predicted by attitude, subjective norm and perceived behavioral control. Congruence between parents' and their children's occupational choice was predicted by intention and perceived behavioral control. The findings provide support to the relational approach in career choice. Implications of the findings for career counselors and young people's career choices are discussed.     

Intergenerational occupational transmission: Do offspring walk in the footsteps of mom or dad,or both?

The purpose of this research was to apply the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) in order to investigate intergenerational occupational transmission between parents and their children. A sample of 260 undergraduate students completed a questionnaire measuring TPB variables, and congruence was calculated between the parents' occupations and their offspring's chosen profession. Intention to work in the parents' occupations was predicted by attitude, subjective norm and perceived behavioral control. Congruence between parents' and their children's occupational choice was predicted by intention and perceived behavioral control. The findings provide support to the relational approach in career choice. Implications of the findings for career counselors and young people's career choices are discussed.     

A Longitudinal Application of the Theory of Reasoned Action to Women's Career Behavior1

Based on the theory of reasoned action (TRA; Fishbein & Ajzen, 1975), we hypothesized that young women's career intentions would be predicted by their gender-role attitudes and perceptions of their boyfriends' and parents' career-related preferences for them. Career intention was expected to predict future career behavior. The model was tested using longitudinal data from 105 women studied in 1973 and followed up 14 years later in 1987. Data were analyzed using structural equation modeling. Results supported the TRA: women's gender-role attitudes and their perceptions of important others' preferences predicted their career intentions, which predicted career behavior 14 years later. Implications for the study of women's careers and the longitudinal application of the TRA are discussed.     

Why do right-wing adherents engage in more animal exploitation and meat consumption?

Despite the well-documented implications of right-wing ideological dispositions for human intergroup relations, surprisingly little is understood about the implications for human–animal relations. We investigate why right-wing ideologies – social dominance orientation (SDO) and right-wing authoritarianism (RWA) – positively predict attitudes toward animal exploitation and meat consumption. Two survey studies conducted in heterogeneous community samples (Study 1, N = 260; Study 2, N = 489) demonstrated that right-wing ideologies predict greater acceptance of animal exploitation and more meat consumption through two explaining mechanisms: (a) perceived threat from non-exploitive ideologies to the dominant carnist ideology (for both SDO and RWA) and (b) belief in human superiority over animals (for SDO). These findings hold after controlling for hedonistic pleasure from eating meat. Right-wing adherents do not simply consume more animals because they enjoy the taste of meat, but because doing so supports dominance ideologies and resistance to cultural change. Psychological parallels between human intergroup relations and human–animal relations are considered.     

The Associations between Perceived Maternal Psychological Control and Academic Performance and Academic Self-Concept in Chinese Adolescents: The Mediating Role of Basic Psychological Needs

This study examined the associations between perceived maternal psychological control and adolescent academic functioning in terms of academic performance and academic self-concept. The study also tested the possible mediating role of basic psychological needs to investigate how parental psychological control is related to child academic functioning. A sample of Chinese adolescents (N?=?338) completed a self-administered questionnaire on maternal psychological control, academic self-concept, academic performance and basic psychological needs satisfaction. Structural equation modeling was used for data analyses. Findings of this study revealed that Chinese adolescents’ perceptions of maternal psychological control were associated with their academic self-concept, and furthermore this association was mediated by adolescents’ basic psychological needs satisfaction on autonomy, relatedness and competence. Theoretical and practical implications, as well as future research directions were discussed.     

Marital satisfaction as a function of dyadic gender-role constellations

Abstract

Forty-eight married couples completed Snyder's Marital Satisfaction Inventory and were also categorized with the Bern Sex-role Inventory as androgynous, gender role congruent, gender role incongruent, or undifferentiated. Analyses of variance showed that androgynous couples featured more wives who were dissatisfied regarding child issues. Data are also presented for differential patterns for the individual marital satisfaction indices. Results are compared to data on individual gender-role determinants and are conceptualized in terms of gender-role and communication theory.     

His and Her Perspectives: Gender Ideology, Work-to-Family Conflict, and Marital Satisfaction

This study examines the relationships between gender ideology, work-to-family conflict, and marital satisfaction. We hypothesize that gender ideology will moderate relationships between both the respondent’s work-to-family conflict and their spouse’s work-to-family conflict in predicting marital satisfaction, and that spouses’ gender ideologies will interact in predicting marital satisfaction. The hypotheses are addressed using data from a random sample of U.S. dual-earner couples (N?=?156) in a western state. The findings indicate that the more egalitarian women’s gender ideologies, the stronger the negative relationship between women’s marital satisfaction and women’s work-to-family conflict. The results also indicate that the dependence of men’s marital satisfaction on wives’ gender ideologies varies according to men’s own gender ideologies. Implications of the study are discussed.     

Women's Career Plans and Maternal Employment

Maternal employment, perceived maternal satisfaction and goodness of mothering, and sex role conceptions were studied as they relate to future life plans of college senior women. Twenty-five women in a working mother group and 26 in a nonworking mother group were administered the Strong Vocational Interest Blank for Women, the Sex-Role Stereotype Questionnaire, the Inventory of Feminine Values, the Maternal Satisfaction and Maternal Goodness scales, and the Life Plan Questionnaire. Daughters of working mothers scored higher on career orientation ( p <.01, Life Plan Questionnaire) than did daughters of nonworking mothers. High perceived maternal satisfaction and maternal goodness correlated with low career orientation for the nonworking sample (the averaged r across variable pairs =.48). For the working sample, perceived maternal dissatisfaction with feminine role values correlated significantly with higher career orientation (r =.42), while the other satisfaction measure showed no relation to career orientation. Daughters of working mothers displayed broader sex role conceptualizations (p <0.01).     

Beyond conscientiousness: Career optimism and satisfaction with academic major

The study focuses on psychological predictors of academic major satisfaction. According to the career construction theory (Savickas, 2005), vocational personality and career adaptability should generate career satisfaction. In this study, vocational personality was operationalised as Big Five conscientiousness, and career adaptability was operationalised as generalised self-efficacy and career optimism. A sample (N = 529) of university students completed an online survey. The resultant data were used to construct a structural model of the hypothesised relationships among variables. A good fitting model [χ² = 10.454 (7) p = .164; GFI = .993; CFI = .999; RMSEA < .031 (< .001–.066)] indicated that career optimism fully mediated the relationship between conscientiousness and academic major satisfaction. Results were consistent with previous research into personality and academic performance. Moreover, the results highlight the significant role of optimism in satisfaction with career generally, and studies, specifically. Suggestions are made for future research into modelling the relationships according to different academic disciplines and for the potential role of optimism as a learning objective for career education and counseling.     

The role of chance events in the school-to-work transition: The influence of demographic, personality and career development variables

Chance events are considered important in career development, yet little empirical research is available on their predictors and consequences. The present study investigated socio-demographic (gender, nationality, school-type), personality (openness, locus of control) and career development variables (career decidedness, career planning) in relation to perceived chance events with a retrospective (N = 229, eleventh grade), and 1-year longitudinal prospective study (N = 245, eighth/ninth grade) among Swiss adolescents. The results showed that the majority of both groups reported a significant influence of chance events on their transition from compulsory school to vocational education or high school. Importance of chance events related to socio-demographics and personality but not career preparation. Career preparation and chance events predicted subjective career success in terms of wish correspondence and overall satisfaction with transition outcome among the younger cohort. Implications include the necessity to integrate both thorough career preparation and chance events in theory and counseling practice.