Showing papers in "Journal of Family Issues in 2005"
TL;DR: The National Violence Against Women Survey showed that the two major forms of husband violence toward their wives (intimate terrorism and situational couple violence) have different effects on their victims as discussed by the authors.
Abstract: Data from the National Violence Against Women Survey show that the two major forms of husband violence toward their wives (intimate terrorism and situational couple violence) have different effects on their victims. Victims of intimate terrorism are attacked more frequently and experience violence that is less likely to stop. They are more likely to be injured, to exhibit more of the symptoms of posttraumatic stress syndrome, to use painkillers (perhaps also tranquilizers), and to miss work. They have left their husbands more often, and when they do leave, they are more likely to acquire their own residence. If we want to understand the true impact of wife abuse from survey data (rather than from agency data), we must make distinctions among types of violence so that the data used to describe battering are not diluted by data regarding other types of partner violence.
663 citations
TL;DR: Work-family research frequently focuses on the conflict experienced by working mothers as mentioned in this paper, but this study also examined work-family facilitation and working fathers and found that family-to-work facilitation was positively related to marital satisfaction, family satisfaction, and life satisfaction and negatively related to organizational commitment.
Abstract: Work-family research frequently focuses on the conflict experienced by working mothers. Using data from the National Study of the Changing Workforce (N = 1,314), this study also examined work-family facilitation and working fathers. Ecological systems, family stress, family resilience, and sex role theories were used to organize the data and create hypotheses. Work-to-family facilitation was positively related to job satisfaction and life satisfaction, and negatively related to individual stress. Family-to-work facilitation was positively related to marital satisfaction, family satisfaction, and life satisfaction, and negatively related to organizational commitment. Working fathers reported long work hours (49 hours/week), major involvement in household responsibilities (46 hours/week), and a work culture less supportive of their family life than working mothers reported. However, working fathers reported less work-family conflict, less individual stress, and greater family satisfaction, marital satisfact...
537 citations
TL;DR: This paper examined gender differences in feeling time strain for children, spouse, and oneself and in the association of these feelings with psychological well-being among dual-earner parents using data from the 1997 National Study of the Changing Workforce.
Abstract: Using data from the 1997 National Study of the Changing Workforce, these authors examine gender differences in feeling time strain for children, spouse, and oneself and in the association of these feelings with psychological well-being among dual-earner parents. Fathers are more likely than mothers to report feeling time deficits with their children and spouse; however, it is primarily because fathers spend more hours in paid work than mothers. Yet feelings of time deficits with children and spouse are associated with lower well-being only for mothers. In terms of time for oneself, mothers more than fathers feel strains, net of the time they spend on free-time activities. Mothers and fathers who feel a time shortage for themselves express lower well-being, although for some measures, the relationship is stronger for fathers.
257 citations
TL;DR: The authors investigated the influence of gender and tenure status in academicians' experiences of balancing parenthood and an academic career and found that women reported greater academic and family stress and perceptions of less institutional support for balance of work and family as compared to men.
Abstract: The present research investigated the influence of gender and tenure status in academicians’ experiences of balancing parenthood and an academic career. Men (n = 85) and women (n = 179) employed full-time in tenure-track academic positions with at least one child younger than the age of 16 responded via the Internet to a 36-item questionnaire assessing experiences and perceptions regarding work and family demands. Results revealed group differences based on gender but no differences based on tenure status alone and no significant interactions between gender and tenure status. Women reported greater academic and family stress and perceptions of less institutional support for balance of work and family as compared to men. Results are discussed in terms of the rational and role demand models of work/family stress.
253 citations
TL;DR: This article examined relationships between three types of work demands and work-to-family and family to work conflict: strain-based demands, boundary-spanning demands, and timebased demands.
Abstract: This article uses a demands-and-resources approach to examine relationships between three types of work demands and work-to-family and family-to-work conflict: time-based demands, strain-based demands, and boundary-spanning demands The analysis is based on data from 2,155 employed adults living with a family member who were interviewed for the 1997 National Study of the Changing Workforce (NSCW) The results indicate consistent positive relationships between the three types of demands and work-to-family conflict Strain-based demands show the strongest relationships with family-to-work conflict In addition, work-to-family conflict partially mediates relationships between several demands and family-to-work conflict Thus, work demands reveal direct and indirect relationships with family-to-work conflict
219 citations
TL;DR: The authors found that work-family conflict has increased during this period, particularly for men, and marital, parental, and spouse's employment status proved to be consistently important predictors of work family conflict.
Abstract: Although many observers assume that balancing the often-competing demands of work and family has become increasingly difficult in recent decades, little research has explicitly examined this proposition. This study examines this question by drawing on data from the 1977 Quality of Employment Survey and the 1997 National Study of the Changing Workforce. The author found that work-family conflict has increased during this period, particularly for men. In addition, marital, parental, and spouse’s employment status prove to be consistently important predictors of work-family conflict. Future research focusing on men’s experiences of conflict, examining conflict from the perspective of the family unit, and exploring the effects of workplace policies is suggested.
207 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors created and validated the Work-Family Integration-Blurring Scale using a national sample of business professors raising children in two-parent families and found significant and moderately high correlations with these variables supported its construct validity.
Abstract: Several studies of telecommuting and working at home have alluded to the blurring line between work and family that can result from such highly integrated work-family arrangements. However, little is known about working parents’ perceptions of the integration and blurring of their work and family roles. In this study, the authors created and validated the Work-Family Integration-Blurring Scale using a national sample of business professors raising children in two-parent families. Based on boundary theory and work-family border theory, the authors expected scores on this scale to be associated with the number of hours worked at home and on campus, the number of work-family transitions made when working at home, the presence of distractions when working at home, and the presence of work-family conflict. The scale’s significant and moderately high correlations with these variables supported its construct validity. The research implications and practical implications of the findings are discussed.
176 citations
TL;DR: This article examined domestic labor patterns among de facto and married men and women in Australia and found that women spend more time on housework and do a greater proportion of housework than men.
Abstract: Data from an Australian national survey (1996 to 1997) are used to examine domestic labor patterns among de facto and married men and women. The results show that women spend more time on housework and do a greater proportion of housework than men. However, the patterns are most traditional among married men and women. Women in de facto relationships spend less time doing housework and do a smaller proportion of indoor activities than married women. Men in de facto relationships do a larger proportion of indoor activities and a lower proportion of outdoor tasks than married men. The data also show that couples who have cohabited prior to marriage have more egalitarian divisions of labor than those who have not cohabited prior to marriage. This article concludes by arguing that the incompleteness of the de facto relationship provides a period of relative freedom in which to negotiate more equal roles.
164 citations
TL;DR: The authors explored the unique influence of fathers on adolescents' psychological well-being and found that adolescents have more volatile relations with fathers than with mothers, while the effect of mother-adolescent relationships was similar for both mothers and fathers.
Abstract: This study explores the unique influence of fathers on adolescents’ psychological well-being. Analyses are based on a nationally representative sample (Add Health) of students in Grades 7 through 12 living in intact homes. Results of multivariate analyses reveal that the father-adolescent relationship has an independent impact on adolescents’ psychological well-being beyond the mother-adolescent relationship. Comparatively, the magnitude of effect was similar for mothers and fathers on sons’ and daughters’ well-being. Examining the dynamic nature of parent-adolescent relations through time revealed that adolescents have more volatile relations with fathers than with mothers. Changes in adolescent’s satisfaction with the father-adolescent relationship significantly influence fluctuations in son’s and daughter’s psychological well-being; this effect persists after controlling for changes in mother-adolescent relationships. These findings underscore fathers’ unique direct contribution to their children’s psy...
161 citations
TL;DR: This paper used the 1992 National Study of the Changing Workforce to examine family and workplace factors contributing to gender differences in negative family-to-work spillover, and found that women were twice as likely as men to report that family demands negatively affect their job performance.
Abstract: This article uses the 1992 National Study of the Changing Workforce to examine family and workplace factors contributing to gender differences in negative family-to-work spillover. We focus on spillover as manifested when family demands negatively affect job performance. Among married workers, women were twice as likely as men to report that family demands negatively affect their job performance. This finding is due, in part, to the fact that women made more adjustments to their workloads—such as refusing overtime or turning down assignments—for the sake of family. Ordered probit analysis suggests that job characteristics are more salient than family factors for predicting the likelihood that family demands will detract from job performance and for explaining the gender gap in negative family-to-work spillover. Working in a demanding job or having little job autonomy was associated with more negative family-to-work spillover regardless of gender, while greater scheduling flexibility mitigated the gender gap.
156 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors investigated the prevalence and nature of boundary ambiguity in stepfamilies (families that include children from previous unions) and the relationship between boundary ambiguity and couples' relationship quality and stability.
Abstract: Family boundary ambiguity refers to a lack of clarity as to who is in and who is out of the family system. Few studies have examined this concept in the stepfamily context, which is problematic because such definitional problems hinder our understanding of close relationships in stepfamilies. Based on a nationally representative sample of first-married, remarried, and cohabiting couples with minor children, this study investigates the prevalence and nature of boundary ambiguity in stepfamilies (families that include children from previous unions) and the relationship between boundary ambiguity and couples’ relationship quality and stability. Results suggest that boundary ambiguity is much more prevalent in stepfamilies than original two-parent families and that boundary ambiguity is associated with the structure of the stepfamily. Boundary ambiguity is negatively associated with the quality of the couple’s relationship and stability of the union, but only from the perspective of wives and female partners.
TL;DR: In this article, the authors investigated which group of employees are less likely to have access to flexible schedule options within an organizational justice framework and found that lower wages, low education levels, and hourly work were factors associated with having less access to four, three, or two of the flexible work schedules, respectively.
Abstract: Within an organizational justice framework, this article investigates which group of employees are less likely to have access to flexible schedule options. Using data from the 1997 National Study of the Changing Workforce, logistical regressions were conducted to identify the employee, job, and workplace factors associated with limited access to four flexible work schedules: modifying standard starting and ending times, daily flex-time, taking time off for personal or family time, and control over work hours. Analyses imply that workers who are less privileged report reduced access to a range of flexible schedule options. Lower wages, low education levels, and hourly work were factors associated with having less access to four, three, or two of the flexible work schedules, respectively. Implications and further directions for research are discussed.
TL;DR: An important reason for race differences in marital quality is that Blacks and Whites experience different levels of positive and negative behavior from their spouses, which completely explain the association of race and marital quality.
Abstract: This article investigates differences in marital quality in Black and White marriages. The specific focus is the role of spousal behavior and how this differs by race. Using national sample data, the author found several things. First, there are significant differences in marital quality across race. This is a general finding that has been reported in previous research. Second, Blacks and Whites differentially characterize their spouses. Blacks are significantly more likely to report that the spouse has affairs, hits or pushes, wastes money, or does not make them feel loved. Therefore, an important reason for race differences in marital quality is that Blacks and Whites experience different levels of positive and negative behavior from their spouses. These factors completely explain the association of race and marital quality. The author concludes with a discussion of implications for future research.
TL;DR: This paper explored the influence of family structure on midlife parents' attitudes toward the economic support of adult children and measured change in those attitudes as their oldest child moved from adolescence to young adulthood.
Abstract: This research explored the influence of family structure on midlife parents’ attitudes toward the economic support of adult children and measured change in those attitudes as their oldest child moved from adolescence to young adulthood. Results suggest that family structure has long-term effects on parents’ attitudes toward financial obligations to children. Compared to intact families, both stepparents and remarried (biological) parents were less likely to agree that parents should provide economic support as children make the transition to adulthood. Among stepfamilies, perceived financial obligations were stronger when parents had had a child together in addition to children from prior relationships. Single parents reported less positive attitudes toward economic support than two-biological-parent families when their oldest child was an adolescent, but their attitudes became more positive over time.
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors examined whether neighborhood socioeconomic advantage modifies the relationship between parenting practices and sex initiation among young adolescents and found that greater parental involvement was related to a lower likelihood of sex initiation only when youth lived in socioeconomically advantaged neighborhoods.
Abstract: Building on social ecological research, this study considers whether neighborhood socioeconomic advantage modifies the relationship between parenting practices and sex initiation among young adolescents. Using data on a national sample of 2,559 middle school students, the authors examined two-way interactions between neighborhood socioeconomic status and parental involvement, decision making, and communication about sex. The parental decision-making measure was developed using latent class analysis. Greater parental involvement was related to a lower likelihood of sex initiation only when youth lived in socioeconomically advantaged neighborhoods. Parental decision making centered on the child’s activities within (e.g., television watching) and outside (e.g., hanging with peers) of the home was associated with a lower likelihood of sex initiation for adolescents in disadvantaged neighborhoods but to a greater likelihood of sex initiation for youth in advantaged neighborhoods. Results suggest that the neigh...
TL;DR: The authors investigated how gender differences in negative work-family spillover vary by ethnicity (Black, White, and Hispanic) and parental status and found that the relationship between ethnicity and gender on negative work family spillover varied by parental status.
Abstract: This study uses a nationally representative sample (N = 1,761) to investigate how gender differences in negative work-family spillover vary by ethnicity (Black, White, and Hispanic) and parental status. Consistent with the authors’ hypotheses, Hispanics displayed a greater gender disparity in negative family-to-work spillover and negative work-to-family spillover than Blacks and Whites, even when controlling for gender-role attitudes. The authors also found that the relationship between ethnicity and gender on work-family spillover varied by parental status. The authors propose that the observed gender and ethnicity interactions are because of gender role and acculturation differences in the work experiences of Hispanic, Black, and White women.
TL;DR: This article developed and tested a theoretical model to explain sibling violence based on the feminist, conflict, and social learning theoretical perspectives and research in psychology and sociology, and a multivariate analysis of data from 651 young adults generally supports hypotheses from all three theoretical perspectives.
Abstract: This study develops and tests a theoretical model to explain sibling violence based on the feminist, conflict, and social learning theoretical perspectives and research in psychology and sociology. A multivariate analysis of data from 651 young adults generally supports hypotheses from all three theoretical perspectives. Males with brothers have significantly higher levels of sibling violence than the other three types of sibling pairs. As predicted, conflict and abuse between parents are associated with negative parent-child interactions, which in turn are related to problems in siblings' relationships with each other. All of these predict sibling violence.
TL;DR: In this article, the influence of early gender socialization on later housework allocation is mediated by couple-level resources and time availability among cohabitors but not among married individuals.
Abstract: The analysis examines the direct and indirect influences of early gender socialization on the allocation of routine housework later in the life course. The study articulates hypotheses suggesting that the relationship between gender socialization early in adulthood and housework allocation later in adulthood is moderated by gender and union type and is mediated by subsequent contextual characteristics of the couple. The analysis draws on panel data from a sample of 586 young adults spanning 31 years. Findings indicate that married men's attitudes about gender early in adulthood are more influential for the later division of labor than are married women's attitudes, but gender differences in the influence of early attitudes on later housework patterns are not present among cohabitors. The influence of early gender socialization on later housework allocation is mediated by couple-level resources and time availability among cohabitors but not among married individuals.
TL;DR: In this paper, the focus is widened to encompass mothers' labor market outcomes, concerns surrounding childbirth and maternal recovery, parent-infant bonding, children's cognitive development, breastfeeding, and associated with each of these, gender equity objectives.
Abstract: Parental leave is a complex area of public policy. Concerns include health protection for working mothers, equal employment opportunities for women, access to adequate antenatal and birthing care, maternal recovery, optimal nutrition for infants, and gender equality within families. Given this complexity, the design of parental leave schemes, including the optimal length of leave, should ideally be based on research from a wide range of disciplines. Yet research literature generally focuses on single issues. In this article, the focus is widened to encompass mothers’ labor market outcomes, concerns surrounding childbirth and maternal recovery, parent-infant bonding, children’s cognitive development, breastfeeding, and associated with each of these, gender equity objectives. In light of information from a wide range of disciplines and based on two country models, Sweden and the United States, it is proposed that discussions about parental leave policy, including the appropriate length of leave, should take...
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors present descriptive and explanatory analyses of contact between former spouses, using data on 1,791 previously married men and women in the Netherlands, and employ a typology of relationships between former spouse, differentiating between friendly contact, antagonistic contact, and no contact.
Abstract: This study presents descriptive and explanatory analyses of contact between former spouses, using data on 1,791 previously married men and women in the Netherlands. The authors employ a typology of relationships between former spouses, differentiating between friendly contact, antagonistic contact, and no contact. Ten years after divorce, still almost half of the respondents report contact with their former spouse. Especially the number of former couples with antagonistic contact decreases strongly over time. In multivariate models, we examine six hypotheses concerning (a) duration, (b) prior attachments, (c) prior conflicts, (d) life-course events after divorce, (e) liberal family values, and (f) personality. Important predictors of postdivorce contact are duration since divorce, prior economic ties, the presence of joint children, marital duration, marital conflicts, a new relationship, and liberal values. Couples with joint children have both more friendly contact and more antagonistic contact than other couples. This difference is largest for antagonistic contact.
TL;DR: Using the Add Health data (N = 9,530 dyads), the authors explored sexual socialization in the family using the theory of reasoned action by assessing how mothers' opinions are associated with their children's sexual behavior.
Abstract: Using the Add Health data (N = 9,530 dyads), this study explores sexual socialization in the family using the theory of reasoned action by assessing how mothers’ opinions are associated with their children’s sexual behavior. Findings suggest that the more sexually liberal teens think their mothers are, the more likely the teens are to have higher numbers of sex partners. Talking about sex and having a strong connection between mothers and teens contribute to sexual norm transmission. The more talk about sex there is within the dyad, the more likely the teen is to have had sex. The stronger the connection between mothers and teens, the less likely the teen is to have had sex. Finally, for boys, verbal communication with their mothers is more important in sexual norm transmission; and for girls, having a good connection in the dyad is more important.
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors examined whether the financial and time pressures associated with spouses' working lives play a role in the relation between work and divorce during the first years of marriage.
Abstract: This study examines whether the financial and time pressures associated with spouses’ working lives play a role in the relation between work and divorce during the first years of marriage. Using retrospective data from the Netherlands, the results show that divorce is more likely when the husband works on average fewer hours and the wife more hours during the first years of marriage. Furthermore, couples facing more financial problems and those spending less time together have a higher divorce risk. The findings partly support the hypothesis that greater financial strains are responsible for the higher divorce risk when husbands work fewer hours. About 15% of the higher divorce risk of husbands working fewer hours is explained by the resulting greater financial strains. No support is found for the hypothesis that the higher divorce risk of women who work more hours is due to a decrease in marital interaction time.
TL;DR: Wang et al. as discussed by the authors examined the relationship between perceived family functioning and adolescent psychological well-being and problem behavior in Chinese adolescents with economic disadvantage (N = 199) and found that perceived family function was concurrently related to measures of adolescent psychological wellbeing and problem behaviour (substance abuse and delinquency) at time 1 and time 2.
Abstract: This longitudinal study examines the relationships between perceived family functioning and adolescent psychological well-being and problem behavior in Chinese adolescents with economic disadvantage (N = 199). Results showed that perceived family functioning was concurrently related to measures of adolescent psychological well-being (existential well-being, mastery, life satisfaction, self-esteem, and general psychiatric morbidity) and problem behavior (substance abuse and delinquency) at Time 1 and Time 2. Longitudinal and prospective analyses (Time 1 predictors predicting Time 2 criterion variables) suggest that the relations between perceived family functioning and adolescent psychological well-being and problem behavior were bidirectional in nature. The longitudinal linkages between family functioning and adolescent adjustment were found to be stronger in Chinese adolescent girls than in Chinese adolescent boys with economic disadvantage.
TL;DR: This article explored how marriage timing varies across major religious denominations and found that Catholics, moderate Protestants, conservative Protestants, and Mormons marry significantly earlier than their unaffiliated counterparts, while no statistical differences emerge between Jews, liberal Protestants and the unaffiliated.
Abstract: Using survey data from a nationally representative sample, this article explores how marriage timing varies across major religious denominations. Survival analysis indicates that net of statistical controls, Catholics, moderate Protestants, conservative Protestants, and Mormons marry significantly earlier than their unaffiliated counterparts. This holds true for women and men. However, no statistical differences emerge between Jews, liberal Protestants, and the unaffiliated. As surmised, auxiliary statistical tests reveal additional religious subcultural variations: (a) Jews tend to marry later than Catholics, conservative Protestants, and Mormons; (b) Catholics also marry later than conservative Protestants and Mormons; (c) no statistical difference surfaces between Mormons and conservative Protestants; and (d) differences between Catholics and liberal Protestants as well as between Jews and liberal Protestants are statistically negligible. These findings systematically support the denominational subcult...
TL;DR: In this article, the life conditions that contribute to low-income fathers' depression and that may jeopardize their relationships with their children are investigated, based on a cultural-ecological framework that emphasizes the need to understand these fathers within their larger familial and social contexts.
Abstract: This article investigates the life conditions that contribute to low-income fathers’ depression and that may jeopardize their relationships with their children. This work is based on a cultural-ecological framework that emphasizes the need to understand these fathers within their larger familial and social contexts. The sample consisted of 127 predominantly African American participants in two urban and rural responsible fatherhood programs. Of the fathers, 56% reported depressive symptoms indicating cause for clinical concern. In addition, fathers’ resource challenges (unemployment; inability to pay full amount of child support order; limited access to reliable transportation; lack of permanent housing; problems with alcohol or drugs; health problems or disability; and criminal conviction history), residence (rural vs. urban), and level of social support were all significant predictors of fathers’ depression. The authors discuss how these findings can be used to guide future programmatic and policy initi...
TL;DR: For African American fathers, fulfilling a father role is related to the success of transition to adult roles and relationships and to prosocial behavior and problem behavior, according to the Rochester Youth Development Study as mentioned in this paper.
Abstract: Much of the literature on African American fathers has tended to perpetuate a stereotype of absent and unsupportive parenting. This study employs a life course perspective to investigate the extent and predictors of involvement by young fathers. Data come from the Rochester Youth Development Study, a longitudinal study that has followed a representative sample of urban youth since they were in the seventh or eighth grade. Analysis is based on the young men in the sample who became fathers by age 22, of whom 67% are African American. Results suggest that African American fathers do not differ significantly from other young fathers in their contact with and support provided to their eldest biological child. For African American fathers, fulfilling a father role is, as hypothesized, related to the success of transition to adult roles and relationships and to prosocial behavior and problem behavior.
TL;DR: It was found that a supportive work-family culture and an increase in workplace supports were related to a slight decrease in job satisfaction for the elder care work- family role combination.
Abstract: This study determined whether work-family role combinations (i.e., work and elder care, work and child care, work and elder care and child care) and work-family culture significantly moderate the relationship between availability of workplace supports and job satisfaction. The data were obtained from the Families and Work Institute’s 1997 archival data set, the National Study of the Changing Workforce (NCSW). As predicted, the relationship between availability of workplace supports and job satisfaction varied depending on the type of work-family role combinations and levels of work-family culture. Specifically, the relationship was significant for the elder care work-family role combination, in that higher levels of workplace supports in unsupportive work-family cultures were associated with the greatest levels of job satisfaction. In addition, it was found that a supportive work-family culture and an increase in workplace supports were related to a slight decrease in job satisfaction for the elder care w...
TL;DR: In this paper, the extent to which the larger network of family relationships (parent-adolescent, marital, and sibling relations) affect adolescent adjustment was examined and five distinct and theoretically consistent clusters of different constellations of affective family relations were found.
Abstract: The first aim of the present study was to examine the extent to which the larger network of family relationships (parent-adolescent, marital, and sibling relations) affect adolescent adjustment. The second aim was to identify distinct patterns of family relationships and to examine whether these different family relationship patterns are associated with adolescent adjustment. The sample consisted of 288 intact families with two adolescent siblings. Each family member provided information on the affective quality of his or her relationship with every other family member (round-robin design). The quality of all family relations was related to the indicators of deviant development (problem behavior) but not to the indicators of normative development (identity formation). Five distinct and theoretically consistent clusters of different constellations of affective family relations were found. Differences in adolescent problem behavior were related to the cluster membership. The usefulness of the family systems...
TL;DR: This article found that the complementary-roles model remains the most common, and the double burden is the second most frequent; however, there is some evidence of change in the direction of shared roles, especially for younger couples with children, when both are employed full-time.
Abstract: Models of time use need to consider especially the reproductive and productive activities of women and men. For husband-wife families, the breadwinner, one-earner, or complementary-roles model has advantages in terms of efficiency or specialization and stability; however, it is a high-risk model for women and children. The alternate model has been called two-earner, companionship, “new families,” or collaborative in the sense of spouses collaborating in the paid and unpaid work needed to provide for and care for the family. Adopting the common metric of time use to study paid and unpaid work, we find that the complementary-roles model remains the most common, and the “double burden” is the second most frequent; however, there is some evidence of change in the direction of shared-roles arrangements, especially for younger couples with children, when both are employed full-time.
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors draw on the Douglas-Wildavsky grid-group theory to explain the association between demographic factors and disciplinary practices in microsocial terms, linking disparate sets of core beliefs and value priorities to contrasting conceptions of the family and parental preferences for different disciplinary strategies.
Abstract: Research indicates an association between parents’ disciplinary practices and their children’s developmental outcomes. Research also suggests that disciplinary practices vary with demographic factors such as class, ethnicity, and gender. This article draws on the Douglas-Wildavsky grid-group theory to explain the association between demographic factors and disciplinary practices in microsocial terms. This theory links disparate sets of core beliefs and value priorities to contrasting conceptions of the family (including distinctive orientations toward parenting) and parental preferences for different disciplinary strategies. Studies by other researchers provide empirical support for these linkages. This grid-group theory application contributes to theory development through (a) bridging macroexplanations and microexplanations by showing how culture contributes to shaping parental practices, (b) distinguishing rival sets of core beliefs and value priorities that help researchers and practitioners understan...