Microsoft Word Socialized Choices 31-12 pod docx

Chapter 4 - The vital and stabilising role of work preferences 
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supervisors) and socio-demographic factors (gender, age, educational level, 
ethnicity etc.) (Drago et al., 2009; Jacob, 2008; Reynolds, 2003; Stone, 2007).  
Various studies have shown that a substantial proportion of working mothers 
prefer to work more or fewer hours than they actually do (Reynolds, 2003). 
Holmes et al. (2012) showed, in a quantitative longitudinal study among 1,141 
North American families, spanning the first three years after the birth of their first 
child, that almost half of the mothers preferred part-time employment, but only 2 
to 8 per cent realised their preference (p.509). Jacob (2008) demonstrates that 
only 36 per cent of the 1,777 American mothers in her sample were in their 
preferred work situation, many mothers preferred part-time work (p.222).  
These studies of the mismatch between preferred and actual work hours 
demonstrate that most working mothers are not able to translate their preferences 
fully into behaviour, but neither do they adapt their work preferences fully to their 
actual work situation, as would be argued by cognitive-dissonant theorists 
(Festinger, Riecken and Schachter, 1956; Kroska and Elman, 2009; Stähli et al., 
2009), since then we would not observe any mismatch. Whereas many 
sociological studies try to explain the mismatch between preferred and actual 
hours, this study concentrates on the correspondence between preferred and 
actual work hours. Theoretically, the study assumes that work preferences, 
measured as the preferred number of work hours, reflect the interplay of what 
mothers like, what they conceive as possible, and what they perceive others 
expect them to do.  
Thus, the first hypothesis reads:  
A mother’s labour participation is largely determined by her preferred number 
of work hours. 
4.3 
The impact of attitudes on preferences 
The second aim of this study is to reveal the relationship between attitudes and 
work preferences. In this light, the theory of Ajzen and Fishbein (1973, 1991, 
2005) appeared again relevant, and is therefore further explored. The first 
assumption of the theory of planned behaviour is, as described above, that 
intention forms the immediate antecedent of actual behaviour. In this study this is 
translated as: the preferred number of hours affect labour market. Secondly, 
intention (or preference) is, in its turn, affected by attitude toward behaviour, the 
subjective norm and perceived behavioural control (Ajzen and Fishbein, 2005, 
p.194). Within the scope of this study I only focus on the relationship between 
attitude towards behaviour and intention. 
Attitude toward behaviour reflects the extent to which a person has a 
favourable or unfavourable evaluation or appraisal of the specific behaviour that 
is being examined. The concept takes account of instrumental (desirable-
undesirable) and experiential (pleasant-unpleasant) aspects (Ajzen and Fishbein, 

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Socialized Choices - Labour Market Behaviour of Dutch Mothers 
108 
2005, p.199). As a general rule, attitudes based on direct experience, which is – 
except for adolescents – mostly the case for labour market behaviour, are more 
predictive of subsequent behaviour than attitudes based on second-hand 
information (Ajzen and Fishbein, 2005, p.180). And the more positive and robust 
(consistent and easily accessible in memory) the attitude, the stronger will be the 
effect of the person’s preference on the performed behaviour (Ajzen, 1991). The 
theory acknowledges that attitudes can be influenced by various background 
factors, such the educational level, income, religion, and personality. 
Many empirical studies have demonstrated that women’s employment 
decisions depend on objective factors, like the household’s finances and the 
availability of suitable jobs, yet they are combined with subjective evaluations of 
these factors based on attitudes (Beets et al., 1997; Bolzendahl and Myers, 2004; 
Cloïn, 2010; Cunningham et al. 2005; Himmelweit and Sigala, 2004; Hoffnung, 
2004; Hooghiemstra, 2000; Kan, 2007; Steiber and Haas, 2009). However, as 
mentioned above, most sociological studies do not consider the intermediate 
factor of work preferences.   
Hakim was one of the first scholars to argue that women’s decision on how 
much to work is based on their personal sex role attitudes and work preferences.  
Several follow-up studies have demonstrated the validity of attitudinal-
behavioural theories (Marks and Houston, 2002a, 2002b; Risman et al., 1999; 
Van Well and Knijn, 2007). Beets et al. (1997) showed, in a longitudinal study 
among young Dutch adults (18 to 26 years old), between 1987 and 1991, that, 
besides the present characteristics of their job and their educational attainment, 
their earlier gender role orientation is an important predictor of their later 
intention to reconcile family and work roles. Hoffnung (2004) finds, based on a 
longitudinal study among 178 women of five New England (US) colleges and 
universities, that the plans of senior students regarding their future work and 
family life were significantly associated with their educational achievement and 
occupational status seven years later.  
Opponents of these theories emphasise the number of barriers that people in 
their everyday lives come up against, which limit their choice (Debacker, 2008; 
Marck and Olsen, 1989; McDonald et al., 2006, p.472; Tomlinson, 2006, p.381). 
For example, when it comes to women’s choices, their educational attainment 
presumably has a bearing on their subsequent employment perspectives, as does 
their ethnic and social background, previous employment history and age 
(Crompton and Harris, 1998; Crompton, 2006; Kangas and Rostgaard, 2007). 
Moreover, care networks, work status, and the welfare policy context appear 
significant in shaping women’s abilities to carry out preferences (Tomlinson, 
2006, p.381). And, choices are often shaped in the (often hidden) context of 
inequality as being a result of pre-existing gender values regarding women’s 
appropriate roles at home and in the labour market (Charles and Harris, 2007; 
Duncan, 2005; Everingham et al., 2007; Halrynjo and Lyng, 2009; Komter, 
1990b; McDonald et al., 2006). 

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