The best selling literature on relationships is written in terms of gender differences. Information and advice from psychologists and counselors is directed to either females or males based on counseling clients and personal experience. In this study, I present evidence that a gender list of attitudes and needs without age considerations cannot provide accurate information. This study included a sample of 1020 volunteers from a randomized group of individuals attending jury duty in Pima County, Arizona. The participants answered a questionnaire consisting of 44 items developed from four authors' best selling books on information and advice on relationships. The participant responses were evaluated in terms of three factors: gender, attendance in counseling, and age. Phi coefficients were calculated for the gender and counseling factors. Eta coefficients were calculated for females and males across four age groups. Meaningful results were determined by Cohen's criteria of effect size. Item responses were compared with expectations from the literature. The results indicate gender and age are necessary to accurately determine relationship attitudes and needs. The factors of gender and age provided specific information for females and males across age groups unavailable with dichotomous gender designations. The counseling sample did not respond consistently when compared to the non-counseling sample on items relating to counseling subjects. A comparison of item responses to the literature suggests participants did not respond to items consistently with information and advice in current self-help literature.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:arizona.edu/oai:arizona.openrepository.com:10150/288993 |
| Date | January 1999 |
| Creators | Peck, Denny L. |
| Contributors | Sabers, Darrell L. |
| Publisher | The University of Arizona. |
| Source Sets | University of Arizona |
| Language | en_US |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | text, Dissertation-Reproduction (electronic) |
| Rights | Copyright © is held by the author. Digital access to this material is made possible by the University Libraries, University of Arizona. Further transmission, reproduction or presentation (such as public display or performance) of protected items is prohibited except with permission of the author. |
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