Psychological attributes of career and noncareer married women

Date

1986-05

Journal Title

Journal ISSN

Volume Title

Publisher

Texas Tech University

Abstract

Women simultaneously involved in a marital relationship and a career attempt to blend a traditional female role with a traditional male role. Theory and research suggest that women who place themselves in this position may differ along a number of personality dimensions from women who adopt traditional social roles as homemakers and/or noncareer wage earners. For example, Burke and Weir (1976) found that women in dual career relationships expressed a lower need for intimacy and more masculine characteristics than the homemakers in their study. Hunt and Hunt (19 82) suggest that women in dual career relationships become "'sociological men'--persons who emphasize their public work lives and enjoy the resulting power and independence" (p. 50 4). Overall these suggestions and conclusions combine with others (i.e. Birnbaum, 1971; Holmstrom, 1972; Pepitone-Rockwell, 1980; Rice, 1979) to indicate that compared to their traditional counterparts, women involved in dual career relationships are lower in femininity and intimacy needs and higher in masculinity and achievement motivation.

Description

Keywords

Femininity, Achievement motivation, Housewives, Married women, Sex role

Citation