{"id":{"repo_id":"cape-town","oai_identifier":"oai:open.uct.ac.za:11427/17022"},"canonical_url":"https://search.dev.ndltd.org/etd/cape-town/oai:open.uct.ac.za:11427/17022","repository":{"repo_id":"cape-town","name":"University of Cape Town","base_url":"https://open.uct.ac.za/oai/request"},"display":{"title":"Family-functioning, sex-role ideology, psychological androgyny and self-actualisation in dual-career and traditional families","abstract":"The steadily increasing numbers in employed married women and the rise of feminist sex-role ideology are factors indicating change in the role and status of women in Western society. There is movement away from the traditional gender-based role allocation towards increased role-sharing. This trend is embodied in the dual-career family, which necessitates adaptive changes in individual men and women and in government and institutional policies. To better understand the current nature of the dual-career family, this study compared fourteen dual-career husbands and wives with fourteen traditional husbands and wives on four selected variables, namely: (1) family-functioning, primarily to assess whether dual-career and traditional families function equally well; (2) sex-role ideology, which provides a context in which role changes are occurring; (3) psychological androgyny, a concept which finds expression in an age seeking alternatives to masculine and feminine stereotypes; and (4) self-actualisation, as theoretically the dual-career family offers opportunities for increased personal fulfilment. The scales used were: Smilkstein's Family APGAR (1978), Smith et. al.'s FEM-scale (1975), Bern's Sex-Role Inventory (1974) and Shostrom's Personal Orientation Inventory (1963). Previous research, particularly regarding the role of dual-career husbands, has not consistently confirmed predictions based on theory. Consequently, this study is observational, not predictive. The results indicated no significant differences on family-functioning; dual-career and traditional husbands and wives all rated their families as well-functioning. Self-actualisation scores, though not statistically significant, suggested trends inconsistent with theory and previous research, in indicating that traditional husbands, dual-career husbands and dual-career wives are similarly inner-directed and that traditional husbands are more inner-directed than traditional wives. This may have been due to difficulties with the POI. Statistically significant differences were found in sex-role ideology scores, with dual-career wives scoring more pro-feminist (p < 0,05) than traditional wives and dual-career husbands. Although the scores for psychological androgyny could not be statistically assessed, the results suggested a trend for more dual-career wives to be androgynous than traditional wives and dual-career husbands. The median test indicated a significant statistical relationship between sex-role ideology and androgyny and \"cross-sex-typedness\" (p = 0,0007). No other statistically significant relationships were found between the variables, except for a significant positive correlation (p < 0,05) between the two sub-scales of the POI. Discrepancies between dual-career husbands and wives on sex-role ideology and androgyny did not appear to affect family-functioning adversely. Possible explanations for this include their hiring of domestic servants, thus reducing the need for husbands to make adaptive role changes; and several indications that the wives continue to identify with the traditional female role. These features imply that these dual-career families are not fully egalitarian; husbands and wives still tend to allocate responsibility and commitment to roles in accordance with the traditional model.","abstract_html":"The steadily increasing numbers in employed married women and the rise of feminist sex-role ideology are factors indicating change in the role and status of women in Western society. There is movement away from the traditional gender-based role allocation towards increased role-sharing. This trend is embodied in the dual-career family, which necessitates adaptive changes in individual men and women and in government and institutional policies. To better understand the current nature of the dual-career family, this study compared fourteen dual-career husbands and wives with fourteen traditional husbands and wives on four selected variables, namely: (1) family-functioning, primarily to assess whether dual-career and traditional families function equally well; (2) sex-role ideology, which provides a context in which role changes are occurring; (3) psychological androgyny, a concept which finds expression in an age seeking alternatives to masculine and feminine stereotypes; and (4) self-actualisation, as theoretically the dual-career family offers opportunities for increased personal fulfilment. The scales used were: Smilkstein&#x27;s Family APGAR (1978), Smith et. al.&#x27;s FEM-scale (1975), Bern&#x27;s Sex-Role Inventory (1974) and Shostrom&#x27;s Personal Orientation Inventory (1963). Previous research, particularly regarding the role of dual-career husbands, has not consistently confirmed predictions based on theory. Consequently, this study is observational, not predictive. The results indicated no significant differences on family-functioning; dual-career and traditional husbands and wives all rated their families as well-functioning. Self-actualisation scores, though not statistically significant, suggested trends inconsistent with theory and previous research, in indicating that traditional husbands, dual-career husbands and dual-career wives are similarly inner-directed and that traditional husbands are more inner-directed than traditional wives. This may have been due to difficulties with the POI. Statistically significant differences were found in sex-role ideology scores, with dual-career wives scoring more pro-feminist (p &lt; 0,05) than traditional wives and dual-career husbands. Although the scores for psychological androgyny could not be statistically assessed, the results suggested a trend for more dual-career wives to be androgynous than traditional wives and dual-career husbands. The median test indicated a significant statistical relationship between sex-role ideology and androgyny and &quot;cross-sex-typedness&quot; (p = 0,0007). No other statistically significant relationships were found between the variables, except for a significant positive correlation (p &lt; 0,05) between the two sub-scales of the POI. Discrepancies between dual-career husbands and wives on sex-role ideology and androgyny did not appear to affect family-functioning adversely. Possible explanations for this include their hiring of domestic servants, thus reducing the need for husbands to make adaptive role changes; and several indications that the wives continue to identify with the traditional female role. These features imply that these dual-career families are not fully egalitarian; husbands and wives still tend to allocate responsibility and commitment to roles in accordance with the traditional model.","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Singer, Vivien Sorelle"],"institution":"Department of Psychology","degree_name":null,"degree_level":null,"degree_discipline":null,"degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":[],"advisors":["Saayman, Graham"],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":1984,"date_issued":"1984","date_published":"1984","updated_at":"2026-07-22T22:23:05Z","subjects":[],"languages":["eng"],"rights":[],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"http://hdl.handle.net/11427/17022","outbound_label":"Handle","outbound_source":"dc:identifier.uri"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor.advisor","label":"Advisor","values":["Saayman, Graham"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Singer, Vivien Sorelle"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date.accessioned","label":"Dc Date Accessioned","values":["2016-02-15T07:12:34Z"]},{"key":"dc:date.available","label":"Dc Date Available","values":["2016-02-15T07:12:34Z"]},{"key":"dc:date.issued","label":"Date","values":["1984"]},{"key":"dc:publisher.department","label":"Dc Publisher Department","values":["Department of Psychology"]},{"key":"dc:publisher.institution","label":"Dc Publisher Institution","values":["University of Cape Town"]},{"key":"dc:type","label":"Dc Type","values":["Master Thesis"]},{"key":"dc:type.qualificationlevel","label":"Dc Type Qualificationlevel","values":["Masters"]},{"key":"dc:type.qualificationname","label":"Dc Type Qualificationname","values":["MA"]}]},{"id":"language_rights","label":"Language and Rights","entries":[{"key":"dc:language.iso","label":"Language (ISO)","values":["eng"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier.uri","label":"Identifier URI","values":["http://hdl.handle.net/11427/17022"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description","label":"Description","values":["BIbliography: pages 142-155."]},{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["The steadily increasing numbers in employed married women and the rise of feminist sex-role ideology are factors indicating change in the role and status of women in Western society. There is movement away from the traditional gender-based role allocation towards increased role-sharing. This trend is embodied in the dual-career family, which necessitates adaptive changes in individual men and women and in government and institutional policies. To better understand the current nature of the dual-career family, this study compared fourteen dual-career husbands and wives with fourteen traditional husbands and wives on four selected variables, namely: (1) family-functioning, primarily to assess whether dual-career and traditional families function equally well; (2) sex-role ideology, which provides a context in which role changes are occurring; (3) psychological androgyny, a concept which finds expression in an age seeking alternatives to masculine and feminine stereotypes; and (4) self-actualisation, as theoretically the dual-career family offers opportunities for increased personal fulfilment. The scales used were: Smilkstein's Family APGAR (1978), Smith et. al.'s FEM-scale (1975), Bern's Sex-Role Inventory (1974) and Shostrom's Personal Orientation Inventory (1963). Previous research, particularly regarding the role of dual-career husbands, has not consistently confirmed predictions based on theory. Consequently, this study is observational, not predictive. The results indicated no significant differences on family-functioning; dual-career and traditional husbands and wives all rated their families as well-functioning. Self-actualisation scores, though not statistically significant, suggested trends inconsistent with theory and previous research, in indicating that traditional husbands, dual-career husbands and dual-career wives are similarly inner-directed and that traditional husbands are more inner-directed than traditional wives. This may have been due to difficulties with the POI. Statistically significant differences were found in sex-role ideology scores, with dual-career wives scoring more pro-feminist (p < 0,05) than traditional wives and dual-career husbands. Although the scores for psychological androgyny could not be statistically assessed, the results suggested a trend for more dual-career wives to be androgynous than traditional wives and dual-career husbands. The median test indicated a significant statistical relationship between sex-role ideology and androgyny and \"cross-sex-typedness\" (p = 0,0007). No other statistically significant relationships were found between the variables, except for a significant positive correlation (p < 0,05) between the two sub-scales of the POI. Discrepancies between dual-career husbands and wives on sex-role ideology and androgyny did not appear to affect family-functioning adversely. Possible explanations for this include their hiring of domestic servants, thus reducing the need for husbands to make adaptive role changes; and several indications that the wives continue to identify with the traditional female role. These features imply that these dual-career families are not fully egalitarian; husbands and wives still tend to allocate responsibility and commitment to roles in accordance with the traditional model."]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["Family-functioning, sex-role ideology, psychological androgyny and self-actualisation in dual-career and traditional families"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor.advisor":["Saayman, Graham"],"dc:creator":["Singer, Vivien Sorelle"],"dc:date.accessioned":["2016-02-15T07:12:34Z"],"dc:date.available":["2016-02-15T07:12:34Z"],"dc:date.issued":["1984"],"dc:description":["BIbliography: pages 142-155."],"dc:description.abstract":["The steadily increasing numbers in employed married women and the rise of feminist sex-role ideology are factors indicating change in the role and status of women in Western society. There is movement away from the traditional gender-based role allocation towards increased role-sharing. This trend is embodied in the dual-career family, which necessitates adaptive changes in individual men and women and in government and institutional policies. To better understand the current nature of the dual-career family, this study compared fourteen dual-career husbands and wives with fourteen traditional husbands and wives on four selected variables, namely: (1) family-functioning, primarily to assess whether dual-career and traditional families function equally well; (2) sex-role ideology, which provides a context in which role changes are occurring; (3) psychological androgyny, a concept which finds expression in an age seeking alternatives to masculine and feminine stereotypes; and (4) self-actualisation, as theoretically the dual-career family offers opportunities for increased personal fulfilment. The scales used were: Smilkstein's Family APGAR (1978), Smith et. al.'s FEM-scale (1975), Bern's Sex-Role Inventory (1974) and Shostrom's Personal Orientation Inventory (1963). Previous research, particularly regarding the role of dual-career husbands, has not consistently confirmed predictions based on theory. Consequently, this study is observational, not predictive. The results indicated no significant differences on family-functioning; dual-career and traditional husbands and wives all rated their families as well-functioning. Self-actualisation scores, though not statistically significant, suggested trends inconsistent with theory and previous research, in indicating that traditional husbands, dual-career husbands and dual-career wives are similarly inner-directed and that traditional husbands are more inner-directed than traditional wives. This may have been due to difficulties with the POI. Statistically significant differences were found in sex-role ideology scores, with dual-career wives scoring more pro-feminist (p < 0,05) than traditional wives and dual-career husbands. Although the scores for psychological androgyny could not be statistically assessed, the results suggested a trend for more dual-career wives to be androgynous than traditional wives and dual-career husbands. The median test indicated a significant statistical relationship between sex-role ideology and androgyny and \"cross-sex-typedness\" (p = 0,0007). No other statistically significant relationships were found between the variables, except for a significant positive correlation (p < 0,05) between the two sub-scales of the POI. Discrepancies between dual-career husbands and wives on sex-role ideology and androgyny did not appear to affect family-functioning adversely. Possible explanations for this include their hiring of domestic servants, thus reducing the need for husbands to make adaptive role changes; and several indications that the wives continue to identify with the traditional female role. These features imply that these dual-career families are not fully egalitarian; husbands and wives still tend to allocate responsibility and commitment to roles in accordance with the traditional model."],"dc:identifier.uri":["http://hdl.handle.net/11427/17022"],"dc:language.iso":["eng"],"dc:publisher.department":["Department of Psychology"],"dc:publisher.institution":["University of Cape Town"],"dc:title":["Family-functioning, sex-role ideology, psychological androgyny and self-actualisation in dual-career and traditional families"],"dc:type":["Master Thesis"],"dc:type.qualificationlevel":["Masters"],"dc:type.qualificationname":["MA"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-22T22:23:05Z"}