Full Citation

Title: Changes in Provider Role Conduct and Provider Role Culture in the U.S. Since the 1940s

Citation Type: Dissertation/Thesis

Publication Year: 2001

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Abstract: Since the 1940's, the provider role has changed dramatically, both in terms of provider role conduct, or the actual behavior of men, and provider role culture, or the beliefs and attitudes men hold about being a provider. Although the majority of men are not providers today, many support the idea that a man should be a provider in his family. The extant literature demonstrates that the good provider role is often central to a man's sense of self and definition of masculinity, even if he himself does not fulfill that role. Although men's family and career choices are diverging, images of the good provider persist. The literature also suggests that provider role conduct is changing rapidly, but that provider role culture has not kept pace. This asynchronous change can be largely explained by the link between the provider role and masculinity, which is reinforced at both the familial and societal level. Census data was utilized to track provider role behavior from the 1940 through the 1990 census. Cross-tabulations were used to do a life course, cohort analysis of men. Four main groups of men were tracked: providers, shared providers, autonomous men and non-providers. These were termed men's work and family orientations. There are far fewer providers today than sixty years ago, with older cohorts being much more likely to be providers than younger cohorts are. On the other hand, there are far more shared providers today, with younger cohorts being much more likely to be shared providers. There are also far more autonomous men today, as well as an increase in older non-providers today who apparently retire early. For men under 50, there is a very low percentage of non-working men. This shows how strong the norm ofemployment is for married women. As hypothesized, provider role culture has also changed, but not as rapidly as provider role conduct. Provider role culture was measure by utilizing data from the General Social Survey. These data were used to track men's attitudes to four responses measuringvarious gender-related topics. Cross-tabulations were used to compare men's responses to these measures by their work and family orientation and to track these over time. Overall, men have become more egalitarian over time. Men were more likely to agree with women's equality at the macro-level, such as voting for a woman president and believing that women should participate equally in running the country. There were not significant differences between work and family orientations within these macro-level constructs. However, all men, and especially providers and non-providers, were less likely to be egalitarian in situations where women's equality affects them directly, such as the division of labor within their homes or if women's workplace equality affects their own real or perceived job security. In such micro-level measures of gender attitudes, the differences between work and family orientations were much more significant.

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Authors: Smith, Erin Foster

Institution: Brigham Young University

Department: Department of Sociology

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Degree: Master of Science

Publisher Location: Provo, UT

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Data Collections: IPUMS USA

Topics: Family and Marriage, Labor Force and Occupational Structure

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