Women's perceptions of self- and spousal competence

Abstract

The purpose of this research was to investigate equality feelings of women by comparing a wife's perception of her ability to her perception of her husband's ability, and to her husband's perception of her ability. This study also examined selected background variables of the respondents to determine what types of women have the highest self-scores. The sample was composed of 100 couples from a variety of organizations in the Blacksburg-Christiansburg, Virginia area. A questionnaire was developed using Blood and Wolfe's (1960) decision power index, a rating scale on mental, emotional, social, managerial ability devised by the investigator, and items gathering information on background variables. Women rated themselves statistically significantly lower in all four subscales than they rated their husbands, or than their husbands rated them. Background variables related to a high self-score by women were: family income, percentage of income earned by wife, wife's education, differential in spouses' educations, number of children, and wife's type of employment.