The relationship of parental attitudes and parent identification to career and homemaking orientation in college women

Abstract

The purpose of this research was to compare career-oriented and homemaking-oriented college women, who showed the motivational pattern previously found to be associated with their respective orientations, on the variables of parental attitudes (father and mother acceptance, concentration, and avoidance) and parent identification (father or mother). The findings of the study suggested that a girl's father is more important than her mother in determining the degree of her career commitment as a collegiate undergraduate. Compared to the homemaking-oriented women, the career-oriented subjects perceived their fathers (but not their mothers) as significantly less accepting and were significantly more highly father-identified. Thus, the results of the investigation supported the proposition that antecedent family variables influence the development of motivational patterns which are associated with career and homemaking orientation in college women. The lesser father acceptance and greater father identification of the career-oriented group were viewed as being important in developing the relatively higher level of achievement motivation associated with stronger career commitment. Conversely, greater mother identification and greater father acceptance were seen to be related to the development of a relatively higher need for affiliation in the homemaking-oriented subjects. The implications of the findings for career development theory, future research, and the counseling of women are discussed.