Choices in Relationships

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Choices in Relationships

• Chapter Twelve Balancing Work and Family Life

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Meanings of Money

• SecurityAvoiding Poverty
• Money represents security most people want.
• Oscar Wilde once said, When I was young, I used
  to think that money was the most important thing
  in life now that I am older, I know it is.

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Meanings of Money
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Meanings of Money

• Self-Esteem
• Money affects self-esteem because in our society
  human worth, particularly for men, is often
  equated with financial achievement.
• Power in Relationships
• Generally, the more money a partner makes, the
  more power that person has in the relationship.

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Meanings of Money

• Love
• To some individuals, money also means love.
• The assumption is that big diamond equals high
  price equals deep love.
• Conflict
• Couples argue about what to spend money on (new
  car? vacation? pay off credit card?) and how much
  money to spend.

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Dual-Earner Marriages

• Effects of the Wifes Employment on the Wife
• Enhanced psychological well-being
• Higher self-esteem
• Greater feelings of independence
• Increased social interaction

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Dual-Earner Marriages

• Effects of the Wifes Employment on Her Husband
• Husbands also report benefits from their wives
  employment.
• These include being relieved of the sole
  responsibility for the financial support of the
  family and having more freedom to quit jobs,
  change jobs, or go to school.

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Dual-Earner Marriages

• Effects on the Couples Marriage of Having Two
  Earners
• Employment wont affect a happy marriage but it
  can do an unhappy one in.

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• Effects of the Wifes Employment on the Children
• Children do not appear to suffer cognitively or
  emotionally as long as positive consistent
  child-care alternatives are in place.

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Dual-Earner Marriages

• Day-Care Considerations
• Priorities in day-care selection include health
  and safety issues, caregiver quality, and the
  childs social and educational development.

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Balancing Demands of Work and Family

• Superperson Strategy
• The superperson strategy involves working as hard
  and as efficiently as possible to meet the
  demands of work and family.

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• Cognitive Restructuring
• Another strategy used by some women and men
  experiencing role overload and role conflict is
  cognitive restructuring, which involves viewing a
  situation in positive terms.

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Balancing Demands of Work and Family

• Delegation of Responsibility/Limiting Commitments
• A third way couples manage the demands of work
  and family is to delegate responsibility to
  others for performing certain tasks.

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• Planning and Time Management
• The use of planning and time management is
  another strategy for minimizing the conflicting
  demands of work and family.

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Balancing Demands of Work and Family

• Role Compartmentalization
• Some spouses use role compartmentalization,
  separating the roles of work and home so that
  they do not think about or dwell on the problems
  of one when they are at the physical place of the
  other.

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Balancing Work and Leisure Time with Family

• Importance of Leisure
• Leisure is becoming more important to people.
• The positive value of leisure to a couples
  marriage interaction and satisfaction is clear.

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• Functions of Leisure
• Leisure activities may relieve work-related
  stress and pressure facilitate social
  interaction and family togetherness foster
  self-expression, personal growth, and skill
  development and enhance overall social,
  physical, and emotional wellbeing.

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Barriers to Leisure

• Demands of the Workplace
• A major barrier to leisure has been the rising
  demands of the workplace.
• Materialistic Values
• Many couples get caught up in a vicious cycle of
  working long hours to achieve a certain standard
  of living, only to find that this standard of
  living no longer satisfies them.

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Barriers to Leisure
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Barriers to Leisure

• Traditional Gender Roles
• Women also tend to spend their leisure time
  engaged in hobbies related to household tasks,
  such as cooking, preserving fruits and
  vegetables, and sewing.

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• Leisure as a Commodity
• Many leisure activities cost money that families
  simply do not have in their budget.

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Barriers to Leisure

• Leisure as Work
• Leisure has become work because we are using it
  as a means to other endsstress reduction,
  therapy, fitness, and selfactualization.
• Some people are reluctant to take time off for a
  vacation.