Sex Roles, Vol. 24, Nos. 5/6, 1991

Effects of Occupational Prestige, Employment Status, and Marital Status on Perceptions of Mothers I Claire Etaugh 2 and Patricia Poertner

Bradley University

Perceptions o f mothers were investigated as a function o f their marital status, employment status and prestige o f their jobs. College students (128 females and 96 males) evaluated a briefly described adult female stimulus person on 24 7-point bipolar scales that described j o b performance characteristics and personality traits. Each subject rated one o f 16 mothers o f a young child. The mother was portrayed as either divorced or married and as either currently employed or formerly employed (by choice) in an occupation o f either moderate or low prestige. Employed mothers were perceived as more competent in their jobs but as less well-adjusted than nonemployed mothers. Mothers with moderate-prestige occupations were viewed as more competent than those in low-prestige occupations, especially if they were currently employed. Married mothers were seen as better adjusted than divorced mothers.

In recent years, the number of women entering the labor force has increased dramatically, primarily as a result of the influx of mothers with preschoolaged children. In 1960, fewer than 20% of mothers with preschoolers were in the labor force; that figure now exceeds 50 percent (U.S. Bureau of the Census, 1990). This striking growth in women's labor force participation has served as a catalyst for research examining how others perceive a woman's abilities, behaviors and personal characteristics as a function of her employment and family roles.

~Portions of this paper were presented at the meeting of the Midwestern PsychologicalAssociation, Chicago, Illinois, May 1989. ~To whom correspondenceshould be addressed at Department of Psychology,BradleyUniversity, Peoria, IL 61625. 345 0360-6025/91/030043345506.50/0 © 1991 Plenum Publishing Corporation

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In nearly all of the research on this topic, (e.g., Bridges, 1987; Etaugh & Petroski, 1985; Etaugh & Stern, 1984; Etaugh & Study, 1989; Jackson & Sullivan, 1989; Russell & Rush, 1987) subjects are asked to rate a briefly described hypothetical woman on a variety of personality and job performance characteristics. Descriptions of the hypothetical woman have varied along a number of dimensions, including marital status, parental status, employment status, and sex-typing of occupation. One of the most consistent findings to emerge from these studies is that regardless of marital or parental status, employed women are, in many respects, perceived more favorably than comparable women who have been employed in the same occuaption but who have chosen not to work currently. More specifically, employed women often are seen as more competent, competitive, dedicated to their careers, successful in their jobs, independent, influential, responsible, reliable, stable, secure, happy, and personally satisfied (Bridges, 1987; Etaugh & Nekolny, 1990; Etaugh & Petroski, 1985; Etaugh & Study, 1989; Russell & Rush, 1987). As Russell and Rush (1987) have noted, these findings can be interpreted in terms of the value society places on employment. Employed individuals may be evaluated favorably because they are seen both as contributing to society and also as having enhanced psychological well-being. It should be noted, however, that working women are perceived less favorably on some characteristics than their nonemployed counterparts, particularly if they have young children. An employed woman who is described as the mother of a young child often is rated as less dedicated to her family, less sensitive to the needs of other people, less affectionate, and more selfish than a mother who has chosen not to work or who has reduced her work hours following the birth of a child (Etaugh & Folger, 1990; Etaugh & Nekolny, 1990; Etaugh & Study, 1989). These results have been interpreted in terms of the "motherhood mandate", i.e., societal expectations that a good mother will be available constantly to meet the needs of her young children (Russo, 1976, 1979). According to this view, a woman who violates the "motherhood mandate" by working when her children were small will be subject to social disappoval. A woman's marital status also affects how she is perceived by others. Married women, whether employed or not, generally are viewed more favorably than women who are unmarried. This is particularly true with respect to personality traits; ratings of job performance characteristics ususally are not affected by marital status. Married women generally are viewed as more happy, relaxed, secure, stable, reliable, responsible and personally satisfied than are divorced women. They also are perceived as more sociable, attractive, comfotable with others and likable than never-married women and as happier than widows (Etaugh & Malstrom, 1981; Etaugh & Petroski, 1985;

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Etaugh & Stern, 1984). As with the findings for employment status, these results regarding the effect of marital status on perceptions of women may be explained in terms of the highly positive value placed on marriage in our society (e.g., Kitson, Lopata, Holmes, & Meyering, 1980; Stein, 1976). One shortcoming of the research to date is that its focus has been limited to perceptions of women in professional careers of at least moderate prestige (e.g., counseling psychology, nursing, economics). The majority of women, however, are concentrated in low-paying, relatively low-status service, clerical, and sales occupations (U.S. Bureau of the Census, 1990; Woman's Research & Education Institute, 1988). The primary purpose of the present study was to learn more about how working mothers in less prestigious jobs are perceived relative to those in higher-status jobs. Specifically, we explored perceptions of the job performance characteristics and personality traits of mothers of a young child who were depicted as divorced or married and as either currently employed or formerly employed (by choice) in an occupation of either moderate or low prestige. It was hypothesized that mothers with moderate-prestige occupations would receive more favorable job performance evaluations than those with low-prestige occupations. For mothers with moderate-prestige occupations, several additional hypotheses were formulated, based on previous research which was discussed above. First, it was hypothesized that mothers who were currently employed would be viewed more positively on job performance characteristics than those who had been employed in the same occupations but who had chosen not to work since the birth of their child. At the same time, it was expected that these employed mothers would be viewed as less nurturant (i.e., less dedicated to family, less sensitive to others' needs, less affectionate, more selfish) than mothers who had chosen not to work. Finally, it was hypothesized that married mothers, whether employed or not, would be rated more favorably on personality traits than would divorced mothers. No specific hypotheses were proposed regarding the effects of employment status and marital status on perceptions of mothers with low-prestige occupations, since there are no previous data addressing these questions.

METHOD

Subjects Subjects were 128 female and 96 male students enrolled in introductory psychology classes at a medium-sized Midwestern university in the fall of 1987. Nearly all subjects were between 18 and 24 years old. All students who were in class on the testing day participated.

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Procedure

Subjects were told that the study concerned the accuracy of first impressions based on a brief description of a person. Eight female and six male subjects each received one of 16 booklets in which the description of the stimulus person varied with respect to marital status, employment status, and occupational prestige. Two occupations were used at each of two levels of prestige in order to provide greater generalizability. The description read as follows: Ann Davis is 36, married (divorced) and has a one-year-old child. She is currently employed (was formerly employed) full-time as a physical therapist (x-ray technician; store clerk; theater ticket taker). (Since the birth of her child she has chosen not to work.)

The four occupations chosen all were sex-neutral and included two of relatively low prestige (store clerk and ticket taker in a theater) and two of higher prestige (x-ray technician and physical therapist) as determined by a pilot study. In the pilot study, 37 female and 26 male students in a sophomore psychology class were asked to estimate on two 5-point scales the degree to which each of 45 occupations employed females and males, and the prestige level of each occupation. On the female-male scale, 1 denoted female; and 5, male. On the prestige scale, 1 denoted low prestige; and 5, high prestige. The order in which the two scales were presented to the pilot subjects was counterbalanced. The four occupations chosen for the main study-physical therapist, x-ray technician, store clerk, and theater ticket taker-received sexneutral ratings of 2.81, 2.97, 2.68, and 2.90, respectively. The first two of these occupations were perceived as moderate in prestige (physical therapist, 3.90; x-ray technician, 3.92), while the other two were viewed as low in prestige (store clerk, 2.08; ticket taker, 1.48). Subjects in the main study rated the stimulus person on 24 7-point bipolar scales that described personality traits (e.g., friendly-unfriendly, secureinsecure, unhappy-happy) and job performance characteristics (e.g., dedicated to career-not dedicated to career, unsuccessful in job-successful in job). The favorable pole of the scale appeared on the left for half of the items and on the right for the other half. Subjects were told to circle the number that best described their impression of the person.

RESULTS

In scoring the 7-point scales, the unfavorable pole was given a score of 1 and the favorable pole, a score of 7, with a midpoint of 4. Factor analysis was used in order to reduce the number of dimensions and describe the

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variables more parsimoniously (Cohen & Cohen, 1975). Pearson productmoment correlations were calculated between the 24 items. The correlation matrix was factor analyzed using the principal-components method with varimax rotation in order to identify orthogonal factors (Nunnally, 1967). Three orthogonal factors emerged, which the authors designated "job competence", "personal adjustment" and "interpersonal adjustment". These factors accounted for 25.1, 11.5 and 7.5% of the total variance, respectively. The rotated factor matrix is presented in Table I. The items loading most heavily on each of the three factors (in descending order) were as follows: Job Competencededicated to career, professionally competent, successful in job, competitive, personally satisfied, secure, intelligent and selfish; Personal Adjustment-happy, stable, responsible, secure, relaxed, no personality adjustment problems, sensitive to needs of others, reliable, and dedicated to family; Interpersonal Adjustment-likable, friendly, affectionate, comfortable with others, attractive and sociable. The factor scores for each factor were analyzed by means of 2 x 2 x 2 x 2 (Employment Status x Marital Status x Occupational Prestige

Table I. V a r i m a x - R o t a t e d F a c t o r L o a d i n g s a Factors I t e m (left pole) Responsible Selfish Competitive Unhappy Secure D e d i c a t e d to career Insensitive to needs o f others Great personal satisfaction Unstable Friendly Tense Dependent Affectionate Unintelligent Professionally competent Likable Unreliable H a s pers. a d j u s t , p r o b l e m s Successful in j o b Uninfluential D e d i c a t e d to f a m i l y Unattractive C o m f o r t a b l e w i t h others Unsociable

Job competence .28 .37 .6__33 -.09 .5_.22 .7__55 .23 .5_44 - .35 - .01 .05 -.31 .01 - .4___fi6 .6_99 .12 - . 17 -.03 .6_88 - .25 -.24 - . 11 .21 - .09

Personal adjustment - .59 .33 .14 .6_66 -.5_55 -.06 .4_._44 -.32 .64 - . 16 .53 -.22 -.20 .32 - . 13 - .08 .4__44 .47 -.13 .14 -.3._99 - .05 -.29 .21

a I t e m s l o a d i n g m o s t heavily o n each f a c t o r are u n d e r l i n e d .

Interpersonal adjustment - .01 - . 12 - . 11 -.16 .18 -.04 -.13 .14 - .01 .78 -.16 .10 .6_.fi6 -.01 .17 .80 - . 19 -.26 .28 - .09 .35 - .51 .5__7_7 - .46

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x Sex o f Subject) analysis o f v a r i a n c e . C o m p a r i s o n s a m o n g m e a n s for significant i n t e r a c t i o n s were m a d e with T u k e y ' s H S D test (p < .05). T a b l e II presents F values a n d m e a n f a c t o r scores for all i n d e p e n d e n t variables. T h e m a i n effect o f e m p l o y m e n t status was significant for the j o b c o m petence a n d p e r s o n a l a d j u s t m e n t factors. E m p l o y e d m o t h e r s were perceived as m o r e competent but as less well-adjusted t h a n n o n e m p l o y e d mothers. The significant E m p l o y m e n t Status x O c c u p a t i o n a l Prestige i n t e r a c t i o n for the j o b c o m p e t e n c e f a c t o r , F(1,208) = 5.56, p < .05, indicates t h a t while e m p l o y e d m o t h e r s were seen as m o r e c o m p e t e n t t h a n n o n e m p l o y e d m o t h e r s u n d e r b o t h c o n d i t i o n s o f o c c u p a t i o n a l prestige, this effect was s t r o n g e r for the higher prestige j o b s ( M e m p l o y e d = - .89; M n o n e m p l o y e d = .20) t h a n for the lower status j o b s ( M e m p l o y e d = .07; M n o n e m p l o y e d = .62). T h e m a i n effect o f m a r i t a l status was significant for the p e r s o n a l adj u s t m e n t factor. M a r r i e d m o t h e r s were perceived as b e t t e r a d j u s t e d t h a n divorced mothers. A significant m a i n effect o f o c c u p a t i o n a l prestige was f o u n d for the j o b c o m p e t e n c e factor. W o r k e r s in higher prestige j o b s were viewed as m o r e c o m p e t e n t t h a n those in lower prestige j o b s . A significant O c c u p a t i o n a l Prestige x Sex o f Subject interaction for the personal a d j u s t m e n t factor, F(1,208) = 4.40, p < .05, indicates t h a t m a l e subjects r a t e d w o m e n in higher prestige o c c u p a t i o n s ( M = .20) as better a d j u s t e d t h a n those in lower prestige

Table II. F Values and Mean Factor Scores as a Function of Employment Status, Marital Sta-

tus, Occupational Prestige, and Sex of Subject Job competence"

Personal adjustmentb

Independent variable F F Employment status 53.68 e 6.63 a Employed - .41 - . 15 Nonemployed .41 .15 Marital status 3.00 41.57e Married -.10 .38 Divorced .10 - .38 Occupational prestige 37.75e 3.49 High -.34 .11 Low .34 -.11 Sex of subject .68 .66 Female - .04 .04 Male .05 - .06 aThe more negative the score, the more favorable the evaluation. bThe more positive the score, the more favorable the evaluation. Cp < .05. dp < .01. ~p < .001.

F .06

Factors Interpersonal adjustment~ .02 .02

.01 .02 .02 .90 .06 .06 5.34c .13 .18

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occupations (M -- - . 3 1 ) . Occupational prestige did not influence female subjects' ratings of personal adjustment. A significant Occupational Prestige x Marital Status interaction, F(1,208) = 4.65, p < .05, was obtained for the interpersonal adjustment factor. Married mothers in higher prestige jobs were seen as better adjusted (M = . 18) than those in lower prestige jobs (M = - .23). Perceptions of divorced mothers were not affected by occupational prestige, however.

DISCUSSION As predicted, mothers with moderate-prestige jobs were rated more favorably on job performance traits than were mothers with low-prestige jobs. In addition, occupational prestige affected perceptions of adjustment in interaction with other variables. Those with higher prestige jobs were viewed as having better personal adjustment, although only by male subjects. Furthermore, those mothers with higher status occupations also were perceived as having better interpersonal adjustment, but this perception held true only for married mothers. The more positive evaluations of both the competence and the psychological adjustment of women in higher status jobs is consistent with previous research which has examined women's career development as a function of their personality characteristics and self-concept. Greater self-confidence and self-esteem, key components of psychological adjustment, have been found to be associated with stronger career orientation of females (Baruch, 1976; Ridgeway & Jacobsen, 1979). Additionally, research has consistently shown the relationship of such traits as competence, self-assertion and competitiveness to women's career development. This constellation of traits, sometimes referred to as "instrumentality", is strongly related to both the extent and nature of women's career pursuits (Betz & Fitzgerald, 1987). Perhaps the most interesting set of findings in the present study is that in nearly all respects, employment and marital status had the same effect on perceptions of mothers regardless of the prestige of their occupations. Employed mothers in both low-prestige and moderate prestige positions were viewed as more occupationally competent but as less nurturant (i.e., less dedicated to family, less sensitive to others' needs, more selfish) than their formerly employed counterparts. Likewise, married mothers, whether in low- or moderate-prestige jobs, received more favorable personality evaluations than divorced mothers and were seen as generally better adjusted. These findings are consistent with previous research which has shown that mothers employed in moderate-status occupations are perceived as more profesionally competent but as less nurturant and family-oriented than comparable women who have chosen not to work or who have reduced their work hours following

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the birth of a child (Etaugh & Folger, 1990; Etaugh & Nekolny, 1990; Etaugh & Study, 1989). The results also are in line with findings that married women with moderate-status jobs are viewed as better adjusted than their divorced counterparts (Etaugh & Malstron, 1981; Etaugh & Petroski, 1985; Etaugh & Stern, 1984; Etaugh & Study, 1989). The importance of the present results lies in demonstrating that these perceptions apply to women in low-status jobs as well. In summary, these findings extend the generality of previous research by demonstrating how employment and marital variables affect others' perceptions of mothers in occupations of varying levels of prestige. It should be remembered that in the present study, sex-typing of occupation was held constant while varying occupational prestige. In order to further test the generalizability of these results, one direction for future research would be to vary both occupational sex-typing and occupational prestige in the same design.

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