Self-Esteem, Sex-Role Orientation, and Perceived Spouse Support for a Return to School

Sixty mature women seeking continuing education counseling were given measures of self-esteem, sex role orientation, and spouse support (SS) for a return to school or work. Emotional SS was measured in terms of the frequency of the praise, encouragement and accomodation by the spouse. Instrumental SS was defined as the spouse’s contribution to the total family output in the areas of housework, childcare, and social responsibilities. Women who were low on self-esteem or non-traditional in sex role orientation projected significantly greater in-strumental SS upon their return to school than did women who were high on self-esteem or traditional in sex role orientation. Self-esteem and sex role orientation, however, were unrelated to the actual instrumental SS that the subjects reported receiving from their husbands