Work status and the quality of life

The general thesis from which this paper derived is that objective conditions are related to perceptions and evaluations of those conditions, but that such relationships are mediated by personal characteristics such as expectation and aspiration levels, and other motivational factors. The specific relationship examined is that between work status and overall life satisfaction among women. Although there is little difference in average levels of life satisfaction expressed by housewives and by women working outside the home, substantial differences emerge when women are distinguished by their motivation with respect to paid work: among women who want jobs, working women are more satisfied with their lives than are housewives; while among those who would prefer not to work, housewives are more satisfied. Evidence is also found in support of a hypothesis that work tends to be less central to the overall quality of women's lives than is true for men.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/43690/1/11205_2004_Article_BF00353134.pd

Social support and social structure

The burgeoning study of social support in relation to social stress and health would benefit from increased attention to issues of social structure. Three aspects of social relationships, all often referred to as social support, must be more clearly distinguished—(1) their existence or quantity (i.e., social integration), (2) their formal structure (i.e., social networks), and (3) their functional or behavioral content (i.e., the most precise meaning of “social support”)—and the causal relationships between the structure of social relationships (social integration and networks) and their functional content (social support) must be more clearly understood. Research and theory are needed on the determinants of social integration, networks, and support as well as their consequences for stress and health. Among potential determinants, macrosocial structures and processes particularly merit attention.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/45658/1/11206_2005_Article_BF01107897.pd

The Relation Of Social Class Ideology To Attitudes In An Industrial Organization.

PhDSocial psychologyUniversity of Michigan, Horace H. Rackham School of Graduate Studieshttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/181746/2/0021181.pd

Michigan Student Study: A Study of Students in a Multiversity, 1962-1967

This longitudinal data set was collected to assess the impact of college experience on students. Freshmen students entering a large midwestern university in 1962 (N=2,207) and 1963 (N=2,161) were administered a two-hour questionnaire during the orientation period. Approximately 95% of the two cohort groups answered the questionnaire. The initial freshmen questionnaire consisted of both precoded and open-ended items dealing with high school experience, anticipated college success, interests and values, and relationships with both family and peers. In the 2nd semester of their freshman year and at the end of their senior year, 450 students from each cohort group, half male and half female, were given a questionnaire which included items about university experience (including satisfaction with course work and living situation); process of decision making; relationships with faculty, family and peers; future expectations (including career goals and marital plans); the issue of career v. family (male and female perspective) and group membership while at the university. In addition, 300 new students who were seniors in 1967 were also tested to compensate for attrition of the sample over the four years. Extensive interviews were also administered to 400 students entering as freshmen in 1962 and 1963 (200 from each group), once in the second semester of their freshman year, and once in the second semester of their senior year. Approximately 1,600 participants in all were selected from these various sources to respond to the senior questionnaire.<br /> The Murray Research Archive holds all numeric file data from the study. The Murray Archive also holds a follow-up study of this data set collected from 1967-1981 (see Tangri, 00009)

Diversity and Higher Education: Theory and Impact on Educational Outcomes

In the current context of legal challenges to affirmative action and race-based considerations in college admissions, educators have been challenged to articulate clearly the educational purposes and benefits of diversity. In this article, Patricia Gurin, Eric Dey, Sylvia Hurtado, and Gerald Gurin explore the relationship between students' experiences with diverse peers in the college or university setting and their educational outcomes. Rooted in theories of cognitive development and social psychology, the authors present a framework for understanding how diversity introduces the relational discontinuities critical to identity construction and its subsequent role in fostering cognitive growth. Using both single- and multi-institutional data from the University of Michigan and the Cooperative Institutional Research Program, the authors go on to examine the effects of classroom diversity and informal interaction among African American, Asian American, Latino/a, and White students on learning and democracy outcomes. The results of their analyses underscore the educational and civic importance of informal interaction among different racial and ethnic groups during the college years. The authors offer their findings as evidence of the continuing importance of affirmative action and diversity efforts by colleges and universities, not only as a means of increasing access to higher education for greater numbers of students, but also as a means of fostering students' academic and social growth

Diversity and Higher Education: Theory and Impact on Educational Outcomes

In the current context of legal challenges to affirmative action and race-based considerations in college admissions, educators have been challenged to articulate clearly the educational purposes and benefits of diversity. In this article, Patricia Gurin, Eric Dey, Sylvia Hurtado, and Gerald Gurin explore the relationship between students' experiences with diverse peers in the college or university setting and their educational outcomes. Rooted in theories of cognitive development and social psychology, the authors present a framework for understanding how diversity introduces the relational discontinuities critical to identity construction and its subsequent role in fostering cognitive growth. Using both single- and multi-institutional data from the University of Michigan and the Cooperative Institutional Research Program, the authors go on to examine the effects of classroom diversity and informal interaction among African American, Asian American, Latino/a, and White students on learning and democracy outcomes. The results of their analyses underscore the educational and civic importance of informal interaction among different racial and ethnic groups during the college years. The authors offer their findings as evidence of the continuing importance of affirmative action and diversity efforts by colleges and universities, not only as a means of increasing access to higher education for greater numbers of students, but also as a means of fostering students' academic and social growth

Diversity and Higher Education: Theory and Impact on Educational Outcomes

In the current context of legal challenges to affirmative action and race-based considerations in college admissions, educators have been challenged to articulate clearly the educational purposes and benefits of diversity. In this article, Patricia Gurin, Eric Dey, Sylvia Hurtado, and Gerald Gurin explore the relationship between students ’ experiences with diverse peers in the college or university setting and their educational outcomes. Rooted in theories of cognitive development and social psychology, the authors present a framework for understanding how diversity introduces the relational discontinuities critical to identity construction and its subsequent role in fostering cognitive growth. Using both single-and multi-institutional data from the University of Michigan and the Cooperative Institutional Research Program, the authors go on to examine the effects of classroom diversity and informal interaction among African American, Asian American, Latino/a, and White students on learning and democracy outcomes. The results of their analyses underscore the educational and civic importance of informal interaction among different racial and ethnic groups during the college years. The authors offer their findings as evidence of the continuing importance of affirmative action and diversity efforts by colleges and universities, not only as a means of increasing access to higher education for greater numbers of students, but also as a means of fostering students ’ academic and social growth. (pp. 330–366) Educators in U.S. higher education have long argued that affirmative action policies are justified because they ensure the creation of the racially and ethnically diverse student bodies essential t

Myth and reality: The causes and persistence of poverty

Policies directed at alleviating poverty rest on a set of assumptions regarding the demographic composition of the poor and the psychological dispositions of poor individuals. Evidence from a long-term study of a representative sample of low-income individuals shows that poverty is very widespread but not usually very persistent, and that the characteristics of the persistently poor do not conform to the conventional wisdom. Furthermore, the economic status of the poor does not appear to have been caused by psychological dispositions. Intergenerational data from the same study show generally weak links between the poverty or welfare status of parents and that of their children. Public policies for dealing with poverty can be properly devised without attempting to resocialize poor people and without undue concern that poverty programs will generate dependency among the majority of those they help.

Americans View Their Mental Health, 1977

This study was conducted to determine the status of mental health in the American adult population and to determine the typical coping styles used to deal with problems. The population from which these representative samples was drawn consisted of all United States adults, twenty-one years old or older, living in private homes. An area probability sample was drawn, with the county as the stratification unit. The sample comprised of 2,460 respondents interviewed by the Survey Research Center, University of Michigan. The interview focused on various areas of one's life where problems may develop, such as marriage and family, the work situation and general social relationships. Participants were asked about the following: general satisfaction and satisfaction with their marital and work roles; health; attitudes about self, work, and family; coping styles and methods; and background items. The interview also contained six Thematic Apperception Test (TAT) picture projective cues. The Murray Archive holds additional analogue materials for this study (original record paper Thematic Apperception Test protocols from a random subsample). If you would like to access this material, please apply to use the data