Image provided by: University of Nebraska-Lincoln Libraries, Lincoln, NE
About The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 28, 1984)
Tuesday, February 28, 1934 Pago 6 Daily Nebraskan TT Tt Tn rr ir n r n V'W Li I. 1 ri n 7 1 ., w4 k.. -,.-4 v.. coito;j- lUGSfOT o w u u dot a mi hie Fr.cE onirics till r:iD;:iGirr Good.ONLY Feb. 28, 1S34 WEDNESDAY mil h ' Men's Biff lit Sadie Hav'rfns Danee Free Drinks For Men 7-9 P.M. THURSDAY SWimSUIT CONTEST 375 for 1st in both fflon'o U Womon's Classas Plus 4-FERS 7-10 P.m. FRIDAY FREE DRINKS FOR LADIES 7-9 P.M. MONDAY 8 P.M. BOYLESQUE MALE REVUE by Magic Show, for Ladies Only. Ilea admitted after show. 1L DAMCE TO STOOGE'S U EVV VIDEO MUSIC SYSTEM SI00GES7 f . 9th & P St. VJEROCK LINCOLN Balancing 'male' and 'female' traits lessens stress, helps families cope By Mary C. Reiily Today's Nebraska family rejects traditional sex roles and authoritarian family patterns. Instead, it embraces egalitarian marriage, a UNL researcher said. JoEllen Polzien came to this conclusion as she completed her doctoral dissertation in December 19S3 in Community and Human Resources at UNL. To part of a nine-state survey project studying "stress in the middle years of the family," Polzien added a survey in Nebraska studying androgyny. Polzien set out to prove the hypothesis that couples with androgynous characteristics have families that are most successful in dealing with life stress. A man who will cry and nurture children and a woman who is athletic and a leader in the business world have androgynous characteristics. They are more likely to lead happier, more satisfied and more fulfilling lives, according to the study. The psychological concept of androgyny asserts that men and women with a combination of mascu line and feminine characteristics are most comfor table with themselves and life, Polzien said. Sampling 127 families in her Nebraska survey, Polzien found that the most successful are adapta ble and cohesive. An adaptable family has flexibility, democracy and shared power. A family that is cohe sive has strong bonding, or family closeness, Polzien said. "Polzien used the Bern Sexual Inventory to deter mine androgynous characteristics. The couples in the sample had to be in their middle years with at least one child 1 2 to 23 years old. The average age of the couples in the sample was 46. Those who filled out the survey were categorized as 1 ) androgynous, 2) feminine sex-typed, 3) mascu line sex-typed and 4) undifferentiated. Persons who fall in the undifferentiated category score low on both masculine and feminine scales. These people appear to be socially inadequate, the least satisfied with life and have poor family rela tionships, Polzien said. Twenty-five percent of the couples fell into the androgynous category. The degree to which these 25 percent out-scored all the other couples on psycho logical and emotional stress factors is very signifi cant, Polzien said. "Every family is faced with stress," Polzien said. But, she said some overcome it. The study was done to discover why. No particular characteristics, such as gender, age, education level, income or occupation, were com mon to all androgynous couples. One descriptive characteristic did interest Pol zien, however. She said no differences were found in the amount of life stress experienced, between rural and urban areas. "This defies the stereotype that life is laid-back and calm in rural areas," Polzien said. But because Nebraskans are a homogenous group, Polzien said, she will not know if the equal rural-urban stress level is significant until com pared to other states. The idea of androgynous families is "hotly con tested by fundamentalists and conservatives," Pol- O-Jj ! u L;SS' . , r OPEN 7 DAYS M K, MON.-THURS. 11-11 VC FRI. & SAT. 11-12 SUN. 12-11 W .OFF ' ANY ITEM ' - ON MENU including FISH SANDWICHES & DINNERS (carp & catfish) CHICKEN OYSTERS J SHRIMP EXPIRES MARCH 25 COLD BEEXI-& Vr CARRY OUT 1435 Q St LINCOLN 433-2254 IN OMAHA 54S0S. 24th 733-97S3 - , 6372 Ames Ave. 451-8580 FRESH PRE&SFD FISH AVAILARI F FRESH DRESSED CARP ; 'i &S5lb FRESH DRESSED CATFISH -$2.03lb'' FROZEN BREADED SHRlMP$i.508 02 F RESH SE LECT OYSTERS .- $2J5 Pt Chris MedljyDaily Nebraskan zien said. "Leaders of the Moral Majority are making claims that the traditional family is what's needed, what will save America," Polzien said. However, she said, they have no research to back up their claims. The research in the field directly refutes their claims, Polzien said, citing her study. How families spend their recreation time was a very significant factor among androgynous families in the study, Polzien said. Androgynous families had shared interests and shared recreational activities, while sex-typed par ents did not. Traditional authoritarian families reflect a rigid culture which separates sex roles. The man has his night out with the boys, and the woman goes to ladies' clubs while children are left at home, Polzien said. "It makes sense that androgynous parents have shared activities in which the family participates together and in which both parents participate equally with the children," Polzien said. Polzien found only three psychosomatic symp toms out of 12 that had significance in relation to androgyny. The three are: Androgynous people could relax more than others. Although statistics are weak, studies show that androgynous women sleep more soundly than other people. Headaches occurred with the same frequency between males and females regardless of androgy nous characteristics. However, women had more headaches regardless of sex-role stereotyping or androgynous character istics. This is because social roles are more difficult for women, Polzien said. Another section of the study, a family inventory of life events, measured disturbing events internal to the family, such as death, marriages, divorces, school or work. "It is significant that androgynous parents are more disturbed by personal loss concerning rela tives and close friends," Polzien said. "This makes sense, ' she said. The death or loss of a close friend should be disturbing to emotionally healthy people." At present, Polzien is compiling the findings of her dissertation for professional psychology and family life journals. n TV nflt j n;3u:f r.-iv : - Lower Level Atrium , ":475-KD7 . - .