In the United States, over ninety percent of women take their husbands' last names when they marry; the remaining women keep, hyphenate, or alter their last name in some other way. Although many disciplines have examined this subject, counseling psychology has had little to say on the matter. This study investigates American women's naming decisions through the lens of the Social Cognitive Theory of Gender Development and Differentiation and seeks to shed light on its significance to counseling psychology. The qualitative methodology grounded theory is employed to examine the factors that contribute to naming choices as well as to better understand the psychological implications of such decisions. Findings suggest that naming decisions may impact identity, gender roles, partner relational concerns, family dynamics, empowerment, career issues, multicultural considerations, and power differentials, all of which are topics that are relevant for counseling psychologists. The discussion explores the relevance of this issue for women who are actively making, or have already made, a naming choice. Larger implications for the field of psychology are also considered.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:uiowa.edu/oai:ir.uiowa.edu:etd-5509 |
| Date | 01 December 2014 |
| Creators | Sieck, Barbara C. |
| Contributors | Liu, William Ming |
| Publisher | University of Iowa |
| Source Sets | University of Iowa |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | dissertation |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Source | Theses and Dissertations |
| Rights | Copyright 2014 Barbara C. Sieck |
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