2002 Volume 53 Issue 2 Pages 143-155
This study reports on a field investigation on housewives not including those who work full time. The housewives under study were categorized into five groups on the basis of their intentions towards life sufficiency. We considered their consciousness of their home life as an individual, as a housewife, as a wife and/or as a mother from two points : their specific characteristics, and the structure of their life.
Among these groups, statistically interesting differences are highlighted. Their consciousness or recognition is influenced more by the structure of their life than their specific characteristics. Especially, their consciousness as wife and/or mother is largely influenced by how they get along with their spouse, and their consciousness as housewife is influenced by how important they deem the family ties, in which stage of growth their children are, and/or how large the family income is. Their participation in community activities as individual is another important factor.
Moreover, the degree of their satisfaction in life depends largely on the relationship with other people, and their life sufficiency seems to depend on how to spend time by their own will.
From these findings, it may be said that both their recognition of home life and their pursuits of satisfaction in life based on subjective and autonomous elements are equally important.
