Cynthia J. Schmiege

Bio: Cynthia J. Schmiege is an academic researcher from University of Idaho. The author has contributed to research in topics: Family life & Welfare. The author has an hindex of 6, co-authored 8 publications receiving 387 citations.

The Marital Construction of Gender Through Work and Family Decisions: A Qualitative Analysis

Abstract: In examining factors relating to how married couples make work and family decisions, we discovered that gender and marriages are constructed and, in turn, reconstructed through the decisions couples make about work and family. We qualitatively analyzed longitudinal data gathered from 61 couples who made a work and family decision. Husbands and wives provided information concerning their marriages in general and their work and family decision-making process in particular. We took a feminist critical stance on what couples considered as they faced the decision, and how their considerations were related to aspects of their relationship. The focus of this article is to illuminate how married couples construct gender and their marriages through their decisions concerning work and family. Building on decision-making research and feminist critiques of marital roles, we scrutinize work and family decisions. We show how interpersonal processes--those underlying and emergent patterns of interaction in intimate relationships--are experienced in ways that reflect the couples' construction of gender in their interpersonal lives and how that construction impacts the process of decision making. Through qualitative analysis, we illuminate how important the couples' own construction of gender and their marriages is in explaining the decisions they make and the ways those decisions change or cement their ideas about gender and about marriage. Thus, this research is aimed at providing a more complete understanding of why couples make the decisions they do regarding work and family. How is it that couples continue to make decisions that, from an economic standpoint, simultaneously disadvantage women and overburden men? The answer to this question points to how decisions that couples make about work and family perpetuate patriarchy. REVIEW OF LITERATURE The Gender Perspective and Construction of Marriage The gender perspective sees gender as produced in everyday activities (Ferree, 1990; West & Zimmerman, 1987). Rather than describing gender as an individual property based on biology, the gender perspective focuses on how people in their interactions with others come to perceive each other and each other's behaviors as gender appropriate or inappropriate. Stemming from symbolic interaction theory, the gender perspective views interactants as striving to create meaning out of their behaviors and the behaviors of others. Through this active process of deriving meaning from interaction, the behaviors of men and women are seen as diametrically different (West & Zimmerman, 1987). Particularly important for the study of married couples making decisions, gender is socially constructed and embedded in social contexts and processes through a system of boundaries that help to define what is appropriate for each gender, and through self-concepts, beliefs, and expectations for behavior (Potuchek, 1992; Risman & Schwartz, 1989; Thompson, 1993). Seen in this light, the ways that couples make work and family decisions and the outcomes of those decisions have implications for how gender and marriages are constructed for individual couples and for the larger society. Rather than surmising that married women are forced into unrewarding jobs and are constrained by their family obligations, the gender perspective suggests a deeper look into the processes through which couples make the decisions that result in women's economic marginalization and women's "second shift" in the household (Hochschild, 1989). What sorts of marital behaviors are gendered? In terms of responsibility, we know that men typically have responsibility for bread winning; women typically bear responsibility for home care, including housework, dependent care, and attentive care and emotional labor (Hood, 1983; Thompson, 1993). From a gender perspective, Potuchek (1992) suggests that these responsibilities are not passively stepped into by spouses; rather, role taking and role making are negotiated and renegotiated throughout marital interaction as an "active and contentious" process of constructing gender boundaries (p. …

Problems and strengths of single-parent families: Implications for practice and policy.

Abstract: Using qualitative interview data from a study of 60 single-parent mothers and 1 1 single-parent fathers, this paper examines family problems and strengths identified by these parents. With the exception of family finances and ex-spouses, mothers and fathers seemed to have very similar experiences. About two thirds of single parents reported that single parenting became easier over time. Implications forpractice and policy are addressed.

Influence Strategies Used When Couples Make Work-Family Decisions and Their Importance for Marital Satisfaction

Abstract: How marital partners influence each other when facing work and family decisions is the focus of this article. The 1980s were the first time in American history that more women, wives, and mothers were in the paid workforce than were not in the paid labor force (Cherlin, 1991; Gerson, 1985; Nock & Kingston, 1984). As a result of this increase, more couples are making decisions about how they as a couple will manage work and family roles. Decisions about work and family can range from couples deciding whether to relocate for the husbands' job, to couples deciding whether a spouse should enter or exit the paid labor force. These decisions are particularly important to examine because power in a relationship has been viewed as resting on the ability to control economic resources (Blumstein & Schwartz, 1983; Menaghan & Parcel, 1990). At one level, married couples confronting work decisions are dealing with day-to-day routines. However, at another level, the decisions they make affect their power balance and their future interpersonal behaviors. Decisions about work and family roles are important as well because they can affect how satisfied husbands and wives are with their marriages. Couples with more equitable levels of power and influence have been found to score higher on marital satisfaction (Corrales, 1975; Raven, Centers, & Rodrigues, 1975) than those with less equitable power and influence levels. Marital partners who feel they have a say in how their roles are structured are more satisfied with their roles and with their marriages than people who have no input (Madden, 1987; Thompson & Walker, 1989). In qualitative research, women commonly mentioned family demands as influencing their work participation, commitment, and satisfaction (Gerson, 1985; Hochschild, 1989). Research on how couples make work-family decisions needs to incorporate how gender may affect the behaviors couples display during decision making, and how gender role ideology (that is, beliefs about roles of men and women) may affect decision making (Ferree, 1990; Komter, 1989; Thompson, 1993). This article seeks to improve understanding of how couples make work-family decisions, including how individual factors such as gender and gender role ideology relate to how marital partners try to influence each other, and how these factors affect marital satisfaction. REVIEW OF LITERATURE We cannot understand work-family decisions without looking at how couples make them. This investigation prompts an analysis of the influence strategies couples use when faced with decisions. The literature indicates that use of influence strategies varies by gender. There is literature as well supporting the thesis that socioeconomic factors, which also vary by gender, and gender role ideology have some bearing on how couples act as the make decisions. Influence Strategies Recent scholars have sought to describe the strategies used by marital partners during their attempts to influence each other (McDonald, 1980; Sexton & Perlman, 1989; Spiro, 1983). The study of these strategies addresses the way power is actually enacted in a relationship, or the power processes. Research indicates that the investigation of influence strategies is more fruitful than the investigation of overall power, in part because power processes have been understudied and in part because couples tend to report a norm of equal power, although they may not behave as if they truly have equal power (McDonald, 1980; Sexton & Perlman, 1989). Sexton and Perlman set out to demonstrate differences in overall power, reports of influence strategies, and actual influence behaviors between dual-and single-earner couples. They found few differences between the two types of couples and little variation in reports of overall power. Their findings in general reflected gender differences in influence, rather than differences between the two types of couples. Based on these findings, men's and women's reports of influence strategies are hypothesized to differ. …

Supporting Siblings of Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders

Abstract: Research studies have shown the importance of early intervention services for young children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) and their families. However, most attention has been given to the effectiveness of treatments solely for children with ASDs. Because the family centered practice has been emphasized and supported by many researchers and legislation, involving family members other than children with ASDs and their parents in the assessing, planning, and implementing interventions is seen as crucial. The purpose of this article is to review what sibling relationships look like for a typically developing sibling of a child with an ASD and what resources are available for parents and specialists to support siblings of children with ASDs.

Remarriage: For Love or Money?

Abstract: Marriage is a desired state by most Americans. This belief extends to those who have had a marriage fail. Much of the increase in divorce and remarriage in the last twenty years can be attributed to the baby boom cohort. This study examines remarriage in a sample of 62 baby boom cohort women. The following hypothesis was tested: Women who became single parents at a younger age, had more children, and less education would be more likely to remarry. While the hypothesis was supported, having a co-provider was not mentioned as a reason for remarriage. Still, a co-provider role is important. When remarriages failed, women spoke of the husband’s failure to provide as an important factor in their decision to divorce. Implications and directions for future research are given. [Article copies available for a fee from The Haworth Document Delivery Service: 1-800-HAWORTH. E-mail address: Website: ©2001byTheHaworthPress, Inc.All rights reserved.]

The Social Psychology of Groups

Abstract: The Social Psychology of Groups. J. W Thibaut & H. H. Kelley. New York: alley, 1959. The team of Thibaut and Kelley goes back to 1946 when, after serving in different units of the armed services psychology program, the authors joined the Research Center for Group Dynamics, first at M.LT and then at the University of Michigan. Their continued association eventuated in appointments as fellows at the Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences, 19561957. It is during these years that their collaboration resulted in the publication of The Social Psychology of Groups. The book was designed to "bring order and coherence to present-day research in interpersonal relations and group functioning." To accomplish this aim, the authors introduced, defined, and illustrated basic concepts in an effort to explain the simplest of social phenomena, the two-person relationship. These basic principles and concepts were then employed to illuminate larger problems and more complex social relationships and to examine the significance of such concepts as roles, norm, power, group cohesiveness, and status. The lasting legacy of this book is derived from the fact that the concepts and principles discussed therein serve as a foundation for one of the dominant conceptual frameworks in the field of family studies today-the social exchange framework. Specifically, much of our contemporary thinking about the process of interpersonal attraction and about how individuals evaluate their close relationships has been influenced by the theory and concepts introduced in The Social Psychology of Groups. Today, as a result of Thibaut and Kelley, we think of interpersonal attraction as resulting from the unique valence of driving and restraining forces, rewards and costs, subjectively thought to be available from a specific relationship and its competing alternatives. We understand, as well, that relationships are evaluated through complex and subjectively based comparative processes. As a result, when we think about assessing the degree to which individuals are satisfied with their relationships, we take into consideration the fact that individuals differ in terms of the importance they attribute to different aspects of a relationship (e.g., financial security, sexual fulfillment, companionship). We also take into consideration the fact that individuals differ in terms of the levels of rewards and costs that they believe are realistically obtainable and deserved from a relationship. In addition, as a result of Thibaut and Kelley's theoretical focus on the concept of dependence and the interrelationship between attraction and dependence, there has evolved within the field of family studies a deeper appreciation for the complexities and variability found within relationships. Individuals are dependent on their relationships, according to Thibaut and Kelley, when the outcomes derived from the existing relationship exceed those perceived to be available in competing alternatives. Individuals who are highly dependent on their relationships are less likely to act to end their relationships. This dependence and the stability it engenders may or may not be voluntary, depending on the degree to which individuals are attracted to and satisfied with their relationships. When individuals are both attracted to and dependent on their relationships, they can be thought of as voluntarily participating in their relationship. That is, they are likely to commit themselves to the partner and relationship and actively work for its continuance. Thibaut and Kelley termed those relationships characterized by low levels of satisfaction and high levels of dependence "nonvoluntary relationships. …

Research on household labor : Modeling and measuring the social embeddedness of routine family work

Abstract: This article reviews more than 200 scholarly articles and books on household labor published between 1989 and 1999. As a maturing area of study, this body of research has been concerned with understanding and documenting how housework is embedded in complex and shifting social processes relating to the well-being of families, the construction of gender, and the reproduction of society. Major theoretical, methodological, and empirical contributions to the study of household labor are summarized, and suggestions for further research are offered. In summary, women have reduced and men have increased slightly their hourly contributions to housework. Although men's relative contributions have increased, women still do at least twice as much routine housework as men. Consistent predictors of sharing include both women's and men's employment, earnings, gender ideology, and life-course issues. More balanced divisions of housework are associated with women perceiving fairness, experiencing less depression, and enjoying higher marital satisfaction.

BECOMING MOTHERS AND FATHERS Parenthood, Gender, and the Division of Labor

Abstract: This study used two waves of the National Survey of Families and Households (1987 to 1988 and 1992 to 1994) to examine the effect of the transition to parenthood on the division of labor among married couples, hypothesizing that parenthood would produce a more differentiated gender division of labor, but that attitudes and preparental division of labor would moderate parenthood. There were no effects of parenthood nor direct or moderating effects of gender attitudes on husbands' employment or housework hours, with the exception that fathering more than one child results in slightly longer employment hours. Motherhood increases wives' housework hours and reduces employment hours. Wives' traditional gender attitudes reduce their employment, but not their housework. Women married to full-time breadwinners have the largest reductions in employment after motherhood. Last, wives' initial economic dependency increases wives' subsequent housework and husbands' employment. Parenthood crystallizes a gendered divisi...

The Pains and Pleasures of Parenting: When, Why, and How Is Parenthood Associated With More or Less Well-Being?

Abstract: The relationship between parenthood and well-being has become a hot topic among scholars, media, and general public alike. The research, however, has been mixed-some studies indicate that parents are happier than nonparents, whereas others suggest the reverse. We suggest that the question of whether parents are more or less happy than their childless peers is not the most meaningful one. To reconcile the conflicting literature and expand understanding of the emotional experience of parenthood, we present a model of parents' well-being that describes why and how parents experience more or less happiness than nonparents (i.e., mediators of the link between parenthood and well-being). We then apply this model to explain when parents are more likely to experience more or less happiness (i.e., moderators of parents' well-being, such as parent age or child temperament). Supporting our model, we review 3 primary methodological approaches: studies comparing parents and nonparents, studies examining changes in well-being across the transition to parenthood, and studies comparing parents' experiences while with their children to their other daily activities. Our review suggests that the relationship between parenthood and well-being is highly complex. We propose that parents are unhappy to the extent that they encounter relatively greater negative emotions, magnified financial problems, more sleep disturbance, and troubled marriages. By contrast, when parents experience greater meaning in life, satisfaction of their basic needs, greater positive emotions, and enhanced social roles, they are met with happiness and joy.