Preferred Timing of Female Life Events

Publisher Website
Google Scholar
Abstract
The present research examines cohort differences in the preferred timing of events in the female life cycle. A modified and extended version of the Age Constraint Scale was administered to three groups of women: a young adult group (N = 80; mean age 20.7), a middle-aged group (N = 80; mean age 44.3), and an old age group (N = 80; mean age 66.1). Each woman answered the scale in terms of her personal timing preferences and in terms of her perceptions of the preferences of women of the other two groups. The results revealed that young adult women preferred later ages for family life events and earlier ages for general life events than either middle- or old-aged women. The most pronounced differences existed between young adult and old-aged women. In addition, the different cohorts misperceived each others' preferences by attributing their own ideals to women of other ages. The findings are discussed in terms of the changing nature of social clocks among contemporary American women.