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This is to certify that the

dissertation entitled

SOCIO-CULTURAL DETERMINANTS AND THE AFFECTS OF PSYCHOLOGICAL
ACCULTURATION ON SOCIAL PARTICIPATION AMONG AFRICAN
AMERICAN MINISTER'S WIVES

presented by

Mark Gawaine Harden

has been accepted towards fulfillment
of the requirements for

Ph.D. degreein Family and Child Ecology

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6/01 c:/CIRC/DateDue.p65-p.15

SOCIO-CULTURAL DETERMINANTS AND THE AFFECTS OF PSYCHOLOGICAL
ACCULTURATION ON SOCIAL PARTICIPATION AMONG AFRICAN
AMERICAN MINISTERS WIVES
By

Mark Gawaine Harden

A DISSERTATION

Submitted to
Michigan State University
in partial fiilfillment of the requirements
for the degree of

DOCTOR OF PHILOSPHY
Family and Child Ecology

2002

ABSTRACT
SOCIo-CULTURAL DETERMINANTS AND THE AFFECTS OF
PSYCHOLOGICAL ACCULTURATION ON SOCIAL PARTICIPATION AMONG
AFRICAN AMERICAN MINISTERS WIVES
By

Mark Gawaine Harden

The two-person career concept is a sociological construct that describes the
relationship between a husband, his wife, and his employer as a three-way relationship.
Several studies have demonstrated that there are some common features found in this
type of marital arrangement. This study sought to explore the extent to which the two-
person career construct applies to psychologically acculturated African American
ministers' wives. Horizontal and vertical individualism and collectivism were constructs
used to measure psychological acculturation among African American ministers’ wives.
The extent to which there are differences in the wives' level of social participation in the
religious environment is examined against psychological acculturation factors. Three
instruments were used in this study: the Horizontal and Vertical Individualism and
Collectivism Profile (Triandis, 1995); Social Participation Scale (Chaplin, 1957); and the
Ministers' Wives Survey developed for this study. Telephone survey interviews were
conducted with a sample (N=101) of African American ministers' wives in the major
mid-westem metropolitan area based on it being highly populated with African
Americans churches. A theoretical model was derived from a factor analysis of the two-

person career variables based on the literature. The two-person career included

Mark Gawaine Harden
encroachment, extrinsic rewards, role expectations, and obligatory contributions.
Comparisons of African American ministers' wives scores with the two-person career
model indicated some cultural characteristics attributed to African American culture.
Horizontal and vertical individualism and collectivism as categories for psychological
acculturation outcomes were shown to exist with most of the wives indicating that they
were horizontal individualists. A one-way analysis of variance of the two-person career
variables showed there to be no differences among the ministers' wives based on these
psychological acculturation outcomes. However, there were significant relationships
between several of the two-person career variables and social participation. Several of
the two-person career variables were shown to have a significant negative impact of
social participation. The number of years the wives were married had a significant

positive impact on social participation.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

 

 

 

LISTSOFTABLES....................., ......................................................... vi
LISTS OF FIGURES ............................................................................. vii
LISTS OF MATICES ............................................................................ vii
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION 1
STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM ......................................................................................... 6
SIGNIFICANCE OF THE PROBLEM ...................................................................................... 7
CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK ............................................................................................. 8
RESEARCH OBJECTIVES ................................................................................................. 13
RESEARCH QUESTIONS ........................ . ......................................................................... 14
LIMITATIONS OF THE STUDY .......................................................................................... 14
CHAPTER TWO
THEORETICAL PERSPECTIVES _ - ..... - 17
A HUMAN ECOSYSTEMS PERSPECTIVE .......................................................................... I 7
A FAMILY ECOLOGY PERSPECTIVE .............................................................................. 19
A Two-PERSON CAREER CLERGY F AMILY ECOSYSTEM ................................................ 21
PSYCHOLOGICAL ACCULTURATION .............................................................................. 28
A SOCIO-CULTURAL PERSPECTIVE ................................................................................ 36
DEFINITIONS ........................................................................................................... 43
THEORETICAL ASSUMPTIONS ................................................................................... 45
PROPOSITIONS ................................................................................................................ 45
OPERATIONAL MAP ....................................................................................................... 46
CHAPTER THREE
REVIEW OF LITERATURE 48
Two-PERSON CAREER MINISTERs' WIVES .................................................................... 48
AFRICAN AMERICAN WOMEN AND THE CHURCH ........................................................... 55
PSYCHOLOGICAL ACCULTURATION ............................................................................... 58
A REVIEW OF MEASUREMENT INSTRUMENTS ................................................................ 76
Individualism and Collectivism ................................................................................ 76
Social Participation Scale ......................................................................................... 77
SUMMARY ...................................................................................................................... 78

iv

CHAPTER FOUR

 

 

 

 

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY - - - 79
RESEARCH DESIGN ........................................................................................................ 79
DATA SAMPLING PROCEDURES ...................................................................................... 79
DATA COLLECTION ........................................................................................................ 80
INSTRUMENTATION ........................................................................................................ 82
INSTRUMENT DEVELOPMENT AND TESTING ................................................................... 85
DATA ANALYSIS ............................................................................................................ 97

CHAPTER FIVE

RESULTS OF THE STUDY 98
RESPONDENTS AND PROCEDURES .................................................................................. 98
FINDINGS AND ANALYSIS ............................................................................................. 101

CHAPTER SIX

DISCUSSION -- 118

REFERENCES“-.- 133

APPENDIX- _ 146

 

LISTS OF TABLES

TABLE 1 RESEARCH-BASED OBJECTIVES FOR MWS MEASURES ....................................... 86
TABLE 2 MINISTERS' WIVES SURVEY ITEMS BASED ON FACTORS ..................................... 88
TABLE 3 INITIAL EXTRACTION: RESULTS OF TPC FACTOR ANALYSIS .............................. 89
TABLE 4 COMMUNALITIES OF FACTORED ITEMS ............................................................... 90
TABLE 5 Two-PERSON CAREER PRINCIPLE COMPONENTS EXTRACTIONS & ROTATIONS.. 90
TABLE 6 INITIAL TPC FACTOR SOLUTIONS ....................................................................... 92
TABLE 7 TPC SCALES, ITEMS WITH FACTOR LOADINGS & COMMUNALITIES ................... 93
TABLE 8 TPC ITEM CORRELATION COEFFICIENTS & REPRODUCED COMMUNALITIES ...... 94
TABLE 9 AFRICAN AMERICAN WIVES CHARACTERISTICS ................................................. 99
TABLE 10 MINISTERS WIVES SOCIAL PARTICIPATION ACTIVITIES ................................. 100
TABLE I 1 PSYCHOLOGICAL ACCULTURATION CHI-SQUARE RESULTS ............................. 101
TABLE 12 HORIZONTAL & VERTICAL I/C INITIAL EXTRACTIONS .................................... 103
TABLE 13 HORIZONTAL & VERTICAL I/C PRINCIPLE COMPONENT EXTRACTION AND
ROTATION ................................................................................................................ 103
TABLE 14 HORIZONTAL & VERTICAL I/C COMMUNALITIES ............................................ 103
TABLE 15 HORIZONTAL & VERTICAL I/C FACTOR LOADINGS ........................................ 103
TABLE 16 INDIVIDUALISM/COLLECTIVISM PSYCCHOLOGICAL ACCULTURATION
CORRELATIONS ........................................................................................................ 104
TABLE 17 INDIVIDUALIST, COLLECTIVISTS AND UNIQUE WIVES BINOMIAL TEST ........... 104
TABLE 18 INDIVIDUALISM & COLLECTIVISM CORRELATION COEFFICIENTS .................... 104
TABLE 19 INDEPENDENT SAMPLE T-T EST: SATISFACTION AND SOCIO-ECONOMIC STATUS
................................................................................................................................. 106

TABLE 20 TPC VARIABLES AND SOCIAL PARTICIPATION CORRELATION COEFFICIENTS. 107
TABLE 21 TPC ITEMS, YEARS MARRIED AND SOCIAL PARTICIPATION CORRELATION

COEFFICIENTS FOR INDIVIDUALISTS WIVES ............................................................. 109
TABLE 22 TPC ITEMS, YEARS MARRIED AND SOCIAL PARTICIPATION CORRELATION

COEFFICIENTS FOR UNIQUE WIVES .......................................................................... l 10
TABLE 23 TPC ITEMS, YEARS MARRIED, AND SOCIAL PARTICIPATION CORRELATION

COEFFICIENTS FOR UNIQUE WIVES (HORIZONTAL INDIVIDUALISTS ........................ 111
TABLE 24 TPC FACTORS, INDEPENDENT, AND DEPENDENT VARIABLES MEAN SCORES. 113
TABLE 25 ......................................................................................................................... 1 14
TABLE 26 ......................................................................................................................... 1 15
TABLE 27 ......................................................................................................................... 1 16

vi

LIST OF FIGURES

FIGURE 1 CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK ............................................................................... 11

FIGURE 2 THE TWO-PERSON CAREER FAMILY .................................................................. 22

FIGURE 3 A TWO-PERSON CAREER CLERGY FAMILY ECOSYSTEM .................................... 24

FIGURE 4 MODIFIED THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK OF ACCULTURATION ............................. 30

FIGURE 5 OPERATIONAL MAP ............................................................................................ 47
LIST OF MATRICES

MATRIX 1 HORIZONTAL AND VERTICAL INDIVIDUALISM AND COLLECTIVISM .................. 34

vii

CHAPTER ONE

This study seeks to identify interaction patterns among African American
ministers' wives in their religious context by examining the relationship between socio-
cultural and psychological acculturation factors and their influence on social
participation. It is an exploration about the various patterns of social participation that
may emerge among African American ministers' wives based on how much they have
acculturated. Since its original conceptualization (Papanek, 1973), the two-person career
phenomenon has been Studied as a three-way relationship between a wife, her husband,
and her husband's employer in which the wife informally contributes to the husband’s
career without compensation. To date, the nature of this marital arrangement has only
been examined in a few instances from a sociological perspective where it has undergone
some re-conceptualizations (Taylor and Hartley, 1975; Finch, 1983). The result has been
the formulation of a general two-person career model. However, this model may not
serve as an adequate description in specific contexts. The current model should be used
only as a general framework in the development of a more contextual model. This study
will attempt to examine the socio-cultural and psychological dimensions of the two-
person career phenomenon from a human ecological systems perspective to derive a more
appropriate two-person career model for African American ministers' wives. This means
that the wife is examined as she interacts with her and her husband's social environment.
The thesis of this study is that African American ministers' wives will participate socially
in their two-person career environment based upon their response to the socio-cultural

and psychological acculturation factors in the religious context.

Previous two-person career studies provide an Opportunity for us to explore how
useful the two-person career construct is by establishing some analytical boundaries that
allow for different perspectives to be applied. Studies have suggested that there are
"common features" that exist among all two-person career wives (Finch, 1983). Studies
have also suggested that there may exist clear differences between various two-person
career marriages based on socio-cultural "details" in which further investigation is needed
to determine the nature and magnitude of those differences (Spedding, 1975; Finch,
1983). For instance, corporate executive wives may have a different set of circumstances
to respond to than family business wives, or politicians’ wives may have circumstances
that differ from that of ministers' wives. The implication is not only do they have
"common features," but each situation is also endowed with a complex network of
interrelated socio-cultural elements of its own. This study will attempt to find out
whether the suggested common features of the two-person career exist among African
American ministers' Wives, and whether the details expressed in socio-cultural forms are
supported by the evidence presented in related African American cultural Studies (e. g.,
(Billingsley, 1968; Gonzalez, 1970; Hill, 1971; Martin and Martin, 1978; Hale, 1980;
McCray, 1980; Paris, 1985; DeVaus and McAllister, 1987; Taylor, 1988; Lincoln and
Mamiya, 1990; Dilworth-Anderson, 1993; Hatchett and Jackson, 1993; Higginbotham,
1993; Ellison, 1997; Mattis, 1997; Chatters and Taylor, 1998; Landrine and Klonoff,
1998).

In the case of African American ministers' wives, the fundamental basis for
expecting different socio-cultural patterns between two-person career types is found in

previous research findings revealing the distinctive characteristics of the African

American culture. Data suggest that certain themes of African American women may be
reflective of the cultural dynamics we may find in a two-person career situation. When
examining previous research on the two-person career ministers' wives, it is obvious that
these themes are conspicuously absent in two-person career studies involving ministers'
wives because only a small sample of the wives in these studies were African American
(Spedding, 1975; Taylor and Hartley, 1975).

Many of the ethnic differences or themes may have been undetected. For
example, African American women have been described as more religious than their
cultural and Anglo-American counterparts (Nelsen and Nelsen, 1975; Greeley, 1979;
Sasaki, 1979; Taylor, 1988; Ellison, 1997). This suggests that wives may be more
amiable and likely to participate in the husband's career based on a deeper religious belief
system than we currently are aware of or previously understood. African American
women have also been described as hardworking women who built schools, orphanages,
and senior citizen homes. They are described as churchwomen who worked by the
ministers' side to establish clothing and food drives, and organized social welfare services
and movements that were also based in the church (Higginbotham, 1997). Therefore, it is
reasonable to expect them to still be engaged in a wide range of leadership positions in
the religious context. African American women historically have been important
economic providers for their families (Gutman, 1976), and they have been reasonably
expected to continue to have a strong presence in the workforce unlike the wives in a
previous study (Taylor and Hartley, 1975). Finally, African American women have been
described as highly valued symbols of the community as evidenced by titles such as

"mother," "big ma," "mothers‘ board," "first lady," and the organization of women's

groups where forms of leadership are often expressed (Gonzalez, 1970; Gilkes, 1997).
The function of other themes, such as the importance of maintaining extended family ties
and fictive kin relationships (Hill, 1971; Stack, 1974; Martin and Martin, 1978; Hale,
1980; Greenwald, 1984; Hatchett and Jackson, 1993; Roschelle, 1997) may become clear
as this socio-cultural context is examined more closely. These are some of the details,
that when added to the general two-person career scheme, present a different picture from
what we have seen in other studies (Spedding, 1975; Taylor and Hartley, 1975; Finch,
1983).

The distinctive African American cultural characteristics and forms of religious
participation may also be indicative of the social expectations, norms and values that
define the specific or "detailed" socio-cultural forms we expect to find among two-person
career ministers' wives (Spedding, 1975; Taylor and Hartley, 1975; Finch, 1983). These
social expectations, norms, and values may not only facilitate social participatioi, but
may also create lifestyle restrictions where the minister's wife may, in some respects, be
an involuntary participant (Mattis, 1997; Lincoln, 1990) in the husband's career. In fact,
some may not conform at all to the expectations, norms, and values within this context.

Differences in psychological acculturation outcomes may explain why we might
see additional differences among the group of ministers' wives. The theory of
psychological acculturation provides us with a model for explaining and understanding
changes that result from cultural contact and interaction. Psychological acculturation is
an outcome of changing values that result from two cultures coming into contact. It is
expected that there may also be subtle differences among the two-person career wives

who share similar circumstances (such as ministers' wives who are viewed as a

homogeneous ethnic subgroup) where psychological acculturation is a factor (Triandis,
1994; Triandis, 1995).

This study assumes, overall, that we can only know the extent to which the socio-
cultural context shapes the wives' individual behavior by examining both the socio-
cultural and psycho-cultural elements together. The psycho-cultural factors in this case
refer to the "cognitive orientation" (McDonald, 1981) of a group of individuals resulting
from a develOpmental process that has shaped their cultural beliefs, values, expectations,
norms, and attitudes. The socio-cultural factors refer to the social structures that
contribute to regulating and governing one's behavior formation in given situations. The
degree to which the wives participate will depend on how much they are influenced by
these socio-cultural factors and choose to respond to these factors.

This is a descriptive study that uses a cross-sectional approach and focuses on
identifying contextual factors that influence to what degree African American ministers’
wives interact with their religious environment. Other variables, such as the number of
years married, denominational affiliation, and socio-economic status, are also considered
because of their presence in the literature. This researcher's point of view is that further
in-depth study is needed in order to understand the dynamics of the two-person career
relationship more fully. It is believed that a qualitative approach may be appropriate to
answer more in-depth questions. Therefore, this is an empirical-analytical approach that
puts to test a theoretical framework based upon empirical data cited throughout this

document, and one that can serve as an impetus for further studies with other modes of

inquiry.

Statement of the Problem

The purpose of this study is to identify interaction patterns among African
American ministers' wives within their religious context by examining the relationship
between socio-cultural and psychological acculturation factors and their influence on
social participation. Although sociologists have provided us with evidence to describe
some common features of the two-person career phenomenon (Spedding, 1975; Taylor
and Hartley, 1975; F inch, 1983), recent research on African American women also
indicates that additional differences in socio-cultural patterns among two-person career
ministers' wives is likely to exist (Billingsley, 1968; Gonzalez, 1970; Hill, 1971; Martin
and Martin, 1978; Hale, 1980; McCray, 1980; Paris, 1985; DeVaus and McAllister, 1987;
Taylor, 1988; Lincoln and Mamiya, 1990; Dilworth-Anderson, 1993; Hatchett and
Jackson, 1993; Higginbotham, 1993; Ellison, 1997; Mattis, 1997; Chatters and Taylor,
1998; Landrine and Klonoff, 1998). Wives participating in their husband's career are
influenced by differences in individual socialization and contextual histories. Therefore,
it is reasonable to suspect that psychological acculturation factors may also explain
further differences that may exist between the wives. This study investigates the validity
of the two-person career construct and the impact of psychological acculturation in the
African American religious context. It also investigates the relationship of socio-cultural
and psychological acculturation factors, and the extent to which they influence social
participation among African American ministers’ wives within their religious

environment.

Significance of the Problem

This study is significant for many reasons. First, the two-person career in the
African American religious context, consisting of ministers and their wives, has never
been explored. This study presents an opportunity to test the validity of using the two-
person career construct to study African American ministers' wives, and also to explore
whether there are different patterns that emerge based on unique socio-cultural
characteristics.

Secondly, recent criticism has been that there is no comprehensive theoretical
model for studying ethnic families and individuals beyond the development of ideologies
such as “Africanism” or feminism (Dilworth-Anderson, 1993). Because this study seeks
to explain and understand behavior related to social structures and cultural dynamics
using a human ecological systems approach, it may bring us closer to developing a
theoretical framework for studying ethnic minority groups and individuals.

Thirdly, this Study examines whether or not individualism and collectivism can be
used to describe differences in African American cultural characteristics. Recent findings
in cross-cultural psychology indicate that individualism and collectivism are useful
constructs in any context because they coexist in all societies (Triandis, 1987; Triandis,
1988; Kim, 1994; Sinha, 1994; Triandis, 1995). This study may further validate the need
to examine individualism and collectivism among ezhnic gr». ups in America and may
encourage more intercultural ethnic research within the field of cross-cultural
psychology.

Finally, this study will measure horizontal and vertical individualism and

collectivism because of their possible correspondence with the concept of “psychological

acculturation” (Berry, 1980). Currently, there is an interest in testing Berry’s model of
psychological acculturation with an integrated model using horizontal and vertical
individualism and collectivism. In addition, the instruments designed to measure these
constructs have only been tested in a few studies (Triandis, 1995; Gelfand, 1998). This
study will provide further validity for their use.

Moreover, extensive empirical research on horizontal and vertical individualism
and collectivism among African Americans using quantitative techniques does not exist.
More research may help us answer questions such as, why do some ethnic minorities
successfully interact within certain enclaves and others do not? Or, how do ethnic
minorities react to certain socio-cultural conditions within their ethnic environment?
This Study will provide additional information to what has been presented in the literature

(Wooddell, 1989) as a basis for further investigation.

Conceptual Framework

Description

This conceptual framework rests upon the idea that the interactions over time
between cultural and individual level variables within a human ecosystem have produced
intermediary socio-cultural structures in a social environment. The two—person career
human ecosystem's social environment is conceptualized as a multidimensional
environment that consists of the psychological, socio-cultural, and human built
environments (Griffore and Phenice, 2001). Thus, the individuals and groups in Figure 1

constitute a self-regulating human ecosystem, for the system as a whole and for its parts,

that facilitates the deveIOpment of structural outcomes and processes in this socio-cultural
environment.

The focus of this human ecosystem study is on the structural components
(Griffore and Phenice, 2001) and the socio-cultural environment (Bubolz and Sontag,
1993). The interrelatedness and interdependencies of the socio-cultural structures define
the characteristics and interactions in the two-person career phenomenon. Structures,
processes, and outcomes related to the complexity of this socio-cultural phenomenon can
be described using a human ecological conceptual structure that is provided in general
systems language (Griffore and Phenice, 2001). The socio-cultural structures, processes,
and outcomes can be simplified analytically into a coherent "pattern of explanations" at
the process level of analysis.

In this study, the structural components consist of the minister, the wife and
individuals members of the church in a socio-cultural environment. These structural
components prescribe functions that are important in a human ecosystem. The Structural
components of a human ecosystem are typically individuals, roles, statuses, social
arrangements, positions and functions within the rubric of the social demographic
characteristics and the like as long as they have a "structural effect" (Griffore and
Phenice, 2001). Additionally, there are several other functions served by the structural
components in this conceptual framework. Figure 1 is intended to depict the presence of
these other components with the interaction of socio-cultural and acculturation factors.

First, there are cognitive structures that can be described as governing

components. These cognitive structures are individual and shared concepts, beliefs, and

meanings, and values that are influenced by socio-cultural and acculturation factors.
Cognitive structures are the "governing components" of the system (p. 28). A major
premise for this conceptual framework is that cultural structures influence how humans
think, feel, act, communicate, and make decisions. It influences how, what, where, when
and why humans interact with environments. Socio-cultural structures are linked by
shared governing components, but they are also independent. AS self-governing
components, each subsystem's individuality is possibly defined by a unique set of norms,
values, and goals. The individuals in this marital arrangement and members of the
church construct their own "unique microenvironment" (p5), and as a group, they share a
particular dimension of the same environment.

There are also "dynamic components" influenced by the interactions between
individuals and groups within this social environment. Dynamic components represent
the external flow of resources, energy, information and money. The internal processes
occur within and among the system components to sustain uninterrupted interaction
within the system as a whole (pp. 26—27). The structure created by the two-person career
precipitates the activity in the development of the system's dynamic compor ent. The
dynamic components facilitate and initiate the process of transforming and producing
cultural resources for the system.

The system's components are "life process" components because they refer to the changes
that occur as a result of the patterns of interactions that help to transform and produce

cultural resources. Cultural resources exist in the socio-cultural environment and

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the external environment. Cultural resources produced must be transformed so that the
structural components in the human ecosystem can increase quantitatively and
qualitatively. These resources in the socio-cultural context include human resources,
information, money, food, artifacts, and Spirituality sustained by ritual, tradition, worship,
and religious ideas to perpetuate the deveIOpment of the system. Cultural resources are
transformed and regulated by individual subsystems based upon availability of cultural
resources and the capacity of the system and its subsystems to reproduce them.
Acculturation factors influence the adaptation of structural components as a life
process component. Therefore, the structural components are also "information
processing components" because the structural components process cultural information
when coming into contact with different value systems (p. 28). Acculturation involves
cultural changes in individuals and groups when they come into contact with a different
culture. Over time, acculturation factors may be responsible for the differences observed
between the individuals and groups. Acculturation factors are also the influencing socio-
cultural elements in a social and external environment that individuals and groups come
into contact with as indicated in Figure 1. However, acculturation outcomes are
primarily the result of cultural influences in human relationships. Acculturation
outcomes for each subsystem provide stability for the subsystems that function
cohesively within a range of conditions that allow it to maintain dynamic equilibrium.
The type of change that occurs is dependent upon whether the interacting
components require some adjustment or a fundamental change because of socio-cultural
structures. Change occurs when positive feedback is provided by the structural

component (negative feedback may cause some adjustments, but not change as is stated

12

here). This change can be referred to, respectively, as morphostasis or morphogenesis
(p.23). What will determine the magnitude of change is the level of feedback indicated
by component interaction. Change may be more internal without necessarily resulting in
behavior change.

Life process and information processes are achieved through a complex array of
negative and positive feedback loops. Negative feedback loops will occur when the
subsystem receives adequate input from the other subsystems. This adequacy is
conceptualized in the case of approval for the wife’s contributions made in a role that is
defined according to beliefs and religious tradition. Positive feedback will occur when
the wife receives input that requires her to change to accommodate to the system's needs.
This can be thought of as patterns of social interaction influenced by what is needed to
maintain a relationship or status. Feedback allows different values to co-exist without

disrupting the system.

Research Objectives

In order to carry out this study, the researcher developed several objectives:

0 The researcher will examine the extent to which the two-person career
construct reflects the sociO-cultural dimensions in the African American
ministers' wives' context.

0 The researcher will examine the extent to which the constructs horizontal and
vertical individualism and collectivism exist among African American

ministers' wives as psychological acculturation outcomes.

o The researcher will examine the extent to which there is a relationship
between two-person career traits and social participation based on horizontal

and vertical individualism and collectivism attributes.

Research Questions
The overall question this study seeks to answer is: "What are the socio-cultural
and acculturation factors that influence the extent to which African American ministers'
wives participate within their social environment?" The main questions that this study
uses to address the question are as follows:

1) To what extent do horizontal and vertical individualism and collectivism (i.e.,
psychological acculturation outcomes) exist among African American
ministers' wives?

2) IS there a difference between African American ministers’ wives in the two-
person career based on horizontal and vertical individualism and collectivism
(i.e., psychological acculturation outcomes)?

3) What is the relationship between the two-person career traits and social
participation among African American ministers' wives based on horizontal
and vertical individualism and collectivism (i.e., psychological acculturation
outcomes)?

Limitations of the Study

There are several limitations in this study that pertain to the scope of the family

ecosystem, the concept of acculturation, the purpose of the factor analysis, and the

methods for interpreting the results.

14

Scope of the Family Ecosystem

According to Bubolz and Sontag (1993), to conduct a family ecosystem study
would require a comprehensive study that would include the individuals of the family
interacting with the "totality of their environments." This study limits its focus to the
patterns of interactions related to only one individual: the minister's wife. It also focuses
on the wife's interaction with the socio-cultural environment according to criteria that the
family ecosystems model is based upon (pp. 432-433 and 442-443). Many important
features of the physical-biological, human-built, and socio-cultural environments will not
be examined. The husband and church members will be examined only through an
analysis of the wife's perceptions. The physical structures or artifacts of the environment
that relate to resources used in the environment such as money, instruments of worship,
sacred documents, and religious policies will be examined.
Scope of Acculturation

This study focuses only on "acculturation" as changes in values (Feather, 1979;
Smith, 1999) as may be manifested in individual reactions to the socio-cultural
environment. Changes in values as acculturation is not comprehensive in nature as it
relates to the psychological acculturation outcomes investigated in this study (horizontal
and vertical individualism and collectivism). A thorough examination of acculturation as
a phenomenon ideally involves identifying particular cultural values, social cultural
competence, and characteristics of a shared environment. A comprehensive approach to
achieve this type of study requires a complex theoretical framework and a combination of
methods. However, it has been suggested that examining values is the most theoretically

sound approach for investigating cultural differences (Kagitcibasi, 1994). Thus, this

15

study on acculturation is limited in scope to individual value orientations rather than the
complete spectrum of characteristics that reflect acculturation.
Factor Analysis

The objective of the factor analysis was limited to producing results that would be
useful for theoretical purposes such as identifying the dimensions of the two-person
career. Hypothetical factors are identified based on the literature. However, only a few
items for each factor emerged in an item selection process that included ministers' wives
as a panel of judges. This is less than what is usually required (Kline, 1994), and may
limit the use of the results. Because the factor analysis was primarily used to provide
insight for modeling purposes, there is a limitation in using this information to draw
definitive conclusions.
Methodology

Finally, African American ministers' wives were not included in the analysis to
interpret the findings of this study. To adequately represent a critical science perspective,
such an inclusion of the wives in the interpretation of the data would be ideal. It was
decided to rely on personal observations in addition to what is in the literature as a basis
for these interpretations. It is reasoned that this study should still provide important
information by presenting the implications of the study based on the researcher's

experience as a participant in this context.

16

CHAPTER TWO
Theoretical Perspectives

This conceptual framework is developed from a human ecological systems
perspective, more specifically, family ecosystems. Human ecology refers to the study of
individuals and families interacting with their environment. Therefore, family ecology is
a sub-discipline of human ecology where individuals are viewed as sub-units of a family
system that interact with their environment. The family ecosystem perspective has an
established history of being an ecological approach for studying families and individuals
(Bubolz & Sontag, 1993). To illustrate how and why the human ecological perspective is
essential in this study, a brief description of what is meant by a human ecosystem, family
ecosystem, and two-person career clergy family ecosystems is presented. The task of this
study is to include selected constructs and models that can provide the conceptual
elements from several disciplines to adequately describe the phenomenon in a coherent
theoretical scheme. To emphasize the importance of incorporating and expanding on
concepts to clarify the framework developed for this theoretical perspective, a brief
description of the principle strengths and some limitations of the human ecological
systems and family ecosystem perspective is also given.

A Human Ecosystems Perspective

It is essential to understand the concept of "ecology" as it is used in the field of
family and child ecology. Ecology is defined as the study of organisms within the
environment as "inseparable parts of a greater whole" (Bubolz, 1993). The term was
primarily applied to the biological and physical so. 1068 u....I the 1.305 when the term

ecology was again discussed in relation to human interactions (Tangsley, 1935). Implied

l7

with this notion of ecology is the "systems" perspective. The systems perspective
developed concurrently with the human ecosystem perspective because of emerging and
prominent social scientists' interests in pursuing the ecological concept to explain
phenomena (Bubolz & Sontag, 1993). As an application of a human ecological systems
approach, general systems theory is used to examine processes and relationships between
component parts of a whole system (Griffore & Phenice, 2001).

Human ecology combines the ideas of general systems theory with an ecology
perspective. Like all living ecosystems studied in the biological sciences, human
ecosystems are dynamic, self-regulating systems. Fundamental to systems functioning is
the flow of energy and matter within a system with information feedback loops. Human
systems require energy and matter and feedback loops of information for survival and
adaptation in their environment according to natural and human laws. In order to exist,
there must be an uninterrupted flow of resources and feedback information from the
enviromnent. There is a degree of interdependence between the object and the
environment that depends on how "Open" or "closed" the system is. Another basic
feature of the systems approach is time and space. Energy and matter exist in a three-
dimensional space in which events, actions and processes occur (Griffore & Phenice,
2001). Therefore, any analysis of systems must take into account that the phenomenon
exists over time (i.e. past, present, and future).

Ecosystem theory uses highly abstract theoretical concepts such as organism,
environment, interaction, interdependence, perception, organization, technology, and
adaptation to explain phenomena (Bubolz & Sontag, 1993). This enables human

ecologists to develop an ecological framework that incorporates concepts and models

18

across disciplines. The human ecological perspective is a powerful framework for
understanding and explaining human systems and the relationship between parts of that
system. In fact, the perspective allows one to look at one or more dimensions at a time.
Furthermore, the approach forces one to examine the context wherein the individual or
group is an active participant (Griffore and Phenice, 2001).

Bubolz and Sontag (1993) suggest that the limitations involved in using human
ecosystem abstract concepts require the development of common terminology. However,
another major concern with using only human ecology concepts is evident when
examining very complex phenomenon. The consequence of using only human ecology
concepts to explain complex phenomena would lead to repetitiveness and may result in
the loss of clarity. General systems language (Griffore and Phenice, 2001) and family
ecosystems concepts (Bubolz and Sontag, 1993) bring greater clarity for the purposes of
studying families. For instance, there are specific and unique organisms, environments
and interactions that can be differentiated within and between human ecosystems. More
concrete elements and constructs that would promote a "common terminology and
understanding" (p.442) would also help to produce a more comprehensive picture of the
phenomenon under investigation.

A Family Ecology Perspective

The Bubolz and Sontag (1993) family ecosystems model serves as a primary
source for the model developed in this study. Family ecosystem theory converges human
ecosystem theory concepts into a set of useful theoretical concepts for studying families
(pp.429-442). Key concepts in family ecosystem theory include family, needs, values,

goals, resources, artifacts, management, decisionmaking, sustenance activities,

19

communications, human deveIOpment, quality of life and a multidimensional
environment within a human ecosystem framework. It is evident that every family
ecosystem is a human ecosystem, but not every human ecosystem is a family ecosystem.
In a family ecosystem, each member of the family is considered a subsystem or
component of the family ecosystem. The family and its component parts interact with
their environment. Bubolz and Sontag (1993) have described a family ecosystem as the
following:
We define families in an inclusive sense to be composed not only of persons
related by blood, marriage, or adOption, but also sets of interdependent but
independent persons who share some common goals, resources, and a
commitment to each other over time (p. 435).
The model uses more precise concepts compared to human ecology theory and appears to
be inclusive of all family types. Several families can be represented as a family rather
than one family. We commonly refer to these families as extended families. In the
African American tradition, fictive kin are included in these kinds of families (Hatchett,
1993; Hill, 1999; Martin, 1978; Roschelle, 1997; Stack, 1974). This definition of family
opens the way for a two-person career marriage system that interfaces with many
individuals to be defined as a family ecosystem. The minister, the wife, and the members
of the church may function as family where individuals "share some common goals,
resources, and a commitment over time" (Bubolz and Sontag, 1993). Implications are not
that all two-person career marriages constitute a family, but that the socio-cultural
characteristics in the African American context make this conceptually plausible. The

family model in family ecosystem theory is "so broad and inclusive" (p.442) that

20

theoretically the two-person career components in the Afiican Am rican religious context
can constitute a family ecosystem.

F urtherrnore, the conceptualization of the natural physical-biological, socio-
cultural, and human-built environments in the family ecology model is appropriate for
this study. Bubolz and Sontag (1993) describe the natural physical-biological
components as the unaltered things in the natural world. The human-built environment
includes "alterations and transformations made of the natural physical-biological
environment" (p.432). The socio-cultural environment is described as consisting of
human beings, abstract cultural constructions such as norms, values, and patterns, and
social institutions. The "material and symbolic culture permeates the totality of the
environment" where the natural physical-biological, socio—cultural, and human built
environments are embedded" within each other (p.443). Interactions with these
environments are possible within all human ecosystems, particularly the family
ecosystem.

A Two-Person Career Clergy Family Ecosystem

In the literature, the two-person career concept has been mainly described as a
sociological phenomenon (Papanek, 1973; Taylor & Hartley, 1975; and Finch, 1983).
The concept refers to a three-way relationship between the husband, his wife, and his
employer (i.e., the church members who employ the husband). Figure 2 illustrates the

main components of the family system and their relationships based on the literature in

21

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the field of sociology (Finch, 1983; Spedding, 1975; Taylor, 1975). Accordingly, the
two-person career family can be defined as a husband having a wife who informally
contributes in varying degrees to her husband's career because of the norms, expectations,
and values of that context to which she is inextricably connected by a vicarious identity
through marriage based on shared goals.

Although the goals are unstated in this model, goals are implied in the overall
model because goals serves as the core reason for the relationships. Just as any human
ecosystem functions to achieve its goals, these three components of this human
ecosystem interact to achieve their goals. Because this is also a formal social
organization, one common goal is institutionalization. Institutionalization refers to a
"system of actions" that evolves into a common set of normative standards and value
patterns performed by the actors (components) within the system (Scott, 1995). The
black two-way arrows in Figure 2 indicate the interdependencies of the individual
components and bi-directional influences. The processes important in this model include
rewards that the wife may receive and contributions she may make to support her
husband's career. More about the system components and processes can be described
using the family ecosystem model that is illustrated in Figure 3.

In Figure 3, the wife, the husband and the church members are the individual
structural components of this family ecosystem. Each structural component can also be
discussed with a general description as an interacting system component as discussed in a
human ecosystem framework. They all function as interacting dynamic components to
maintain dynamic equilibrium within this family ecosystem. Each structural component

receives and provides sustenance resources for the system to achieve its goals.

23

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Symbolically and by social arrangement, the structural components represent the controls
and standards that govern social and individual interactions. As governing components
they individually and collectively shape rules, policy, and procedures for social
interaction. The more complex the interactions, the more active the governing
components are expected to be. The relationship between the structural components will
determine how each structural component places constraints, restrictions and expectations
on the other structural component.

In Figure 3, there are several combinations of interrelationships and interactions
that can be depicted by the two-way arrows. There are several different relationships that
the wife can have in this situation. Black two-way arrows indicate that the wife and the
husband influence each other in this family ecosystem. Through social interaction
feedback is received by both of these structural components to inform the other about the
others' needs. The wife may have several highly interdependent relationships with
members of the church as well as less interdependent relationships with others. This also
means that the wife and husband's interaction collectively influences the church
members. The husband's and church member interactions collectively influence the wife,
and the wife and church members' interactions collectively influence the husband, and the
wife and husband's relationship may collectively change from member to member or
subgroup to subgroup, and so on.

In Figure 3, the white two-way arrows indicate the interaction between the
individual structural components and the whole family ecosystem with the socio-cultural
environment. This individual and collective interaction also allows each structural

component to develop independently and collectively. Their interactions and

25

interdependencies with their environments are critical and are needed to produce cultural
resources for the family ecosystem to achieve goals. The wife intera ‘IS with her soc‘al
environment in unique ways. For instance, the wife interacts with her peers as a source
of support and group identity. This is an independent relationship the wife has within her
social environment that serves as a resource for her development.

The structural components also function independently and collectively as
information processing and life processing components. Cultural resources are made
available in the socio-cultural environment by the structural components because they
regulate, transform, and reproduce cultural resources. Each structural component
transforms cultural resources into products that can be consumed by structural
components within the system. This type of activity occurs through a series of complex
feedback loops. For instance, the wife may increase social participation based on how
receptive she perceives the members to be based on their reactions to her contributions of
time and resources. Or, the wife may increase the flow of cultural resources for the
system based upon how she perceives the needs within the system. Cultural resources
would be the activities that provide input in the form of religious satisfaction,
appreciation, experience, and improvement in the quality of social interaction within the
family ecosystem.

There may be strong expectations for the ministers’ wives to participate in a
traditional religious context based on the wife's perceptions and knowledge of traditions.
For example, researchers have pointed out that there are (1) strong kinship bonds that
ofien appear as an extended family structure, (2) fluid family boundaries, (3) fictive kin

practices, and (4) the adaptability of family roles (Martin and Martin, 1978; Hatchett and

26

Jackson, 1993). Based on family-like ties, these practices may easily translate in
traditional settings as expectations for ministers and their wives.

African American women in general increase in levels of religiosity when higher
levels of education and occupational status are achieved (DeVaus, 1987; Greeley, 1979;
Mattis, I997; McAdoo, 1992). Normally, this kind of status would mean that there are
constraints on how much time they can devote to social participation in their religious
context. However, African American ministers' wives have traditionally demonstrated a
high degree of religious participation (Paris, 1985; Lincoln and Mamiya, 1990; Findlay,
1993; Higginbotham, 1993; Gilkes, 1997; Higginbotham, 1997). This suggests that the
wives value their role as a minister's wife and may not sacrifice participating in the two-
person career while experiencing increased socio-economic status.

This family ecosystem model gives us the conceptual elements to help us explain
the patterns that are described by the socio-cultural characteristics. However, there are
some other conceptual refinements to the family ecology model's environment that need
to be made for this study. First, it is difficult to conceptualize a multi-dimensional
environment with the three components that have been identified without conceptualizing
a multi-dimensional socio-cultural dimension also. In reality, not only does culture
permeate the totality of the environments, but there may also be variability in the cultural
dimensions. There may be variability in meanings of symbolic and material artifacts,
institutions, human functions, patterns of interactions, norms, and values on several
dimensions.

Acculturation is one example of cultural variability that may be present. For

instance, one family member may acculturate in an economic sense through assimilation

27

without acculturating with respect to values (Berry, 1990). Some individuals may be bi-
cultural and others may not. These acculturation patterns would develop over time
dependent upon the extent, location and kind of interactions that take place with each
individual in the family. Thus, we have uneven development or multi-dimensional
acculturation that can occur within and between individuals in a family ecosystem. To
address this conceptual issue, acculturation patterns must be taken into account.
Psychological Acculturation

An Acculturation Model

Another key aspect of this theoretical perspective is the concept of psychological
acculturation (Berry, 1990). Berry (1990) advanced this idea through his model of
acculturation. According to Berry, the study of psychological adaptation is a relatively
new area of study in the field of cross-cultural psychology that seeks to understand the
"continuities and changes in individual behavior that are related to the experience of two
cultures through the process of acculturation" (p. 232). Berry's model was adopted for
this study because it was determined to best characterize acculturation based on value
change rather than personality or social competence (Smith, 1999). Berry's theory of
psychological acculturation is augmented to include another dimension and culture group
(see Figure 4). First, however, the basic principles of Berry's theory are elaborated and
summarized and the modifications to his theory are proposed for this study.

There are several important distinguishing features in Berry's theory (1990).
Berry argues that there are two levels of acculturation one must consider: population
level and individual level. The p0pulation level of acculturation is a change in social

structures, economic base, and political organizations. Individual level acculturation

28

involves a change in behavior, identity, values, and attitudes -- psychological
acculturation. Psychological change occurs when individuals come into contact with
other cultures. Individuals may or may not participate in changes at the group level
(Berry, 1990).

The second distinction is that there are antecedents to and consequences of
change. Berry states that the goal is to understand that there are consequences in relation
to antecedents at the population and individual level. The third distinctive aspect of
psychological acculturation is between external and internal sources. External sources of
change infringe on groups from outside the culture and can lead to cultural diffusion or
acculturation. Internal sources of change emerge from within through dynamics based on
the context. Individuals and communities can differ greatly in how they deal with
acculturative influences. Key elements in the acculturation process include the
following: (1) contact and interaction between cultures based on it being first and
continuous, (2) a result in some change, and (3) distinguishable as a state or process (pp.
234-236). It is important to note that Berry's theory supports the principle of "symbiosis"
in operation. However, in reality one culture is usually dominant over the other. Much
of Berry's theory is discussed in detail as to the consequences and results of cultures
coming into contact and the characteristics of acculturating versus acculturated groups.
Yet, it should be further noted that these characteristics correspond to many of the
environmental variables chosen when conducting research as to the effects of

acculturation.

29

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Two issues are central to Berry's theory on psychological at culturation. First, is
the degree to which one wishes to remain culturally unchanged instead of becoming part
of another cultural environment by giving up one's culture identity. Second, is the degree
to which one wishes to have their daily interactions with those of the other groups in
society (rather than avoidance from other groups and relating to one's own group). A
possible third issue is when a group has no power to choose how they must respond to
these two stated issues (p. 244).

Figure 4 is an illustration of the modifications made to expand on Berry's theory
so that it can be included as a part of a family ecological perspective. There are two
dimensions of culture indicated in Berry's theory: Culture A and Culture C. In the first
dimension, culture is conceptualized in the Societal Context as Culture A, the Dominant
Culture. Culture A influences groups and individuals at the acculturating and
acculturated levels. The thicker arrows indicate that the Dominant Culture (A) and the
culture groups have stronger influence even though there are arrows in both directions
that indicate reciprocal influence. This dimension is distinguished from the Ethnic
Minority Context where there is Culture C for the Social Group. These two dimensions
(separated by a broken black line) are connected with heavy white arrows to illustrate
interdependence. As indicated, the dominant group, acculturating and the acculturated
individuals, are the same in both contexts, but from different perspectives. This allows
for these entities to be seen according to the situation. The only difference in this ethnic
minority context is that the acculturating and acculturated groups and individuals are in
interaction with Culture C instead of Culture A. Culture C represents the ethnic social

group's in-group. The acculturated group and person is marked B ‘to indicate that

acculturation has taken place in relationship to both contexts. However, the change is
unknown. For example, an individual may become acculturated as bi-cultural and can
function in either context. More specific to this study, an individual may show patterns
of social interaction indicative of their acculturated state. The acculturated level is the
primary focus in the study. Focus is on the individual (wife) in relationship to the social
group in ethnic minority context. The outcomes of acculturation are of concern here and
not the antecedents embedded in the historical development of the acculturated
individual.
Individualism and Collectivism
In the field of cross-cultural psychology, much progress has been made with
respect to two empirically determined culture level constructs referred to as individualism
and collectivism (Hofstede, 1980; Kim, 1994). Individualism is defined as:
...a social pattern that consists of loosely linked individuals who view themselves
as independent of collectives: are primarily motivated by their own preferences,
needs, rights, and the contracts they have established with others; give priority to
their personal goals over the goals of others; and emphasize rational analyses of
the advantages and disadvantages to associating with others.
(Triandis, 1995, p.2)
While collectivism is defined as:
...a social pattern consisting of closely linked individuals who see themselves as
parts of one or more collectives (family, co-workers, tribe, nation); are primarily

motivated by the norms of, the duties imposed by those collectives; are willing to

32

give priority to the goals of these collectives over their own personal goals; and

emphasize their connectedness to members of these collectives.

(92)

Although, one of these is characteristic of a culture in a particular country, research has
established that individualism and collectivism coexist in all societies (Kagitcibasi, 1994;
Kim, 1994).

Cultural patterns can be detected at the culture level using individualism and
collectivism as constructs. However, this is a problem when applying culture level
constructs to individual members of a culture to draw inferences. Using culture level
constructs to describe members of a culture at the individual level is ecological fallacy.
This is one of the criticisms for using individualism and collectivism to study individual
cultural characteristics (Smith, 1999). To avoid ecological fallacy with the application of
these constructs for individual level analysis, other related constructs were
conceptualized to solve this problem. These constructs include independent and
interdependent self-construal (Markus & Kitayama, 1991), and allocentricism and
idiocentrism (Triandis, 1985).

Triandis (1995) proposed the use of four constructs such as horizontal and vertical
individualism and collectivism at the individual level for describing members of a culture
who subscribe to culture level values (individualism and collectivism). Several studies
have followed along these lines (Singelis, 1994; Singelis, 1995; Triandis, 1995; Gelfand,
1998). There have been some refinements in the instruments used to measure horizontal
and vertical individualism and collectivism (Singelis, 1994; Singelis, 1995; Triandis,

1995; Gelfand, 1998). Singelis (1995), Geland (1998), and Triandis (1995) have

33

suggested that these constructs may correspond to Berry's (1990) outcomes of

psychological acculturation. Researchers have confirmed the validity of the constructs

and their reliability (Singelis, 1995; Triandis, 1995; Gelfand, 1998). This study will use

the constructs horizontal and vertical individualism and collectivism to measure

psychological acculturation. Other categorical terms that capture the essence of these

constructs are also useful for conceptualizing the difference between them such as

achievement oriented, cooperative, dutiful, and unique (Triandis, 1995). Psychological

acculturation is defined as outcome equivalents of horizontal and vertical individualism

and collectivism as indicated in the matrix (Triandis, 1989, 1995; Gelfand, 1998;

Singelis, 1995).

Matrix 1 Horizontal and Vertical Individualism and Collectivism

 

 

 

 

Horizontal Vertical
Individualism Unique Wives Achievement Oriented Wives
Self is viewed as separate. Self is viewed as separate and
Personal goals come before the personal goals come before
group's goals; the emphasis is on group's goals; inequality is
equality as an important value. acceptable.
Collectivism Cooperative Wives Dutiful Wives
Views self as a part of a group, Views self as a part of group, and
but sees all members of the group is accepting of existing
as equal. No one should be inequality.

 

privileged above the group.

 

 

Singelis' (1995) study suggests that achievement oriented wives (vertical

individualist) can be characterized as having attributes that generally describe them as

34

 

being adept at seeing themselves as autonomous and placing individual goals above the
goals of the group. Usually this person's behavior can be predicted from their attitudes
and contractual relationships. When relationships begin to exceed benefits, this person
will reassess the relationship and probably drop it. Sometimes this person will show
conformity, even when it seems distasteful. If expected to take action, this person has
been shown to accept the responsibility. Triandis (198 8, 1989) states that this person
accepts the status quo legitimacy and will not resist inequality because they understand
rank as having privileges. Even though the person accepts inequality, they do not
endorse norms that perpetuate it, and guilt is associated with obedience.

Singelis' (1995) study suggests that unique wives (horizontal individualist) can be
defined as those who see themselves as autonomous from the group. The goals of the
unique wives often take priority over the goals of the group. Their behavior is also
predictable based on attitudes and contractual arrangements. Relationships are weighed
according to cost and benefits with emphasis on benefits as the deciding factor. The
unique wives will not likely conform to the degree that the other wives will because of
the desire to be free even though there is some level of participation. They, also, do not
believe in dependency on the family for sustenance, are at ease among strangers, and are
not excessively modest when making a public presentation. Unique wives also
emphasize equality between people and will work to keep everyone at the same level
(Triandis, 1989).

Singelis' (1995) study suggests that dutiful wives (vertical collectivist) can be
seen as defining themselves as part of or an aspect of a group. The group's goals take

priority over their own goals whether or not they overlap. Their social behavior usually

35

can be predicted from norms, duties, and obligations of the group, and relationships are
of the greatest importance, even when cost exceeds benefits. These individuals within
collectivists groups conform to the pressures and resist inner forces to break ranks. They
too accept ranking arrangements believing that rank has its privileges and will show
responsibility to accept a task if it is expected. This is further constrained with guilt.
Showing modesty in public appearances is preferred. This person is not just a part of the
group, but they are willing to make additional sacrifices for the in-group. Also, behaving
appropriately according to group norms is important, and the more rewards they receive,
the more likely these attributes will emerge (Triandis, 1989).

Singelis' (1995) study suggests that 000perative wives (horizontal collectivist) can
be seen as defining themselves as part of or with aspects of the group with their goals
either overlapping or being subordinated to the group's goals. Like dutiful wives, these
wives' behavior is usually predictable because of group norms, duties, and obligations.
Relationships are important, and the costs of relationships will often outweigh benefits.
The pressures to conform are usually greater than those to deviate from them.
Cooperative wives will not side with the rank and file as their counterparts and are
seldom modest when making presentations. These wives also value equality more
strongly and would rather not stand out in the group, and have a sense of social cohesion
and of oneness with the members of the group (Triandis, 1989).

A Socio-Cultural Perspective

More discussion of the socio-cultural dimensions is necessary to further clarify

how the theoretical perspectives constitute a human ecosystems model. Discussed are

various concepts and models that relate both to cultural and structural components in the

36

family ecosystems model. The main features converge with the theoretical perspective
presented in this study.
Defining Culture

Although difficult to define, culture has been defined in many ways by the
disciplines. Culture has been defined as: (1) the man-made parts of the human
environment (Herskovits, 193 8); or (2) a set of human-made objective (visible and
tangible) and subjective (invisible and the taken-for-granted) elements in the human
environment (Triandis, 1994); (3) that make up an organized system of meanings
(Rohner, 1984); or (4) a “relatively” organized system of shared meanings (Smith, 1999).
Many agree that it is collective action that creates culture (Herskovits, 1938; Rohner,
1984; Triandis, 1987; Smith, 1999). This study defines culture in a way that reflects all
of these definitions to some extent. That is, culture is theorized as having subjective and
objective (as well as concrete and abstract) elements in an organized system of relatively
shared meanings manifested in human ecosystems and their environments (i.e., human-
built, socio-cultural, and bio-physical). Organizational theorists have conceptualized
some of the cultural dynamics examined in this study fi'om similar perspectives
Organizational Culture Theory

There are several aspects of the two-person career as an African American family
ecosystem in the context of the religious environment in which a schema perspective is
useful. Schema models are useful because they are based on a systems perspective.
Organizational theorists who view social organizations as open systems and a “loose
coupling” of systems (Scott, 1995; Scott, 1998) provide useful conceptualizations for

examining the cultural dimensions of a human ecosystem. As in the human ecosystem

37

perspective, theorists argue that organizations are cybernetic systems that carry out
activities through subsystems (Scott, 1998). The subsystems are loosely connected
components that are capable of autonomous actions where individual goals or intentions
may be weakly linked to actions but help in the adaptability of the whole. This means
that an enhancement in one component does not necessarily translate into an increase in
production for the whole. Such conceptualization is compatible with human ecosystems
thinking (pp. 82-88).

Furthermore, some organizational culture theorists have argued for a schema-
based perspective (Harris, 1996) that provides helpful ways to conceptualize culture.
This perspective argues that organizational culture influences the individual’s “sense-
making” processes, and is manifested in the “dynamic patterns developed in
organization-specific schemas (p.283).” Schemas refers to what Harris (1996) argues are
cognitive structures in which cultural knowledge is retained and organized allowing for
knowledge repositories to develop, information to be directed for acquisition and
processing, and generation of an appropriate response through sense-making.
Accordingly, it is shared sense-making and social cognition that constitute organizational
cultural dynamics (pp. 284-85). Schema processing through sense-making conceptually
converges with human ecosystems concepts of information ordering and the valuing
process. Harris (1996) argues that there are “in-organization” forms of individual
schemas that are key toward developing a schema-based understanding of organizational

cultural dynamics. These forms are influential schema structures organized into five

categories. Because these categories and the requirements for culture and information

38

processing are influential in the conceptualization of this study, it is necessary to describe
them before proceeding to other important and useful concepts.

The five categories of schema described by Harris (1996) include: (1) self-
schema, (2) person schema, (3) organizational schema, (4) object and concept schema,
and (5) event schema. Self-schemas are theories that individuals have about themselves
in an organizational context that includes values, roles, and behavior. Another is a person
schema that refers to memories, impressions, and learned expectations regarding traits,
goals, and behavior patterns, preferences of particular individuals or groups and roles.
Organizational schema is a subset of individual schemas for “generalized others” that are
in an organizational context. “Object” or “concept” schemas are stimuli that are not
inherently social, but are relevant for cultural understanding to guide interpretation of
physical and verbal cultural artifacts. Finally, there are event schemas that are relevant to
the social context, situations, encounters, and events. This schema is described as not
only a guide for interpretation but also for behavior to reinforce meanings. Schemas
enable individuals to capture and make sense out of the array of informational elements
that enter a system.

Harris (1996) also argues that there are four requirements in using schemas in an
organizational context. First, he states that there must be sharing of the categories. This
is more likely to occur when individuals share experiences. Second, there must be a
context for sharing to occur. Thirdly, "relative salience must exist among members" of
the organization. The strength of the schema depends on information processing
facilitated through social interaction. Some schemas among individuals are more salient

than others and may be activated because individuals share basic schema patterns through

a matching process. Schema-guided sensemaking occurs both consciously and
unconsciously. Meanings are negotiated and individuals do not have to be present to
participate in the process. Harris characterizes much of this process as “mental
dialogue.” This makes it possible for input received from multiple time and space
dimensions to help conceptualize stimuli domains such as spirituality and traditional
sources.

Harris (1996) states how schema processes attribute meaning to physical artifacts
and individual roles and activities. However, he only partly explains how schemas
translate into action, and does very little to explain how contextual skills (cognitive and
physical) are learned to facilitate the schema building or matching process. Sense-
making processes explain how meaning is constructed, and salience explains motivation
for social behavior, but there is little explanation of why individuals will choose to
respond to the outcomes of mental dialogue. The environmental influences and
constraints are issues that need to be discussed to develop a more adequate schema
model. What cultural organizational theorists offer is a conceptualization of processes
involved in constructing shared cultural elements or resources in the human ecosystem,
and explain how differences and similarities co-exist through human social interaction.

Shared schemas are conceptual because of common ethnic experiences, religious
beliefs, symbols and activities, and economic realities that make the family and church
members' goals common and complementary. For example, the wife may have values
based on a shared "person" schema with the members. The interaction between the wife
and the members can result in high exchanges with less negotiation over the meaning and

role of the minister's wife. In this case, the values reflected in the shared schema wc .11d

40

function to motivate and guide human interaction. Over time this would lead to need
fulfillment and goal achievement quicker than it would if there was little that was shared
or if the schemas did not match. Therefore, schemas fimction within a family ecosystem
to sustain progress as well as facilitate growth for the components and the whole. A look
at organizational theorists who view cultural resources as schema should illustrate this
point.
Culture Power

While understanding how the husband, wife and members of the church increase
in value by functioning as co-producers of human capital, it is also essential to take the
next step toward understanding how and why these system components transform
cultural resources for sustenance. Neo-institutional organizational theorists who
emphasize the “taken-for-granted” aspects of organizational life and the ways
environment shape organizational structures and processes also argue that “cultural
power” is a valuable commodity (Williams and Demerath, 1998). Williams and
Demerath (1998) argue for an approach to culture that understands both its implicit and
explicit features that are important for the study of religious institutions. Williams and
Demerath (1998) state that the way to do this is to use culture as a "frame" and
incorporate the concept "collective identity." Cultural power is described as the capacity
to use cultural resources for change. Cultural resources are contextually dependent with
logic of its own in importing and exporting differing degrees of meanings. Once a
rationale is developed, it is difficult to switch to another. Cultural resources are
cooperatively constructed in this model with shared meaning for effectiveness. The

correctness of interpretation of a symbol is not always important in the system. It is the

41

effective use of an interpretation that makes a symbol powerful in this context. The
husband and wife as leaders in this environment cooperate or collaborate with each other
for the power to change or control the dynamics of the situation through the
transformation and production of cultural resources that represent important symbols. In
this environment the husband and wife don't simply accept the norms, values, attitudes,
and expectations that are present in the ecosystem, but they take an active role in shaping
these subjective elements based on their own needs, values, goals and the availability of
cultural resources related to those symbols.

Cultural resources are difficult to control because of competing interpretations, so
skill is associated with the idea of cultural power. Strong cultural appeals usually raise
moral issues because morality is embedded in the religious discourse and “internal logic”
that matches the perceptions of an ideal world. Implied is a model of how cultural
resources are manipulated and controlled for systems maintenance or change. Important
to this application with this model is the hierarchical arrangement within the two-person
career because it indicates who has greater access to cultural resources. Salience is
another important factor that affects cultural power. Power is relative to time and place
and one must be at the right place at the right time. Openness is another important factor
that relates to the range of possible interpretations. A final factor is the legitimacy of the
beneficiary population because it reflects social ordering.

The system in this model is dynamic because of the effective use of cultural
power by “moral entrepreneurs” in both the internal and external environments. This
concept is useful for an integrated ecosystem model. In cases where there are differences

in values among the structural components of a human ecosystem, the question of who

42

dominates is an important one. Understanding the political dimensions of culture
dynamics will help us to explain the behavior patterns and responses of each subsystem.
Synopsis

The two-person career family ecosystem has three interrelated structural
components. The structural components consist of the minister, his wife, and the church
members. This family ecosystem’s goal is the transformation, institutionalization, and
production of cultural resources for the development of religious human capital through
human interactions within environments. In ecosystems theory terms, schemas are
energy and information sources that govern and regulate the extent to which structural
components interact within the socio-cultural environment. The family ecosystem model
that incorporates the models and concepts presented in this section can be used (with
some modifications) to describe both the interactions within and between the subsystems
as well as the interactions of the whole with its environment. Culture is a major factor
throughout the human ecosystem and an understanding of the cultural dynamics as
described in these models should help us to better understand, predict, and explain the
social patterns revealed in this study.

Definitions

Ministers’ Wi e
Theoretical. This is an African American woman who is married to a minister.
Operational. The respondent who completes the Ministers' Wives Survey that is married

to an African American minister (see Appendix).

T wo-Person Career Wife

Theoretical. A wife who informally contributes in varying degrees to her husband’s
career because of norms, expectations, and values of that context to which she is
inextricably connected by vicarious identity through marriage and based on shared goals.
Operational. The item scores on theoretical traits as indicated on the African American
Ministers' Wives Survey Instrument.

Psychological Acculturation

Theoretical. Acculturation is the flow of cultural elements between two or more groups
of people at the population level due to different cultures coming into contact.
Psychological acculturation is the attitude of an individual as a result of contact with
another culture (Berry, 1990). In this study, psychological acculturation refers to changes
in cultural values that have resulted from some interaction with one or more different
cultural value systems.

Operational. The highest score obtained from one of four scales based on forced choices
on the Horizontal and Vertical Individualism and Collectivism Profile (Gelfand, 1998).
See Appendix.

Social Participation

Theoretical. The number and extent of religious activities related to the wife’s role as a
minister’s wife.

Operational. Score indicated by responses on the Social Participation Scale (Chaplin,

1955). See Appendix.

44

Socio-economic Status

Theoretical. The social and economic status one achieves based on a combination of his

or her employment classifications and educational level obtained.

Operational. The average of the combined scores based on occupation and education

level measured with items on the African American Ministers’ Wives Survey and the

Social Participation Scale.

Theoretical Assumptions

1) African American ministers' wives are in a two-person career marital arrangement
(Spedding, 1975; Taylor and Hartley, 1975; Finch, 1983).

2) Horizontal and vertical individualism and collectivism are equivalent to
psychological acculturation (Berry, 1990) outcomes at the individual level (Triandis,
1995)

3) African ministers and their wives share some religious beliefs, values, expectations,
norms, and goals with the church members.

Propositions

1) Traditional socio-cultural characteristics among Afi'ican American ministers' wives
will include the following:

a) Significant religious leadership that will enable them to produce cultural resources
within the system.

b) Social interaction with other ministers' wives as a traditional form of social
support and group identity.

c) Shared expectations, norms, and values with church members as a communal

institution or kinship network family ecosystem.

45

d) Ministers' wives will demonstrate a willingness to make personal sacrifices in
order to support their husband's ministry.

2) Based on psychological acculturation, African American ministers’ wives who are

collectivist will participate more than those who are individualist.

Operational Map
Figure 5 illustrates the relationship between the variables in this study. The

independent variables include the two-person career wife traits, other independent
variables that have been shown to be a factor either in the two-person career marriage or
African American culture, and psychological acculturation as an intervening variable.
Social participation is the dependent variable as indicated by the heavy outlined box. The
two-person career is an index composite of those characteristics that comprise the general
features of the two-person career as it pertains to the wife (Finch, 1983; Spedding, 1975;
Taylor Hartley, 1975). These include intrusiveness, expectations, personal sacrifice,
expectations, and contributions to the husband's career. Other independent variables
include the number of years married, denomination, socio-economic status, and age as
possible influential factors that have also appeared as possible factors that may influence
social participation (Spedding, 1975; Taylor and Hartley, 1975; Finch, 1983; Taylor,
1988; Taylor and Chatters, 1989; Triandis, 1995). Psychological acculturation is the
intervening variable that influences the effects of the independent variable on the
dependent variable. The arrows indicate the bi-directional nature of the influence the

variable has within this system.

46

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47

CHAPTER THREE
Review of Literature
The number and complexity of variables and their relationship within an
ecosystem requires an in-depth review of the research in the fields of sociology,
anthropology, social psychology, and cross-cultural psychology in order to demonstrate
the conceptual basis for the theoretical framework proposed in this study.

T wo-Person Career Ministers’ Wives

This study is like previous studies on two-person career wives in that ministers'
wives are the focus of the study rather than the husband or the husband's employer. The
concept of the two-person career is a sociological term in the literature that describes
wives who support their husband's career through social interaction (Papanek, 1973;
Taylor & Hartley, 1975; Kanter, 1977; Finch, 1983; and Toliver, 1998). Papanek (1973)
was the first to conceptualize the "two-person career" as the phenomenon that describes a
three-way relationship between a husband, a wife, and the employing institution where
the wife's contributions or participation is expected and informally required. Papanek
contended that wives were co-opted into the background by the educational system.
Taylor and Hartley (1975) shortly followed with a study that was the first to apply this
concept to ministers' wives and test Papanek's contentions. As they had pointed out, the
literature pertaining to ministers' wives is mainly focused on how to be a minister's wife
(p. 357). Other literature on the minister's wife is concerned with marital and occupation

stressors (e.g., (Henry, 1991; Blanton, 1994).

The two-person career concept is particularly useful for examining ministers'

wives because it builds on previous studies of two-person career ministers' wives (Taylor

48

& Hartley, 1975; and Spedding, 1975; Finch, 1983). Other studies that deal with this
marital arrangement (Kanter, 1977; Toliver, 1998) were not completely considered as an
appropriate model because they employed a deficit approach to examine wives in a
corporate business context. Kanter (1997) and Toliver (199 8) were two that differed
slightly in their application of this deficit approach. Toliver (1998) looks specifically at
African American families. Wives, at best, are depicted as either subordinate components
of a family system or as victims of lost opportunities to live their own lives as they
choose. However, the problem with applying a deficit model to examine this
phenomenon is that it may inhibit our understanding of how the family system may
function to ensure family survival and adaptation to the environment. Therefore, there
are three sociological studies that are heavily relied on to study the dynamics involved in
the African American religious context: Taylor and Hartley (1975), Spedding (1975) and
Finch (1983).

Although the Taylor and Hartley (1975) study failed to consider more deeply the
socio-cultural influences and constraints, their study provided some evidence on how the
ministers' wives phenomenon relates to the two-person career concept (Papanek, 1973).
Papanek's model, as Taylor and Hartley applied it to Protestant ministers' wives (1975),
has the following components: a) it usually involves middle-class and highly trained men;
b) it is an occupation that is male dominated; c) the women participate in the early
development of the career (i.e., training and education); (1) contributions to the husband's
career may include status maintenance, intellectual contributions, and public
performances, and failure to participate may jeopardize his career; and e) the wife's

contributions are "formally unacknowledged and unremunerated." There were no

49

modifications in its application by Taylor and Hartley at the outset of their research.
Taylor and Hartley applied the concept in the context of ministers' wives without any
fundamental changes. In general, as a result of this application, Taylor and Hartley's
study of Protestant ministers' wives confirmed Papanek's earlier reasoning that women
receive fulfillment through their husband‘s career by vicarious achievement. However,
Taylor and Hartley's findings did not confirm Papanek's earlier contentions that a skewed
educational system aids in derailing women from pursuing their own careers.

New findings emerged with the isolation of education and seeking participation in
the work force as an independent variable (Taylor and Hartley, 1975). However,
controlling for education did not address the socio-cultural issues such aslheld beliefs and
cultural norms germane to African American culture and may make generalizing their
results to African American ministers' wives somewhat problematic if specific dynamics
are taken into consideration. For example, Taylor and Hartley's new component for the
model involves the following variables: 1) higher levels of education; 2) more
participation in the labor force; 3) more participation in the two-person career; and 4)
more part-time employment. The correlation was said to be positive and statistically
significant between higher education and less participation in the two-person career;
higher levels of education and less participation in the labor force; and more participation
in the two-person career and increased part-time employment (pp. 362-370). A
statement, according to these findings, could be presented in the following manner:
Ministers' wives will more likely choose to sacrifice higher levels of education and full
participation in the labor force in order to participate in the two-person career. Since

Taylor and Hartley's study, African Americans have been shown to increase in their level

50

of religiosity as higher levels of education are attained (Taylor, 198 8). Moreover,
African American women have also been shown in another subsequent study to increase
in all dimensions of religiosity with higher levels of education (Mattis, 1997). If these
studies prove consistent for African American ministers' wives, then a two-person model
based on Taylor and Hartley's findings would be an inappropriate model to adopt because
an important cultural dimension would be missing. If these findings are inconsistent
among African American ministers' wives, then we can assume that a new two-person
career model is needed. Furthermore, the most important issue of variation with control
variables strengthens the fact that this family ecosystem is context dependent.

Spedding's (1975) study of ministers' wives from four denominations showed that
variation in social patterns was inevitable because of a number of factors that exist in the
ministers' wives context. Ministers' wives who were middle-class rarely returned to their
secular careers. Although the Baptist wives were the least likely to be involved in outside
work and Methodist and Congregationalists were inclined to work, denomination was
generally a meaningful factor. Spedding stated, "Variations in participation relate to
denominational allegiances, personal religious beliefs, and stage of one's husband's
career, among other factors" (p.581). According to Spedding,

The questions of just how and why clergy wives become so involved in their

husband's work are a matter of interpretation and theory, rather than fact; but what

is beyond dispute is that they are a group with a distinctive style of life, which
might well be seen as increasingly anachronistic, in society which apparently

places increasing importance upon women's independence of their husbands

(p.581).

51

It is apparent that Spedding's development of a model is intended for application in
different contexts. Therefore, this may indicate that variation may be due to contextual
factors that cannot be readily captured without an in-depth understanding of the situation.

Finch's (1983) approach to the conceptualization and application of the two-
person career contributes more as an in-depth comparative sociological study with a
symbolic interactionist perspective on the phenomenon (Finch and Spedding are the same
person). In "Married to the Job: Wives Incorporation in Men's Work," Finch views the
husband's work as a structuring force in the wife's life that elicits her contributions. In
this study Finch seeks to capture key characteristics that may be reflected in all situations.
Finch uses incorporation to denote the two-sidedness of the two-person career. On one
side, a set of structures constrains choices and set limits as organizing themes, and on the
other, the wife contributes to the work (Finch is careful to avoid being deterministic in
her description). On conceptual issues, Finch strongly disagrees with Papanek's
conceptualization. Finch finds that it is not a middle-class phenomenon as Papanek
proposes but extends to the working class and professional and bureaucratic settings (also
in a previous study) as well. Finch draws heavily from her studies of clergy wives and
compares a variety of forms of this phenomenon. In these forms, there were many
instances of employed wives as indicated in Taylor and Hartley's study (1975). Finch
states that Papanek is really describing a "two-person single career." Unlike Papanek
(1975), Finch (1983) argues that the two-person career concept must include working
women who exhibit the same characteristics.

Finch also argues that two-person career wives are defined within the specific and

the larger societal cultural context. Wives are defined by what their husbands do as

52

conferred upon them by marriage such as: 1) the level of material possession, 2) living in
the house of the employer, 3) incorporation in occupational hierarchy, and 4) as a public
figure through "vicarious identity". Their contributions are situational in that "the
detailed content of their activities reflect cultural designation of behavior appropriate to
different settings." In a systematic analysis, Finch concludes that there are common
"features" in instances of the two-person career that have "special importance both for
structuring a wife's life and for eliciting her contributions." These include flexibility of
work hours, possibility of work being done at home, living in an institutional setting,
work that is intrusive to the family life or socially contaminating, and self-employment.
In her earlier work (Spedding, 1975), Finch places emphasis on how the husband's work
is intrusive. Work is "almost always" centered at home, and it is "overwhelmingly true"
in many cases regardless of the social class among ministers' wives. She states,

As far as role in the descriptive sense is concerned, it is clear that most clergy

wives are making active contributions to their husband's work. As to the range of

activities which they undertake, the distinctive feature is that they very largely
confine themselves to those activities traditionally undertaken by clergymens'

wives. (p. 581)

Finch (1983) distinguishes detailed "forms" as context Specific rather than
denoting a different phenomenon all together. Features in addition to status of work may
lead to differing forms. She believes that these features need to be tested based on her
findings.

In arguing for a focus on "forms," Finch implies that each context is different and

that there are dimensions to this phenomenon that need examination in order to

53

understand it. She points out how social life forces constrain and influence outcomes.
According to Finch there is a "scheme of priorities" that provide for social ordering such
as husband's-work-farnily-work with her work as having the last priority. She notes
pervasive patterns of the wife being relegated to domestic and nurturing roles and states,
". . .it is important to examine the structural and cultural supports which serve to sustain
this pattern, in order to understand its pervasiveness" (p. 140). Supported patterns in her
studies are both structural (e.g., labor markets and social policies) and cultural (e.g.,
ideological, socially approved). Although Finch's analysis emphasizes the importance of
socio-cultural forms beyond "features" that constrain and influence the wives' behavior,
she is careful not to be deterministic in that she argues,
To imply simply that wives have little choice but to accept this scheme of
priorities, leaving them with little room to maneuver either practically or
ideologically, would be to offer an exclusive alienated and passive model of
women merely on the receiving end of a system to which they are powerless to
change. (p. 150)
The two-person career construct, defined by Finch, would include elements beyond
sociological dimensions and incorporate them in order to understand this phenomenon.
Therefore, the construct has the following elements based on what we find in the
literature. The two-person career wife makes contributions to the husband's career
(Papanek, 1973; Taylor & Hartley, 1975; Spedding, 1975; Kanter, 1977, Finch, 1983; and
Toliver, 1996); and the type of contributions the wife makes will vary depending on the
cultural context (Taylor & Hartley, 1975; Finch, 1983). Second, there are some rewards

for the wife that include an identity she inherited by virtue of marriage (Taylor & Hartley,

54

1975, and Spedding, 1975). Third, it is expected that the wife will participate based on
how she is elicited to do so and/or by self-imposed pressures (Papanek, 1973; Taylor &
Hartley, 1975; Spedding, 1975; Kanter, 1977, Finch, 1983; and Toliver, 1996). Fourth,
the husband's employer is intrusive in the family life (Spedding, 1975; Finch, 1983).
Finally, education and work force status may influence the wife's level of participation
(Taylor & Hartley, 1975; and Finch, 1983). Since the most substantial work from which
we draw this empirical data is qualitative, no instruments are available for quantitative
research. Therefore, an instrument must be developed that includes these features.

These characteristics support the examination of multiple levels to identify
possible factors that may influence the "form" the two-person career may take in a
specific cultural context. What we minimally have in this conceptualization is a
symbiotic relationship between three components. This emphasizes the importance of the
two-person career construct as a family ecosystem that includes the work environment,
but taking on a form that reflects a specific cultural context.

African American Women and the Church

There exists a dearth of research on ministers' wives (Taylor and Hartley, 1975),
and this is also the case with the research on African American ministers' wives in
particular. However, the addition of some related research on the history of African
American women in relationship to the church provides some idea of the type and extent
of religious participation that is likely to emerge in this context (Frazier and Lincoln,
1974; Lincoln and Mamiya, 1990; Findlay, 1993; Higginbotham, 1993; Higginbotham,
1997). The historical data must be considered in order to appreciate the uniqueness of

African American social patterns. While striving against gender and doctrinal issues

55

during the l9Lh and 20th century, African American ministers' wives also were faced with
racial issues of disenfranchisement and self-determination (Frazier and Lincoln, 1974;
Lincoln and Mamiya, 1990; Findlay, 1993; Higginbotham, 1993). From the slavery era
to the end of the Civil Rights era surviving Afiicanisms were uniquely expressed in
churches, making them "communal institutions" where there was a social network of
extended fictive kin relationships, extensive religious participation, and "church mothers"
(Lincoln and Mamiya, 1990). This context brought about a variety of forms of religious
participation and the fulfillment of needs among African American ministers' wives.

The evidence of ministers' wives having a tradition of religious participation is
consistent throughout African American history. During the period of slavery in t: :e
United States, ministers' wives were themselves preachers of the "invisible church"
(Blassingame, 1972; Wilmore, 1973; Raboteau, 1978) and "religious abolitionists"
(Lincoln and Mamiya, 1990; Higginbotham, 1993). When it was unfashionable for
women to assume the role as ministers, many ministers' wives engaged in strategic
participation by organizing as religious community leaders during the Reconstruction era
(Frazier and Lincoln, 1974; Lincoln and Mamiya, 1990; Higginbotham, 1993). During
the 18805 and the 1890s ministers' wives participated in the establishment of Spelmen
Seminary for women missionaries in the spirit of self-help and determination
(Higginbotham, 1993). This signaled what eventually became a traditional form of
religious participation. According to a study conducted by the Association of
Theological Schools (Lonway, 1999), the number of African American women attending

seminary is currently almost equal to that of African American men. Among other ethnic

56

groups and Anglo-Americans the ratio of men to women is much higher ranging between
four to one and six to one (Lonsway, 1999).

The life of religious participation among African American ministers' wives in the
20'h century formulated strategies to overcome social barriers against women taking a
definitive active role (Higginbotham, 1993). While men and women discussed and
debated over strategies on how to best utilize women's talents (pp. 47-49), the convention
movement provided a "critical mediating function -- uniting women with men in the
struggle of racial self-determination" (pp. 150-53). During the formidable years of the
conventions, the ministers' wives "carved out leadership positions" for themselves and
started numerous organizations to combat lynching, seek gender equality, .and achieve
social and economic justice (Paris. 1985; Lincoln and Mamiya, 1990; Findlay, 1993;
Higginbotham, 1993).

While conventions and new organizations provided ministers' wives and other
women with a mediating force for men and women to work for a common cause, it also
facilitated ways for them to fulfill social and personal needs. Ministers' wives were able
to deve10p a national identity by re-defining their purpose and by representation
(Higginbotham, 1993). It allowed for ideological consistency for social cohesion through
a support network (pp. 15-53). On a personal level, it allowed ministers' wives to be with
their husbands who were active in the struggle for social and economic justice (Findlay,
1993). It also allowed them to fulfill a need to serve the community (Lerner, 1972;
Lincoln and Mamiya, 1990; Findlay, 1993; Higginbotham, 1993).

The evidence suggests that Afiican American ministers' wives have a set of

unique cultural characteristics based on historical circumstances; some were possibly

57

remnants of their African cultural heritage (Billingsley, 1968; Herskovits, 1941; Lincoln,
1990; Gonzalez, 1970; Gilkes, 1997). Given the characteristics found to be pertinent to
African American culture, what is reasonable to assume is that cultural variation can also
be expected. African American women undoubtedly have integrated into the mainstream
of society in a variety of ways. Social, economic, and political barriers have been
removed in recent decades, and this makes it logical to assume that acculturation has
occurred. Thus, acculturation is an important factor.
Psychological Acculturation

Acculturation is generally regarded as a dynamic phenomenon resulting from the
contact between two or more cultures. Anthropologists, sociologists, and psychologists
have grappled with the meaning of this term for over a century (e. g., Herskovits, 1938;
Gordon, 1964; and Berry, 1990). Therefore, its use in the literature has been inconsistent.
For example, acculturation and assimilation are sometimes used interchangeably to mean
the same thing. In fact, many models of acculturation have been deve10ped in an attempt
to clarify its conceptual usage (Gordon, 1964; Teske, 1974; Berry, 1980; Landrine and
Klonoff, 1998). Because this term is central to this study, it is necessary to first briefly
discuss its historical development, conceptual properties, and use before exploring the
merits of an alternative theoretical approach that includes cultural dimensions of the two-
person career context.

The term acculturation first appeared in 1880 in reference to anthropological
studies first conducted by R. Powell in order to understand Native American culture
(Herskovits, 193 8). Powell's first use of the term was only an approximation of its

meaning before it became formally defined and eventually reflected the definition soon

58

adopted by the social science community near the turn of the century. The significance
of the term for scientific research on cultural phenomena was indicated when it became
published in Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1928 (Herskovits, 193 8). In 1934, the
term became ethnologically understood in the United States as "the approximation of one
social group of people to another in culture or arts by contact; the transfer of cultural
elements from one social group of pe0ple to another . . ." (Herskovits, 1938). In EurOpe
the same meaning was termed "culture-contact." According to Herskovits, two
statements clarified the term:
Acculturation may be taken to refer to the ways in which some cultural aspects is
taken into a culture and adjusted and fitted to it. This implies some relative
cultural equality between the giving and receiving cultures. Assimilation,
however, is the process of transforming aspects of a conquered or engulfed
culture into a status of relative adjustment to form of the ruling culture.
and,
In acculturation the cultural groups involved are in an essentially reciprocal
relationship. Both give and take. As a result, it is a valid problem to consider
what is adapted and what is not, and the whys and wherefores. In assimilation the
tendency is for the ruling cultural group to enforce the adoption of certain
extemals, in terms of which superficial adjustment seems to be attained, the
adopting culture is not in position to chose. (Lesser, 1933).
It is important here to note the distinction by earlier anthropologists between

acculturation and assimilation.

59

Herskovits (1938) also raised several other issues about formal emerging
definitions that departed from the use and understanding of the term acculturation in the
"field." According to Berry (1980), in 1954 the sub-committee of the Social Science
Research Council defined acculturation as:

Acculturation comprehends those phenomena which result when groups of

individuals having different cultures come in continuous first-hand contact, with

subsequent changes in the original culture patterns of either or both groups. . .
Herskovits pointed out that there were three things wrong with this definition. First, he
stated that acculturation as a term had a broader use in its application. For instance, the
term was often synonymous with "education" among individuals who acquired skills
from their own culture. Secondly, it ignored those situations where only a single aspect
of a culture is transmitted. Thirdly, the definition did not take into account the
complexity and dominance that may be characteristic of the two cultures involved.
Herskovits saw the failure to see individuals within a cultural group as a culture of
"considerable importance" in their "own right" a serious mistake. On the matter of
assimilation, Herskovits stated:

[Assimilation]. . . lies deeper than the superficial adoption of similar traits of a

common culture by a number of groups of different origin; fundamentally,

assimilation is not achieved until a people have attained unity of thought that
underlies the "veneer" of acceptance of traits of a material nature. It is pointed
out that there are "grades and grades" of assimilation, and that the process is not

restricted to historic cultures alone, . . . the repercussions of contact also involve

6O

the assimilation of the culture introduced by those to whom it has been presented.

(p. 13)

Herskovits argued that before data can be analyzed to ascertain that acculturation
has occurred, historical controls must be set up. He suggested two ways of doing this.
The first is to reconstruct the life of the individual or group as best as one can before the
cultural contact occurs and then analyze for change. The second is to examine as much
documentary evidence as possible to further validate acculturation. This suggests that
acculturation cannot be studied without the elements of time and space considered.

A variety of acculturation models have been presented since Herskovits'
contribution to the discussion of acculturation. However, there have been some shifts in
the meaning of the term acculturation that have led to the development of various orger
models: (1) An assimilation model of acculturation pr0posed by Milton Gordon (1964),
(2) a cultural pluralistic model attempted to return to earlier anthropological
conceptualizations of acculturation and assimilation (Teske & Nelson, 1974), and (3) an
innovative approach that conceptualized acculturation in the African American context as
a "circular" process (Landrine & Klonoff, 1996) were among major shifts and variations
that developed.

Milton Gordon (1964) conceptualized several sub-processes of assimilation that
viewed acculturation as a "melting pot" phenomenon. In essence it was a progressive
model of assimilation where minorities, to some degree, strive to achieve all of the levels
in the process of assimilation. These levels include behavioral, structural, material,
identificational, attitude receptional, behavioral receptional, and civic assimilation. This

view of acculturation assumed that all cultures would eventually subordinate to the

61

dominant culture and become non-existent. It proposed that the goal of cultural groups
was to assimilate rather than adapt. This melting-pot view gave way to a cultural
pluralist perspective (Glazer, 1963; Teske, 1974; Greeley, 1979).

Teske & Nelson (1974), particularly, argued that assimilation was a change that
took place within the acculturation process. They saw acculturation as a bi-directional
process that did not necessarily mean a change in a group's values. Assimilation, on the
other hand, is a one-way process towards the dominant host culture that requires changes
in values. They outlined eight characteristics within their framework. Teske & Nelson's
model seemed to move back in the direction of Herskovits' conceptualization of
acculturation and assimilation. It is important to note here that their model did not
present assimilation as necessary or inevitable compared to Gordon's melting-pot model
of assimilation.

Because of the lack of research conducted on African American acculturation,
Landrine and Klonoff(1996) departed more drastically from the general conceptual path
followed in the social sciences. Landrine and Klonoff argued that acculturation was a
process that,

...loosely refers to the "extent to which ethnic-cultural minorities participated in

the cultural traditions, values, beliefs, and practices of their own culture versus

those of the dominant "White" society. (p. 1)

They viewed acculturation as a process on a continuum between traditional culture
(culture of origin) and highly acculturated into the dominant culture. Acculturation is a
bi-directional process where most African Americans move toward the traditional point

on the continuum depending on several factors. Landrine and Klonoff argue that African

62

Americans may begin at any point in the continuum before acculturating. Change is often
away from the dominant culture. They also argue that individuals may develop two
distinct cultural orientations or a blended-bicultural orientation. According to Landrine
and Klonoff, a more appropriate theoretical model to study African American
acculturation would include four principle elements. First, it should include "duplicate
institutions" that reflect the mainstream as evidence in ethnic communities. Secondly, it
should include "ethnic enclaves" that ensure consistency of cultural socialization and
refers to the "voluntary or involuntary physical and spatial segregation and concentration"
of its ethnic members. Third, it should include parent groups that serve as highly
traditional community elders, and last, "ethnic socialization" whereby "messages" are
communicated about the context in which African Americans live that affect the nature,
speed, and outcome of acculturation. These four principle elements can be summed up as
social-cultural structures that resulted from historical developments or as outcomes of
population-level acculturation. This also seems to suggest that we must look beyond
socio-cultural structures.

Most of the recent models of acculturation are based on the idea that identifying
the outcomes of acculturation are key in explaining the intra-cultural dynamics of a
phenomenon (Padilla, 1980; Beny, 1990; Tropp, 1994; Landrine and Klonoff, 1998). A
model proposed by John Berry (1980, 1990) has had the broadest acceptance. His
outcomes of psychological acculturation would include assimilated, integrated, separated,
and marginalized (Berry, 1990) which are somewhat expected to correspond to horizontal
and vertical individualism and collectivism in this study. Beny based these outcomes on

two dimensions. The first dimension is an individual's desire to maintain their original

cultural identity, and the second is an individual's desire to maintain relationships with
other groups. Berry termed these psychological acculturation strategies or acculturative
attitudes (1990). Berry developed his concept of the four outcomes of psychological
acculturation based on these dimensions consistent with previous research (Herskovits,
1938; Herskovits, 1941; Graves, 1967). Although Berry's work has gained prominence
and has been considered conceptually sound (Ward and Rana-Dueba, 1999), he has made
several statements about his theoretical framework on psychological acculturation that
appear to undermine the use of psychological acculturation outcomes to explain and
predict individual behavior (Berry, 1990).

Most studies of psychological acculturation have been conducted with
immigrants, sojourners, and indigenous populations (p. 242). Although it has been
suggested that any ethnic group, including African Americans, can be examined using
acculturation models (Triandis, 1994; Berry, 1990; Landrine & Klonoff, 1998), few
studies have been conducted on African American acculturation exclusively. Berry
(1990) leaves room for the development of new "classifications" given the unique
situations of certain ethnic groups (i.e., African Americans). Berry states in some
instances "the classification of groups may take different forms, based upon different
histories and ideologies" (p. 243). Berry also supports another idea that makes using the
outcomes of psychological acculturation problematic. He states,

It should also be noted that acculturation may be "uneven" across domains of

behavior and social life; for example, one may seek economic assimilation (in

work), linguistic integration (by way of bilingualism), and marital separation (by

endogamy) (p. 245).

64

These two statements may support Berry's overall theoretical scheme; however, they
seem to raise some critical issues when applied to the African American context. The
first issue deals with whether or not African Americans can be marginal or separated.
Landrine & Klonoff (1998) attempt to resolve this issue by stating that Afiican
Americans may be posited anywhere on the continuum of acculturation. Landrine &
Klonoff argued for another acculturative model that accounts for the heterogeneity
among African Americans. They seemed to have understood this when they
conceptualized various ranges of psychological acculturation outcomes such as "blended-
bicultural" and "altemating-bicultural" concepts. African Americans can not be classified
as soj oumers or immigrants without distortions because of their unique history and
cultural patterns indicative of the American mainstream. F urtherrnore, African
American's cultural elements were transmitted to some extent to the descendants of
African captives who adapted to the New World. There are lingering questions: Are
African Americans integrated? Can African Americans become truly separated? An
ecosystem perspective does not support the concept that an individual system be literately
"closed" to the influence of another system, much less the dominant cultural system. To
some degree individuals are interdependent on the dominant system as reflected in the
case of African Americans.

The other problem in applying these constructs of psychological acculturation is
implied in Berry's statement (quoted above) that psychological acculturation may be
"uneven." If individuals can assimilate in varying degrees in multiple dimensions in their
lives, can they also integrate, marginalize and separate in varying degrees? This appears

to open another conceptual door that may undermine an application of the outcomes in

65

the African American context. It can be reasonably concluded that individuals may have
varying degrees of each of the acculturation outcomes in various dimensions of their life.
To disregard this logical use of all of the outcomes within Berry's framework may pose
serious limitations in understanding acculturation in the African American context. It
may also be an oversight of many aspects of an individual's life that may be pertinent to
understanding this phenomenon. What can be assumed from the possibilities is that
African Americans may be more "situational" than the present outcomes suggest.
Besides the psychological acculturation outcomes being too arbitrary for use in the
African American ethnic context, a new approach appears to be needed beyond these
constructs.

Again, what is consistent among these models is the focus on the socio-cultural
forms promulgated by Melville Herskovits (193 8, 1941) and cultural relativists in recent
decades (Billingsley, 1968; Hill, 1971; Staples, 1976; Allen, 1978; Sudarkasa, 1981; Hill,
1999). Some researchers of acculturation have argued a distinction between
psychological and social acculturation (Ward, 1994; Ward and Rana-Dueba, 1999). In an
attempt to explicitly link Beny's modes of acculturation with psychological and socio-
cultural adjustment, they found troublesome issues in "measuring" these acculturation
outcomes and stated that the issues "clearly warrant greater attention." Others (Ward and
Rana-Dueba, 1999) also found reasons to further scrutinize these acculturation strategies.
It was suggested that the items on the instrument should tap into "broader domains" than
those specified in Berry's model. Furthermore, Colleen Ward and Arzu Rana-Deuba, in

reference to the measures, stated,

66

Although this is still in keeping with the spirit of the acculturation model, it raises
questions about the precision of the measurement in relation to the guiding
questions and has implication for the deveIOpment of alternative assessment
instruments. (p. 4).
It appears that socio-cultural forms (i.e., specific cultural patterns) may be too imprecise
to generalize if measured using Berry's approach of developing an index for the
construct.

Some scholars (Mintz & Price, 1976) have suggested that there are "underlying
consistencies" within an orientation among varying socio-cultural forms that Berry and
others seem to focus on. If this is true, then a bette. .ltem'... ;ve ma} be to "tap" into
"broader" domains that make generalizing more theoretically plausible. Mintz & Price
(1976) argue this option at length. Rather than focusing on measuring specific socio-
cultural forms such as Afiicanisms, they state:

An African cultural heritage, widely shared by the people imported into any new

colony will have to be defined in less concrete terms, by focusing more on values,

and less on socio-cultural forms, and even by attempting to identify unconscious

principles, which may underlie and shape behavior response. (p. 9).

What they proposed is a focus on broader categories that reflect cultural orientation. For
them, similarities between cultural groups are sometimes real. If so, there must also exist
underlying principles that are often unconscious but amenable to "identification,
description and confirmation." They state that Herskovits did not advance far beyond

explicit cultural forms and argue against only making "historical connections" to Africa

67

based upon a few similarities which appears to be the path cultural relativists limit
themselves to.

Mintz and Price (1976) present a case for looking beyond socio-cultural forms in
their book: The Birth of African-American Culture: An Anthropological Perspective.
Afiican Americans, they argue, are an ethnically heterogeneous aggregate of individuals
(others also: Taylor, 1988, etc.). But this was always characteristic of African Americans
and their Afiican parents who were captive in the New World. Africans from a diverse
set of sub-African cultures were captured; and from this, we deduce that Africarrisms
have survived. This has been aptly pointed out in recent decades through the
examination of African American song, art, dance, behavioral patterns, and so forth
(Herskovits, 1941; Billingsley, 1968; Hill, 1971; Allen, 1978; Surdaska, 1981).
However, there are other cultural forms that exist beyond Afiicanisms that are uniquely
Afiican American such as "duplicate institutions" in African American communities
(Stack, 1974; Van Den Berghe, 1978; Landrine and Klonoff, 1998). According to Mintz
and Price (1976), the problem is,

[a] holistic concept of culture" will conceal the process that is "implicit in borh the

continuities and discontinuities between Afiica and the Americas. . .and mask the

central issue of how cultures change. (p. 16)

Although their concern is on how cultural change occurs, a central premise is that
situations forced African slaves to create "institutions." It is what social institutions as
structures embody, and what embodies social institutions that we should be concerned
with. Smith (Smith, 1957; Smith, 1962) who studied West Afiican heritage in the

Caribbean is quoted as stating,

68

Thus, if acculturation, rather than the simple identification of elements as African
or other, is the aim of such study, we must study the relevant social conditions
equally and simultaneously. (p. 19)
(This would have merit in an ecosystem framework because of the understanding that the
context places constraints on development and individual change strategies for
adaptation.)

Mintz and Price's socio-cultural contact theory provides a viable alternative to
solely generating variables out of specific socio-cultural forms which may lead to
inaccurate conclusions about cultural change due to contact with another group. Their
attention is on finding broader concepts that are implicit in socially created "institutions."
They define institutions as "any regular or orderly social interaction that acquires a
normative character, and can hence be employed to meet recurrent needs" (p. 23).
Institutions were created by African slaves in the US to help them adapt to the "most
ordinary and important aspects of life" within socio-cultural constraints in their
environment. Although their remedy is an in-depth historical research approach to
understand ethnic social interaction, they provide us reasons to explore higher levels
cultural or cognitive dimensions to explain acculturation outcomes. They propose
"cognatic descent" rather than the unilineal transmission of Afiicanisms in arguing,

". . .neither social context nor cultural traditions alone can explain an African-American
institutional form" (p. 68).

Nonetheless, this historical approach toward understanding "cognitive

orientations" among African Americans to explain the process of acculturation appears to

be limited in getting at underlying themes related to socio-cultural forms. The level of

69

precision is dubious with a high degree of variability within and across groups. Yet, we
must also be cautious not to reduce the importance of socio-cultural forms. Socio-
cultural forms are "real" structural attributes of physical, social and cognitive dimensions.
Researchers who focus on these forms have produced some evidence that structures such
as age, gender, and time in a new cultural context is associated with acculturation
(Szapocznik, 1980; Triandis, 1989; Triandis, 1995). Some have found them to influence
how individuals adhere to cultural norms and traditional roles (Torres-Matrullo, 1980).
Padilla (1980) found that levels of acculturation were significantly higher among
individuals living in neighborhoods with few members of their own communities, while
acculturation was much lower for people living among others from the same cultural
community. Others have taken Berry’s two dimensions, where he derives four possible
acculturation outcomes, and conceptualized another single outcome. This outcome, called
accommodation, refers to the individual’s ability to function between cultures in varying
degrees because of “feelings about their involvement” in the host or dominant culture
(Tropp, et al., 1994). The point seems clear that socio-cultural forms such as the two-
person career family are important because they give us analytical boundaries and
conditions that shape social interaction. However, other factors must be considered
because they, too, are influenced by other "level" (Griffore and Phenice, 2001) factors. A
resolve for this shortcoming should involve understanding what “underlying” factors
influence socio-cultural forms in a socio-cultural-specific context.

Some research suggests that acculturation is based on two dimensions: behavior
and values (Szapoczrrik et al., 1980). It seems plausible to think that we can keep the

"spirit of the acculturation model" given research that strongly suggests we tap into the

70

underlying currents that exist in the cognitive realm beyond the socio-cultural structures
such as value-based constructs such as individualism and collectivism. Some findings
have supported that "intermediary structures" function based on the same assumptions as
cultural-level variables (Kim, 1994). Cross-cultural psychologists (Berry's field of study)
have empirically relevant constructs: Individualism and Collectivism (Hofstede, 1980;
Triandis, 1987).

Hofstede (1980) found that individualism and collectivism exist as cross-cultural
values in the work environment of United States multi-national organizations in 53
countries. Two problems were identified with Hofstede's original conceptualization and
results: (1) individualism was a concept developed in Western culture when most of the
world's population is found in predominantly collectivist countries, and (2) the concepts
were measured as cultural level constructs making it limited for individual level analysis
(Smith, 1999). Several important studies followed in recent years that update Hofstede's
original study (Chinese Culture Connection, 1987; Smith, 1996; Fernandez, 1997;
Merritt, 2000). These studies supported his original research on individualism and
collectivism as culture level variables.

Individual-level variables have been found to correspond to these cultural-level
variables: idiocentrism and allocentrism (Triandis, 1988; Triandis, 1989). Reliable ways
to measure these variables were developed (Triandis et al., 1989). Others (Kluckhohn,
1961; Mead, 1967; Rokeach, 1973) found them in similar forms with individualism as a
predominant characteristic of peOple in the United States (However, this is a general view
that doesn't take into account Hispanic, Native, and Asian Americans who have been

found to be collectivists (Triandis, 1995).)

71

There are characteristics that have been found to make distinctions between
individualists and collectivists. Although these constructs have undergone a number of
"conceptualisations and operationalisations" over the last four decades, a group of
anthr0pologists and psychologists were able to establish convergent and discriminant
validity while testing these constructs (Triandis, 1995). Collectivism generally refers to
"a social pattern consisting of closely linked individuals who see themselves as parts of
one or more collectives" (p. 2). Individualism refers to a

...social pattern that consist of loosely linked individuals who view themselves as

independent of collectives; are primarily mo: ivated by their own preferences,

needs, rights, and contracts they have established with others; give priority to their
personal goals over the goals of others; and emphasize rational analysis of the

advantages and disadvantages of associating with others (p. 2).

Collectivism has been found in a sample of African Americans in Detroit among large
families (Wooddell, 1989). It has been suggested that Afiican Americans, as descendants
of Africans exposed to 400 years of individualism, may still show high variance on the
collectivism-individualism continuum and that there may be an inverse relationship
between social class and individualism (Triandis, 1994).

Hofstede (1980) argues that individuals and cultures need to be examined as two
distinct units of analysis reflecting different levels of analysis. He also argues that it is
the interaction between these two levels where we find differences manifested in what we
generally see as cultural patterns. Consequently, they are functionally related because
their interactions shape "intermediary structures" such as institutions, norms, and beliefs.

Hofstede further states that it is the uniqueness of individuals that enables them to

72

regulate how culture shapes their attitudes, beliefs, emotions and behaviors. This leads to
variations in adaptation outcomes.

Kim (1994) discusses important "facets" of individualism and collectivism that
can give meaning to the interaction of individual influences by these cultural dimensions.
As distinct groups, collectivists have less fluid boundaries between them than
individualists. Kim proposes that the fluid boundaries denote facets of individualism that
can sometimes appear as solid boundaries because of the cohesion of individuals in a
defined group (e. g., medical associations). In collectivism, there are firm and explicit
boundaries where distinction can be made as to whether one is a part of the in-group or
not. It is important to note that there is a continuum of individual distinctiveness within a
group that does not exclude the overlapping of individual boundaries. Kim describes an
"undifferentiated mode" that is also worth mentioning (p. 33). In this mode, individuals
may fail to define themselves and give up their distinctive identity. "Porous boundaries"
can exist between individuals in the in-group situation where there is an energy flow of
thoughts, ideas and emotions so one can know how the other thinks or feels. Finally,
Kim points out that individualism and collectivism co-exist in all regions of the world,
and thus, reflects the notions of "private" and "public" self. He states,

The public self becomes enmeshed with collectivist values, such as family

loyalty, in-group solidarity, and national identity. It coexists with the private self,

which maintains individualist values of self-cultivation and personal striving.

(p- 36)

The dynamics of in-group versus out-group relationships are essential to

understanding how social interaction is limited and possible. Triandis (1989) examined

73

the relationship between the "self' (i.e., public, private and collective selves) and social
behavior according to different contexts and found individual patterns indeed reflect
individualism and collectivism where patterns were greatly situational. It is the
"situations" that determine how the self is sampled in a given environment. Triandis'
findings strengthen the vast amount of literature that supports the connections made
between "self" and behavior (e.g., (Kraut, 1973; Miller, 1975; Wicklund, 1982;
Greenwald, 1984). Markus and Kitayarna (1991) provided a strong theoretical basis for
an independent and an interdependent "self- construal" as determinants for individual
experience. This further supported the idea that one's actions are more than likely to be
situational bound. The integrated nature of their theoretical synthesis supported by
empirical research in psychology and anthropology is stated in the following,
With respect to recognition, for example, for those with interdependent selves, in
contrast to those with dependent selves, some aspects of knowledge
representation and some of the processes involved in social and nonsocial
thinking alike are influenced by a pervasive attentiveness to the relevant others in

the social context. (p. 225).

and,
We extract from these descriptions many important differences that may exist in
the specific content structure, and functioning of the self-systems of people of
different cultural backgrounds. (p. 225)

and,

74

...the sense of belongingness to a social relation may become so strong that it
makes better sense to think of the relationship as the functional unit of conscious
reflection. (emphasis added, p. 226)

The strong correspondence between the independent self and the interdependent
self with individualism and collectivism enables researchers to formulate and use four
constructs that may reflect the dynamics found in different social contexts.
Consequently, we have vertical and horizontal individualism and collectivism as the new
individual level constructs. Triandis (1995) provides arbitrary terms to describe
constructs: achievement oriented (vertical individualism), cooperative (horizontal
collectivism), dutiful (vertical collectivism), and unique (horizontal individualism). Each
of these psychological acculturation outcomes represents a degree to which a minority
individual has acculturated within the dominant culture. The fact that individualism and
collectivism have been found to exist in varying degrees across cultures (Triandis, 1989;
Kagitcibasi, 1994; Kim, 1994; Triandis, 1995) makes them useful constructs in
acculturation studies. These constructs have been studied and distinguished as two kinds
of acculturation (Ulaszek, 1990; Lalonde, 1993; Schmitz, 1993; Triandis, 1995).
Collectivists usually acculturate as "whole" groups (e. g., Japanese generational
differences), and Individualists acculturate as individuals attain higher social status
(Triandis, 1995). The heterogeneity found characteristic among African Americans
(Taylor, 1988) may be reflective of groups acculturating differently because of

differences in their socio-cultural environment.

75

A Review of Measurement Instruments

Individualism and Collectivism
The major concerns surrounding measuring individualism and collectivism were

bias, coming to tautological conclusions, and ecological fallacy. According to Berry
(1989) instead of using imposed etic measures (from outside the culture), we should
repeatedly develop emic measures (from inside the culture) to avoid forcing "metric
equivalence." Studies that have been emic in nature, resulted in a non-imposed-etic
application to give a firm basis for a theoretical approach to identifying values across
cultures (Schwartz, 1985; Schwartz, 1987; Schwartz, 1990). To claim that culture can
explain behavior simply by defining cultural differences by the variations in behavior is
circular reasoning. To avoid the danger of reaching a tautological conclusion,
characterization of values or social patterns must used to explain the variations that
reflect a particular culture (Smith, 1999). Many researchers have studied value changes
as a measure of acculturation to identify variations within a culture (e.g., Feather, 1979).
Individualism and collectivism are culture level variables that, if applied to individuals,
would result in ecological fallacy. If a nation is described as individualistic in general, it
would not follow that an individual or group is individualistic. Therefore, individual
level concepts have been used to measure individualism and collectivism (Triandis, 1988;
Triandis, 1989; Singelis, 1995; Triandis, 1995; Gelfand, 1998).

Instruments have been developed and used in several cross-cultural studies to
measure individualism and collectivism with some modest results and partial success
(Triandis, 1995; Singelis et al., 1995). Some concerns were that these two constructs
were too broad (e. g., large bandwidth) and sometimes produced low reliability at the

individual level (Singelis et al., 1995). Others have recently refined these constructs by

76

developing instruments to include vertical and horizontal elements to make the constructs
more concrete with additional items and increased alpha reliability range levels for the

scales from .67 to .74 (Singelis, et al., 1995).

Social Participation Scale

Social participation is an important construct that has been used to examine the
degree to which individuals participate in organizations (Martin, 1952; Chaplin, 1955;
Evan, 1957; Erbe, 1964; Nelson, 1968; Parker, 1983). Social participation has been
defined as a measure of "the number of affiliations with volunteer organizations" to
denote social status according to its original conceptualization (Evan, 1957). According
to Parker (1983), the concept has been seen as an indicator of social status, a means of
self-fulfillment, a vehicle for community integration, a substitute for familial ties with
church and family, an "agent" for political socializati in, and a means for ini‘ . rting social
change among other things. Social participation is a generic term because the scale for its
measurement has been adapted to measure participation in business and volunteer
organizations (Erbe, 1964; Nelson, 1968). It has been suggested that this instrument
could be used to measure participation with many organizations, including religious
organizations (Parker, 1983). Evan (1957) proposed that the instrument used to measure
social participation covers three dimensions: (1) decisionmaking, (2) activity, and (3)
value commitment. However, Parker (1983) is the only sociologist to use a confirmatory
factor analysis to determine the actual number of dimensions represented in the
instrument. According to Parker, the scale has two dimensions: official and unofficial

participation in a voluntary organization (p. 871). The literature supports several

77

methods of scoring the instrument such as a composite of scales based on dimensions, as
discrete categories, or as a single scale (Evan, 1957; Parker, 1983; Miller, 1991).
Summary

The two-person career serves as a contextual model on which there can be
superimposed a cultural dimension based on the dynamics of acculturation. Because
many issues of applying current acculturation models to the African American context
seem valid, an alternative of using cultural constructs that reflect the cultural- and
individual-level factors is plausible given the situational nature of different contexts. The
research in sociology, psychology and anthropology provide ample empirical data to
which we can construct an ecological systems theoretical framework that captures the
interaction between the factors at both levels. These studies provide a basis for socio-
cultural forrns that reflect normative orientations. They provide some insight on how
cultural-level factors might interact with individual-level factors made evident by the
psycho-cultural orientation of the wives in the two-person career situation. Finally, this
information helps in the ordering of variables in a coherent fashion based on ecosystem

principles so that the structures and processes in the phenomenon can be explained.

78

CHAPTER FOUR
Research Methodology
Research Design

This is a non-experimental study with primarily a quantitative cross-sectional
design survey using telephone interviews for data collection. The unit of analysis is
African American ministers' wives who were randomly selected using a systematic
sampling method. The target audience consisted of rrrinisters’ wives from traditional
African American denominations in the Detroit area such as the Baptist, Apostolic,
Pentecostal, and Methodist (Lincoln and Mamiya, 1990).

Data Sampling Procedures

Ministers' wives from a major metropolitan area in the US. were selected for this
study. The city of Detroit, as a major mid-western city, is estimated to be one of the
largest predominately African American cities in the United States. Detroit area churches
were selected based on the demographic history of Detroit as a major urban area where
African Americans migrated in great numbers (Lemann, 1991). Every major African
American denomination was represented in the Detroit area as has been demonstrated in
previous research (Lenski, 1961 ). Based on this information it was decided that Detroit
constituted a major concentration of African Americans from all socio-economic levels
and would provide an adequate sample representative of most populated Afiican
Americans communities.

The wives were identified using a process that involved several steps to obtain a
random sample. African American ministers’ wives were selected from several

directories that included the Abatenjwa International Ministers’ Wives and Widows

79

Association and the Christian Communication Council of Metropolitan Detroit Churches.
The churches were coded numerically from 1 through 1,627 based on an alphabetical
listing of the churches. A two-step process was implemented in order to randomly select
a starting point in the list according to the alphabetical listing of the churches and
numerical value given to each church. An alphabet letter was first randomly selected
based on numbers 1 through 26 and the number 21 was selected. A number from 1
through 100 was randomly selected: 25. Accordingly, the first church listing beginning
with the letter u was the starting point. Every 25'h church was selected for the sample of
churches until 300 churches were selected from the Detroit metropolitan area where a
minister's wife could be interviewed.

One hundred and one ministers' wives were sampled from African American
churches whose husbands were actively engaged in the ministry of the church as pastors,
co-pastors, associate pastors, and ministers, or assistant ministers. In some cases, some
of the ministers' wives included in this study were from the same church context.

Data Collection

Before collecting the data from the random sample of 101 ministers' wives,
approval from Michigan State University, University Committee for Research Involving
Human Subjects (U CRIHS) was obtained (see Appendix), research assistants were
recruited, informed about the study, and then trained in telephone survey interviewing
practices.

There were three research assistants hired from the community after responding to
an announcement in a church bulletin. The announcement included detailed information

explaining who was conducting the research, the topic, and the amount of compensation

80

available for anyone interested in participating by conducting telephone interviews.
Three research assistants were offered two hundred and fifty dollars to conduct telephone
surveys that would result in at least 50 interviews from a list of contacts provided by the
investigator. After the three research assistants were hired, each research assistant was
given 100 contact names and telephone numbers. The research assistants were not able
to complete 50 interviews, but were compensated for their time according to the original
agreement. The investigator then made follow-up calls from this same list until 101
interviews were completed.

The assistants were used to collect data from a sample of 300 contacts after
approval was granted for one year to collect data by UCRIHS. Each respondent was
interviewed in a 25 to 35 minute telephone interview using a script and the three listed
instruments until all of the contacts listed were exhausted. The script introduced the
interviewer, provided a brief description of the study, a confidentiality and anonymity
statement, UCRIHS authorization, and contact information for follow up or concerns.
The research assistants were trained in the methods and procedures for conducting
telephone interviews in September 2001. This involved providing a demonstration, an
overview of the study, reviewing UCRIHS policy, instructions for conducting telephone
interviews (Frey, 1995), and giving written instructions for completing each instrument
(Miller, 1991; Triandis, 1995; Gelfand, 1998).

The respondents answered almost all of the questions in the instruments used,
except for some questions on the Horizontal and Vertical Individualism and Collectivism
Profile, usually because they did not feel comfortable answering the question. Many

refused for a variety of reasons including religious beliefs, mistrust, and no desire to

81

participate. The response was for this study was only at 36 percent. There were eight
sets of incomplete surveys not counted in the sample because of insignificant
information. The data collection process was completed in approximately four months,
from September to December 2001. Responses were recorded on the instruments by the
interviewers and then scored by this investigator for analysis.
Instrumentation

The researcher used three instruments to collect the data. These included the
Horizontal and Vertical Individualism and Collectivism Profile, the Social Participation
Scale, and the Ministers' Wives Survey developed for this study (see sample instruments
in Appendix). Socio-economic status and demographical data such as number of years
the wives’ are married, age, employment status, and denomination were collected using
the Social Participation Scale and the Ministers' Wives Survey (MWS).
Horizontal and Vertical Individualism and C ollectivism

The Horizontal and Vertical Individualism :d Col. :ctivism Profile (Singelis,
1995; Triandis, 1995) consisted of four scales based on one of four responses to vignettes
in an item format label with letters a through d (i.e., a multiple choice format). One point
per item chosen was given for each vignette based on the response category with 32 to 34
being the highest possible points obtained per scale. The respondents took approximately
30 minutes to complete this instrument in a telephone interview. Although many of the
vignettes did not apply to the respondents, they were instructed to imagine that they were
in the situation described. The greatest number of points scored among the four
categories indicated the most dominant value orientation among the respondents. All

scales were scored and recorded for analysis as discrete and continuous variables. These

82

constructs have undergone several tests for validity and reliability (Miller, 1991;
Triandis, 1995; Gelfand, 1998). The instrument with these four dimensions has been
shown to be reliable with alpha coefficients for horizontal individualism .67, vertical
individualism .74, horizontal collectivism .74, and vertical collectivism .68 (Triandis,
1995)
Social Participation Scale

The Social Participation Scale (Chaplin, 1957) was used to measure the degree of
social participation indicated by a total score. The instrument consists of two parts and is
designed to be a self-administered instrument. The first section includes a fill-in-the-
blanks portion for age, education, race, occupation and income. All of this data was
collected except for the income information during the telephone interviews. The second
section was organized into ten rows and five columns. The rows allowed the respondent
to list social activities, and the columns allowed the respondent to place a check in the
column that reflects the level of involvement in that activity. The level of involvement
consists of five components: (1) member; (2) attendance; (3) financial contributions; (4)
member of committee; and (5) offices held. Scores are assigned points according to the
column checked ranging from one to five, respectively. These components were checked
for consistency with related answers given for the MWS by the research assistant and/or
investigator. Scores reflect the intensity of involvement of the participants and the extent
of social participation in different activities. Scores usually ranged from 4 to 20 points,
but higher scores ranged to 53 points with the respondents. Reliability of this instrument
has been estimated at .92 to .97 (Miller, 1979). The first section was also used to collect

occupational data for socio-economic status determination and scoring.

Socio-economic Status

Socio-economic status was measured with a combination of two one-dimensional
measures, each based on a 7-point rating scale: Educational Scale (Miller, 1991) and
Occupational Scale (Warner et al., 1949). Hollingshead's educational scale is based on
the assumption that men and women with similar educational backgrounds will possess
similar taste and attitudes and will tend to have similar behavioral patterns. The
categories include graduate professional training, college graduation, partial college
training, high school graduation, partial high school, junior high school, and less than
seven years of education. The scoring gives graduate professional training the highest
possible score of seven (Miller, 1991). The occupational scale has been found to be the
best predictor of social class positions using the same 7-point scale format and producing
a reliability coefficient of .91 (p. 360). The scale is based on an index of seven categories
(columns) and rating scores (rows) of one to seven that is assigned to each occupation as
it is matched within a category according to rating descriptions. This means that a short
classification is selected based on the occupation reported where each classification is
assigned a rating score (pp. 360-62). Both instruments were selected because of their
established use as socioeconomic status measures (e. g. Lawson, 1960; Levinger, 1964;
Slomczynski, 1981; Swinehart, 1963), and the flexibility of the scales when used with
other data collection instruments such as the instruments described above.
Ministers ’ Wives Survey

This instrument was developed with ten items based on a frequency composite

index scale to measure two-person career traits. The item response choices in this

84

instrument include always, very often, fairly often, sometimes, almost never, and never
with zero (0) to five (5) possible points for each item. Educational level data were
collected with this instrument to determine socio-economic status, the number of years
the wife was married, age, and denomination. This scale was developed because no other
scales were available. The contents of the scales were based on characteristics found in
the literature on the two-person career (Spedding, 1975; Taylor and Hartley, 1975; Finch,
1983) and Afiican American culture (Billingsley, 1968; Gonzalez, 1970; Hill, 1971;
Gutrnan, 1976; McCray, 1980; DeVaus and McAllister, 1987; Taylor, 1988; Taylor and
Chatters, 1989; Lincoln and Mamiya, 1990; Hatchett and Jackson, 1993; Higginbotham,
1993; Ellison, 1997; Gilkes, 1997). '
Instrument Development and Testing

Twenty-one items based on five anticipated factors were developed initially. A
panel of ministers' wives was organized and ten items were selected for the instrument.
The principle factor analysis revealed existing underlying dimensions based on the
participants’ responses. Several steps were taken to ensure that the instrument reflected
the characteristics mentioned in the literature.
Face Validity

Two-person career (TPC) categories were first identified through a review-of-
literature process that drew heavily from Taylor & Hartley (1975), Spedding, (1975), and
Finch (1983). As determined from the review, Finch (1983) argued that there were
several features that could be tested as “forms” with wives. This study formulated five
objectives to generate survey question items that would reflect the literature as indicated

in Table 1.

85

Table l Research-Based Objectives for MWS Measures

 

1. Measured perceptions of received extrinsic and intrinsic rewards or benefits for
being a ministers' wife.

2. Measured perceptions of expectations on the minister's wife to participate in her
husband's ministry according to beliefs and practices.

3. Measured perceptions of restrictions and limitations placed on family's life
because of husband's ministry.

4. Measured perceptions of personal sacrifices made in order to support ministry and
meet the demands of being a minister's wife.

5. Measured perceptions of the extent to which the minister's wife makes
contributions to support her husband's ministry.

 

For instance, the literature suggests that the two-person career wife makes
contributions to support the husband's career (Papanek, 1973; Taylor & Hartley, 1975;
Spedding, 1975; Kanter, 1977, Finch, 1983; and Toliver, 1996). The type of
contributions the wife makes will vary depending on the cultural context (Taylor &
Hartley, 1975; Finch, 1983). Second, there are some rewards for the wife that include an
identity she inherited by virtue of marriage (Taylor & Hartley, 1975, and Spedding,
1975). Third, it is expected that the wife will participate based on how she is elicited to
do so and/or by self-imposed pressures (Papanek, 1973; Taylor & Hartley, 1975;
Spedding, 1975; Kanter, 1977, Finch, 1983; and Toliver, 1996). Fourth. the husband's
employer is intrusive in the family life (Spedding, 1975 ; Finch, 1983). Education and
work force status may influence the wife's level of participation (Taylor & Hartley, 1975;
and Finch, 1983). This also includes some acceptance of “vicarious identity” on the
wife’s part indicating satisfaction with the supportive role and benefits (Finch, 1983).

F urtherrnore, research suggests that African American wives that increase in socio-

economic status may also increase in religiosity (Taylor, 1988). This suggests, that in

86

some cases, personal sacrifices may be made on the part of the wife. Therefore,
objectives were generated to reflect these empirical findings to measure intrusiveness,
expectations, rewards, personal sacrifice, and contributions as features of the two-person
career construct.

Construct Validity

Twenty items were initially developed and reviewed based on five objectives for
content validity before attempting to measure the two-person career (TPC) construct.
Ministers' wives served as a panel of judges to check items for ambiguity, accuracy,
appropriateness, and then independently matched the items with the objectives. Items
were also rated based on a scale from one to five with five indicating the best fit between
the item and the objective selected. The set of objectives were given equal value. The
highest scoring items were selected for the two-person career construct instrument. Each
objective consisted of at least one scale of items: intrusiveness with two; rewards with
four; expectations with two; personal sacrifice with one; and contributions with one. A
total of ten items resulted from this process.

The initial subscales of the TPC traits (expectations, rewards, personal sacrifices,
intrusiveness, and contributions) were measured using a ten-item survey: Ministers’
Wives Survey (MWS). The MWS instrument with the initial five subscales was used to
collect data from a systematic random sample of 101 African American ministers’ wives.
However, only four subscales were supported in a principal component factor analysis as

indicated in Table 2.

87

Table 2 Ministers' Wives Survey Items Based on Factors

 

Item ID. Two-person Career Factors and Items
Restrictions Encroachment
As a minister’s wife, how often do you feel that there are
restrictions or limitations placed on how you or your family

live?

Sacrifice As a minister’s wife, how often do you feel that you make
personal sacrifices in order to support your husband’s
ministry?

Home My home is one of the places where church business or

matters are handled to some extent.

Role rewards Extrinsic Rewards
Even though I am not paid for fulfilling my role as a minister’s
wife, 1 receive some rewards (i.e. gifts, donations,
acknowledgements, recognition, or tributes).

Consideration How often do people give you special consideration because
you are a minister’s wife?

Satisfaction Role Expectations
I get satisfaction in being a minister’s wife.

Traditional As a minister’s wife, it is expected that I fulfill my traditional
or customary role.

Members I believe that there are church members who want to see me
support my husband’s ministry.
Contributions Contributions

How often do you make contributions (of any kind) to your
husband’s ministry or church?

Comfort I feel comfortable when I receive special treatment as a
minister’s wife.

88

As indicated in Tables 2 through 4, the items were subjected to a principle
component factor analysis (as one composite of indices) to identify the TPC dimensions
that define the TPC construct. This resulted in the extraction of four unrotated factors
validated with the use of the Cattell Scree test and based on the eigenvalue greater than 1
rule (Kline, 1994). To reach an orthogonal simple structure, the factors were rotated
using the Varimax procedure with the Kaiser Normalization. Factor loadings were also
rotated using the Direct Oblirnin method with the Kaiser Normalization. No items were
eliminated because the communalities ranged from moderately high (.47) to high (.85).

The number of factors was consequently reduced to four. As a result of the
principle component analysis, four rotated factors were assessed and named accordingly:

encroachment, extrinsic rewards, role expectations, and obligatory contributions.

Table 3 Initial Extraction: Results of TPC Factor Analysis

 

 

Components Eigenvalues 0/o of Variance Cumulative %
1 2.302 23.018 23.018
2 1.695 16.949 39.967
3 1.292 12.922 52.888
4 1.124 11.235 64.123
5 .854 8.538 72.661
6 .833 8.329 80.990
7 .691 6.910 87.900
8 .607 6.066 93.966
9 .396 3.964 97.929
10 .207 2.071 100.000

 

89

Table 4 Communalities of Factored Items

 

 

Item Initial Extraction
Satisfaction 1 .000 .5 18
Traditional 1 .000 .568
Restrictions 1 .000 .683
Sacrifices 1 .000 .771
Role Rewards 1.000 .853
Members 1 .000 .594
Home l .000 .484
Consideration 1 .000 .769
Comfort 1 .000 .702
Contributions 1 .000 .471

 

Table 5 Two-Person Career Principle Components Extractions & Rotations

 

 

Factors

Encroachment
Extrinsic
Rewards

Role Expectations

Contributions

Initial Extraction Sum of

Rotation Sum of Squares

 

Squares
Sum of % of % Sum of % of %
Squares Variance Cumulative Squares Variance Cumulative
2.302 23.018 23.018 1.908 19.079 19.079
1.695 16.969 39.967 1.835 18.352 37.431
1.292 12.922 52.888 1.427 14.275 51.705
1.124 11.235 64.123 1.242 12.418 64.123

 

Factor loadings based on orthogonal and oblique rotations and the component

communalities are also listed in Table 6 for comparisons. There was no correlation

indicated between the factors for the oblique solution. Both solutions (as shown in Table

90

6) indicated that the variables restrictions, sacrifice, and home loaded primarily on factor
one. Role rewards and consideration loaded primarily on factor two; satisfaction,
traditional, and membership loaded primarily on factor three; and contributions and
comfort loaded primarily on factor four. The general patterns of both rotation results
were highly similar for a four-factor solution indicating a basis for formulating and
strengthening the theoretical model in the study (see Tables 5 and 6). The reproduced
communalities were also highly similar ranging from .47 to .85 (Table 7).

Factor one indicates a central concept of encroachment based on the factor
loadings. The restrictions scale in this factor is an item that attempts to measure the
wives' perception of the limitations or constraints placed on the wives’ or farnily’s life.
This variable had the strongest correlation to factor one (.69). The sacrifice scale in this
factor is an item thattattempts to measure the wives’ perception of the extent to which
they make personal sacrifices for the husband’s ministry. Sacrifice correlated with this
factor (.60). Finally, home in this factor was a measure of the extent to which the
household is used for the husband’s work. It correlated with factor one at .55. To a large
extent these items in factor one not only indicate that they can form a basis for a central
concept of encroachment, but that the wives indicate that life in the two-person career
situation places constraints and demands that call for sacrificial adjustments.

Factor two indicates a central concept of extrinsic rewards. The role rewards
scale attempts to measure the fact that there are some rewards received when one is a
minister’s wife. Extrinsic rewards correlated with factor two at -.71. The scale for

consideration is a measure about special consideration that is given to the wife by virtue

91

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94

of her position. It also had a negative correlation with factor two at -.56. To reverse
these two items would suggest that the factor is conceptually the opposite: few extrinsic
rewards or no rewards. The variables for factor two for this model suggest that there are
few tangible and intangible rewards and privileges bestowed on ministers’ wives from the
husband’s employer. The model in this analysis suggests that extrinsic rewards as a
descriptive term would probably be more precise because it possibly refers to incidental
rewards.

Factor three indicates that the central concept that captures this dimension is role
expectations with the husband being the essential object of focus. Satisfaction is a scale
that measures feelings of satisfaction the wife has as a minister’s wife. A correlation of
.47 was indicated for this item. Traditional is a scale item that attempts to measure
perceptions of the religious environment’s expectations that the wife behave customarily
or according to the norms and traditions of the group. Traditional had a moderate
correlation of .39 with factor three. Membership is a scale that measures perceptions
about how the religious environment expects the wife to support her husband’s ministry.
Membership had the highest correlation with factor three at .74. The strength of the
correlations and the number of items about how the role relates to the husband reflect a
value in living up to the expectations on the basis of the marital relationship.

Factor four has bipolarity and is defined as a central concept by two items that can
be described as a measure of obligatory contributions. The contributions scale was
intended to measure contributions of any kind made by the wife to support her husband’s
ministry. This correlated with factor four at .40. Comfort was a reverse scale measure

for how uncomfortable the wife feels about receiving special treatment because of her

95

position. It was highly correlated at .82 indicating that the wife’s feelings are an
important element for factor four. These measures considered in one direction (i.e., with
the comfort scale item in the converse), would suggest that the more obligation the wife
feels, the more inclined she is to contribute to her husband’s employer, thus, suggesting
that obligatory feelings are related to the contributions defines factor four.

As Table 3 indicates, the principle components account for 64 percent of the
variance among the TPC variables. As was initially thought, the factor analysis shows
that all of the expected variables are present but differ slightly in scale composition. For
instance, the personal sacrifice item correlated with the factor described as encroachment
when it was expected that the subtest would be an additional factor; the satisfaction item
correlated with role expectation when it was expected to correlate with extrinsic rewards;
and the comfort item correlated with contributions made for the husband’s career when it
was expected to also correlate with extrinsic rewards.

The principal component factor analysis provides evidence that suggests that the
two-person career construct is valid in the ministers' wives context. It suggests that the
items reflect the theoretical dimensions discussed in the literature. All the items validated
in the process to develop the MWS instrument are organized into four useful scales. The
scales provide a useful measure for determining whether African American ministers'
wives' interaction patterns reflect the cultural characteristics gleaned from the literature.
Scoring Ministers’ Wives Survey Factor

The principal component factor analysis provided this study with a framework for
developing scales using the variables identified in the factor loadings. As stated above,

two of the factors consisted of two variables, while the other two consisted of three. Each

96

factor was given the same weight as a Likert scale with a possible scoring range of O to
15. Where there are three items per factor, each item response has the following values:
(1) Always is S, (2) very often is 4, (3) fairly often is 3, (4) sometimes is 2, (5) almost
never is 1, and (6) never is 0. Factors with three items could receive the highest score of
5 points per item and 15 total points for the factor. Where there are only two items
within one factor, each of the item responses is given a value increment of 1.5 points,
scores ranging from O to 7.5 per item. The highest possible score per item among factors
with two items is 7.5 points and 15 total points for the factor. Therefore, respondents
could receive as many as 7.5 points per item with extrinsic rewards and obligatory
contributions. And, respondents could receive as many as 5 points per item that fall
under encroachment and role expectations.
Data Analysis

This study used several quantitative statistical methods for data analysis.
Statistical analysis included descriptive statistics to describe the percentages, means,
standard deviations, and totals. Chi-square was used to test expected frequencies.
Binomial distributions were analyzed to test proportions related to horizontal and vertical
individualism and collectivism. Analysis of variance tests were used to check for mean
differences. Correlations and coefficients of determination were examined to test the
strengths of relationships. Some content analysis was conducted to examine the data

collected using the social participation instrument.

97

CHAPTER FIVE

Results of the Study

Respondents and Procedures

Data were collected from a sample of 101 African American women during
telephone interviews conducted with the wives of pastors, co-pastors, associate pastors,
and ministers, or assistant ministers. Social demographic information was collected
using the MWS and the Social Participation Scale, as intended. Several denominations
were represented from the Detroit metropolitan area including Baptists (n = 56),
Methodists (n = 11), and Pentecostal (n = 34) churches. Other social demographic
information was collected to further describe the subjects in this study.

As indicated in Table 9, the sample consists of 101 respondents. Most of the
acculturation outcomes were identified as unique (71). The other categories were much
less: dutiful (14), achievement oriented (9), and cooperative (7). Eighty of the wives
were identified as individualist and 21 were identified as collectivist. Most of the
respondents were Baptist (56) with a substantial number of Pentecostal (34). There were
11 Methodist. Employment status was measured in four categories: employed, self-
employed, homemaker, and retired. There were seventy, seven, nineteen, and five
respectively. The ages of the respondents were grouped according to the following:
twenty to twenty-nine (3), thirty to thirty-nine (31), forty to forty-nine (35), fifty to fifty-
nine (24), and sixty to sixty-nine (8).

Content analysis of the data collected using the Social Participation Scale

instrument indicated the types of positions held as well as the internal and external

98

Table 9 African American Wives Characteristics

 

 

FrequencL Percentage

Acculturation Outcomes

Cooperative 7 6.9

Dutiful 14 13.9

Unique 71 70.3

Achievement Oriented 9 8.9
Individualist 80 79.2
Collectivist 21 20.7
Denomination

Baptist 56 55.4

Methodist 1 1 10.9

Pentecostal 34 33.7
Employment Status

Employed 70 69.3

Self-Employed 7 6.9

Homemaker 1 9 1 8.8

Retired 5 5.0
Age Cohort

20 to 29 3 3.0

30 to 39 31 30.7

40 to 49 35 34.7

50 to 59 24 23.8

60 and higher 8 7.9

 

Percentages are based on a sample size of 101 participants.

religious activity of the wives. As indicated in Table 10, the majority of positions held
included roles related to religious education, various church group leadership
responsibilities, and administrative functions (96 percent). Church group involvement
was largely in women's groups, Bible study, and evangelism/mission with involvement in
service, prayer, and choir groups following next (99 percent). External involvement

largely included ministers’ wives and district/local associations (46 percent).

99

Table 10 Ministers' Wives Social Participation Activities

 

 

 

Type of Participation Frguency Percentage

Positions Held
Religious Educator 24 24
Church Group Leader 21 21
Administrative Function 17 18
Youth Leader 12 12
Musician/ Choir Leader 10 10
Church Officer 8 8
Denominational/Association Leadership 7 7

(Percentages are based on 97 observations)

 

 

Total holding Leadership Positions 96
Church Group Involvement
Women’s Group 20 20
Bible Study 20 20
Evangelism/Mission 16 16
Service Groups 10 10
Prayer Group 9 9
Choir 9 9
Youth Group 8 9
Special Committee 5 5
Fellowship Groups 2 2
(Percentages are based on 100 observations)
Total Involved in Group Activities 99
External Religious Involvement
Ministers’ Wives Association 19 41
District/Local Associations 10 21
State Level Associations 9 19
National Associations 9 19

(Percentages are based on 4 7 observations)

Total Involved in External Activities 46

 

100

Findings and Analysis

Research Question 1: To what extent do horizontal and vertical individualism
and collectivism (i. e., psychological acculturation outcomes) exist among Afiican
American ministers' wives?

In this study African American ministers' wives have all of the psychological
acculturation outcomes in varying proportions. There were seven wives who scored as
co0perative, fourteen who scored as dutiful, 71 who scored as unique, and nine who
scored as achievement oriented. As indicated in a binomial test in Table 11, a chi-square
statistic (x2 = 111.55) showed that there was an asymptotic significant difference from the
expected frequency value of 25.3 among the acculturation categories with a probability of
.000. Wives in the unique category indicated a substantial residual difference in

frequency of 45.8.

Table 11 Psychological Acculturation Chi-Square Results

 

Type of Acculturation Observed N Expected N Residual
C00perative 7 25 .3 -1 8.3
Dutiful 14 25.3 -1 1.3
Unique 71 25.3 45.8
Achievement Oriented 9 25.3 -l6.3

Chi-Square (p < .05) = 111.554
Degrees of Freedom = 3

Asymptotic Significance = .000

 

To explore the extent to which it is reasonable to collapse four acculturation
categories into two dimensions (Singelis 1995), a principle component analysis was also

conducted of the scores based on the four scales used in this study to determine

101

psychological acculturation outcomes among the ministers’ wives (see Table 12 through
14). A principle component analysis resulted in the extraction of an unrotated two-factor
solution reflecting the reasonableness of collapsing the four categories into two
(individualism and collectivism). The total variance explained by the correlation matrix
was 71.6 percent (Table 13). Communalities were very high, ranging from .57 to .89,
indicating that the components were all essential (Table 14). An orthogonal rotation
using the Varimax method with 3 Kaiser Normalization was used with up to three
iterations to reach a simple structure that confirmed the dimensions. As indicated in
Table 16, the correlation coefficient of the individualists' scores paired with the
collectivists' scores combined was -.632. A negative relationship between individualism
and collectivism was indicated as statistically significant using a two-tailed test with a
probability of .001 at a .01 alpha level.

Since a principle component analysis confirmed that it is reasonable to collapse
these four groups into collectivists and individualists groups, this was also done to test
the second hypothesis of whether the sample proportions are a fair representation of
individualist (.80) and collectivist (.20) wives rather than proportions of chance (Table
17). A one-sample nonparametric binomial test was conducted to the proportion of
individualist wives with a test value of .50. As shown in Table 16, the results indicate
that the true p0pulation proportion of individualist wives is greater than (rather than less
than or equal to) .50 with a probability of .001. Unique w” es (.70) as a single category
also showed a significant difference greater than the test value of .50 with a probability of

.001.

102

Table 12
Horizontal & Vertical I/C Initial Extractions

 

 

 

 

 

Components Eigenvalues % of Variance Cumulative %

1 1.706 42.659 42.659

2 1.159 28.963 71.622

3 .932 23.292 94.913

4 .203 5.087 100.000

Table 13
Horizontal & Vertical I/C Principle Component Extraction and Rotation
Initial Extraction Sum of Rotation Sum of Squares
Squares
Factors Sum of % of % Sum of % of %
Sguares Variance _C_u_& S uares Variance _C_1Lm_,

Individualism 1.706 42.659 42.659 1.691 42.269 42.269
Collectivism 1.159 28.963 71.622 1.174 29.352 71.622

 

 

 

 

 

 

Table 14
Horizontal & Vertical I/C Communalities

Item Initial Extraction

Horizontal Collectivism 1.000 .762

Vertical Collectivism 1.000 .639

Horizontal Individualism 1.000 .892

Vertical Individualism 1.000 .571

Table 15
Horizontal & Vertical I/C Factor Loadings

Item Individualism Collectivism
Horizontal Collectivism (HC) (.09) .87
Vertical Collectivism (VC) (.52) .61
Horizontal Individualism (H1) .932 (.15)
Vertical Individualism W C) .746 (.12)

 

Coefficients are shown in bold type. Parentheses indicate potential loading
of an item on a factor other than what is specified in the model.

Table 16
Individualists and Collectivists Correlations

 

 

 

 

Individualist Collectivists
Individualists l .00 -.63
Collectivists -.63 1 .00
Two-tailed significance (p < .01)
Table 17
Individualist & Collectivist and Unique Wives Binomial Test
Groupa N SD Observed Test Two-tailed Lower Upper
P0pu1ation Proportion Significanceb Bound Bound
Individualist 8O .41 .79 .50 .000 .71 .87
Collectivist 21 .21
Unique 71 .46 .70 .50 .000 .62 .79
Non-Unique 30 .30

 

a. N = 101 for both test.
b. Significance is based on p < .05.

 

 

Table 18
Individualism & Collectivism Correlations Coefficients
Item HC VC HI VI
Horizontal Collectivism (HC) 1.0 *-.183 *-.232 . -.072
Vertical Collectivism (VC) *-.183 1.0 *-.408 .008
Horizontal Individualism (H1) *-.232 *-.408 1.0 *-.568
Vertical Individualism (VI) -.O72 .008 *-.568 1.0

 

* Symbol indicates one-tailed significance (p < .05).

104

This study shows that there is a difference in frequency of occurrence of
horizontal and vertical individualism and collectivism among African American
ministers’ wives with unique wives being the largest psychologically acculturated
proportion. We can also infer from the results that those identified as unique wives in the
population significantly differ by their mean score from the other groups based on
psychological acculturation factors. We can also confirm that there are at least two
distinct dimensions (individualism and collectivism) that exist. These two factors each
are related to factor loadings as expected based on horizontal and vertical individualism
and collectivism in a principle factor analysis. Although most African American
ministers’ wives have an individualist orientation, more than half of African American
ministers’ wives have psychologically acculturated as unique wives as opposed to
achievement oriented, cooperative, and dutiful wives.

Research Question 2: Is there a difference between African American ministers ’
wives in the two-person career based on horizontal and vertical individualism and
collectivism (i. e., psychological acculturation outcomes)?

As indicated in Table 19 individualism and collectivism were tested for
differences in mean scores in socio-economic status and the Ministers' Wives Survey
item measuring satisfaction the wife has for being a minister's wife using an independent
sample t-test. The results indicated that there is a significant difference in the population
mean scores on satisfaction as a minister's wife between individualists (4.87) and
collectivists (5.42) wives of .55 with a t value of 2.05 with a probability of .04 at the .05

alpha level. The results also indicate that there is a significant difference in the mean

105

score for socio-economic status between individualists (9.76) and collectivists (8.00)

wives of -l .76 with a t value equal to -2.55 with a probability of .01 at the .05 alpha level.

Table 19 Independent Sample T-Test: Satisfaction and Socio-economic Status

 

 

Groups N Mean SD SE T P Difference
Satisfaction
Individualists 80 4.87 1.15 .128 2.05 .04* .5536
Collectivists 21 5.42 .870 .189
df = 99
Socioeconomic Status
Individualists 80 9.76 2.74 .31 -2.5 5 .01 * -1.76
C ollectivists 21 8.00 3 .08 .67
df = 99

 

*P < .05 based on a two-tailed test.

Research Question 3: What is the relationship between two-person career traits
and social participation among African American ministers’ wives based on horizontal
and vertical individualism and collectivism (i. e., psychological acculturation outcomes)?

Two-tailed correlation analyses were conducted to examine the relationships
among the TPC variables (MWS items), socioeconomic status, and years married with
social participation. The items measuring whether wives expected to fulfill a traditional
role (traditional r) and the restrictions placed on the wife's family life (restrictions) were
significantly negatively correlated with social participation as indicated in Table 20.
Restrictions was correlated at the .05 alpha level while traditional was correlated at the
.01 alpha level. The number of years married (years married) was significantly positively
correlated with social participation at .333 in a two-tailed analysis with a probability of

.01.

106

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Item Correlations with Social Participation

As indicated in Table 21, there were some significant negative relationships with
some items and social participation in a one-tailed analysis at the .05 alpha level. When
the sample represented all of the wives (N =1 01) in the study, traditional was negatively
correlated at -.259 with a probability of .005. Restrictions was correlated at -.207 with a
probability of .019. Consideration was significantly negatively correlated with social
participation at -.188 with a proabaility of .030. The total number of significant negative
correlations with social participation was three.

When individualists wives (N = 80) were examined, there were several one-tailed
significant negative correlations at the .05 alpha level among the MWS items and social
participation. For Individualists, as indicated in Table 22, traditional r was negatxvely
correlated with social participation at -.266 with a probability of .009. Restrictions were
negatively correlated with social participation at -.236 with a .018 probability. The item
sacrifices was negatively correlated with social participation at -.249 with a probability of
.013. Members was negatively correlated with social participation at -.211 with a
probability of .030. Consideration was also negatively correlated with social
participation with a coefficient of -.199 with a probability of .038. The total number of
items significantly negatively correlated with social participation was five.

When unique wives (N=71) were examined as a sample, there were even more
one-tailed significant negative correlations between some MWS items and social

participation at the .05 alpha level. As indicated in Table 23, traditional r was negatively

108

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111

correlated with social participation at -.266 with a probability of .013. Restrictions was
significantly negatively correlated with social participation at -.291 with a probability of
.007. Sacrifices was significantly negatively correlated with social participation at -.228
with a probability of .028. Members was negatively correlated with social participation
at -.220 with a probability of .033. In this case, home was negatively correlated with
social participation at -.255 with a probability of .016. Consideration was negatively
correlated with social participation at -.202 with a probability of .046. Unique wives had
more significant correlation coefficients than individualists and all wives sample
examined. There were six significant negative correlations with social participation
among the MWS items for unique wives.

Collectivist wives (N = 21) were the group with a two-person career variable
indicating a positive correlation with social participation. Home had a significant
positive correlation coefficient of .383 with a probability of .043 at the .OSalpha level.
Two-Person Career Model Factor Scores

As indicated in Table 24, a one-way analysis of variance revealed that statistically
there was no difference in the population means of the TPC factors among the
psychologically acculturated groups. That is, there were no differences based on the
theoretical model derived from the principal component factor analysis. There were no
main effects nor interactions found. Observations for differences based on denomination
affiliation and employment status showed no differences in the mean scores when these
factors were tested against the TPC factor mean scores.

As indicated in Table 24, the mean scores for the TPC factors as a single scale

ranged from 6.17 to 13.07. The mean score for encroachmmt was 10.08. At a critical

112

value of .05, 95 percent of African American wives in the population will score on
average between 9.39 and 10.78. Based on the scale of measurement this means that
wives will report a perception that their life is fairly often encroached upon. The mean
score for lack of extrinsic rewards was 6.17 with a 95 percent confidence interval
between 5.34 and 6.99. This means that on average, wives will report that they receive
extrinsic rewards very often. The mean score for role expectations was 13.07 with a
confidence interval between 12.66 and 13.47. This means that wives in the population
will report on average that they very often experience role expectations. The mean score
for obligatory contributions was 9.68 with a 95 percent confidence interval between 9.10
and 10.25. This means that African American ministers’ wives will on average report

that they only fairly often experience obligatory contributions.

Table 24 TPC Factors, Independent, and Dependent Variables Mean Scores

 

 

95% Confidence Interval

Mean SD SE Lower Bound Upper Bound
Encroachment 10.08 3.53 .35 9.39 10.78
Extrinsic Rewards 6.17 4.18 .41 5.34 6.99
Role Expectations 13.07 2.04 .20 12.66 13.47
Obligatory 9.68 2.91 .29 9.10 10.25
Contributions
Social Participation 13.50 9.68 .96 11.59 15.42
Number of Years 18.41 12.77 1.27 15.89 20.93
Married
Socio-Economic Status 9.40 2.89 .29 8.83 9.97

N=101

 

Multiple Regression Analysis

There were three multiple regression models constructed with social participation
as a dependent variable based on correlations found among all wives, individualists
wives, and individualist horizontal (unique) wives. As indicated in the Table 25, years
married, satisfaction, traditional, members, and consideration are the predictor variables

of social participation. The multiple correlation coefficient for this equation was .468

 

 

Table 25
Multiple Regression: Two-Person Career Traits and Social Participation,
All Wives Included
Variables B SE B Beta t P
Years Married .017 .005 .344 3.759 *.000
Satisfaction .068 .05 5 .1 17 1.246 .216
Traditional -.154 .064 -.231 ~2.413 *.018
Members -.089 .107 -.079 -.836 .405
Consideration -.078 .045 -.164 -l .76 O .082
Model
R .468
R2 .219
Adjusted R2 .178
SE .594
F = 5.341 FSignificance = .000*
*Significance at p < .05.
N = 101

and a regression coefficient of .22. Years married and satisfaction were positive
predictors with slopes of .017 and .068, respectively. Traditional, members, and
consideration were negative predictors, -.154, -.089, -.78, respectively. Years married
and traditional were the strongest influences on social participation with significant t
values with probabilities of .000 and .018, respectively. The model resulted in a
significant F value of 5.341 with a probability of .000 at the .05 alpha level.

As indicated in Table 26, home was an additional variable needed for model

specification for individualist wives. This model resulted in a multiple correlation

114

coefficient of .56 and a regression coefficient of .31. Years married and satisfaction
coefficients were slightly stronger with positive slope coefficients of .022 and .084,
respectively. Traditional and consideration coefficients were also negative but slightly
lower at -.151 and -.074, respectively. Beta was also slightly lower for these two
coefficients. However, members as a negative slope was much higher at -.185 among

individualists wives. Years married and traditional remained the only significant t

Table 26

Multiple Regression: Two-Person Career Traits and Social Participation,
Individualist Wives Only

 

 

Variables B SE B Beta t P
Years Married .022 .006 .406 4.044 *.000
Satisfaction .084 .060 .142 1.412 .162
Traditional -. 151 .067 -.225 -2.252 * .027
Members —.l85 .130 -.145 -1.421 .160
Home -.067 .045 -.158 -1.555 .124
Consideration -.074 .051 -.147 -1.443 .153

Model
R .558
R2 .311
Adjusted R2 .255
SE .595
F = 5.498 F Significance = .000*

*Significance at p < .05.

N = 80

values with probabilities of .000 and .027, respectively. The P value was significant at
5.498 with a probability of .000 at the .05 alpha level.

As indicated in Table 27, the multiple regression model constructed for unique
wives is stronger for explaining the variance in social participation. The multiple
correlation coefficient was .61 and the regression coefficient was .37. This resulted in a
significant F value of 5.3 with a probability of .000 at the .05 alpha level. Years married

and satisfaction increased as predictors of social participation compared to all wives and

115

individualists wives with a positive regression coefficient of .020 and .100, respectively.
Although traditional showed a significant t value of -2.166 with a probability of .034
among unique wives, traditional continued to slightly decrease to -.145 compared to all
wives. Members and home also increased among unique wives compared to

individualists wives, -.246 and -.130, respectively. Home as a predictor variable of social

 

 

Table 27
Multiple Regression: Two-Person Career Traits and Social Participation,
Unique Wives Only
Variables B SE B Beta t P
Years Married .020 .006 .373 3.518 *.000
Satisfaction .100 .065 .163 1.537 . 129
Traditional -. 145 .067 -.223 -2. 166 * .034
Role Rewards .072 .064 .171 1.116 .269
Members -.246 .129 -.201 -1.901 .062
Home -.130 .051 -.288 -2.559 *.013
Consideration -. 142 .073 -.276 -1.93 8 .057
Model
R . .609
R2 .371
Adjusted R2 .301
SE .571
F = 5.300 FSignificance = .000*
*Significance at p < .05.
N = 71

participation for unique wives had a significant t value of -2.559 with a probability of
.013. Consideration showed a change in direction of influence from individualists wives
to unique wives with a much higher regression coefficient of -.142 (although
individualists was only slightly different from all wives). Consideration as a predictor
was also much higher than with all wives. Role rewards as a positive predictor was
added to the unique multiple regression model. It was shown as not a significant

partialed out predictor of social participation with the other Variables being held constant.

116

Years married remained the coefficient with the greatest standardized Beta. In
comparison to individualists wives (see Table 27), all of the standardized Beta
coefficients were much higher for unique wives except for years married and traditional

(traditional was about the same).

117

CHAPTER SIX
Discussion

Summary of Findings

The purpose of this study was to identify interaction patterns among African
American ministers’ within their religious context by examining the relationships
between socio-cultural and psychological acculturation factors and their influence on
social participation. The results support using the literature to develop a theoretical
model for studying two-person career wives. A principal component factor analysis
indicated that encroachment, extrinsic rewards, role expectation, and obligatory
contributions exist among African American ministers' wives. It was demonstrated that
horizontal and vertical individualism and collectivism could be important constructs for
measuring psychological acculturation. The study supports using these dimensions to
examine to what extent two-person career wives differ from context to context based on
psychological acculturation. When examining the two-person career wife variables in
light of horizontal and vertical individualism and collectivism, there were no differences
found between the wives. The results showed that several of the two-person career wife
variables in this study are significant predictors for social participation based on
psychological acculturation factors. These results suggest the presence of many possible
interaction patterns that may be explained by socio-cultural and psychological
acculturation factors as they relate to social participation. Upon examining these results,

many implications can be made to support focusing on socio-cultural and psychological

118

acculturation factors to describe interaction patterns in the two-person career wife
phenomenon.
Interpretation of Findings

This study supports using four factors as important dimensions of a theoretical
model for examining the two-person career wife. The first dimension identified in the
factor analysis of the two-person career wife was encroachment. The literature suggests
that there are imposing job structures in the two-person career family (F inch, 1983). The
concept of encroachment would seem to best describe what will be an intrusion upon the
private domain of the wife’s life; that is, the personal sacrifices made as the husband’s
career imposes outside restrictions and constraints. The study would seem to confirm this
while suggesting possible patterns of interaction when encroachment occurs. For
instance, more encroachment may lead to the wife making personal sacrifices. The wife
makes these adjustments when she receives feedback from the church members
indicating that she must increase or decrease her interactions within the social
environment. This also suggests that the wife may not have a choice.

Based on this study, African American ministers’ wives do not see encroachment
as a very common occurrence. Although they indicate that personal sacrifices are very
common, they see the factor of encroachment as a periodic consequence of being a
minister's wife. This suggests that personal sacrifices are made in order to maintain the
two-person career family relationship because the "job" encroaches upon the wife's
family life. The wife appears to be subject to the demands that come with being a
minister's wife. Some wives may perceive the demands to be unreasonable, but

somewhat necessary or important enough for personal sacrifices to be made.

119

This is important if we consider the “communal” nature of the black church that
fosters special kinship bonds (Stack, 1974; Martin and Martin, 1978; Lincoln and
Mamiya, 1990). This study suggests African American ministers' wives perceive that
there are moments when the church encroaches on their lives, but it is not continuous in
nature. It appears to suggest that the wives are more tolerant of the fact that church life
encroaches into their lives because of the strong relationship they have with the
membership. This is indicated by the literature that points to “fictive kin” extended
relationships, and the practice of community mothers (Higginbotham, 1993; Gilkes,
1997; Higginbotham, 1997). Ministers' wives may not perceive encroachment as
intrusive but natural. This should be further explored with more research.-

The second dimension identified for two-person career wives is the lack of
extrinsic rewards. Although there are demands placed on the family with encroachments,
this study suggests that there are very few tangible and intangible expressions of gratitude
shown for the wife's contributions. The lack of extrinsic rewards suggests that there is no
communal relationship between the wife and the church members. It suggests that the
wife only receives minimal special treatment, acknowledgements, and gifts for her
participation.

Unlike what may be suggested by this dimension for the two—person career model,
extrinsic rewards are very common according to African American ministers’ wives.
Several explanations are possible. This common practice may be attributed to the
adoration and respect that the members feel for the wife as “first lady” or as a church
“mother.” This, too, reflects what is presented in research on African American culture

(Gilkes, 1997; Higginbotham, 1997). This would appear to be a response; for instance,

120

after the wife has made apparent personal sacrifices, the church responds by expressing
gratitude through extrinsic rewards to the wife. This may further indicate that where
family and church life overlap to the point that there is a strain in the relationship, the
church responds by rewarding the wife to bring stability. Moreover, an increase in
extrinsic rewards with significant encroachment suggests that this situation can be
mutually beneficial for both the family and the church. It may suggest that extrinsic
rewards are an indicator of approval of the wife’s activities as much as an indicator that
encroachment is anticipated in this culture. Again, the evidence suggests that this is more
likely to be reflective of extended family kinship relations.

The possible influence that the husband has on the church as it relates to extrinsic
rewards should not be underestimated. The husband may be sensitive to the need for the
wife to experience some form of appreciation based on established values within the
social context. For instance, the husband may insist that the wife be recognized as a
“community mother” symbol as is common in the African American tradition (Gilkes,
1997; Higginbotham, 1997). Nevertheless, more research is needed to provide better
insight before we are certain that the evidence demonstrates this.

The third dimension identified is role expectations. This study suggests that the
literature is correct in pointing out that there are role expectations for two-person career
wives. The wife appears to know that it is expected of her to support her husband’s
ministry, and has knowledge of how she is to provide this support to satisfy the church
members. Also, the wife derives some satisfaction in providing support for her husband.
This suggests that this is a shared norm, value, or expectation between the wife and the

church members. Support for the husband appears to be the common goal of the wife

121

 

and the church members and defines how each family component sees her in relationship
to her husband. Moreover, this would seem to illustrate the interdependence between the
wife and the church members. This suggests that the wife needs to be able to support her
husband based on her own values, and the church members need to see the wife
functioning as a support mechanism for her husband. This would provide meaning to
church members, because the wife is acting according to expectations.

African American ministers’ wives indicated that role expectations are always
present. This suggests that ministers' wives share the view with the church members that
it is her responsibility to support her husband. It also suggests that the wife experiences
satisfaction in supporting her husband’s ministry and understands that the church
members want the same thing. That is, if the wife feels that she is helping her husband in
a way that puts him in a positive position in the church, she experiences satisfaction in
being a minister’s wife. The wife’s successful social participation in the religious
environment may provide her with the feedback she needs to experience satisfaction as a
minister’s wife. It would appear that when role expectations are satisfactorily fulfilled,
there is stability within the family system. This kind of stability may be interpreted as
one of the goals of the system.

To some extent, the husband’s position defines what the wife's role is in relation
to the church. Historically, African American ministers' wives accompanied their
husband, and in the process, opportunities developed for them to play a supportive role
(Findlay, 1993; Higginbotham, 1993). Although a more in-depth inquiry would inform
the details, present evidence suggests that there is a defined “traditional role” for the wife.

Whatever the details, the husband’s position may be central to defining this role. The

wife derives some satisfaction in being a minister’s wife. This suggests that role
expectation is a shared ideological schema between the wife and the church membership.
It supports F inch’s (1983) suggestion that the wife may seek to fulfill some ideological
function that she values rather than being forced into a subordinate role.

The final dimension this study finds is obligatory contributions the wife makes to
the two-person career family. It appears to be based on feelings or reactions related to
what is provided for her in the course of participating in the two-person career family.
That is, the contributions that the wife makes to support her husband’s ministry are based
on a sense of obligation. From this factor we can infer that wives give or make
contributions according to how they perceive their social standing in this environment.
The more guilt and psychological discomfort the wife experiences as a result of the
special treatment she receives as the minister’s wife, the more likely she is to contribute.

Obligatory contributions are not supported as a strong characteristic among
African American ministers' wives in this study. This suggests that African American
ministers' wives may distinguish sharply between what they do as ministers' wives so
their husbands can function effectively and what or how others perceive their role. The
wife who functions adequately to support her husband’s career by what she does may not
feel that it is the church's responsibility to offer her special treatment. Therefore, she may
react by making the only kind of additional contributions she can make beyond her usual
activities to equalize her relationship with the church. This would appear also to indicate
the presence of a political element in this dimension. This seems to be plausible because
the evidence indicates that the wife’s level of social participation is not impacted by this

factor. Another explanation is that the wife’s religious belief may be that she expects a

123

delayed or intrinsic reward related to her position and is simply more likely to increase
contributions to offset feelings of discomfort.

Overall, the factors help determine how the two-person career construct is a valid
description of the marital arrangement among African American ministers’ wives. The
evidence in this study support the model described in the literature. The details of this
model reflect the cultural characteristics of a specific context. Although there were only
a four items used in the factor analysis for each factor when a minimum of four is
recommended, further research is needed to explore some of the insights this study
provides. Further exploration is needed on the factors of this phenomenon among other
ethnic groups and other situations where the construct applies.

This study suggests that the psychological acculturation factors represented by
horizontal and vertical individualism and collectivism appear be useful constructs for
studying acculturation among ethnic minorities. This study also provides some evidence
about the extent to which horizontal and vertical individualism and collectivism exist
among African American ministers’ wives. It suggests that African American ministers’
wives are primarily horizontal individualists or unique wives. There are some differences
based on horizontal and vertical individualism and collectivism related to satisfaction in
being a minister’s wife and socio-economic status. Social participation also appears to be
dependent upon psychological acculturation factors. These findings suggest that there
may be strong linkages and interaction patterns between psychological acculturation and
how and why ministers' wives interact within their own ethnic social context.

This study raises some questions about previous research that indicated a

relationship between socio-economic status and psychological acculturation outcomes

124

(Wooddell, 1989). Wooddell (1991) found collectivism as the dominant trait among low-
income African American single mothers in Detroit. In the Taylor & Hartley (1975)
study it was assumed that ministers’ wives are generally middle-class. If both are the
case, then socio-economic status could be an important factor that would distinguish this
group from other African Americans. By indicating that African American ministers'
wives are horizontal individualists, and that socio-economic status is most likely to be
higher with these wives, this study suggests that African Americans who tend to achieve
high socio-economic status will be individualistic or acculturated into the mainstream
culture. If low socio-economic status proves to be a strong indicator of collectivist values
among African Americans, then communities where there is a high concentration of
Afiican American people would most likely exhibit collectivist traits, particularly among
ethnic enclaves, or low-income communities. Because of the disproportionate number of
low-income African Americans, caution must be taken not to assume that church
members are likely to be collectivist. Other implications of this study could mean that
acculturated African Americans (i.e., those who are individualistic such as unique wives)
may conform in their social environment or an enclave where collectivism is a dominant
characteristic. This would also imply that integrated individuals could only impact their
social ethnic environment over great spans of time. That is, changing the environment
requires mobilizing cultural resources and increasing interaction with acculturating
factors. This would support the continued exploration of these constructs as a measure of
acculturation with different social classes.

Another point can be made about what the relationship between socio-economic

status and psychological acculturation implies about African American ministers. It has

125

been suggested in other research that African American ministers in the past relied on
their wives to assist them in sermon preparation, teaching, and worship because of their
literary and musical skills (Lincoln and Mamiya, 1990; Mitchell, 1991 ). This study
suggests that African American ministers remain selective in the kind of wife they need
to support their ministry. That is, African American ministers' may prefer wives that can
be socio-economically suited for their ministry needs. A wife that is skilled socially and
possesses that ability to contribute financially to support the ministry would be ideal.
This has strong implications. However, more research is needed to substantiate this as a
pattern germane to the African American religious context beyond psychological
acculturation characteristics.

The wives' satisfaction in being a minister's wife is another indication that
horizontal and vertical individualism and collectivism may be important constructs for
measuring differences due to psychological acculturation. Satisfaction in being a
minister's wife was significantly different among wives. This study suggests that wives
who were collectivists perceived more satisfaction in being a minister's wife than
individualist wives. It appears that being a minister's wife in and of itself is an idea that
is dependent on personal achievement beyond the religious context. This implies that are
shared notions about what characterizes a minister's wife among the wives. It also
implies that many wives seek satisfaction from other sources of interaction. African
American ministers' wives in general may want what mainstream women want. In
general, this may be indicated historically as gender equality (Collins, 1991;

Higginbotham, 1993; Higginbotham, 1997).

126

This study suggests that the two-person car: er traits indicate the presence of
environmental constraints such as social norms that regulate the extent of interaction
patterns. There are no differences between African American ministers' wives in the two-
person career based on psychological acculturation. This may be due to the fact that this
is a homogeneous group, or because the environment is such that wives simply conform
based on their values. What should also be noted is that the social environments are
enclaves of the same ethnic group. This enclave's culture has probably become
institutionalized, and therefore, may have also confounded or supported the results of this
study. More research is needed to investigate the social environment, and additional
values that may be held by the wives. More probing is needed about the differences in
the patterns of social interaction that may occur in the external environment among the
wives.

Several other factors must also be considered as it relates to unique wives.
Traindis (1995) states that in horizontal cultures, people are not expected to stand out. It
does not matter whether the culture is horizontal collectivist or horizontal individualist.
Although it was considered reasonable to expect that the church is reflective of a
collectivist culture, it is not certain whether the church enviromnent is reflective of a
horizontal culture. Assuming that the group culture is horizontal, equality is highly
valued; and that would suggest that the unique wives would avoid social participation if
their lives significantly overlap with the church. This may be due to the cultural context
that would value a more modest show of social interaction by a wife who is perceived to
always be in the limelight. In the vertical culture environment, the opposite is the case

(Triandis, 1995). The expectation would be that the individual asserts self and stands out.

127

However, in this study there is no evidence to support infening that the environment is
individualistic; and therefore, the former case is more plausible.

There were several variables significantly related to social participation. The
findings in this study suggest that the number of years the wife is married increases the
degree of social participation in the two-person career. This was true for all wives.
Years married influenced social participation without regard to psychological
acculturation. This suggests life stages and priority shifts overtime create opportunities
for wives to increase their contributions to their husband's ministry. Satisfaction and role
rewards were positively related to social participation. This suggests that incentives
and/or a sense of accomplishment may increase the chances of wives participating in
their religious environment. The converse would suggests that wives who do not
experience some feeling of appreciation or success in their attempts to fulfill their role as
ministers' wives are less likely to continue participating at certain levels. Role rewards
are only important among unique wives. This suggests that unique wives may give or
contribute to their husband's career, but not without some positive feedback occurring.
Satisfaction appears to become more important as an influential factor for social
participation among wives who are individualists, particularly unique wives.

Other than the number of years married, the satisfaction in being a minister's wife,
and rewards associated with their role, are two-person career traits that are negatively
related to social participation. There are some common predictors of less social
participation among individualist, unique, and all wives that include the following: (1)
whether the wife is expected to fulfill a "traditional" role; (2) whether the wife perceives

that the members want to see her supporting her husband's ministry; and (3) whether the

128

wife is shown special consideration as a minister's wife. This suggests that the wives
were less inclined to participate in their husband's career when they perceive that it
involves giving up a sense of individuality and self—determination within the marriage.
This appears to be indicative of the general values of the dominant social environment
where the roles of women are changing and becoming more egalitarian. It suggests that ‘
African American women in general put personal goals above group goals. Whether
their home is used as a place where church business is conducted was an additional
predictor for less social participation for individualist and unique wives. This again
suggests that horizontal individualists wives value their freedom as well as personal goals
above group goals.

Encroachment, extrinsic rewards, role expectations, and obligatory contributions
as a theoretical model indicate that the wife is an important figure and partner with the
husband in this relationship. Furthermore, the activities examined suggest that the wife
plays a variety of meaningful leadership roles in the church and in external religious
activities. These are all connected to a symbolic figure of the minister’s wife, and thus,
reflects the leadership the wife provides as an individual and as a vital team member for
her husband’s ministry. There appears to be a balance of interaction achieved between
what is required and needed for social stability in the two-person career context and the
personal needs of the husband and wife. Does the husband choose a wife based on the
dynamics of the religious culture to achieve this balance? Further research as to the kind
of wife that best serves the minister in this context would be very helpful.

Social participation appears to be an important aspect of the two-person career

wife's life. It was needed and valued historically in the African American religious

129

context. For instance, should African American ministers' wives be viewed as adequately
supporting their husband's ministry by their leadership or by the extent to which they
participate within their social environment? Ministers' wives appear to reflect the
changes in the role of women in the larger environment. Future studies could include
investigating this issue and comparing the current importance of social participation with
the past. Personal and social needs have undoubtedly changed over time. By
understanding these dimensions of social participation, insight may result for
understanding what cultural resources are available and needed to sustain a two-person
clergy family ecosystem.

Other future directions may include further explorations of other values. There is
possibly another explanation that may have stronger implications for future investigations
with a theory-driven perspective on values. Other research (Schwartz, 1985) has
consistently found the structure of values to be consistent across cultures. A clustering of
values into value-types (Schwartz, 1987; Schwartz, 1990; Schwartz, 1991) has been
considered a refinement of studies on individualism and collectivism (Smith, 1999). Two
of the values identified, tradition and conformity (Smith, 1997), have been found to
correlate positively with religiosity across religious groups including Protestants.
Whereas tradition means "respect and commitment to cultural or religious customs and
ideas," conformity refers to "restraint of actions and impulses that may harm others and
violate social expectations" (p. 86). This implies that a refinement of horizontal values
may result in moderator variables such as tradition and conformin values. This means
that the two-person career in a religious context would most likely result in conformity to

traditional customs and ideas among African American ministers’ wives. The two-person

130

career variables may be a part of the religious tradition, so differences between the
acculturated ministers’ wives would be less detectable.
Limitations

There are some limitations to what can be concluded in this study. Small sample
sizes can only suggest that to some extent horizontal and vertical individualism and
collectivism may make a difference in the two-person career marital arrangement among
Afiican American ministers’ wives. Additional research is needed to investigate
differences among these traits based on psychological acculturation with larger samples
for outcomes other than unique wives. Further research is needed to investigate more
definitively the interactions within a religious context that may give more insight about
how differences in acculturation may affect behavior.

In conducting this study several things were learned. Ministers' wives are very
busy. This may be due to juggling family, career, and commitments for religious
activities. Nonetheless, it would probably be best to reduce the interview time. It
appears that the length of the telephone interview was key for getting their cooperation.
A change in instruments would include increasing the number of items on the "Ministers'
Wives Survey" to satisfy the requirements for conducting a confirmatory factor analysis.
This would mean that another instrument to evaluate psychological acculturation must
either be developed or substituted. Another consideration for identifying psychological
acculturation would be examining additional factors that may be present in the external

environment.

Implications of the Study

This study has attempted to identify and interpret the interaction patterns in the
two-person career related to socio-cultural and psychological acculturation factors. As a
result, there are several implications that can be identified in the findings. This study
implies that the two-person career wife features provided in the literature are useful for
constructing a theoretical model for further research. As expected,‘it implies that
previous ethnic studies may be instrumental in the development of a context-specific
model as well. Logically, this would imply that the two-person career factors could vary
because of unique context-specific cultural dynamics. Moreover, it may be possible to
identify psychological acculturation factors using horizontal and vertical individualism
and collectivism. Horizontal and vertical individualism and collectivism may help to
explain social patterns that result from differences based on value orientation. It is also
implied in this study that there may exist cultural constraints that results in what appears
to be religious conformity. That is, socio-cultural norms and expectations may mitigate
any psychological acculturation factors. Nonetheless, African American ministers' wives
who are individualistic tend to be less likely to participate in the social environment.
Socioeconomic status may be related to psychological acculturation. This study implies
that individualists may be tied to higher socioeconomic status than collectivist groups.
Overall, the implications of this study are that ethnic minorities are affected by the
dominant social context and this may influence the degree to which they interact within

their ethnic social environment.

132

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145

Appendix

146

 

 

 

 

MICHIGAN STATE H W
UNIVERSITY JULJBZODI
July 13, 2001 ---------------
TO: June Pierce YOUA‘IT

148 Human Ecology

RE: IRB# 01-442 CATEGORY: EXEMPT 1-C
APPROVAL DATE: July 13, 2001

TITLE: SOCIOCULTURAL DETERMINANTS AND THE AFFECTS '35-“
PSYCHOLOGICAL ACCULTURATION ON SOCIAL PARTICPATION OF
AFRICAN AMERICAN MINISTERS' WIVES

The University Committee on Research Involving Human Subjects' (UCRIHS) review of this .
project is complete and I am pleased to advise that the rights and welfare of the human
subjects appear to be adequately protected and methods to obtain informed consent are
appropriate. Therefore, the UCRIHS approved this project.

RENEWALS: UCRIHS approval is valid for one calendar year. beginning with the approval
date shown above. Projects continuing beyond one year must be renewed with the green
renewal form. A maximum of four such expedited renewals possible. Investigators wishing to
continue a project beyond that time need to submit it again for a complete review.

REVISIONS: UCRIHS must review any changes in procedures involving human subjects, prior
to initiation of the change. If this is done at the time of renewal. please use the green renewal
form. To revise an approved protocol at any other time during the year, send y0ur written
request to the UCRIHS Chair, requesting revised approval and referencing the project's IRB#
and title. Include in your request a description of the change and any revised instruments,
consent forms or advertisements that are applicable.

PROBLEMS/CHANGES: Should either of the following arise during the course of the work,
notify UCRIHS promptly: 1) problems (unexpected side effects. complaints, etc.) involving
human subjects or 2) changes in the research environment or new information indicating
greater risk to the human subjects than existed when the protocol was previously reviewed and

omcsor approved-

RESEARCH '
AND If we can be of further assistance, please contact us at (517) 355-2180 or via email:

GRADUATE UCRIHS@msu.edu. Please note that all UCRIHS forms are located on the web:
http://www.msu.edu/userlucrihs

 

University Commute. on Sincerely,

mm [M «W77

246 Adminisu'ation Building

“Wm, WM Ashir Kumar. M.D.
4832““ Interim Chair. UCRIHS
517/355-2180
FAX: 517/353-2976
J: mmsueduluser/mrlhs

E-Mailz ucrihsansuedu

AK: hr
240 Ag. Hall "
me MW 9* m
Miran-MW

memmm-um 147
WWW

Phone Interview Script

Date: Phone Number:
Hello Mrs. ,

 

My name is Mark Harden and I am doctoral student completing my research project at
Michigan State University by interviewing ministers’ wives in a phone survey.

Are you able to provide about 30 minutes for this phone interview? Yes No

When is the best time to call you back to complete this survey?

 

Let me briefly explain what my survey is about and how you may respond

I am interested m ministers’ Wives wrtlun their rehgious enVrronment and how their
values and perceptions influence their social behavior.

More specifically, the nature of your contributions and the degree to which you interact
with your husband’s career will be studied in comparison to other information provided
by other studies. It is believed that this information may help increase our understanding
of relationships and social interaction among ethnic minorities in general.

During this interview you have the right to discontinue the interview at any time without
penalty. Also, if there are any questions you do not want to answer, you are free to
decline an answer.

Confidentiality will be maintained and yarn privacy will be protected to the maximum
extent that the law requires and in accordance to Michigan State University policies.
Should you have any questions about this study you may contact me (Mark Harden) by

phone at (517) 353-1881, or by email at hydenm®suemsufiu Ifyou have concerns
about being involved in this study, you may also contact the University Committee on

Research Involving Human Subjects at (517) 355-2180 or W.

Do you have any questions?

UCRIHS APPROVAL FOR
THIS project EXPIRES:

JUL 1 3 2002

SUBMIT RENEWAL APPLICATION
ONE MONTH PRIOR TO
ABOVE DATE TO OONTINLE

148

African American Ministers' Wives Survey

Pease complete each item below. It is important that you give all of the information. Please
read the instructions included at each seaion.

 

 

 

 

Denomination Years of membership
Years Married: From to Years as Minister's Wife: From to
Number of Children Check One: Married Widowed

Are you employed by your Church or one its ministries? YES NO

Are you between the ages of: 20-29 30-39_ 40-49— 50-59__ 60+_
Education: _Elementary _Junior High _H.S. _Some College _Degree _Graduate

The following questions are based on how much the situation applies to you as a minister's wife.
It is important that you answer all of the questions on this survey questionnaire. Please read
carefitlly and answer each one as to the best of your knowledge.

Circle the answer that most applies with each question:
always very often fairly often sometimes almost never never

1. I get satisfaction in being the minister's wife.
Always

Very often

Fairly often

Sometimes

Almost never

Never

noepge

2. As a minister’s wife, it is expected that I fulfill my traditional role?
a. Always
b. Very ofien

Fairly often

Sometimes

Almost never

Never

when

3. As a minister’s wife, how often do you feel there are restrictions placed on how you or your
family live?

Always

Very often

Fairly ofien

Sometimes

Almost never

Never

”99???

149

. As a minister’s wife, how often do you feel you make personal sacrifices in order to
support your husband’s ministry?

Always

Very often

Fairly often

Sometimes

Almost never

Never

Mneage

. Even though I am not paid for fiilfilling my role as a minister’s wife, I receive some
rewards (i.e. gifts, donations, acknowledgments, recognition, or tributes).

Always

Very often

Fairly often

Sometimes

Almost never

Never

mapper

. I believe there are church members who want to see me support my

husband’s ministry.
a. Always
b. Very often
c. Fairly often
d. Sometimes
e. Almost never
f. Never

. My home is a household where church business or matters are handled to some
extent.

Always

Very often

Fairly often

Sometimes

Almost never

Never

H9999?

. How often do people give you special consideration because you are a minister’s
wife?

Always

Very often

Fairly often

Sometimes

Almost never

Never

”999??

150

9. I feel uncomfortable when I receive special neatment as a minister’s wife.
Always

Very often

Fairly often

Sometimes

Almost never

Never

nae-9gp

10. How often do you make contributions of any kind to your husband’s church or
ministry?

Always

Very often

Fairly often

Sometimes

Almost never

Never

”PP-PST!”

If you would like to be considered for an in-depth interview for fitrther study in the fittttre
or to receive a summary of the results please give the following information.

 

 

 

 

Name: Date:
(Please Print)

Address: Phone:

City State

 

 

Thank you for your support!

151

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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