The purpose of this research was to examine sex-role attitudes and stereotypes of black college students in relation to gender identification and family structure. Data for this study were collected during the fall quarter of 1976 by means of a class-administered questionnaire. The modified Osmond-Martin Sex-Role Attitude (SRA) scale was used to measure sex-role attitudes. Two self-administered 15-item semantic differential scales developed by Turner and Turner (1974) were utilized to assess sex-role sterotypes. / It was hypothesized that: (1) females will be more likely to have non-traditional sex-role attitudes than males; (2) females will be more likely to evaluate men negatively than will males; (3) females will be more likely to evaluate men as less reliable than will males; (4) students reared in female-healed families will be more likely to have non-traditional sex-role attitudes when compared to students reared in male-headed families; (5) students reared in female-headed families will be more likely to evaluate men negatively than will students reared in male-headed families; and (6) students reared in female-headed families will be more likely to evaluate men as less reliable than will students reared in female-headed families. / Generally, the results revealed that gender is significantly related to the sex-role attitudes and stereotypes of black college students. Specifically, the data supported Hypotheses 1 and 3 but did not support Hypothesis 2. In general, the results indicated that family structure is not an important predictor of sex-role attitudes and stereotypes among black college students. However, the data showed that family structure interacts with family socioeconomic status indicators in producing an influence on the students' sex-role attitudes and stereotypes. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 42-11, Section: A, page: 4945. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1981.

The purpose of the study was to determine the degree to which three levels of self-perceived interpersonal competency in adult females related to the following variables. Correlates examined included age, self-concept, locus of control and experiential factors such as self-reports of employment, family characteristics and competitiveness. / White's (1959) definition of interpersonal competency as the "ability to interact effectively with the environment as the result of one's collective history of interpersonal and social interactions" (p. 307) was used. The review of literature related the social and economic needs of contemporary women to various aspects of socialization, achievement motivation, fear of success, and locus of control. / A sample of 97 adult female clients of eleven Florida women's centers responded to the Rotter Internal/External Control Scale, Tennessee Self Concept Scale, Holland-Baird Interpersonal Competency Scale and a personal history questionnaire developed by the researcher. The sample was divided into three levels of interpersonal competency based on the group mean. Results of a stepwise multiple regression and a discriminant function analysis revealed the variables of personal self, behavior, and father-daughter relationship to be predictors of the high interpersonal competency group; identity, competitiveness, self satisfaction, behavior and work to predict the middle group whereas age and birth order were found to predict the low interpersonal group. / The discriminant function analysis indicated an overall predictive accuracy of 61.8% using six variables. Membership in the low interpersonal competency group was most accurately predicted at 82.6%. Implications for vocational and mental health counseling and for educational programs were discussed. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 42-06, Section: A, page: 2883. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1981.

Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 40-09, Section: A, page: 5204. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1979.

The purpose of the study was to investigate how the sexual attitudes and sexual behaviors of high school youth differed according to the developmental sequence and selected characteristics of the subjects. / Subjects were 110 male and 102 female adolescents ranging in age from 14 to 17 years / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 41-09, Section: A, page: 4180. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1980.

This study explores the effect of a handicapped child on the family from the perspective of social support theory. It examined the relationship between a chronic stressor and social support by testing the proposition, suggested by the clinical literature, that the presence of a severely handicapped child in the home negatively affects the family functioning and social relations of the mother. / The Pattison Social Network Inventory and Moos Family Environment Scales were administered to 20 mothers of a young, multiply, severely handicapped child and 20 mothers of a young, nonhandicapped child. In order to control for potential interacting variables, all subjects were Caucasian, middle class, currently married and living with a spouse. / The two groups were similar on descriptive characteristics with no differences found on the variables of age, religious affiliation, employment status, occupation, residential mobility, recent life changes, community associations and with differences found on education. Overall, the groups were similar in network characteristics with no differences found on the variables of range, family, relatives, friends, co-workers, density, intimacy, durability, affective support provided, affective support received, instrumental support provided, instrumental support received, intensity provided, intensity received and with differences found on professionals, frequency, proximity. Concerning family environment characteristics the groups differed, with differences found on the variables of intellectual-cultural orientation, moral-religious orientation, organization and no differences found on cohesiveness, expressiveness, conflict, independence, achievement orientation, active-recreational orientation, control. / The social networks of both groups were typical in structure and functions of the healthy networks described in the literature. Overall, the family environments of both groups resembled normal populations rather than populations with family problems. The differences on family environment variables between the two groups suggested that the mothers of handicapped children emphasized positive family traits more than the other group. / The findings did not suggest that a young, severely handicapped child adversely affects the social and family relations of Caucasian, middle class, married mothers. For this selected population, the presence of a chronic stressor did not seem to negatively affect the social support system. Further research concerning the effect of race, socioeconomic status and marital status on the social networks and family environments of parents of handicapped children is recommended. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 41-09, Section: A, page: 4183. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1980.

The purpose of this study was to explore some of the linkages between father-child involvement and the marital relationship. A sample of 43 families was obtained by contacting the parents of children enrolled in the first or second grade at the Developmental Research School, Florida State University. Data were collected in a home interview with both parents. Four instruments were administered concerning the areas of interest: both parents' perception of the discrepancy between actual and preferred father-child involvement, both parents' report of marital satisfaction, the self-esteem of each parent and a measure of role performance. / Seven hypotheses were constructed to test the relationship between the principal independent variable of father-child involvement and the dependent variables of role performance, marital satisfaction and child's school performance. The hypotheses were derived from a systems theory perspective. / The multivariate data analysis indicated a significant relationship between father-child involvement and marital satisfaction for mothers but not for fathers. Fathers were found to have a significant impact on child school performance as a result of their personal characteristics rather than meeting their expectations about child involvement. / Conclusions drawn from the correlational data suggest that linkages between family sub-systems can influence the relationships within a family. A systems theory perspective can contribute to increasing understanding of the dynamic interchange influencing interaction among family members. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 42-11, Section: A, page: 4944. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1981.

A sample of 118 dual-career couples was obtained by way of anonymous questionnaires distributed to the married women employed as faculty or professional staff at the three institutions of higher education located in the city of Tallahassee, Florida. The questionnaire used to collect the data c / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 41-01, Section: A, page: 0422. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1979.

The central concern in this research study was marital commitment. It was argued from a social exchange theoretical perspective that marital commitment is composed of two dimensions, normative marital commitment and interpersonal marital commitment. The specific research question looked at how five independent variables (sex, race, socio-economic status, presence or absence of children, and religiosity) were related to differing degrees of normative marital commitment and interpersonal marital commitment. / The first step in this research project was to establish a theoretical base from which to draw hypotheses. Because little has been done on marital commitment, theoretically or empirically, the building had to start with a definition of commitment itself. In this study commitment was defined as (1) a decision to follow a course of action and (2) acting on that decision over a period of time. The definition of the other major concepts (marital commitment, normative marital commitment, and interpersonal marital commitment) built around that basic skeleton definition. A discussion of a possible explanation for the forming of marital commitment and its two dimensions begins what is hoped will be a first step in a theoretical model of marital commitment. / Ten hypotheses were tested with a survey-type, exploratory, cross-sectional research design. The sample consisted of 188 persons (94 couples). These were drawn from the Florida State University married student housing complex. Individual responses formed the unit of analysis. There was an 89% return rate for the 33-item questionnaire. The instrument used for measuring interpersonal marital commitment and normative marital commitment was a modification of the Clodfelter Marital Commitment Scale. / Major conclusions to be drawn from this study include (1) females in this study scored significantly higher than males on the interpersonal marital commitment scale; (2) persons high on religiosity (as measured by attendance at church) scored significantly higher on the normative marital commitment scale than persons who were not high on religiosity; and (3) persons high on religiosity scored significantly lower on the interpersonal marital commitment scale than persons low on religiosity. These conclusions need to be tempered with the fact that this was an exploratory study done with a very homogeneous sample. / The contribution this study makes is both theoretical and empirical. Theoretically, a preliminary step is taken toward an explanation of why marital commitment and its two dimensions may occur and the possible consequences of marital commitment. / Empirically, the construction of two scales to measure interpersonal marital commitment and normative marital commitment will hopefully provide a springboard for further refinement and elaboration of measuring devices. Also, this study points to sex and religiosity as key variables to consider in any study of marital commitment. / Several suggestions are included for further research. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 41-11, Section: A, page: 4850. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1980.

Positive self-esteem has been found to be associated with effective problem-solving, while negative self-esteem is associated with variety of dysfunctional behaviors. It is the purpose of this study to assess the impact of perceived parental self-esteem and power bases on adolescent self-esteem. Following the direction suggested by Modeling Theory, two basic hypotheses are addressed: (1) The greater the perceived self-esteem of the parent, the greater the self-esteem of the adolescent. (2) The greater the power of the more powerful parent, the greater the modeling of the adolescent's self-esteem after the perceived self-esteem of that parent. / A purposive subsample of 219 high school age students enrolled in a developmental research school responded to a self-report questionnaire. The responses were analyzed, utilizing zero-order correlations and multiple regression analysis. The major findings were: (1) Adolescent self-esteem is positively associated with parental self-esteem. (2) Modeling of perceived maternal self-esteem, when the mother is the most powerful parent, is inversely related to her outcome-control, legitimate, expert bases of power and positively associated with the father's legitimate power and actual use of authoritative control. (3) Modeling of paternal self-esteem, when the father is the more powerful parent, is related positively with maternal expert power, paternal legitimate power, father's occupational status and age of the adolescent. An inverse association was found between maternal legitimate power, as well as the number of older brothers the adolescent had. / Discussion: Although it appears that adolescents do, in fact, model their self-esteem after the perceived self-esteem of their parents, a social power theory of modeling does not adequately explain the findings. Apparently the types and extent of the power bases of the less powerful parent makes a substantial contribution to the modeling process. Additionally, the direction of the association between parental power and modeling in the affective realm is not consistently positive, as was predicted. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 42-10, Section: A, page: 4606. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1981.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the attitudes of middle and lower income blacks toward marriage counseling and marital commitment. The study was based on the assumption that the attitudes of middle and lower income blacks would differ toward marriage counseling because of the heterogeneity of the black community. / The study sample consisted of 259 individuals selected from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. There were 117 middle income individuals and 142 lower income individuals. Moreover, there were slightly more females (137) than males (122) participating in the study. / Two instruments were used to test the study's hypotheses. An ATTITUDES TOWARD MARRIAGE COUNSELING scale (AMC) was used to investigate attitudes toward marriage counseling. Marital commitment was measured by a MARITAL COMMITMENT scale (MC). Both scales were created by the researcher and both scales used the Lickert Scale format. / The results from the study revealed the following: (1) middle income blacks were significantly more favorable in their attitudes toward marriage counseling than were lower income blacks; (2) females (middle and lower) were significantly more favorable in their attitudes toward marriage counseling than were middle or lower income males; (3) there were no significant differences found between middle and lower income blacks pursuant to marital commitment; and (4) females ranked higher on the Marital Commitment scale than did the males, which suggested that the females participating in the study were more committed to their marriages than were the males. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 41-03, Section: A, page: 1232. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1980.