Abstract
We analyzed questionnaires filled out by 23 mothers with careers and rated them as to degrees of autonomy: 26% received a ‘1’ (least autonomous) rating, 39% a 2’, 22% a ‘3’ and 4% (1 person) received a “4’ (most autonomous).
Psychoanalyst Dr. Elizabeth Zetzel (1) stated “The healthy woman should be able to combine successful marriage and motherhood with some sort of personal career.” It would seem that the woman who is most effective at doing so is one who is highly autonomous and, therefore, feels free to construct a non-traditional role for herself. Unfortunately, in our study, these women were very much in the minority. In keeping with our hypothesis, the mere fact that a woman is combining a career and family is not a guaranteed indicator that she is highly autonomous.