Thesis (M.S.)--Oregon State University, 2006. / Printout. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 55-60). Also available on the World Wide Web.

Die motivering vir die studie was die leemte aan en behoefte vir navorsing oor dubbelloopbaanhuwelike en tussenrolkonflik in Suid-Afrika. Die doelstelling was om vas te stel of daar 'n verband tussen tussenrolkonflik en werkstevredenheid by egpare in dubbelloopbaanhuwelike bestaan, en of eggenotes in sodanige huwelike tussenrolkonflik en werkstevredenheid verskillend ervaar. 'n Teoretiese ondersoek oor tussenrolkonflik en werkstevredenheid is gedoen. Die empiriese ondersoek het bestaan uit die meting van hierdie veranderlikes met behulp van Tussenrolkonflik- en Behoeftebevredigingsvraelyste. Die resultate toon aan dat daar geen statisties beduidende verbande tussen die veranderlikes bestaan nie. Daar bestaan ook geen statisties beduidende verskille tussen mans en vroue in dubbelloopbaanhuwelike ten opsigte van hul ervaring van tussenrolkonflik en werkstevredenheid nie. Die studie dra by tot 'n beter begrip van tussenrolkonflik in dubbelloopbaanhuwelike, en toon aan dat die Tussenrolkonflikvraelys betroubare resultate in die Suid-Afrikaanse konteks kan lewer. Die resultate toon egter dat wyer, meer gesofistikeerde navorsing belangrik is. / In order to fill the gap in existing research on the topic, this study was undertaken to establish whether a relationship exists between interrole conflict and job satisfaction in married couples with full time careers, and whether these couples experience interrole conflict and job satisfaction differently. A theoretical study regarding interrole conflict and job satisfaction was undertaken. In the empirical study these variables were measured using Need Satisfaction and lnterrole Conflict Questionnaires. No statistically significant relationships were found between interrole conflict and job satisfaction; and no statistically significant differences exist between men and women with regard to their experience of job satisfaction and interrole conflict. The research contributes towards a better understanding of interrole conflict in dual career marriages, and indicates that the lnterrole Conflict Questionnaire can deliver reliable results in the South African context. However, the results show the importance of wider, more sophisticated research. / Industrial and Organisational Psychology / MCOM (Bedrysielkunde)

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M.A. / Primary malignant brain tumours (PMBTs) are devastating diagnoses that result in the swift deterioration of neurological functioning. The life expectancy of the patient from the time of diagnosis is between three and 12 months. This illness trajectory is characterised by loss of functional abilities such as walking, talking and writing; increasing cognitive impairments such as loss of executive functioning, speech difficulties and problems with comprehension; and the presence of neuropsychiatric symptoms such as depression, anxiety, apathy and aggression. Since treatment is primarily palliative rather than curative, family members and specifically spouses are required to care for PMBT patients in the home setting. The daily challenges of caring for a spouse with a PMBT have a significant impact on the emotional functioning of the caregiver. Although other studies have examined the experiences of various family members of PMBT patients, this research is the first phenomenological study, which investigates the emotional experiences in particular, with a focus on female spouses of PMBT patients. Other studies have also failed to describe the experience of caregivers throughout the entire course of the illness trajectory, that is, from pre-diagnostic symptoms, until the time of death. Therefore, this study attempts to enter the life-world of female spouses of PMBT patients in order to describe their emotional experiences from the time that prediagnostic symptoms manifested, throughout the disease trajectory, and until the death of the patient. A descriptive phenomenological method of enquiry was chosen to achieve this end. Three female spouses of PMBT patients were sourced and interviewed for the purposes of this study. Their husbands had passed away from a PMBT approximately three years prior. Open-ended interviews were conducted in order to elicit their emotional experiences during their husbands’ illness trajectory. The interviews were transcribed verbatim with the inclusion of non-verbal cues where relevant. This data was then analysed using a sequential phenomenological approach. Common themes were integrated to form the essential structure of a female spouse’s emotional experience of her husband’s PMBT illness. These themes were also discussed in conjunction with the literature review to support their validity. The themes that emerged fell within four distinct time periods. The period before diagnosis, at diagnosis, during the course of the illness and at the time of death. Themes that emerged during the research interview were found to be pertinent and were also discussed.

In this dissertation, I explore various fundamental challenges of inequality that developing countries continue to grapple with. The first chapter seeks to understand the role of social and cultural norms in explaining the persistent gender gaps in the labor markets. The second chapter studies how schooling decisions are made in the presence of liquidity constraints. Both the above questions are answered in the context of India. The third chapter adds to our understanding of the relationship between decision-making power within households and intimate partner violence in the context of Sub-Saharan Africa. Despite recent gains in women's educational attainment and reproductive agency, substantial gender gaps in the labor market still remain, particularly in developing countries. In my first chapter, I study the impact of culture and social norms in explaining this puzzle in the Indian setting. In particular, I examine the role of the male-breadwinner norm, which dictates that husbands should earn more than their wives. I first establish a sharp discontinuity in the distribution of the share of the wife's income at the point where the wife’s income exceeds the husband's income. I theoretically show that this pattern can be best explained by gender identity norms which make couples averse to a situation where the wife earns more than her husband. I also provide empirical evidence that this aversion has real implications for the labor market outcomes of the wife. First, the wife is less likely to participate in market activities if her potential income is likely to exceed her husband’s. Second, she earns less than her potential if she does work and can potentially out-earn her husband. Evidence from observing couples over time and bunching methods supplement these results. Moreover, these results are more pronounced in couples where the husband is making the labor market decisions of the wife and where other regressive gender norms are prevalent. My second chapter, co-authored with Dhruv Jain, studies the importance of liquidity constraints in determining the schooling decisions of households in developing countries. Evidence across developing countries suggests that parents are often credit-constrained when making schooling decisions for their children. But little is known about the severity of this constraint. In this chapter, we ask if temporary shocks to liquidity affect parents’ decisions regarding the schooling of their children. We use a shock to available cash in the economy induced by India’s 2016 demonetization to identify this effect. The policy made 86% of currency-in-circulation illegal overnight, and individuals could deposit old notes at the bank in exchange for new ones but with significant withdrawal limits. We identify the impacts of demonetization’s severity by leveraging discontinuities in banking access across Indian districts. Difference-in-discontinuity estimates show that districts that experienced more severe liquidity shock saw an increase in dropouts from private schools but no effect in free public schools, consistent with the presence of real credit constraints. Moreover, enrollments in future periods remained unchanged, suggesting a more permanent effect. The third chapter of my dissertation, co-authored with Aletheia Donald, Cheryl Doss and Markus Goldstein, studies the relationship between decision-making within households and its impact on intimate partner violence (IPV) in 12 Sub-Saharan African countries where 36% of women are affected by IPV. Using the wife’s responses to survey questions, we find that compared to joint decision-making, sole decision-making by the husband is associated with a 3.3 percentage point higher incidence of physical IPV in the last year, while sole decision-making by the wife is associated with a 10 percentage point higher incidence. Similar patterns hold for emotional and sexual violence. When we include the combined responses of the husband and wife about decision-making in the analysis, we identify joint decision-making as protective only when spouses agree that decisions are made jointly. Notably, agreement on joint decision-making is associated with lower IPV than agreement on decision-making by the husband. Constructs undergirding common IPV theories, namely attitudes towards violence, similarity of preferences, marital capital, and bargaining, do not explain the relationship. Our results are instead consistent with joint decision-making as a mechanism that allows spouses to share responsibility and mitigate conflict if the decision is later regretted.

This is a longitudinal couples therapy process study using coded data from eleven couples to identify which therapist behaviors (warmth, listener responsiveness, communication, dominance) influenced positive couples exchanges (warmth and listener responsiveness) over time in Emotionally Focused Couples Therapy (EFT). A mixed effects model was used to examine within- and between-individual variability. Men and women were modeled separately. A series of two-level multilevel models of change were examined, where Time is Level 1 and Individual is Level 2. Results indicated no significant relationship between variables of therapist warmth, listener responsiveness, communication, and dominance with couple listener responsiveness. Where client warmth was an outcome variable, the only significant relationship was between therapist warmth toward husband and husband warmth toward wife. Findings demonstrated that 62.9% of the variance in husband warmth toward wife was accounted for by therapist warmth to husband across time in therapy. Specifically, therapist warmth toward husband was significantly and positively related to husband warmth toward wife over time in therapy. Clinical implications and directions for future research are discussed.

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.

The relationship between marital negotiation strategies and various context and outcome factors are examined using responses from 249 women and men. Multiple regression analysis confirmed significant links between context factors and negotiation strategies. Self-esteem was important in explaining degree of reliance on some types of negotiation, as was emotional interdependence and perceived past cooperativeness of the marital partner. Training in communication skills did not affect women's style of negotiation but was significant for men. The strategy of simply telling the spouse what is wanted or needed was more important to reaching agreement and having a sense of fairness about the outcome than were strategies like bargaining, reasoning or threatening. These findings are discussed within a theoretical framework that gives consideration to negotiation as a process important to understanding marital power. / Ph. D.

Specifically, the study was designed to operationalize and test a systems model of management for (1) the independent effects of input and throughput in the prediction of output, as well as (2) the causal relationships among the composite input and throughput variables in the prediction of output. Demands, material resources, and human resources comprised input, including time use over a seven day period aggregated into four categories. Using Varimax rotated principal components analysis, eight factors were extracted from 34 items assessing managerial behavior. The resulting dimension scale scores represented throughput in the model. Output, by definition. encompasses individual satisfaction. Using Varimax rotated principal components analysis, seven factors were extracted from 19 questions assessing life satisfaction. The resulting dimension scores. representing satisfaction with personal belongingness, economic status, family. household production, personal autonomy. self-esteem, and educational attainment, were the dependent variables for the subsequent analysis. An additional dependent variable assessing satisfaction with life was calculated. Regresssion analyses and related F tests revealed that the equations incorporating input and throughput from both numbers of the couple were superior to those using predictor variables from only one spouse. Similar analysis revealed that inclusion of throughput significantly increased the explanation of variance for both spouses. Significant predictor variables were aggregated into input and throughput composites for path analysis of the causal relationship. Results provided some support for the proposition that output is a function of input and throughput. The direct effects of input on output were consistently stronger than the indirect effects as mediated by throughput. In general. results of the study supported the model specification and relationships. Results clearly verified the prediction of satisfaction as an output. Explanation of variance for the wives generally exceeded that for the husbands. The diversity of the aspects of life satisfaction supported the proposed broad applicability of management theory. / Ph. D.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the strengths/weaknesses of the stroke spouse/stroke caregiver relationship in relation to the cerebral hemisphere affected by the stroke, the gender of the stroke spouse, the functional capacity of the stroke spouse, the length of time since the stroke, and the socioeconomic status of the couple. Forty stroke spouses, who had received medical rehabilitation at four medical facilities (Woodrow Wilson Rehabilitation Center, Waynesboro Community Hospital, Chambersburg Hospital, and Blue Ridge Rehabilitation Hospital), and stroke caregivers were interviewed regarding their pre- and post-stroke marital relationship. This study specifically investigated the the spouse caregivers' perceptions of the impact stroke had upon the marriage. Scales assessing the variables of marital health/dysfunction and functional independence of stroke spouse were selected. These included: the Family Assessment Measure (FAM) - dyadic relationship version and the Barthel Index. All scores on FAM were within the normal range of strength/weakness. Results indicated that a significant proportion of the variance in task accomplishment, role performance, communication, control, and total relationship health were associated with the gender of the stroke spouse and the level of functional independence. Spouse caregivers perceived more post— stroke than pre-stroke difficulties in these relationship areas, when the stroke spouse was male and functional disability was high. High functional disability was associated with increased difficulties in values and norms post-stroke and low SES was related to increased problems in affective expression. The cerebral location of the stroke and the length of time since the stroke were not associated with significant changes in caregivers’ perceptions of pre- and post-stroke marital health/dysfunction. Couples with male stroke spouses and/or stroke spouses with significant physical disability are at risk for marital dysfunction. Marital counseling services during medical rehabilitation may be useful to these couples. / Ph. D.