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Socialized Choices - Labour Market Behaviour of Dutch Mothers 
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consistency between general values and personal attitudes (or preferences), and 
often significant relations emerge (Ajzen, 1991; Hakim, 2003c). Therefore, 
values and attitudes, although they are surely related, can be treated - theoretically 
and empirically - as two different concepts.  
Several empirical studies have demonstrated that personal gender attitudes 
appear more significantly related to labour market behaviour than general 
attitudes (in this study further addressed to as ‘general values’) (Cloïn, 2010; 
Marks and Houston 2002a; Risman et al., 1999). For example, Marks and 
Houston (2002a) found, in a study of 114 mothers living in Kent, UK, that 
different personal attitudes towards work and motherhood were significantly 
related to their actual labour market behaviour. Nevertheless, most mothers 
agreed that in general motherhood is more important than work (see also Johnston 
and Swanson, 2006, p.517). Hakim claims that the distinction between choice 
(personal preferences) and public morality or approval (general values) must now 
be acknowledged. “A meta-analysis of 88 attitude-behaviour studies concluded 
that attitudes predict future behaviour to a substantial degree, but the link only 
occurs when data measures specific rather than general attitudes” (Hakim, 
2003b, p.341). Also Ajzen and Fishbein argue that broad attitudes have an impact 
on specific behaviours only indirectly, by influencing some of the factors that are 
more closely linked to the behaviour in question (Ajzen, 1991, p.181). Based on 
described theoretical and empirical studies, within this study general values are 
assumed to be poor direct predictors of behaviour in specific situations - their 
influence on behaviour is firstly mediated by personal attitudes, and subsequently 
by more concrete preferences or intentions. 
Opponents of the theory of planned behaviour and preference theory 
The theories of Ajzen and Fishbein and of Hakim have both received similar 
criticisms, upon which I shall briefly concentrate below. These can be 
summarised as, respectively, the problem of causality and the constraining effect 
of external factors or structures.   
The problem of causality  
The most common criticism of the two models concerns the assumed causal chain 
that links beliefs and attitudes to behaviour, and as such the assumed parsimony 
of human behaviour (Crompton and Harris, 1998; Fagan, 2001; French, Sutton, 
Hennings, Mitchell, Wareham and Griffin, 2005; Kan, 2007; Swanborn, 1996; 
Sullivan, 2002). The opponents claim that most empirical research, based on 
cross-sectional research methods, does not provide direct evidence for the causal 
effects (Cunningham et al., 2005; Kan, 2007; Swanborn, 1996). Moreover there is 
mounting evidence that experiences in education, work and family life also 
produce changes in individual attitudes, evidencing a gradual adaptive process 
(Cunningham et al., 2005; Fagan, 2001; Kan, 2007; Kraaykamp 2012; Steiber and 

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Chapter 2 - Theoretical framework and hypotheses 
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Haas, 2009, 2012). For example, Kan (2007) demonstrated that the relationship 
between gender role attitudes and women’s participation in labour market work is 
reciprocal rather than unidirectional (also Jansen and Kalmijn, 2000).
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 In other 
words, while work preferences will influence labour market decisions, work 
experiences (which also depend on the conjuncture of the labour market) also 
effect work aspirations. “She might acquire skills and resources from 
employment, which reinforce her employment career orientation; by the same 
token, constraints on employment might discourage her from devoting further to 
her work role, and hence she becomes less work-centred” (Kan, 2007, p.32). 
Also, Crompton and Harris (1998) perceive the one-sidedly voluntary 
explanations of women’s economic behaviour as inadequate and misleading. 
They show that women change work preferences and behaviour due to 
opportunities and constraints at the work place, and less because of individual 
preferences or family factors (Crompton and Harris, 1998, p.140).  
According to the psychological interest-based explanations model, 
individuals adopt and maintain attitudes that facilitate the fulfilment of goals, 
needs and interests (Kroska and Elman, 2009, p.367). Kroska and Elman (2009) 
found that when individuals must occupy roles that are inconsistent with their 
gender attitudes, they adjust their attitudes to match their behaviour (Kroska and 
Elman, 2009, p.379; also Stähli et al., 2008). Their results correspond with social 
psychological central models, such as the perception central theory and identity 
control theory, by which “individuals are motivated to keep their behaviour 
consistent with their self-meaning” (Kroska and Elman, 2009, p.368). Incongruity 
between individuals’ gender ideologies and their backgrounds and activities may 
well lead them to change their ideologies to be more in line with their background 
and activities, in order to reduce feelings of discomfort (Kroska and Elman, 2009, 
p.370). Additionally, it is assumed that preferences explain more about how the 
situation is evaluated rather than about the career itself, whereas structural or 
institutional factors are useful in predicting employment activity (Stähli et al., 
2008, p.33).  
Nonetheless, according to Ajzen and Fishbein and Hakim there is exceeding 
evidence available, especially within longitudinal studies, showing how attitudes, 
intentions, and life goals have important causal impact on behaviour (Ajzen and 
Fishbein, 2005, p.198; Hakim, 2003c, p.128). In addition, Ajzen and Fishbein 
admitted that the relationship between intention and behaviour on the one hand, 
and concepts, attitudes, subjective norms and perceived behavioural control on 
the other, can be reciprocal. Performance of particular behaviours can bring new 
insights about possible consequences of such behaviour, as well as about 
expectations of others and issues of control. “These feedback loops are of course 
likely to influence future intentions and behaviour” (Ajzen and Fishbein, 2005, 
                                                           
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  Jansen and Kalmijn (2000) showed that the relationship between labour market activity and 
attitudes is reciprocal. The effect of emancipatory attitudes on employment is as strong as the 
effect of employment on these attitudes.  

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