Abstract

This thesis explores parental divorce and its effects on attitudes and behaviors by specifically testing the variables of attitudes toward marriage, levels of life satisfaction, substance abuse, promiscuous sexual activity, levels of educational attainment, and age at marriage. Control variables for father's degree, current family income, race , age, and sex were used to test for spuriousness. The relationship between parental marital status and the above variables were examined within the framework of the symbolic interactionism theory, problem-behavior theory, conflict theory, and resource theory. The sample used for the study was taketi from the National Opinion Research Center's (NORC) General Social Survey for the years 1988, 1989, and 1990. The respondents surveyed were selected to represent the noninstitutionalized English-speaking population age 18 and older within the continental United States. The sample size for each year are as follows: 1988--1,481 respondents, 1989--1,537 respondents, and 1990--1 ,372 respondents. The Crosstabulation technique was used to analyze the data. The Chi-square measurement was used to test for the statistical significance of the relationships between variables. This researcher found that under specified conditions, there is a statistically significant relationship between parental marital status and attitudes toward marriage, levels of life satisfaction, levels of educational attainment, and age at marriage. No relationship was found to exist between parental marital status and substance abuse or promiscuous sexual activity. Future research is suggested, focussing on the same independent and dependent vairiables, with possible controls for mother's degree and siblings in addition to those used in this study. The same sampling and analysis techniques are recommended.

Advisor

Blair, Robert

Department

Sociology and Anthropology

Publication Date

1993

Degree Granted

Bachelor of Arts

Document Type

Senior Independent Study Thesis

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© Copyright 1993 Brent Ponstingle