The purpose of the study was to extend knowledge concerning the influence of self-image congruity and public self-consciousness on clothing behavior from the symbolic consumption perspective. Thus, relationships among the three major constructs, public self-consciousness (PSC), self-image/clothing-image congruity (actual self-congruity, ASC and ideal social-congruity, ISSC) and clothing-style preference (CSP), were examined. The five objectives that guided the study were to discover whether 1) a specific CSP is related to ASC or ISSC; 2) differences in respondents' CSPs among four different clothing styles exist; 3) individual differences in PSC are related to CSPs; 4) individual differences in PSC result in differences in ASC or ISSC; and 5) the Direct Method of measuring ASC or ISSC is more predictive of CSP than the Indirect Method. A 7-point Likert Scale was utilized to elicit responses to the four line drawn clothing-styles depicting the dramatic, sporty, feminine, and classic image. The actual- and ideal social-self were the two referential images of the self. Data were obtained via a mailed self-administered questionnaire from 229 working women who were faculty (75) and staff (154) members of two universities. The instrument includes the two Self-image/Clothing image Congruity Measures, Indirect and Direct Measures, the ClothingStyle Preference Measure, Public Self-consciousness Measure, and Demographic Information. T-tests and Pearson correlations confirmed that working women's clothing style preferences are related to their ASC or ISSC states. One-Way Within Analysis-of-Variance showed that certain clothing styles were considered more socially appropriate than others, and they are, in order of preference, sporty, classic, feminine and then dramatic. Significant and positive relationships were also found between the PSC and Ase (and ISSC) state with the outfits considered to be socially appropriate (sporty and classic), but only by the Direct Method (t-tests and Pearson correlations). Comparing the two methods in predicting the hypothesized relationships, the Direct Method performed better than the Indirect Method. Interpretations of the data were made from the perspective of self-image/product-image congruity theory and self-consciousness theory. Overall results provide further empirical support to the self-image congruity theory. / Ph. D.

The purpose of this study was to identify variables associated with role strain in a sample of 69 dual-career couples. Role strain was defined as the experienced difficulty in meeting role or role-set expectations. The significant contributors to role strain among husbands were age of the youngest child and degree of childcare task sharing. For wives, the significant explainers of role strain were number of children and degree of importance assigned to the parental role. / M.S.

The purpose of this study was to assess college students' attitudes toward pregnancy and women in the work force following the passage of the Family Medical Leave Act of 1993. Data were obtained from 347 students at a university in North Texas during the spring semester of 1997. Gender, age, employment status, parental status, and citizenship were independent variables hypothesized to influence attitudes toward pregnant working women. Gender was significant for the following factors: pregnant women as employees (p<.001), emotional stereotypes (p<.001), choosing family or career (p<.001), and physical limitations (p<.001). Those students 17-19-years-old had a more negative attitude toward pregnant women choosing work over family (p<.001) than did the older students.

Chiu Chu-hing, Catherine. / Thesis (M.Ph.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 1985 / Bibliography: leaves 90-97

黃維波. / 據手稿本影印. / Thesis (M.A.)--香港中文大學敎育學院. / Ju shou gao ben ying yin. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 162-167). / Huang Weibo. / Thesis (M.A.)--Xianggang Zhong wen da xue jiao yu xue yuan. / 圖表目錄 / Chapter 第一章 --- 導論　教育、人力資源與經濟發展 --- p.1 / Chapter 第二章 --- 本港女性勞動力與勞動參與率 --- p.20 / Chapter 第三章 --- 本港各行業女性勞動參與的變化概觀 --- p.30 / Chapter 第四章 --- 本港各職業女性勞動參與的變化概觀 --- p.43 / Chapter 第五章 --- 本港女性教育水平與勞動參與的變化概觀 --- p.64 / Chapter 第六章 --- 一些相關現象：家庭結構、婚姻、生育狀況的變化與勞動參與概觀 --- p.111 / Chapter 第七章 --- 有關文献的討論 --- p.139 / Chapter 第八章 --- 結論 --- p.155 / Chapter 附錄 --- 參考書目 --- p.162

In the past 30 years, China's economic reforms have forced many state-owned factories (SOEs) to collapse, and both men and women workers were dismissed. In urban Northeast China many laid-off women were able to find employment in the service industry and small-scale private businesses, while their husbands had difficulty finding a satisfactory job. As such, the wives became breadwinners of the families. Based on fieldwork data collected through face-to-face interviews, focus group interviews and participant observation, this study examines resultant spousal relationships in the aspects of family finance, domestic division of labor, power relations, and foundation of marriage, as the husband and wife swapped their economic roles at home. This study finds that when women control more economic capital than men in the nuclear family, domestic division of labor, power relations and affection between couples all tend to be more egalitarian. However, the concept of a male-breadwinner family and the gender segregation of space are still popular on material and social levels. Thus without corresponding changes on the ideological level regarding gender, patriarchy will remain dominant on the community and national levels. Analysis on spousal relationships shows that the economic, political and emotional aspects of marriage are interconnected and interactive, and they work together to decide how spousal relationships may be altered in times of rapid social transformation. In the era of market economy, family and marriage values are diversified, and marriage tends to be less stable. However, this study finds that the integrity of family and marriage has been kept in the laid-off workers' families even when spousal relationships face serious challenges caused by unemployment. The reason is that these laid-off workers have formed their gender identities during the socialist era which emphasized the integrity of family and marriage. In the market era, laid off workers have maintained these values and upheld the integrity of marriage and family as the fundamental standard for being a good man or good woman. In this process, spousal relationship becomes a mechanism of governance by making individuals gendered subjects. / Lu, Ming. / Thesis (M.Phil.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2012. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 161-176). / Electronic reproduction. Hong Kong : Chinese University of Hong Kong, [2012] System requirements: Adobe Acrobat Reader. Available via World Wide Web. / Abstract --- p.i / Acknowledgements --- p.iii / Chapter Chapter 1 --- Introduction --- p.1 / Background --- p.1 / Literature review --- p.11 / Methodology --- p.25 / Structure of thesis --- p.28 / Chapter Chapter 2 --- Family & Marriage in China --- p.31 / The patricentric Chinese family as ideology and praxis --- p.31 / The family and marriage under state feminism --- p.39 / The family in Post-Mao China --- p.47 / Chapter Chapter 3 --- Dealing with Financial Crisis at Home --- p.56 / Xiagang as a gradual process --- p.56 / The genderedness of re-employment & wives as breadwinners --- p.69 / Besieged masculinity --- p.75 / Women’s success in small-scale private businesses --- p.79 / Chapter Chapter 4 --- Whose Work Is It? --- p.86 / State feminism vs. housework --- p.86 / Childcare: work and authority --- p.96 / The praxis of family authority --- p.100 / Chapter Chapter 5 --- Changing Foundation of marriage --- p.113 / Obliged freedom: Match-making and marriage in the 1970-80s --- p.114 / Marriage and unemployment --- p.122 / Companionship in marriage vs. obliged couples --- p.136 / Chapter Chapter 6 --- Conclusion --- p.144 / References Cited --- p.161

The present thesis is concerned with professional women in Jeddah, Saudia Arabia. Because of the social changes taking place in Saudi Arabia, the position of women is subject to both traditional and modernistic influences. While an increasing number of females are receiving higher education and expanding their aspirations , the traditional cultural values dealing with woman's role in the family are still an important consideration. The thesis is based on the theoretical perspective that the individual role system is over-demanding. Fulfilling role demands causes difficulty or "strain"; if a person conforms fully in one direction, fulfillment will be difficult in another.

The aim of the present study was to compare the values and achievement motivation of managerial and non-managerial female employees within the banking industry in South Africa.This research investigation was primarily aimed at determining whether there is a difference between these two groups in terms of their values and their achievement motivation and, if there is such a difference, whether this is a key to an understanding of upward mobility in women. One hundred and twenty-one female subjects were selected from four different financial institutions in the banking industry to participate in the project. The Values Questionnaire and the Achievement Motivation Questionnaire were administered to the subjects under controlled conditions. The values include sense of belonging, security, self-respect, warm relationships with others, fun and enjoyment in life, being well respected, sense of accomplishment, self-fulfilment and excitement. The achievement motivation factors include goal directedness which comprises persistence, awareness of time and action orientation, and personal excellence comprising aspiration level and personal causation. After the data was statistically analysed using intercorrelation, a number of significant relationships were found between the values for the total sample, the managerial and the non-managerial subject group, and between the achievement motivation factors for each of these three groups. When the t-test was applied, no significant differences were found between the managerial and the non-managerial groups in terms of their values, but when considering their achievement motivation, a significant difference emerged in terms of aspiration level. Correlations revealed a number of significant relationships between the values and the achievement motivation factors for both the managerial and the non-managerial subjects. Finally, using analysis of variance (ANOVA), significant relationships were found between a number of the biographical variables and the values both of the managerial and the non-managerial groups, and between the biographical variables and the achievement motivation both of the managerial and the non-managerial groups. Various tentative explanations for these findings have been provided. / Thesis (M.A.)-University of Natal, Durban, 1995.

M.A. / One of the most significant trends of our time, manifesting world wide as well as in South Africa and affecting family life extensively, is the continuous rise in the rate of married women entering the labour market. The increasing interface between work and family life, within the work/ family spillover model, has led to the conventional belief that female employment, due to the stress within the work-situation, and marital dissolution are causally related. In more recent studies however, researchers are no longer concentrating only on the detrimental effects of the dual-earner family lifestyle, but are increasingly investigating intervening variables which alleviate stress in dual-earner families and which could actually contribute to higher experience of marital integration and quality. As a result of this perspective on family life of the working married woman, the question arose as to what the situation in this regard in South Africa may be. The aim with this research was to determine the nature of the mediating influence of intervening variables on the correlation between the woman's participation in the labour market and her experience of marital integration. Respondents from Johannesburg, East Rand, West Rand and Pretoria were selected by means of purposive and snowball sampling. A total of 300 respondents completed a questionnaire, which included items on biographical information and Likert type questions regarding the respondents' experiences of both family and work related aspects. In order to measure these aspects, eight scales were developed by means of factor analysis and item analysis, namely the respondent's experience of her husband's performance of domestic obligations; her husband's care-taking of the children; her husband's performance of emotion work; her commitment to growth in the marriage; her experience of marital integration; her involvement in her work; her experience of occupational stress; and occupational satisfaction. An analysis was made to determine the differences between groups that can be divided into more numerous discreet categories, by making use of multivariate and one-way analysis of variance and Scheffe's paired comparisons, as well as Hotelling T 2 and t-tests and Pearson's product-moment correlation coefficients. Three regression models were developed in order to determine the predictors of marital integration, involvement in work and occupational satisfaction. The following results regarding the family related scales were found: Respondents experience their husbands' performance of emotion work to a greater degree, than their husbands' performance of domestic obligations and care-taking of the children. In comparison with the other scales, the respondent's experience of her husband's performance of emotion work indicated the highest statistical significant correlation with her experience of marital integration. Therefore the husband's performance of emotion work may be considered as a very important variable in predicting the working wife's experience of marital integration. In the case of the correlation between the family related and the work related scales, it was found that, unlike the respondent's experience of occupational stress, both the respondent's commitment to work and her experience of occupational satisfaction indicated a statistical significant correlation with her experience of marital integration. By means of path analysis, it was possible to determine that in both the models for path analysis in the case of marital integration (endogenous variable) and involvement in work (exogenous variable), -and in—the case—of marital—integration (endogenous variable) and occupational satisfaction (exogenous variable),, in the event of controlling for the family related variables, the partial correlations between marital integration and involvement in work, as well as between marital integration and occupational satisfaction, declined. Therefore it may be said that the family related variables, namely the respondent's commitment to growth in the marriage; her experience of her husband's performance of emotion work; her experience of her husband's care-taking of the children; and her experience of her husband's performance of domestic obligations, may lead to an enhancement of the working married woman's experience of marital integration. Knowledge of these intervening variables may not only help the dual-earner family in coping with the strenuous dilemmas, but may actually contribute to a better marital and familial relationship.

This thesis examines the strategy of community economic development (CED) to potentially alleviate some of the hardships women experience in obtaining both adequate income through employment and access to transitional (crisis) housing. These two distinct yet inter-related problems have been selected to provide a manageable scope for this thesis and as a result of my own keen interest and involvement in these two areas: employment and crisis housing for women. Indeed, as a comprehensive development strategy, CED may provide the means to effectively deal with the broader complex of disadvantages such as social and economic dependency, marginalization and isolation by providing opportunities for independence and social change. Women are concentrated in low paid occupations, earn 62% of what men earn (1980), experience high unemployment and a number of employment barriers including subtle and/or overt discrimination and a double burden of work and family responsibilities. Women earn 30% (1980) of the total income in B.C., experience a disproportionate amount of poverty as individuals and as single parent family heads, and are twice as likely as men to report government transfer payments as our main source of income. In addition, one in ten women who are married or in a live-in relationship with a lover is battered, and only 50% have access to a transition house or hostel which accepts women who are battered. Due to full capacities, those houses that do exist regularly must refuse access. CED is a very simple concept intended to address very serious and complex economic and social conditions. The ultimate goal is to improve the quality of life of community members through community initiated and supported economic and social activity which generates employment, wealth, community benefit and a great degree of self-esteem. Community is defined here as women who share a common view or ideology and interest in employment and crisis housing provisions. Through the development of women's enterprises, employment may be generated and profits channelled to the creation and operation of transition houses. CED provides a means for incremental change through planning, and specifically, women planning for women to take greater control of our lives. Having entered a "new reality" within this province complete with restraint and privatization and increasing unemployment with associated economic and social costs, CED appears increasingly favourable, particularly for women. Unemployment and violence is increasing while resources and solutions lacking. The opportunity to examine the potential of CED to meet the objectives as stated is provided through the development of a potential scenario and considerations which must be made to increase the probability of success. If women are to experiment with CED, thorough planning must occur within a long-term development strategy. CED is not easy and provides no quick-fix solution to the disadvantages women experience. When consideration of organizational activities, capacity levels and other factors required for success is undertaken, in addition to a realistic examination of the potential and obstacles for CED, good results may occur. CED should be approached both enthusiastically and cautiously. It is my hope that women's organizations will take up the challenge and test the potential. / Applied Science, Faculty of / Community and Regional Planning (SCARP), School of / Graduate