Success in the Career of Spouses in Patriarchal and Egalitarian Families

Rostovtseva Marina Viktorovna Doctor of Philosophy Professor, Siberian Federal University 660030, Russia, Krasnoyarskii Krai oblast', g. Krasnoyarsk, ul. Vil'skogo, 18a, kv. 58 marin-0880@mail.ru Other publications by this author     Goncharevich Natal'ya Alekseevna Senior Educator, Department of Modern Educational Technologies, Siberian Federal University Krasnoyarsk, Svobodny Ave., 79 itss@bk.ru Other publications by this author     Shestakov Vyacheslav Nikolaevich PhD in Philosophy Associate Professor, Department of Modern Educational Technologies, Siberian Federal University 79 Svobodny str., Krasnoyarsk, 660041, Russia shestakoffs@yahoo.com Savel'eva Tat'yana Gennad'evna PhD in Philosophy Associate Professor, Department of Modern Educational Technologies, Siberian Federal University 660041, Russia, Krasnoyarsk, Svobodny str., 79 saveleva_tatyana@mail.ru

Barkanova Ol'ga Vladimirovna PhD in Psychology Associate Professor, Department of Psychology, Krasnoyarsk State Pedagogical University. V.P. Astafieva 89 Ada Lebedeva str., Krasnoyarsk, 660049, Russia marin-0880@mail.ru

Introduction. The relevance of our present study is determined by the discrepancy between the interpretation of the role of career success as a positive factor and the presence of a huge array of empirical facts proving its destructive nature. The stability of a modern family is determined by internal factors: the personal attachment of the spouses, a sense of love and psychological comfort, duty, respect, responsibility, etc. External factors (economic dependence, legal restrictions, national traditions, prevailing morality and public opinion, mental characteristics), being no less significant, still play a secondary role. The study of the role of professional status in the life of an individual and in marital relations has shown that career growth occupies one of the first places on the adaptation scale measuring the well-being and stability of marriage, along with the spiritual, psychological and sexual compatibility of spouses ^[1]. This is written by Kharchev A.G. Tolts M.S. Feinburg Z.P. ^[10;11;12]

As M.L. Abramson notes, the dyad "career success - marital relations" is quite dynamic in its essential characteristics and emotional manifestations. After the expiration of time, marital relations under the influence of the career success of one of the spouses can change from a high level of mutual attraction to the complete opposite ^[2].

The paradox of this dyad is that at the initial stages of the spouses' life, career success acts as a highly positive factor that guarantees the economic and social stability of the family, their entry into certain social strata, personal viability, the success of partner choice and satisfaction with it.

The trend of social stratification that has emerged in a number of recent decades has passed, first of all, through the layer of family relations. Its consequences were: alienation of a successful spouse in a career, going beyond the circle of family interests, searching for relationships and persons satisfying a new psychological request and a newly acquired professional status ^[3].

The ambiguity and uncertainty of the impact of career success on marital relations requires not only the elaboration of strategies and tactics of supportive relationships on the part of psychologists, but also a thorough theoretical and empirical study ^{[5, 10, 11]}.

Theoretical analysis. In the available literature (Dolgov Yu.E., Mbrumova A.G., Rostovtseva M.V.), career success is most often interpreted as a positive factor that has a facilitating effect on the personal and interpersonal relationships of spouses. At the same time, a reflexive analysis of the real impact of this factor on the destabilization of family relations showed that the career growth of one of the spouses acts as a decisive condition for the stability of the family ^[4,8,9]

Based on the analysis of research on this issue, it was revealed that career growth can also be a negative factor that provokes the emergence of aggressive tendencies towards a "growing" partner. The experiences of one's own insolvency, which bring deep affects into the family, are destructive in themselves, affect the sense of personal dignity and often make the situation of crisis associated with career success difficult to solve. In these situations, it is difficult to do without the professional help of a psychologist or psychotherapist (V.Z. Vladin, A.N. Volkova, M.S. Matskovsky, N.N. Obozov, E.I. Terentyev, etc.) ^{[6, 7]}.

In foreign literature, the problem of the well-being of marital relations from the point of view of the spouses' career is highlighted in the works of Abies B.S., Brandsma J.M. ^[15],. Adams B.N. ^[16] , Batten, M. ^[17].

The problem of career growth as a negative factor of marital relations is investigated by Baxter L. ^[17], Batten, M. ^[18], Benson, L. ^[19], Bockus F. ^[20], Booth, A., Edwards J.N. ^[21], Botwin C. ^[22].

The research question of this work is posed as follows: what is the direction and nature of changes in marital relations in situations of career growth of one of the spouses? The solution of this problem is the purpose of the study: to study the ratio of career success and interpersonal relationships of spouses in patriarchal and egalitarian type families.

At the same time, the patriarchal family is not so much a marriage and family union as a complex economic organization (household) based on consanguinity. An egalitarian I family is a relationship in which neither spouse claims power, it is divided equally between a man and a woman ^[2].

We assumed that with simultaneous career growth, there is quite intensive communication, the possibility of altruism in relation to the professional affairs of each of the spouses, a democratic style of communication, the need for the other as an adviser and opponent.

We also assume that if status-personal growth is observed in one of the spouses, then various kinds of destructions occur: a decrease in the frequency of interaction, self-esteem, the level of pretension, increased resentment is observed, personal parameters of a negative plan appear: wounded self-esteem, decreased interest in each other, jealousy of the social environment.

But also in the case of career success of one spouse, the second: a) can rejoice for both; b) can be proud; c) can admire; d) can cherish more.

The study sample consists of married couples aged 35 to 40 years, in the number of 12 people who have been married for 10-15 years.

The subject of the study: the ratio of indicators of success in career and interpersonal relationships of spouses in patriarchal and egalitarian type families.

To conduct the study, we used: the questionnaire "Communication in the family" (Yu.E. Alyoshina, L.Ya. Gozman, E.M. Dubovskaya), the methodology "Role expectations and claims in marriage" (A.N. Volkova), the methodology "Distribution of roles in the family" (Yu.E. Alyoshina, L.Ya. Gozman, E.M. Dubovskaya), a test questionnaire of satisfaction with marriage (V.V. Stolin, G.P. Butenko, T.L. Romanova, Faculty of Psychology, Moscow State University), the method "Life Line" Golovakha E.I., Kronik A.A., adapted for the purposes of the study - measuring attitudes to career growth, methods of qualitative and quantitative data processing were also used. 

Study. The study was conducted in several stages:

The first stage is the analysis of the literature on the research topic; working out the conceptual apparatus, determining the object, subject and purpose of the study; setting tasks and choosing research methods;

The second stage is diagnostics, quantitative and qualitative processing of the results.

The third stage is the development of recommendations and the design of the work.

To confirm the data on the attribution of the studied families to the patriarchal and egalitarian type, a survey was conducted of 12 married couples who, for confidentiality, were encrypted by assigning ordinal numbers from 1 to 12, according to the method of "Distribution of roles in the family". The results of the respondents' responses are presented in table1.

Table 1 – The relationship of families to the patriarchal and egalitarian type

So, according to this method, the higher the arithmetic mean of the points scored by the spouses, the less traditionally the spouses' idea of the role of women in the family, it can be concluded that families 2, 3, 6, 7, 8 and 11 belong to the patriarchal type, and families 1, 4, 5, 9, 10 and 12 to the egalitarian type.

The results of determining the satisfaction with marriage of the studied families are presented in Table 2 and in Figures 1 and 2.

Table 2 – Satisfaction with marriage of patriarchal and egalitarian families

From the data presented, it can be seen that the majority of married couples belonging to the patriarchal type (50%) are characterized by more pronounced dissatisfaction with marriage than satisfaction, and in 66.7% of cases, dissatisfaction with marriage among wives is higher than among husbands. Families belonging to the egalitarian type, on the contrary, in most cases (83%) have significant satisfaction with marriage, and satisfaction with marriage is equally expressed in wives and husbands.

Figure 1 – Satisfaction with marriage in patriarchal families

Figure 2 – Satisfaction with marriage in egalitarian families

The results of assessing the nature of communication between spouses in patriarchal and egalitarian families using the "Communication in the family" methodology are presented in Table 3, Figures 3 and 4.

Table 3 – The nature of communication in patriarchal and egalitarian families

Figure 3 – The nature of communication in patriarchal families

From the data presented, it can be seen that the majority (66.7%) of the surveyed families belonging to the patriarchal type are characterized by a level of trusting communication above average and average values on the scales of mutual understanding (66.7%), similarity of views (83.3%), common family symbols (50.0%), ease of communication (66.7%), psychotherapeutic (66.7%).

Figure 4 – The nature of communication in egalitarian families.

From the data presented, it can be seen that the majority of the surveyed egalitarian-type families are characterized by a high level of trusting communication (66.7%) and mutual understanding (50.0%), have values above the average on the scales of similarity of views (66.7%), common family symbols (66.7%), as well as average values on the scales of ease of communication (50.0%), psychotherapeutic (50.0%).

Consequently, based on the results obtained, it can be concluded that in egalitarian families, which are based on the equality of husband and wife and democratic relations between them, there is a higher level of interpersonal and trusting communication between spouses than in patriarchal families, in which the husband occupies a dominant position and independently makes all decisions.

The results of the survey of married couples according to the questionnaire of the methodology "Role expectations and claims in marriage" are presented in Table 4 and Figures 5, 6.

Table 4 – Role expectations and claims in marriage in patriarchal and egalitarian families

Figure 5 – Comparison of average values for family values in married couples belonging to the patriarchal family type

From the data presented, it can be seen that in families belonging to the patriarchal type, intimate relationships (8,0) and social (7,0) relationships are of the greatest importance for husbands, and personal (7,0), emotional (7,0) and social (8,0) relationships for women. The external attractiveness of their married couple is equally important for husbands and wives in patriarchal families. The greatest differences are observed in intimate, personal, parental and emotional relationships, which may be related to the characteristic features of this type of family.

Figure 6 – Comparison of average values for family values in married couples belonging to an egalitarian family type

In families belonging to the egalitarian type, in comparison with families belonging to the patriarchal type, the importance of almost all family values increases and there are no sharp differences in the attitude of husbands and wives to various family values.

In families belonging to the egalitarian type, there are higher values of consistency of all considered family values compared to families belonging to the patriarchal type (Fig. 7).

Consequently, it can be concluded that in families belonging to the egalitarian type, a more complete agreement is achieved in the organization and management of the household, the spouses have the same views on the upbringing of children, have a positive attitude to the active and business life of both their own and the partner and consider it important for both to take place as a professional in their field of activity, to make career and self-realization, which is a distinctive quality of a modern egalitarian family. In patriarchal families, there is a different attitude of spouses to the issues of household management, parenting and career advancement.

Figure 7 – Comparison of average values of consistency of family values in patriarchal and egalitarian families

Figure 8 – Comparison of average values of role adequacy in families belonging to the patriarchal type

Figure 9 – Comparison of average values of role adequacy in egalitarian type families

From the presented data, it can be seen that families belonging to the patriarchal type are characterized by a large discrepancy in the expectations and claims of spouses when performing various roles in marital life, compared with families belonging to the egalitarian type, in whose marital relations great attention is paid to the emotional and psychotherapeutic component of marital relations, high identification with the spouse, intimacy interests in all areas of family life.

Discussion of the results. To confirm the above, graphs are presented that characterize the closeness of relationships, satisfaction with family life, the success of one's career and the career of the spouse in accordance with the modified "Lifeline" methodology, for the husband of the most patriarchal family 6 and the husband of the most egalitarian family 12, presented in Figures 10 and 11.

Figure 10 – Changes in the degree of closeness of relationships, satisfaction with family life, success of one's career and the spouse's career in a patriarchal family

Figure 11 – Changes in the degree of closeness of relationships, satisfaction with family life, success of one's career and the spouse's career in an egalitarian family

From the data presented, it can be seen that in egalitarian-type families characterized by equality of husband and wife, democratic and supportive relationships with each other over time, the degree of closeness of relationships and satisfaction with marriage decrease significantly less compared to families belonging to the patriarchal type. Also, in an egalitarian-type family, unlike patriarchal-type families, there is a higher career growth of the wife, which is almost on the same level as the career growth of the husband. In patriarchal-type families, there is no significant career growth of the wife, since there is a separation of the duties of the spouses in various spheres of family life. The data obtained confirm the studies of Garin S.T. ^[3], Dolgov Yu.E.^[4], Yeleshina Yu.E. ^[5]

To establish the relationship between the success in the career of spouses, interpersonal relationships of spouses and the type of their families, Spearman's rank correlation coefficient was used (Table 5).

Table 5 – The value of Spearman's rank correlation coefficients with a significance level of 0.05

Note: TS – type of family, UB – satisfaction with marriage, UP – trusting communication, VP – mutual understanding, SV – similarity of views, OS – common symbols of the family, PO – ease of communication, PT – psychotherapeutic, CCC – consistency of family values, UKm and UKj – the success of the career of husband and wife, respectively

It can be seen from the presented data that a very high direct correlation is observed between the type of family and the level of trusting communication (r = 0.94), a high direct correlation is observed between the type of family and the level of mutual understanding (r = 0.86), similarity of views (r = 0.87), ease of communication (r = 0.71), psychotherapeutic function (r = 0.72), the consistency of family values (r = 0.75) and the success of the wife's career (r = 0.81). Thus, during the transition from the patriarchal to the egalitarian type of family, the level of trusting communication and mutual understanding of the spouses increases, there is a higher consistency of family values, and a higher career growth of the wife, since in in egalitarian families, husband and wife are equal, support each other and make joint decisions.

The emotional and psychotherapeutic side of family life has a significant impact on the satisfaction of married couples with marriage for both men (r = 0.49) and women (r = 0.52). Consequently, the more a married couple provides emotional and spiritual support to each other, which is most typical for egalitarian families, the higher their satisfaction with marriage.

There is also a moderate direct correlation between satisfaction with marriage and social activity of spouses for both men (r = 0.31) and women (r = 0.45) in egalitarian-type families. That is, married couples belonging to egalitarian families help each other in career growth, self-determination and self-development.

A moderate negative correlation is observed between the type of family and intimate-sexual family values. Thus, in traditional patriarchal families, there is the greatest depreciation of this sphere of relations, compared with egalitarian families.

Conclusion. Thus, the study showed that in egalitarian families, a more complete agreement is achieved in the organization and management of the household, the spouses have the same views on the upbringing of children, have a positive attitude to the active and business life of both their own and their partner and consider it important for both to take place as a professional in their field of activity, to make a career and self-actualize, which is a distinctive quality of a modern egalitarian family. In patriarchal families, there is a different attitude of spouses to the issues of household management, parenting and career advancement. Families belonging to the patriarchal type are characterized by a large discrepancy in the expectations and claims of spouses when performing various roles in marital life, compared with families belonging to the egalitarian type, in whose marital relations great attention is paid to the emotional and psychotherapeutic component of marital relations, high identification with the spouse, proximity of interests in all spheres of family life.

 Based on the conducted research, it can be concluded that traditional patriarchal families are not characterized by high social activity, focus on career development of both spouses, a high level of trusting communication and mutual understanding.

As a result of the correlation analysis, a large number of correlations between various spheres of family relations, satisfaction with marriage and career success have been established.

Thus, the data obtained will increase the level of consistency of family values and the role adequacy of spouses, which will reduce the number of conflicts arising in the family and will contribute to the harmonization of family relations and thereby increase the level of satisfaction with the marriage of spouses.

Thus, the obtained data can be applied in the professional activity of a psychologist for counseling and psychotherapy of married couples. The material can be used by students in preparation for seminars and practical classes; it can be used to write articles on this research problem and used to develop practical recommendations.