The relationship between sex-role orientation and family decision making in the purchase of major household furnishings and major clothing items by newly-married couples was the focus of this study. Questions regarding these decisions represented salient attributes of the products and the stages of the decision process. Sex-role orientation was measured by the Osmond-Martin Sex-Role Attitude Scale, a 32-item additive scale, which differentiates between "modern" and "traditional" individuals. / A sample of 148 couples who were in their first marriages, who had been married from six months to three years, who had no children and were not expecting a child, and who lived in Tallahassee, Florida, were selected for the study. A mail-out survey was conducted and both husbands and wives completed questionnaires. A 78 percent response rate was obtained and 101 questionnaires were usable for analysis. / Four couple-sex-role orientations were identified among the usable sets of data. These orientations included: (1) both spouses modern, (2) both spouses traditional, (3) husband modern/wife traditional, and (4) husband traditional/wife modern. / Data were analyzed by MANOVA, Wilcoxin Matched-Pairs Signed-Ranks Tests, and t-tests. No statistical differences were seen in decision making as related to couple-sex-role orientation as tested by a one-way MANOVA. / When traditional wives were compared with modern wives and traditional husbands with modern husbands, however, statistical differences were identified in reponse patterns concerning purchase decisions (t-tests and Wilcoxin tests were employed for analysis). Modern wives perceived themselves having more influence in pricing decisions, making the final decision to purchase, and doing initial shopping for purchases than traditional wives perceived themselves having. Modern husbands perceived themselves having more influence in first noticing the need for household furnishings and selecting the fabric for goods, but less influence in pricing than traditional husbands perceived themselves having. / Results tended to agree with sex-role theory. Modern wives were influential in areas previously thought to be husband-dominated (especially pricing decisions) and modern husbands were influential in wife-dominated areas (especially selection of fabrics). / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 45-09, Section: A, page: 2782. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1984.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:fsu.edu/oai:fsu.digital.flvc.org:fsu_75393 |
| Contributors | OLIVER, BARBARA ANNE., Florida State University |
| Source Sets | Florida State University |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Text |
| Format | 147 p. |
| Rights | On campus use only. |
| Relation | Dissertation Abstracts International |
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