The relationship among role strain, coping, and stress was quantitatively assessed using responses from 190 dual-career husbands and wives. Cluster analysis of stress scores resulted in the adoption of a six-cluster solution. MANOVA on role strain confirmed a significant effect by Cluster, F(15,455)=8.92, p=.001. Post hoc analyses indicated that Cluster VI had significantly lower scores from all other clusters on all three role categories: marital, professional, and parental. Cluster I had significantly higher scores than Cluster v and VI on all three role strain categories. MANOVA on coping strategies confirmed a significant effect by Cluster, F(35,709)=1.95, p=.001. Although individuals in this sample reported low to moderate strain and stress, significant variation existed within the sample. Individuals experiencing the lowest strain and stress employed two coping responses most often, Delegating Responsibility and Cognitive Restructuring. The results are explained with regard to stage of career and family development and child care concerns. / Ph. D.

This study examined age span between children as a significant factor which affected the time use of wives and husbands in 1,983 two-parent, two-child families. Data were derived from the Northeastern Regional Project, NE 113, sponsored by the Science and Education Administration of the United States Department of Agriculture. Using a multiple regression technique to investigate the individual activities that comprised household work time, it was found that age of the younger child, age of the older child, and age span, the interaction between the ages of the children, were significantly related to and were responsible for 49% of the variation in wives’ and nearly 16% of the variation in husbands’ time devoted to the physical care of other family members. Age span was not related to travel time use for any activity but was significantly related to secondary time use for non-physical care of family members by both parents. Age span, the interaction variable, accounted for differences between the ages of the children and explained the variation in effects of the differences at various ages. Plotting the significant interactions revealed five patterns of time use. The most prevalent pattern was when the age of the younger child was very young and the age of the older child increased, the most time was used for the activity; as the age of the younger child approached school age, and the age of the older child increased, the amount of time used for the activity leveled off, or, neither increased or decreased. Then, as the age of the younger child increased still further, and the age of the older child increased, time used for the activity, increased. This pattern fit wives’ time used for total work, household work, and physical care of family members; husbands’ time used for physical care of family members; and both parents’ secondary time used for physical care of family members. Wives’ time used for paid work and volunteer work followed an opposite pattern. The data have show that spacing of children has a direct bearing on parents’ time use decisions. / Ph. D. / incomplete_metadata

The stress process was examined for a sample of 94 dual-career women. The relationship between sources (role strain), mediators (coping responses, psychological resources of self-esteem and low self-denigration, number and age of children), and outcome (feelings associated with role strains) was quantitatively assessed via factor analysis to determine the efficacy of mediators in the stress process. Seven coping strategies were identified: Cognitive Restructuring, Delegating Responsibility, Limiting Responsibility, Integrating Work and Family, Avoiding Responsibility, and Using Social Support. Results indicated that strain accounts for a large portion of the variation in stress. Cognitive Restructuring was the most crucial coping response in the stress process, having the greatest effect in reducing not only strain, but also stress; low self-denigration was the most critical psychological resource, buffering both strain and stress levels. Limiting Responsibility was associated with higher levels of strain. In addition, stress was found to increase as number of children increased and as age of youngest child decreased. / Master of Science

No description available.

The objective of this research was to explore perceived stress and role conflict that dual-career couples are facing in South Africa. The relationship between work and family is a common topic in the field of Industrial and Organisational Psychology. Research has been conducted in other countries, in particular the United States; however not much research has been undertaken in South Africa. Hence, the purpose of this study was to explore the effect of stress and role-conflict on dual-career couples and the relationship on work-family balance in this context. This research aimed to look at gender differences on work-family conflict, in an attempt to understand perceived role conflict and the interplay of spillover on dual-career couples. A cross-sectional research design with a snowball sampling technique was used. The sample obtained for this research comprised of 105 participants who fulfilled the dual-career couple status. The Work Family Linkage Questionnaire (WFLQ) by Sumer and Knight (2001), with two additional questions on stress included by the researcher, were used as the measuring instrument. The results indicated that there were statistically and practically significant relationships between perceived stress and role-conflict in the different domains. Although no statistically significant results were obtained in the gender experience of role-conflict, when looking at the mean scores it was evident that men and women experienced role conflict differently. There were no significant differences between dual-career couples with and without children across all the sub-scales. However, the descriptive statistics suggested that dual-career couples without children experienced higher stress caused by work life than their counterparts with children. For future research it is recommended that more questions on stress be added, and also that variance in sample size of gender and couples with children and without children be increased as this was also a limitation of the current research. / Thesis (M.Soc.Sc.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, 2012.

The application of the systems concept to the individual, the family, and the organization predicts that these systems will interact in such a manner that events in one system will correlate with events in the other systems. The purpose of this study is to investigate one area of system interaction, stress creation and stress outcomes. A search of the literature revealed little empirical research pertaining to the interaction between the family environment and the work environment. However, from the available literature a model of work-family interaction was developed. The model hypothesized specific relation ships between variables within and between the family environment, the work environment, type A behavior, job outcomes of perceived productivity and satisfaction, and the stress outcome of illness. To test the hypothesized relationships of the model a questionnaire was developed and distributed via intercompany mail to mid-level managers of the customer service division of an international airline. Returned usable questionnaires (N = 89) were scored and analyzed using appropriate statistical techniques.

Longitudinal data from 113 dual-career couples are used to explore the relationship between perceptions of marital equity and well-being and distress in marital, professional, and parental roles, how perceptions of equity change over time, and to examine efforts to restore equity. Differences in well-being and distress in roles are identified by gender and equity group. study results indicate that for both spouses, perceptions of inequity are associated with lower marital well-being and higher marital distress; however, under benefited wives reported higher professional well-being and under benefited husbands reported higher parental well-being. Couple perceptions of equity decreased between 1986 and 1990; under benefited husbands were more likely to use threats and bargaining to negotiate for relationship changes while wives sought counseling. Results demonstrate the importance of using multiple measures of well-being and distress and including gender and equity type in investigations of marital equity. / Ph. D.

D.Litt. et Phil. / In recent research studies that have been done within the cadre of family sociology, researchers have emphasised the fact that the role of the man in the family is an important topic. This interest in the role of the husband/father has been facilitated by significant trends and changes of our time, manifesting world-wide, as well as in South Africa. These trends, such as the continuous rise in the rate of married women entering the labour market and the accompanying issues raised by changes in terms of the spouses' participation in household and childcare responsibilities, affect family life extensively. More researchers and theorists are now focussing on the shift from the man's role in the family as sole breadwinner to that of the active nurturant father within the context of a marital relationship characterised by companionship and an equal partnership between the spouses. For several decades the focus in South Africa, as in the case of other countries, fell on the increasing interface between work and family life, within the work/family spillover model, as experienced by the working married woman and how her marital and familial relationships are influenced by it. While it is clear from these research results, especially from those studies conducted in South Africa, that most men are no longer the sole or primary breadwinner in the family, it is less clear what new patterns of commitment and involvement these men are developing with regard to their family life. A related methodological shortcoming of sociological research on the husband/father role to date is that much of these research projects have relied on the wife/mother's report on her husband's attitude towards domestic responsibilities, his spousal and paternal conduct and the quality of the father-child relationship. As a result of this perspective on the changing role of the husband/father, the question arose as to what the situation in South Africa might be. The aim of this research was to shed light on the man's perception of his roles as husband and father in the dual-earner family and to what extent this perception may or may not stand in relationship to his experience of marital integration. In this quantitative research project the respondents were selected from the Gauteng area by means of purposive and snowball sampling.

Includes bibliographical references (leaves 193-206) / This thesis describes a family variation among urban Nigerian couples called a commuter marriage. A commuter marriage in this study is defined as a union between a dual earner/dual career couple where the husband and wife have decided to live apart from each other due to work commitments until such a time as is convenient for them to live continuously together again. This separation is mainly undertaken to improve their financial and career prospects. The study seeks to understand what dynamics are involved in a commuter marriage in Jos, Plateau State. The Life Course Perspective, with a focus on the gendered life course perspective, serves as a theoretical framework for this study. The perspective assumes that families undergoing the same transitions are likely to display the same characteristics which may not be necessarily relevant for all families in the same life stage, while the gendered life course perspective acknowledges the gendered context. At the same time the cultural context of the Nigerian society in terms of family norms are taken into account. An overview of commuter marriages, including characteristics of commuter marriages and non-traditional marriages linked to commuter marriages are provided. The differences between established and adjusting couples were repeatedly underlined. The research has an underlying interpretivist paradigm, therefore a qualitative research methodology was deemed best for the study. A semi-structured interview guide and time diaries were used to obtain data from seventeen participants. It was found that a commuter marriage is costly financially, socially and emotionally. An emphasis on the male provider and the wife as the manager of the resources was highlighted. Commuter couples report that their greatest support system constitute their family members who show the most understanding to their situation. Commuter fathers were generally passionate about their fatherly roles, but had conflicting feelings about balancing work and family, feeling the family is losing out. Generally, commuter couples in this study showed a sincere desire for the commuting relationship not to span an indefinite amount of time. / Sociology / D. Phil. (Sociology)