Microsoft Word Socialized Choices 31-12 pod docx

Socialized Choices - Labour Market Behaviour of Dutch Mothers 
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(Hakim, 2000). Women with adaptive general gender values tend to agree with 
the modified breadwinner model, where mothers work part-time in order to be 
able to provide most of the unpaid family work, and fathers work full-time (Haas, 
2005, p.496). In case a mother has a personal adaptive gender attitude, her ideal 
family life is one in which her own partner works full-time and she works part-
time, taking the main responsibility of the household tasks and childcare.  
Furthermore, I have split attitudes into gender attitudes and work attitudes, 
because I assume that career ambitions and motherhood ideals, which are closely 
related to gender values and attitudes, can exist in different spheres. 
Katchadourian and Boli (1994), for example, concluded that both women and 
men were better prepared for the world of work than they were for family life (in 
Hoffnung, 2004, p.712). Once women have a child, contrary to their earlier career 
expectations, they automatically place family demands ahead of career demands, 
and anticipate long maternity leaves and subsequent part-time employment. This 
finding indicates that a mother’s personal gender attitude can overrule her 
personal work attitude. Presumably this is the case because gender socialization is 
such a persuasive, overarching and encompassing process that society’s and one’s 
own internal expectations towards mothering can overrule personal work attitudes 
(Grusec and Hastings, 2007; Mason, 2000). Nevertheless, I expect that the work 
and gender attitudes of a mother will often point in the same direction. A work 
attitude is this study, refers to a mother’s personal motivation to pursue paid 
work. 
2.8 
The social origins of  values and attitudes 
The third aim of this study is to enhance our understanding of the origins of 
mothers’ diverse values and attitudes by examining their relationships with 
specific, latent, intended and unintended messages, as well as support of 
significant others in childhood, in early adulthood (educational period), and in 
later adulthood. The study builds further on the theoretical point of view that 
individuals’ values and attitudes are always formed and embedded within the 
social environment, which starts in early youth, and is central to socialization, 
social learning and exposure-based theories (Bandura, 1977; Berger and 
Luckmann, 1967; Blunsdon and Reed, 2007; Bolzendahl and Meyers, 2004; 
Brinkgreve, 2009; Handel, 2006). A better understanding of the diverse 
socialization processes and social backgrounds of Dutch mothers may enhance 
our understanding how and which general gender values and personal gender and 
work attitudes play an important role in explaining mothers’ employment 
behaviour in the Netherlands, as previous Dutch empirical research has shown 
(Beets et al., 1997; Cloïn, 2010; Hooghiemstra, 2000; Portegijs et al., 2008b).  

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Chapter 2 - Theoretical framework and hypotheses 
59 
Socialization theory 
Socialization theory focuses on the social relational context in which specific 
normative standards and expectations are socially transmitted. Through the 
process of socialization, people acquire norms and values at different societal 
levels, and learn to perform their social role as a worker, parent, friend, citizen, 
and so forth (Wallace and Wolf, 2006). According to Parsons (1951) socialization 
is the process whereby people make societal norms and values
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 their own 
(internalization) by learning from others in the social system (normative standards 
and role expectations) what is to be expected from them (Wallace and Wolf, 
2006, p.28).  
Berger and Luckmann (1967) have made an important sociological 
contribution to socialization theory with their treatise “The Social Construction of 
Daily Life”. They describe how the reality of daily life is produced and 
subsequently reproduced and modified, which is especially relevant for this study. 
The reality of social life is approached as a socially constructed system in which 
people give a certain order on everyday phenomena. The reality itself consists of 
both subjective and objective elements. The subjective element involves a reality 
which is personally meaningful to the individual. The objective element is the 
common, taken-for-granted reality – the social order or institutional world - 
which Berger and Luckmann also view as a human product. Their special interest 
involves the question of how subjective and personal meanings can become an 
objective or factual world that people know and understand and share with one 
other. By answering this question, Berger and Luckmann’s treatise can be 
interpreted as an attempt to bridge the micro- and macro-sociological level of 
analysis.  
According to Berger and Luckmann (1967) the transformation from 
subjectivity to objectivity is possible through three ongoing processes: 
externalization (‘society’ is a human product), objectivation (‘society’ is an 
objective reality) and internalization (‘men’ is a social product) (also Wallace and 
Wolf, 2006, p.285-292). Externalization and objectivation are only briefly 
mentioned here, since they function in this study as an introduction for 
internalization, which is a central theme of socialization theory. 
                                                           
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  Norms are here defined as the formal and informal guidelines for actions. Values are defined, as 
previously described, as motives and ideals that are considered worthwhile to pursue; they are 
often not concrete but can be understood as underlying dispositions that conduct attitudes and 
behaviour of individuals in a specific context (Van Deth and Scarbrough, 1995, p.38). Norms and 
values both give direction to behaviour, but values are more abstract than norms. Values are above 
all an expression of desirability, an ideal, whereas norms point to specific guidelines for behaviour. 
Put differently, norms are the concrete translations of values, they show how values should be 
practiced. Values are more stable than norms and similar values (like taking good care of your 
children is important) can be translated into different norms (parental self-care or professional care 
can both be viewed as 'good' or 'appropriate' care) (Becker et al., 1983, p.18-19). 

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