Deck 11: Balancing Family and Work

Question 1

Currently, percent of children in married-couple families have a stay-at-home mother.

A) 10
B) fewer than 25
C) 40
D) 50

Answer 1

B

Question 2

Mothers who return to work following a brief maternity leave are viewed as _______________ compared with mothers who choose to stay at home.

A) warmer, but less communal
B) more communal, but less warm
C) less warm and less communal
D) warmer and more communal

Answer 2

C

Question 3

According to your text, "opting out" is said to refer to which of the following statement(s)?

A) Stay-at-home mothers "opting out" of traditional gender roles and seeking employment outside the home.
B) Highly educated mothers "opting out" of careers to stay at home with their children.
C) Fathers "opting out" of their traditional gender role of primary provider to become a stay-at-home dad and assume child care responsibilities.
D) all of the above

Answer 3

B

Question 4

Which statement is/are true of "opting out"?

A) Studies show large number of women are "opting out".
B) The best and brightest American women are dropping out of the workplace.
C) Women cannot contribute to their profession and participate meaningfully in raising children.
D) none of the above

Question 5

Mothers who are employed full-time compared to non-mothers who are employed full-time are:

A) viewed as less professionally competent.
B) viewed as less nurturing.
C) both a and b
D) neither a nor b

Question 6

Of those individuals who feel that children are better off when a parent stays home with them, most say that person should be:

A) the mother
B) the father
C) either the mother or the father
D) a grandmother

Question 7

Research on young women's attitudes toward maternal employment indicates that:

A) women whose mothers were employed earlier in their lives have more positive attitudes.
B) Black women desire an earlier return to employment after child rearing than White women do.
C) both a and b
D) neither a nor b

Question 8

Research on the division of household labor among wives and husbands shows that:

A) since the 1970s and 1980s, wives have increased their housework participation.
B) since the 1970s and 1980s, husbands have decreased their housework participation.
C) among employed couples, wives spend significantly more time in combined housework and child care activities than do their husbands.
D) all of the above

Question 9

Which of the following statements about group differences in the division of labor is/are correct?

A) Employed women have a greater share of child care responsibilities than do employed men.
B) Lesbian partners are more likely than heterosexual partners to share housework and childcare
C) Fathers focus more on play activities with children
D) All of the above.

Question 10

Which of the following statements about the division of labor is/are correct?

A) Most heterosexual couples report that they share household tasks equally.
B) Most of wives' household tasks are performed daily or weekly whereas the tasks performed by husbands are done periodically.
C) Most wives feel that their family's division of labor is unfair.
D) all of the above

Question 11

Feminist perspectives suggest that women's leisure, compared to men's, is more likely to:

A) be combined with family obligations.
B) occur in large blocks of time, rather than be fragmented.
C) both a and b
D) neither a nor b

Question 12

Which of the following statements about women's perception of the household division of labor is/are true?

A) A minority of women are satisfied with the allocation of domestic duties.
B) The greater women's share of the total time spent by the couple on household tasks, the less satisfied they are with the division of household labor.
C) Asian American women and Latinas are more satisfied with the division of labor if they have a greater share of responsibilities than their husbands.
D) a and b

Question 13

Evidence that the lower a woman's occupational status and income relative to her husband's, the more housework she performs best supports the explanation of the unequal division of household labor.

A) time availability
B) relative power
C) gender attitudes
D) interrole conflict

Question 14

Which of the following statements concerning the relative power explanation of the division of household labor is correct?

A) The higher a woman's income, the less is her share of housework.
B) When women earn more than their husbands, her career is viewed as more important than his.
C) Women who earn more than their husbands control the couple's financial decision-making.
D) all of the above.

Question 15

The study that focused on college women's beliefs about the effects of combining motherhood and employment found that:

A) both Black and White students believe that negative consequences are more likely than positive consequences.
B) both Black and White students believe that positive consequences are more likely than negative consequences.
C) Black students are more likely than White students to expect negative consequences.
D) b and c

Question 16

Michelle is a single mother who works an eight-hour shift at the local factory. When she gets home she makes dinner for her two children, supervises their homework, prepares their lunches for the next day, and straightens up the apartment. When she gets to bed at 10:00, Michelle is generally exhausted. It is likely that she is experiencing:

A) role overload.
B) flextime.
C) enhancement.
D) interrole conflict.

Question 17

Rosa, a college professor, has been asked to supervise her son's class outing on Wednesday afternoon. However, she has teaching responsibilities at that time. Which of the following best reflects Rosa's dilemma?

A) flextime
B) role strain
C) scarcity
D) interrole conflict

Question 18

Research suggests that the most important factor predicting role strain for women is whether or not they:

A) are employed.
B) are married.
C) have children.
D) live in the suburbs.

Question 19

_______theory best explains role strain whereas _______ theory best explains the benefits of combining family and work roles.

A) Role overload; psychoanalytic
B) Interrole conflict; gender schema
C) Scarcity; enhancement
D) Interrole conflict; enhancement

Question 20

Advantages of multiple role coordination include:

A) the buffering effects of each role.
B) additional sources of self-esteem.
C) additional sources of social approval.
D) all of the above

Question 21

Due to the major argument she had with her 17-year old son, Karen left for work feeling guilty and inadequate. However, when she arrived at work she received a very positive performance evaluation by her supervisor and then felt much better about herself. This experience best reflects:

A) role strain.
B) interrole conflict.
C) the buffering effects of multiple roles.
D) scarcity.

Question 22

Research indicates that high-quality child care does not adversely affect children's ____________ development.

A) social
B) emotional
C) academic
D) all of the above

Question 23

According to most research, children with employed mothers, compared to those with nonemployed mothers are more likely to:

A) develop less stereotypical attitudes about gender roles.
B) perform poorly in elementary school.
C) develop significant social problems.
D) none of the above

Question 24

Daughters of working mothers show:

A) lower self-efficacy.
B) lower educational aspirations.
C) higher achievement.
D) higher rates of depression

Question 25

Most research on the effects of out-of-home child care programs concludes that:

A) high-quality child care programs can reduce later social problems (e.g. unemployment, crime) in children from disadvantaged homes.
B) high-quality child care programs can provide academic benefits to children from disadvantaged homes.
C) because most children spend a considerable number of hours per week in child care programs, these programs have a greater effect on the child's development than does the quality of parental care.
D) a and b

Question 26

Preschoolers with employed mothers, compared to preschoolers whose mothers are not employed, are:

A) more prosocial
B) less anxious
C) less hyperactive
D) all of the above

Question 27

Which of the following is not a measurement of high-quality child care programs?

A) teacher training
B) cost of the program
C) favorable staff-to-child ratio
D) appropriate group size

Question 28

The relationship between women's employment and their marital satisfaction shows that:

A) employed women experience less marital satisfaction than nonemployed women.
B) an employed woman's marital satisfaction is related to her attitude about her work role.
C) women with rewarding jobs have more enjoyable sex lives than women whose jobs are not rewarding.
D) b and c

Question 29

About ______ of first-time mothers now return to work by the 6th month after giving birth?

A) one-third
B) one-half
C) two-thirds
D) nine-tenths

Question 30

Which of the following statements about parental leave in the U. S. is/are correct?

A) The U. S. has the most generous leave policy of any industrialized country.
B) Federal law mandates paid leave of at least 12 weeks.
C) Federal law applies to all workplaces.
D) none of the above

Question 31

Which of the following statements about the Family and Medical Leave Act is not correct?

A) It is applicable only in workplaces with more than 50 employees.
B) It provides for paid leave.
C) It allows for leave of up to 12 weeks.
D) It covers both adoption and birth.

Question 32

Which of the following statements about parental leave policies around the world is/are correct?

A) Only a handful of nations provide paid leave.
B) Fathers are less likely than mothers to use family-friendly benefits
C) The leave policy in the U.S. is more generous than any offered by Latin American or African nations.
D) all of the above

Question 33

Which of the following statements about family-friendly policies is/are true?

A) Most employers currently offer paid leave.
B) A growing number of employers allow telecommuting.
C) Most companies provide elder care referral services.
D) Most workers have access to on-site child care.

Question 34

Which statement(s) is/are true about flextime?

A) Employees are required to work a certain number of hours on the weekend.
B) Flextime increases work-family conflicts.
C) Flextime creates higher productivity.
D) all of the above are true

Question 35

Slightly more than ___ percent of employees in the U.S. private sector have access to paid
Family leave:

A) 10
B) 25
C) 50
D) 65

Question 36

Jacobs and Padavic found that low-wage women workers

A) reported unpredictable schedules
B) reported working unpaid hours
C) had employers that curtailed their hours as a form of punishment
D) all of the above

Question 37

"Supermoms" are women who approach family-work coordination by:

A) lowering their housecleaning standards and raising their work performance standards.
B) reducing their work hours so they can spend more time with their children.
C) making arrangements with multiple childcare providers so that they can spend more time at work.
D) cutting back on sleep and leisure in order to handle all role responsibilities.

Question 38

Sexual minority women are less likely than heterosexual women to:

A) experience major transitions in midlife.
B) search for an independent identity in midlife.
C) both a and b
D) neither a nor b

Question 39

Which of the following statements about current midlife women is/are true?

A) Those who are involved in starting or building a career are less psychologically healthy than those who are starting to reduce their career involvement.
B) Homemakers who desired this domestic role have a lower sense of life purpose than do those who aspired to and achieved an occupational role.
C) The most important factor predicting midlife satisfaction is the fulfillment of the homemaker role, regardless of whether it was the woman's preferred role.
D) none of the above

Question 40

According to your text, why do some midlife women have regrets about life direction but not act on them?

A) presence of external constraints
B) tendency to ruminate on negative life events
C) limited finances
D) time restraints

Question 41

Criticism of the research on midlife transitions includes all of the following except that:

A) the participants were primarily White highly-educated women.
B) the experiences of these participants do not reflect the midlife experiences of women from earlier generations.
C) the experiences of these participants do not reflect the probable midlife experiences of current young women.
D) no homemakers were included in this research.

Question 42

Discuss three factors that influence attitudes toward women's combining motherhood and employment.

Question 43

Describe the division of family responsibilities between women and men.

Question 44

The text discussed several explanations for the finding that, although women perform the majority of childrearing and housekeeping tasks, they are generally satisfied with their family's division of labor. Present these explanations.

Question 45

Describe three explanations of the unequal division of labor between women and men. Also, give research evidence related to each.

Question 46

Discuss parental leave policies throughout the world. Indicate how these policies compare to the U.S. policy.

Question 47

Differentiate between the two sources of role strain: role overload and interrole conflict. Also, identify and describe the theory that accounts for role strain.

Question 48

Discuss benefits of multiple role coordination.

Question 49

Identify and describe the theory that accounts for benefits of multiple role coordination.

Question 50

Discuss the reasons why the buffering effects of multiple roles enhance well-being.

Question 51

Discuss the relationship between gender attitudes and family-work balancing experiences.

Question 52

Discuss research findings on the effects of maternal employment and nonmaternal care on children.

Question 53

Discuss research findings on the effects of wives' employment on wives' and husbands' feelings about their marriage.

Question 54

Describe resources offered by employers that aim to reduce family-work balancing difficulties.

Question 55

Jacobs and Padavic explored the work-hours dilemmas of low-wage women workers. Discuss their dilemmas and their outcomes.

Question 56

Describe three personal coping strategies used by women to enable them to deal with multiple role responsibilities.

Question 57

Discuss societal changes that have taken place during the lives of today's midlife women and show how these changes have influenced the life reviews and life changes of some midlife women.

Question 58

Why are sexual minority women less likely than heterosexual women to experience major transitions at midlife?

Question 59

Stewart and Vandewater examined the regrets reported by some current midlife women. Discuss their research findings.

Question 60

Explain why the experiences of current midlife women are probably very different from the experiences of previous generations of midlife women and from the probable future experiences of today's young women.