Work and role factors that influence self-actualization in today's married woman

Includes bibliographical references (pages 71-74)This study examined some of the work and role factors\ud that contribute to self-actualization in today's married\ud woman. Contrary to many past studies, the focus of\ud attention in this study was on the personalities, feelings,\ud needs and values of women, comparing levels of self actualization\ud in women who have entered, or re-entered, the work force to the self-actualization levels of women\ud who are not working. The self-actualizing person was\ud defined by Abraham Maslow (1954). A questionnaire, the Personal Orientation Inventory, and the Osmond-Martin Sex-Role Attitudes Scale (also\ud administered to husbands) were completed by sixty married\ud women from several districts in Los Angeles County. The\ud majority of these "women" fell between the. 30-39 age group. Most of them were white (77.5%), Catholic (45%), and had one or more children (91.7%). Their educational level was fairly high, and working women accotmted for 58.3% non-working women 41.7%. Using a one-tailed t-test and a Pearson Product Moment Correlation at the .05 level of significance,\ud the following results were obtained: 1) the selfactualization\ud level is not significantly greater for married working women than for married non-working women;\ud 2) working women have a higher mean score than non-working\ud women in the areas of Time Competence and Self-Regard;\ud 3) similarities between attitudes of women and their\ud husbands do not significantly correlate with the level\ud of self-actualization in the women; and 4) women who\ud work at occupations compatible with their personality\ud styles are significantly more self-actualized on the\ud Time Competence Scale. The data obtained did not allow\ud for a correlation to be made between compatability of\ud occupation and education level. Many issues were discussed, and raised, in this study. Trends toward differences between working and\ud non-working women in the areas of self-actualization and\ud self-regard have become evident. Further investigation\ud needs to focus on spousal relationships and cultural\ud beliefs as influencing factors. Helping men and women adjust to changing role values needs to be considered in the field of counseling