Selection Effects in the Relationship between Women's Work/Family Status and Perceived Control

Abstract

Selection Effects in the Relationship Between Women's Work/Family Status and Control* Using longitudinal data from the National Longitudinal Study of Young Women's Labor Force Experience (NLSYW), this study explores the association bent een women's work/family status and perceived control, as well as the association between job qualits and perceived among employed women. Selection effects are then tested to determine if early perceived is more strongly associated with current work/family status than is current perceived control. Findings suggest that current work/family status and current job quality are the strongest correlates of current perceived and that the effects of early perceived on current work/family status are minimal. These findings under-.score the importance of family structure and women's employment in determining factors that are important to individual well-being. Key Words: perceived control, personality and social structure, women and employment, work/family roles. Perceived control is a psycho-social construct that describes generalized beliefs about one's ability to effect desired outcomes and avoid undesired outcomes. Individuals who feel that they can readily influence their circumstances or environment have high perceived whereas those who believe that their lives are largely directed by external forces or influences have low perceived control. In the past two decades perceived and the related constructs of self-efficacy (Bandura, 1977), mastery (Pearlin & Schooler,1978), and locus of (Rotter, 1966), have received a great deal of attention in several areas of both sociological and psychological research. This research has established that low levels of perceived are associated with several indicators of physical and psychological distress, whereas high levels of perceived are associated with various indicators of successful adaptation and well-being (for overviews see Gecas, 1989; Mirowsky & Ross, 1989; Wheaton,1983; Wallston & Wallston,1978). The development of the perceived construct stems from the psychological literature concerning learning and attribution. This literature views perceived as a relatively stable personality construct indicating an individual's perceptions about his/her ability to effect outcomes. Empirical studies revealed that individuals with high perceived were more successful in educational attainment, occupational attainment, and several measures of both physical and psychological well-being. These outcomes were attributed to the individuals' perceived control, which enabled them to take an active, effective approach to problem solving and goal attainment. Subsequent research has questioned this direction of causality between social status and perceived control, arguing instead that one's social status and environment shapes one's perception of personal control. The resources and privileges associated with higher socioeconomic status provide individuals with the means to direct their lives. This argument then, states that privileged statuses lead to higher perceived control. While most current research acknowledges that the relationship between perceived and status attainment is reciprocal to some extent, most studies which include perceived variables do not explore the causality issue, and continue to interpret findings as though they were unidirectional, with high perceived leading to higher social statuses. Within this broader causality debate is a body of research that explores the distinction between the effects of early perceived on subsequent employment factors, and the effects of current employment factors on perceived control. It is argued, on one hand, that individuals with high perceived personalities will effectively pursue, attain, and retain high quality employment. …