TIME FOR LOVE: The Place of Marriage and Children in the Thought of Stanley Hauerwas

In essays written throughout his career, Stanley Hauerwas has unfolded a Christian vision of the marriage bond and the presence of children that seeks insistently to place these seemingly natural bonds within the new family of God that is the church. I examine his understanding, aiming to appreciate the Christian vision displayed while also suggesting that his emphasis on the new thing God does in the church is sometimes allowed to absorb and thereby lose the distinctive significance of the created bonds of marriage and family.     

Working Lesbians: Role Conflicts and Coping Strategies

This study investigated areas of interrole and intrarole conflict reported by 79 lesbian working women and factors influencing the types of coping strategies these women used. The three coping strategies identified by Hall (1972) were used to code responses to a questionnaire sent to women on the mailing list of a local lesbian newsletter. The most frequently reported interrole conflicts were between the work and lover roles, and the most frequently reported intrarole conflicts involved the work and daughter roles. Subjects viewed being lesbian as contributing little to their interrole conflicts and as hypothesized, used predominantly role restructuring strategies (Types I and II) to deal with the conflicts. Also, as hypothesized, higher self-esteem was reported by individuals using restructuring strategies than by those using reactant strategies (Type III). In contrast, subjects viewed being lesbian as highly related to their intrarole conflicts, and contrary to predictions, used reactive strategies almost as frequently as role restructuring strategies. Moreover, self-esteem did not differ among subjects using the three strategy types. The unexpected findings for intrarole conflict are discussed in terms of the potential benefits of reactant-avoidant strategies in work situations.     

Versuch einer Theorie des Charakterzuges und deren Anwendung auf ein charakterdiagnostisches Verfahren

Ohne Zusammenfassung     

CORRELATES OF RELATIONSHIP SATISFACTION IN LESBIAN COUPLES

This study broadens the construct of intimate relationships to include the experience of lesbian couples. Various psychological variables were assessed in both partners of 275 lesbian couples who considered themselves to be dual career. Because of the paucity of information on lesbian relationships in the literature, considerable attention is first given to describing this sizable sample. Individual and couple scores on each variable were correlated with relationship satisfaction scores. Among individuals, role conflict and personal autonomy were found to correlate negatively with relationship satisfaction, whereas dyadic attachment, power, intimacy, self-esteem, and life satisfaction were all positively correlated with relationship Satisfaction. Although career commitment was not correlated with relationship satisfaction among individuals, differences between partners'levels of career commitment correlated negatively with each partner's relationship satisfaction. The findings counter extant stereotypes regarding lesbian relationships and provide a more accurate basis for developing an heuristic model of intimate relationships among women.