In this study women's feelings of low self-esteem were related significantly to committed partnerships with occupationally successful men. Forty women aged 34 to 67 were administered a self-evaluation scale developed for the study, followed by personal interviews. Forty-five percent identified themselves as having lower self-esteem than desired during such relationships. They experienced lack of power in most of eight power areas investigated, while perceiving their partners as interpersonally powerful. Low self-esteem women tended to be extrinsically motivated and to feel psychologically battered by male partners. Identification of this population is recommended since their problems frequently are not being addressed by caregivers while the intimate relationships are intact. Women with low self-esteem apparently need to experience their own significant successes, particularly balancing of interpersonal power, and to refocus on intrinsic worth.

No description available.

published_or_final_version / Social Work / Master / Master of Social Work

M.Cur. / The objective of this research is to explore and describe how the wife of a husband who suffered job loss, experiences this situation. In a country like South-Africa, where the unemployment rate ( 41,8% according to the expanded definition ) is very high and there doesn’t seem to be a solution, the wife of a unemployed husband faces considerable stress and increasing demands on a physical and psychological level. The wife of a husband who has suffered job loss, experiences problems regarding all the dimensions of human being. Her life becomes a struggle for survival from day to day. All this can give rise to mental problems. A qualitative, exploratory, descriptive, contextual research study has been undertaken to describe how the wife experiences it when her husband lost his job and to describe guidelines for psychiatric nurse practitioners to support these women. All the participants were residents of Pretoria and Midrand and their husbands had suffered job loss during the past year. Data was gathered through one-on-one in-depth interviews and analysed according to Tesch’s method of open coding. A qualitative exploration of these interviews showed that these wives appear to experience severe reactions on their physical, psychological and spiritual dimensions. A majority of these wives took full emotional responsibility for the whole family and suppressed her own needs and emotions. It then happened that they were confronted by the question: why do I live? This is worsened by the fact that the husband’s functioning is usually inadequate because of this trauma. This situation may have a negative impact on the couple’s relationship and on the development of their children. Guidelines were developed to emphasize the characteristics that the psychiatric nurse practitioner needs to help these women find some meaning in life. Community-involvement, support-groups and marriage-counselling are part of the guidelines to facilitate these women’s mental health. Conclusions are drawn and recommendations are made in the hope that this study will be integrated into future research.

After marriage and child rearing, women are returning to the labor field in growing numbers. There are increasing opportunities and responsibilities on the part of educational institutions to provide these women with an opportunity to fit them for useful and satisfying lives, to give them a chance to make a contribution to the social order. This study has revealed that the majority of faculty wives are interested in raising their educational status. Sixty-six per cent of these faculty wives were dissatisfied with their educational backgrounds. At the time of this study only six per cent of these women were attending classes. Ninety-two per cent of the faculty wives were Blacksburg residents; therefore, propinquity is not a handicap. Sixty-seven per cent of the husbands were willing to help with household tasks to free their wives for classes. One of the reasons for some of these women not being in class is that the education of their husbands and children is their first concern. However, 145 of these faculty wives felt they could pay for full- or part-time education. Another major factor that enters into women returning to classes is their place in the life cycle. Women, on the average, have their last child in school by the age of 35. This study revealed that the median age bracket of this sample to be 30 to 34. In a few more years these women will have the time available to pursue further study if they so desire. / Master of Science

Lam Wing Sze. / Thesis (M.Phil.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2005. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 104-107). / Abstracts in English and Chinese. / Abstract --- p.ii / Acknowledgements --- p.iv / Chapter Chapter 1 --- Introduction --- p.1 / Chapter 1.1 --- Objective --- p.1 / Chapter 1.2 --- Why Expatriate Wives? --- p.2 / Chapter 1.3 --- Why Hong Kong? --- p.4 / Chapter 1.4 --- Literature Review --- p.6 / Chapter 1.4.1 --- Domestic ldeal of Japanese Women --- p.6 / Chapter 1.4.2 --- Tensions between the Domestic Ideal & Non-domestic Reality --- p.7 / Chapter 1.4.3 --- Japanese Expatriate Communities --- p.9 / Chapter 1.4.4 --- Internationalization and Japaneseness --- p.11 / Chapter 1.5 --- Methodology --- p.13 / Chapter 1.5.1 --- Interviews --- p.13 / Chapter 1.5.2 --- Participant Observation --- p.15 / Chapter 1.5.3 --- Textual Analysis --- p.15 / Chapter 1.5.4 --- Reflectivity of the Researcher --- p.16 / Chapter 1.6 --- Structure of the Thesis --- p.18 / Chapter Chapter 2 --- Before Their Arrival in Hong Kong --- p.21 / Chapter 2.1 --- Trailing Spouses: Are they Passive? --- p.22 / Chapter 2.1.1 --- The Existence of Married Single Posting (tanshin funin) --- p.23 / Chapter 2.2 --- Applying for the Relocation --- p.23 / Chapter 2.2.1 --- We Applied for Relocating Overseas --- p.24 / Chapter 2.2.2 --- I Urged my Husband to Apply to Hong Kong --- p.25 / Chapter 2.3 --- Can the Company Order the Wives? --- p.26 / Chapter 2.3.1 --- Order from the Company? --- p.26 / Chapter 2.3.2 --- Considerations for the Migration --- p.28 / Chapter 2.4 --- Selfless Explanations --- p.30 / Chapter 2.4.1 --- Unawareness of Choice --- p.31 / Chapter 2.4.2 --- Conforming to the Dominant ldeology --- p.32 / Chapter 2.4.3 --- Promote a Sense of Camaraderie --- p.33 / Chapter 2.5 --- Looking Forward to the Relocation --- p.34 / Chapter 2.5.1 --- Short Overseas Experience with Good Support --- p.34 / Chapter 2.5.2 --- A Break from Work --- p.36 / Chapter 2.6 --- "Summary: The Strategic Use of ""Passive Follower""" --- p.37 / Chapter Chapter 3 --- Adaptations in Hong Kong --- p.39 / Chapter 3.1 --- Isolation upon Arrival --- p.40 / Chapter 3.1.1 --- Spatial Constraints: Images of Danger outside Japan… --- p.40 / Chapter 3.1.2 --- Restrictions due to Role of Caregiver --- p.43 / Chapter 3.1.3 --- Language Barrier --- p.45 / Chapter 3.2 --- Snapshots of Adaptations --- p.46 / Chapter 3.2.1 --- Stop Escorting Children: Hong Kong is Safer than Japan --- p.47 / Chapter 3.2.2 --- Shopping at the Wet Market: Differences in Hygiene & Politeness --- p.47 / Chapter 3.2.3 --- Taking the Mini Bus: Learn to Shout --- p.51 / Chapter 3.2.4 --- Dinning Out and Cooking Style --- p.56 / Chapter 3.3 --- "Evaluation of ""Hong Kong Women""" --- p.59 / Chapter 3.3.1 --- Many Maids but Few Housewives in Hong Kong --- p.60 / Chapter 3.3.2 --- "Mixed Feelings about ""Hong Kong Women""" --- p.61 / Chapter 3.3.3 --- "Missing from the lmage of ""Hong Kong Women"": Obasan" --- p.63 / Chapter 3.4 --- Factors Affecting Degree of Integration in Hong Kong --- p.64 / Chapter 3.5 --- Summary --- p.67 / Chapter Chapter 4 --- After Their Return to Japan --- p.70 / Chapter 4.1 --- Factors Leading to Reverse Culture Shock --- p.72 / Chapter 4.1.1 --- Lack of Psychological Preparation --- p.73 / Chapter 4.1.2 --- Contrast with Hong Kong --- p.74 / Chapter 4.1.3 --- Japan's Change over Time --- p.77 / Chapter 4.1.4 --- Nostalgia for Hong Kong --- p.80 / Chapter 4.2 --- Re-adaptations to Japan --- p.82 / Chapter 4.2.1 --- Question the System: Why Should We Act Like This? --- p.83 / Chapter 4.2.2 --- Act like Japanese --- p.85 / Chapter 4.2.3 --- "More Tolerance towards ""Others""" --- p.87 / Chapter 4.3 --- Summary --- p.88 / Chapter Chapter 5 --- Conclusion --- p.91 / Chapter 5.1 --- Changing Image of Japanese Expatriate Wives --- p.91 / Chapter 5.2 --- Public Persona (tatemae) VS Real Feelings (honne) --- p.94 / Chapter 5.3 --- Japanese Women's Agency --- p.97 / Chapter 5.4 --- "Different Experiences in the Past, Present and Future" --- p.99 / Appendix --- p.103 / Bibliography --- p.104

Dual careers and mobility have become a way of life in this society. With moving often comes a loss of job for one of the spouse, usually the wife. This pilot study examined the effects of 'captivity' (the inability of a wife to pursue a career because of a mobile spouse) on self-esteem. Through the use of a demographic questionnaire and the Rosenberg Self-esteem Scale, data was collected and correlations between mobility and self-esteem were derived. Results indicated that the self-esteem of a wife is affected by 'captivity'.

published_or_final_version / History / Master / Master of Philosophy

M.Cur. (Psychiatric Nursing) / In an airways community, an external factor is the fact that the men are absent from home for long periods, especially the international pilots. The result is that the wives have to take charge of the household. There is an interaction between the wives' internal and external environments. Internal factors that can influence the wives' quest for wholeness and which stern from the above-mentioned statement, are : *The wife becomes isolated due to the fact that she has to rely on herself. * She has more responsibility, has a variety of roles to play, and is the central person in the family. * She experiences high stress levels and great demands are made on her, so that she has to resort to defence mechanisms such as aggression, isolation, rationalization, displacement and denial. An external factor that specifically influences the wife and family's quest for wholeness, is the limited resources that are available to them, especially in terms of her husband, friends and family because the airways community is a subculture on its own. While I was participating in an interpersonal skills course for the wives of international pilots presented at the Rand Afrikaans University, I noticed that the women showed suppressed aggression and that they used denial and rationalization as defence mechanisms. Labile emotions were also experienced by them. The fact that the husband as a help and source of support is not at home causes the wife to experience internal discomfort, and interferes with her quest for wholeness. The research question that originated from the above mentioned data was : "'What in the experiential world of wives of pilots can on the one hand cause them to be vulnerable to mental illness and thus interfere with their quest for wholeness, and on the other hand what 'can facilitate their quest for wholeness! The aim of this study is to explore and to describe the experiences of wives of pilots who undertake international flights, and to compile guidelines for enriching the mental health of couples of whom the husband is regularly absent.

M.A. / This study uses the salutogenic model as a departure point to focus on the sense of coherence (SOC) of women who had to overcome a crisis. Stressors come in many forms but this study focuses specifically on the husband's extramarital affair. After (or during) the initial shock the woman has to make a decision regarding her marriage. Women were considered in regard to the decisions they made, namely to stay in the marriage or to leave it. The first hypothesis stated that the SOC of the women who decided to leave the relationship would be higher than that of the other group. The second hypothesis stated that there would be differences amongst the three components of the SOC (meaningfulness, manageability and comprehension) for the two groups. Meaningfulness would measure higher for the group that decided to end their marriages. Manageability and comprehension would measure higher for the group that decided to stay in their marriages. These different components were quantitatively measured using Antonovsky's SOC-scale. A biographical questionnaire and a qualitative question regarding the reason for the decision that was made, was also included. Although the two hypotheses were not supported, important findings did emerge from the study. The women that left their marriages were found to be more satisfied with their decision than the other group. Women's SOC who felt satisfied or very satisfied with their decision measured higher than those that felt neutral, dissatisfied or very dissatisfied with their decision. This suggests that it is more important that women make decisions that are congruent with their values and views of the marriage, than whether the decision was to terminate or continue with the marriage. This could be valuable information for practitioners working in the field. In addition, it was also found that women who got married at 22 years or older, had a higher SOC than women who got married before they were 22. This suggests that SOC continues to develop with maturity and challenges the notion that SOC ceases to develop into adulthood. Future longitudinal research covering the changes of SOC during the lifespan of a relationship would probably shed light on this issue.