Family-functioning, sex-role ideology, psychological androgyny and self-actualisation in dual-career and traditional families
| dc.contributor.advisor | Saayman, Graham | en_ZA |
| dc.contributor.author | Singer, Vivien Sorelle | en_ZA |
| dc.date.accessioned | 2016-02-15T07:12:34Z | |
| dc.date.available | 2016-02-15T07:12:34Z | |
| dc.date.issued | 1984 | en_ZA |
| dc.description | BIbliography: pages 142-155. | en_ZA |
| dc.description.abstract | The steadily increasing numbers in employed married women and the rise of feminist sex-role ideology are factors indicating change in the role and status of women in Western society. There is movement away from the traditional gender-based role allocation towards increased role-sharing. This trend is embodied in the dual-career family, which necessitates adaptive changes in individual men and women and in government and institutional policies. To better understand the current nature of the dual-career family, this study compared fourteen dual-career husbands and wives with fourteen traditional husbands and wives on four selected variables, namely: (1) family-functioning, primarily to assess whether dual-career and traditional families function equally well; (2) sex-role ideology, which provides a context in which role changes are occurring; (3) psychological androgyny, a concept which finds expression in an age seeking alternatives to masculine and feminine stereotypes; and (4) self-actualisation, as theoretically the dual-career family offers opportunities for increased personal fulfilment. The scales used were: Smilkstein's Family APGAR (1978), Smith et. al.'s FEM-scale (1975), Bern's Sex-Role Inventory (1974) and Shostrom's Personal Orientation Inventory (1963). Previous research, particularly regarding the role of dual-career husbands, has not consistently confirmed predictions based on theory. Consequently, this study is observational, not predictive. The results indicated no significant differences on family-functioning; dual-career and traditional husbands and wives all rated their families as well-functioning. Self-actualisation scores, though not statistically significant, suggested trends inconsistent with theory and previous research, in indicating that traditional husbands, dual-career husbands and dual-career wives are similarly inner-directed and that traditional husbands are more inner-directed than traditional wives. This may have been due to difficulties with the POI. Statistically significant differences were found in sex-role ideology scores, with dual-career wives scoring more pro-feminist (p < 0,05) than traditional wives and dual-career husbands. Although the scores for psychological androgyny could not be statistically assessed, the results suggested a trend for more dual-career wives to be androgynous than traditional wives and dual-career husbands. The median test indicated a significant statistical relationship between sex-role ideology and androgyny and "cross-sex-typedness" (p = 0,0007). No other statistically significant relationships were found between the variables, except for a significant positive correlation (p < 0,05) between the two sub-scales of the POI. Discrepancies between dual-career husbands and wives on sex-role ideology and androgyny did not appear to affect family-functioning adversely. Possible explanations for this include their hiring of domestic servants, thus reducing the need for husbands to make adaptive role changes; and several indications that the wives continue to identify with the traditional female role. These features imply that these dual-career families are not fully egalitarian; husbands and wives still tend to allocate responsibility and commitment to roles in accordance with the traditional model. | en_ZA |
| dc.identifier.apacitation | Singer, V. S. (1984). <i>Family-functioning, sex-role ideology, psychological androgyny and self-actualisation in dual-career and traditional families</i>. (Thesis). University of Cape Town ,Faculty of Humanities ,Department of Psychology. Retrieved from http://hdl.handle.net/11427/17022 | en_ZA |
| dc.identifier.chicagocitation | Singer, Vivien Sorelle. <i>"Family-functioning, sex-role ideology, psychological androgyny and self-actualisation in dual-career and traditional families."</i> Thesis., University of Cape Town ,Faculty of Humanities ,Department of Psychology, 1984. http://hdl.handle.net/11427/17022 | en_ZA |
| dc.identifier.citation | Singer, V. 1984. Family-functioning, sex-role ideology, psychological androgyny and self-actualisation in dual-career and traditional families. University of Cape Town. | en_ZA |
| dc.identifier.ris | TY - Thesis / Dissertation AU - Singer, Vivien Sorelle AB - The steadily increasing numbers in employed married women and the rise of feminist sex-role ideology are factors indicating change in the role and status of women in Western society. There is movement away from the traditional gender-based role allocation towards increased role-sharing. This trend is embodied in the dual-career family, which necessitates adaptive changes in individual men and women and in government and institutional policies. To better understand the current nature of the dual-career family, this study compared fourteen dual-career husbands and wives with fourteen traditional husbands and wives on four selected variables, namely: (1) family-functioning, primarily to assess whether dual-career and traditional families function equally well; (2) sex-role ideology, which provides a context in which role changes are occurring; (3) psychological androgyny, a concept which finds expression in an age seeking alternatives to masculine and feminine stereotypes; and (4) self-actualisation, as theoretically the dual-career family offers opportunities for increased personal fulfilment. The scales used were: Smilkstein's Family APGAR (1978), Smith et. al.'s FEM-scale (1975), Bern's Sex-Role Inventory (1974) and Shostrom's Personal Orientation Inventory (1963). Previous research, particularly regarding the role of dual-career husbands, has not consistently confirmed predictions based on theory. Consequently, this study is observational, not predictive. The results indicated no significant differences on family-functioning; dual-career and traditional husbands and wives all rated their families as well-functioning. Self-actualisation scores, though not statistically significant, suggested trends inconsistent with theory and previous research, in indicating that traditional husbands, dual-career husbands and dual-career wives are similarly inner-directed and that traditional husbands are more inner-directed than traditional wives. This may have been due to difficulties with the POI. Statistically significant differences were found in sex-role ideology scores, with dual-career wives scoring more pro-feminist (p < 0,05) than traditional wives and dual-career husbands. Although the scores for psychological androgyny could not be statistically assessed, the results suggested a trend for more dual-career wives to be androgynous than traditional wives and dual-career husbands. The median test indicated a significant statistical relationship between sex-role ideology and androgyny and "cross-sex-typedness" (p = 0,0007). No other statistically significant relationships were found between the variables, except for a significant positive correlation (p < 0,05) between the two sub-scales of the POI. Discrepancies between dual-career husbands and wives on sex-role ideology and androgyny did not appear to affect family-functioning adversely. Possible explanations for this include their hiring of domestic servants, thus reducing the need for husbands to make adaptive role changes; and several indications that the wives continue to identify with the traditional female role. These features imply that these dual-career families are not fully egalitarian; husbands and wives still tend to allocate responsibility and commitment to roles in accordance with the traditional model. DA - 1984 DB - OpenUCT DP - University of Cape Town LK - https://open.uct.ac.za PB - University of Cape Town PY - 1984 T1 - Family-functioning, sex-role ideology, psychological androgyny and self-actualisation in dual-career and traditional families TI - Family-functioning, sex-role ideology, psychological androgyny and self-actualisation in dual-career and traditional families UR - http://hdl.handle.net/11427/17022 ER - | en_ZA |
| dc.identifier.uri | http://hdl.handle.net/11427/17022 | |
| dc.identifier.vancouvercitation | Singer VS. Family-functioning, sex-role ideology, psychological androgyny and self-actualisation in dual-career and traditional families. [Thesis]. University of Cape Town ,Faculty of Humanities ,Department of Psychology, 1984 [cited yyyy month dd]. Available from: http://hdl.handle.net/11427/17022 | en_ZA |
| dc.language.iso | eng | en_ZA |
| dc.publisher.department | Department of Psychology | en_ZA |
| dc.publisher.faculty | Faculty of Humanities | en_ZA |
| dc.publisher.institution | University of Cape Town | |
| dc.subject.other | Psychology | en_ZA |
| dc.title | Family-functioning, sex-role ideology, psychological androgyny and self-actualisation in dual-career and traditional families | en_ZA |
| dc.type | Master Thesis | |
| dc.type.qualificationlevel | Masters | |
| dc.type.qualificationname | MA | en_ZA |
| uct.type.filetype | Text | |
| uct.type.filetype | Image | |
| uct.type.publication | Research | en_ZA |
| uct.type.resource | Thesis | en_ZA |
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