Taking the Traditional Route: Some Covert Costs of Traditional Decisions for the Married Career Woman

Abstract

Married women working for pay often experience a differential valuing of their own as compared to their husbands' careers. Yet minimal dissatisfaction is reported. This study aimed to assess whether minimal dissatisfaction is the woman's full response. One hundred twenty-three orthodox Jewish college women responded to hypothetical career dilemmas on behalf of a single as compared to a married woman. Both open and closed-ended items were used. Consistent with the findings of others, the closed-ended items asserted minimal dissatisfaction on behalf of the negative career decision of the married woman. Responses to open-ended items suggest that this is not the whole story. More unsolicited negative passive affect was expressed on behalf of the married than the single woman's dilemma.