Record Details
A comparison of the personal and social adjustment of 38 never-married women and 38 married women
ScholarsArchive at Oregon State University
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Title | A comparison of the personal and social adjustment of 38 never-married women and 38 married women |
| Names |
Baker, Luther Galloway, Jr.
(creator) Kirkendall, Lester A. (advisor) |
| Date Issued | 1966-08-09 (iso8601) |
| Note | Graduation date: 1967 |
| Abstract | A survey of scholarly and popular contemporary literature reveals two persisting stereotypes regarding the nature of women. First is the theory that woman is inferior to man and that since she is the "negative" of man's masculine nature, she cannot develop her humanity to the fullest extent without fusion with a male personality. Second, the "feminine personality" is destined by nature to domestic pursuits; it is primarily through marriage and motherhood that a woman must fulfill herself as a person. The consequence of these stereotypes is two-fold. The insistence that every woman must marry impels many young girls into a marriage for which they are not prepared, and helps to account for the increase in teenage marriage. Further, the supposition that a never-married woman remains in that condition because of some personality aberration, or is doomed to a life of frustration and personality distortion because of her singleness, denies the unmarried woman a normal place in society and closes doors essential to her self-actualization. To test the validity of these stereotypes, a sample of 38 never-married women between the ages of 34 and 72 was compared with a sample of 38 married mothers, aged 36 to 68. Members of both groups were drawn from Business and Professional Women's Clubs. An analysis of variance of The California Test of Personality scores achieved by these two groups failed to show any significant difference between them on any item of that test. Further, an item analysis of the 180 questions of the CTP similarly failed to show any unique pattern characteristic of either group. It is apparent that no significant difference in personal and social adjustment as measured by the CTP exists between this sample of never-married women and the control group of married mothers. The scores of both groups in this study are significantly higher than the average. When compared to the norms provided by the California Test Bureau the ranking for these samples range between the 50th and 80th percentiles. In searching for a factor which these married and unmarried women share in common which might produce their similarity in scores, but which they do not share with the "average" woman and which might tend to raise their scores above the average, their employment seemed significant. It is therefore concluded that it is through "satistying contribution to one's significant society" that an individual achieves personal fulfillment. Family may provide this "significant society" for some women, while for the unmarried some other significant association may suffice. The stereotypes are not upheld by this study, and it is concluded that if by choice or lack of opportunity a woman remains unmarried, she may nevertheless accomplish adequate personality adjustment, and granted social acceptance, perform a useful service for her society. An application of this point of view in Family Life education would help to modify the stereotypes, would tend to reduce the current "marriage mania," would encourage young women to develop all their potential as human beings, and would provide more adequate social acceptance for the never-married. |
| Genre | Thesis/Dissertation |
| Topic | Single women |
| Identifier | http://hdl.handle.net/1957/47600 |
