Changes In Women Research Articles

Wives' Income and Marital Quality: Are There Reciprocal Effects?

The nature and direction of the relationship between wives' income and marital quality are investigated in this research. Competing hypotheses are tested using panel data for a nationally representative sample of 771 married women and men (not couples) and structural equation modeling. The results indicate that increases in wives' income do not significantly affect either husband,s' or wives' perceptions of marital discord. Instead, increases in marital discord contribute significantly to increases in wives' income. Further, increases in marital discord contribute to increases in wives' income by increasing the likelihood that nonemployed wives will enter the labor force. Key Words: marital quality, wives' income, work. The complex association between women's growing economic independence and marital quality and stability is an important part of the debate over whether marriage is declining as an institution (Cherlin, 1992; Coontz, 1997; Hood, 1983; Oppenheimer, 1997; Ruggles, 1997; Scanzoni, 1972, 1978). Some observers have pointed to the parallel increase in rates of women's participation in the labor force and rates of divorce during this century (Cherlin, 1992; Ruggles, 1997). There is substantial research on the relationship between married women's changing economic opportunities and the quality and stability of marriage, but conclusions remain both controversial and equivocal. In particular, the direction of the association-whether increases in wives' participation in the labor force and increases in wives' income primarily affect marital quality or whether declines in marital quality primarily affect wives' laborforce behavior and income-remains unclear. There is support in previous research for both directional relationships. Some observers claim that wives' income affects the quality of marriage and the likelihood of divorce. Previous thinking on this topic suggests both positive effects on marriage (Conger et al., 1990; Hood, 1983; Scanzoni, 1972, 1978), as well as detrimental effects on marriage (Becker, 1981; Booth, Johnson, White, & Edwards, 1984; Hiedemann, Suhomlinova, & O'Rand, 1998; Treas, 1993). An opposing perspective suggests that declines in marital quality affect wives' behavior in the labor force and their income. This possibility has been addressed less frequently. Some observers emphasize that economic resources lessen women's dependence on marriage at both the aggregate and individual levels (Cherlin, 1992; Johnson & Skinner, 1986; Ruggles, 1997), and others emphasize the contributions that employment and income make to the well-being of both women and men, regardless of marital status (Hochschild, 1997; Hood, 1983; Scanzoni, 1978). The goal of the research presented here is to extend previous work by clarifying the nature and direction of the association between wives' income and marital quality. Past research has been unable to address this question due to the limitations of cross-sectional data and the use of statistical techniques that permit the investigation of only one path at a time. The present research overcomes these limitations by investigating reciprocal paths between wives' income and marital quality using longitudinal data and structural equation modeling. This approach makes it possible to investigate both of the hypothesized directional relationships and to test the relative strength of each. ECONOMIC CHANGES AND WIVES INCOME Data come from 1980-1988, the years when most of the dramatic transformations in married women's employment and earnings became particularly visible. Substantial gender differences persist between married women and married men in their employment outcomes and responsibility for paid work and family work (Blair & Lichter, 1991; Brayfield, 1995; Thompson & Walker, 1989). However, there have been important changes in married women's attachment to the labor force and in their earnings. …

Dating, mating, and motherhood: identity construction among Mexican maquila workers.

We explore the construction of feminine identities among women maquila workers in Juárez, Mexico. The findings suggest that women workers' identities are fluid processes in permanent negotiation. Women's changing employment practices, gender roles and relations, and personal experiences have created spaces for new interpretations of courtship and motherhood. As Mexican women increasingly face controversial messages, they reconcile emerging and conventional feminine discourses by recreating images of Mexican womanhood.

Analysis of Change in Women's Weekday Shopping Behavior in the Area along a Subway

Analysis of Change in Women's Weekday Shopping Behavior in the Area along a Subway

Effect on Making Moulding of Bony Birth Canal by Woman's Postural Change

本研究は, 姿勢が骨産道の応形機能に及ぼす影響を明らかにすることを目的に, 妊婦131名を対象とし, 分娩時に重視される体位と構えを統一した8姿勢での大骨盤上部の骨盤外計測値を機能解剖学的に分析した準実験的研究である。その結果,(1) 蹲踞位では寛骨の蝶番運動により骨盤出口部が広がる,(2) 椅坐位開脚では仙骨尖の後上方移動により坐骨棘間距離が増加する,(3) 四つ這い位では仙骨の下方移動と骨盤連結部の靭帯の緩みにより骨盤諸径が増加する, 以上3点が明らかになった。したがって, 産婦が分娩経過に応じて姿勢を変えることは, 骨盤の応形機能により骨産道が広げられるため, 児頭の骨盤通過を容易にする効果があると考えられた。

Reasons Why College-Educated Women Change Employment

This paper examines selected employee turnover issues using data derived from a survey of graduates from a Midwestern women's college over a ten year period. As hypothesized, organizational commitment was positively related to job commitment, and employee commitment, defined as being composed of organizational and job commitment foci, was positively related to job satisfaction, supervisory support, and organizational career support. In general, the results show women were fairly similar to men in terms of why they change employment or in terms of what companies could have done to retain them.

Abortion as a Social Problem: The Construction of "Opposite" Solutions in Sweden and the United States

Analyzing abortion as a social problem in two national contexts, this paper extends the social constructionist approach to a historical comparative problem. The two abortion problems analyzed, one in the United States, 1840–1880, and the other in Sweden, 1910–1940, shared many significant elements, including medical lobbying, pronatalist and class-specific eugenic concerns, and uncertainty around women's changing social and economic roles. And yet, the effort to curb the number of abortions led to “opposite” policy solutions in these two nations, with the United States criminalizing a previously unregulated practice, and Sweden liberalizing a previously harsh law against abortion. These different policy solutions were grounded in the different understandings of abortion that the respective claimsmaking processes produced, including different perceptions of the women having abortions, why they were having them, and what could feasibly be done about it. I argue here that the different historical legacies of abortion, the ability of the state to adopt and enforce policies, and the larger cultural arena of public problems influenced the abortion problem's specific trajectory in each nation.

We Dream, you do: “Great” Grandmothers Teach a Lesson in Women's Changing Roles

A student-designed life history interview project on women's changing roles and expectations provided a powerful learning experience linking textbook material on gender bias and cohort effects to the lives of actual women. Psychology of Women students invited 7 grandmothers to talk about their lives, perceptions of changing roles, and expectations for their daughters and granddaughters. In this article, I discuss and evaluate student responses to the activity.

Faith of Our Foremothers: Women Changing Religious Education. Edited by Barbara Anne Keely Louisville, Westminster John Knox, 1997. 192 pp. $15.00

Faith of Our Foremothers: Women Changing Religious Education. <i>Edited by Barbara Anne Keely</i> Louisville, Westminster John Knox, 1997. 192 pp. $15.00

Social Support, Therapy and Perceived Changes in Women's Attributions for Their Child Sexual Abuse

ABSTRACT Despite a clinical focus on changing attributions of responsibility for child sexual abuse, only one study has previously examined self-reported changes in attributions over time for women abused as children. In this study, 154 women responded to questions about current and remembered childhood attributions of responsibility for child sexual abuse. Results suggested decreases in self-reported self-blame, small decreases in self-reported family blame and very small decreases in self-reported perpetrator blame. Age at first abuse, the experience of coitus, perceived support, and abuse specific support from mothers were related to some aspect of self-reported changes in attributions. Therapy experiences were not related to self-reported attribution changes. An unexpected finding was that 42% of the women who had been in therapy did not tell their therapists about their child sexual abuse experiences. Those who were abused by fathers were abused at a younger age and those who had more therapy sessions were more likely to tell their therapists about their abuse.

Fellowship of Love: Methodist Women Changing American Racial Attitudes, 1920–1968. By Alice G. Knotts. Nashville: Kingswood Books, 1996. 335 pp. n.p.

Fellowship of Love: Methodist Women Changing American Racial Attitudes, 1920–1968. By Alice G. Knotts. Nashville: Kingswood Books, 1996. 335 pp. n.p.

Lifestyle change in women with coronary heart disease: what do we know?

Coronary heart disease (CHD) is the leading cause of death among women in the United States, yet few studies have specifically targeted women who have CHD, and still fewer have examined how behavior and psychosocial factors affect lifestyle change. This article reviews what is known about lifestyle change, with an emphasis on psychosocial factors related to change, in women with CHD. Studies exploring individual lifestyle improvement areas--exercise, nutrition, smoking, and social support--as well as studies of comprehensive lifestyle changes are reviewed. Strong conclusions were precluded because of the paucity of studies, widely variable and inconsistent findings, flawed methodologies, and inadequate reporting of results. Future research is advised to develop and test intervention programs for women with CHD, addressing barriers to participation, lifestyle change patterns, psychosocial and quality of life outcomes, and physiologic change.

Generational Changes in Attitudes to Abortion: A Cross-National Comparison

In this paper I examine generational changes in men and women's attitudes to abortion across nations and time. First, I use time-series data from British Social Attitudes and the General Social Survey of the United States to track men and women's changing attitudes. In particular, I investigate whether change is due mainly to period effects or to cohort replacement. I also compare the trajectory and pace of change in the two countries. Second, I use data from the International Social Survey Programme to compare Anglo-American attitudes with those of four other nations (Ireland, Germany, Sweden, and Poland) that have very different abortion policies. Although gender differences in attitudes to abortion are rare, generational differences tend to be conditioned on gender. As predicted, post-pill cohorts of women adopt a more favourable stance than earlier cohorts. In Britain, over the last decade, women's attitudes have become more liberal far more rapidly than men's, resulting in a gender gap in the 1990s. Gender differences in generational effects are apparent in the six-nation comparison, even when religion is taken into account. It is argued that rising expectations concerning reproductive control, together with generational succession and increasing secularization, will further increase endorsement of abortion but is unlikely to eradicate policy dispute.

Mammographic Changes in Women Receiving Tibolone Therapy

Objective: To investigate the effects of tibolone therapy for menopausal symptoms on mammographic findings and to identify any association between mammographic changes and the demographic and hormonal characteristics of women receiving tibolone. Design: A prospective study. Setting: A university hospital. Patient(s): Seventy-five women who were in the climacteric or postmenopausal period were recruited, and 25 of them were followed up for 24 months. Intervention(s): After high-resolution mammographies were performed and blood samples were collected, tibolone (2.5 mg/d) was administered orally to all patients. At the end of the 24-month follow-up period, blood samples were collected again and mammographies were repeated. Main Outcome Measure(s): Serum levels of LH, FSH, prolactin, estradiol, testosterone, and DHEAS were determined from the collected samples, and mammographies were interpreted. Result(s): At the end of the 24-month follow-up period, mammographic changes were observed in only two women (8%). Women who had no change in mammography constituted group I (n = 23). Women who had a change constituted group II (n = 2). Although the initial hormone levels were not different, the increase in serum DHEAS in group I was significantly higher than in group II ( z = 2.30, P = 0.021). Conclusion(s): The frequency of mammographic changes in women receiving tibolone therapy was found to be 8% at the end of the 24-month follow-up. The serum DHEAS level may be an important hormonal marker complementary to mammographic screening for women receiving tibolone therapy. We strongly believe that tibolone is safe in terms of mammographic changes in postmenopausal women.

The Gender Gap in U.S. Presidential Elections: When? Why? Implications?

Social scientists and political commentators have frequently pointed to differences between men and women in voting and policy attitudes as evidence of an emerging in U.S. politics. Using survey data for 11 elections since 1952, this study develops a systematic analysis of the gender gap in presidential elections. The authors find evidence that women's changing rates of labor force participation explain the origins of the gender gap. Additional analyses show that attitudes toward social service spending mediate the interrelationship of women's labor force participation and vote choice. In the 1992 election, feminist consciousness also emerged as a significant factor shaping women's voting behavior.

A Summary Chart: Age Related Changes in Women and Men and Their Possible Improvement With Training

A Summary Chart: Age Related Changes in Women and Men and Their Possible Improvement With Training

Women's Health in a Changing Society: Changing Women's Health

Women's health and health care for women have been undergoing significant changes in Canada in recent years. In part, change has occurred as a result of health care restructuring (or health reform), brought on by reduced funding by the federal government. Whereas in 1971 (when Canadian Medicare was established), the federal government contributed 50% of the costs of all insured services, today its contribution is a mere 15% and declining. Demands for greater economic efficiencies in the health sector, coupled with concerns about the ageing of the population have also led many provincial governments to restructure health services. There has been a growing shift toward community-based health care, as well as changes to how health care in institutions is delivered. In all of this restructuring, relatively little attention has been focused on the impact of these changes on women.

Recent Changes in Women's Ordination Conflicts: The Effect of a Social Movement on Intraorganizational Controversy

Conflicts over women's ordination have occurred within U.S. religious denominations for over a century. The nature of those conflicts, however, has changed over time in very substantial ways. Using systematic data and illustrative material from 15 conflicts occurring since 1920, we argue that the most recent of several shifts in the nature of conflicts over women's ordination occurred circa 1970. We identify four ways in which post-1970 women's ordination conflicts differed from pre-1970 conflicts: (1) The frequency with which the conflicts occurred among denominations increased (2) The organizational location of those most prominently advocating women's ordination shifted from the organizational elite to the grass roots. (3) Women's ordination advocates more frequently used extrainstitutional tactics in pursuit of their goals. (4) Organized opposition to women's ordination became more common. We argue that these changes in women's ordination conflicts were largely produced by changes in the social and cultural context, especially the rise of second-wave feminism and the associated influx of women into divinity schools and seminaries.

Barbara Pocock (ed), Strife: Sex and Politics in Labour Unions, Allen and Unwin, Sydney, 1997, xix + 224pp.

The review and analysis of the book 'Strife: Sex and Politics in Labour Unions' by Barbara Pocock is discussed. The book analyzes women's changing conditions in the paid workforces, documents their experiences as activists and officials in the union movement, and outlines strategies for the future. Review(s) of: Strife: Sex and Politics in Labour Unions, by Barbara Pocock (ed), Allen and Unwin, Sydney, 1997, xix + 224pp.

Changes in Women's Health Care Aboard One Ship

Health care needs of women assigned to sea duty may change over time. Determine changes in the obstetrical/gynecological needs of U.S. Navy women assigned to a submarine tender. Retrospective record review of personnel aboard one U.S. Navy ship in 1990 and in 1995. The demographic character of the female crew members changed. Compared with 1990, the women in 1995 were older, more experienced, of higher rank, more likely to use contraception, and more likely to have children. The pregnancy rate dropped from 2.7 to 1.5 per 100 women per month. Sexually transmitted diseases were less frequent, and the "satisfactory Papanicolaou smear" rate increased from 52 to 93%. Both in 1990 and 1995, women utilized Sick Call more often than men. Measurable changes occurred in the obstetrical/gynecological health care needs of women assigned to one ship in 1990 and 1995.

Plaster or plasticity: are adult work experiences associated with personality change in women?

The present study tested whether work experiences were associated with personality change across two periods of adulthood (age 21 to 27 and 27 to 43) in a longitudinal sample of women (N = 81). Two competing theoretical perspectives were tested: the plaster theory, which claims that personality does not change after age 30, and the plasticity theory, which claims that personality can change at any time in adulthood. Evidence was found for both correlational consistency of personality in adulthood and for the socialization effect of work on personality change. Work experiences were not associated with personality change in young adulthood but were associated with changes between young adulthood and midlife. In the period from age 27 to age 43 women who worked more became more agentic, and women who were more successful in their work became both more agentic and more normadhering. This pattern of associations between personality change and work experience provided support for the plasticity model of personality change.