Preference theory is a multidisciplinary (mainly

sociological Sociology is a social science that focuses on society, human social behavior, patterns of social relationships, social interaction, and aspects of culture associated with everyday life. It uses various methods of empirical investigation and ...

) theory developed by

Catherine Hakim Catherine Hakim (born 30 May 1948) ( ar, كاترين حكيم) is a British sociologist who specialises in women's employment and women's issues. She is known for developing the preference theory, for her work on erotic capital and more recen ...

. Republished in 2008, volume 2
pdf.
/ref> It seeks both to explain and predict women's choices regarding investment in productive or reproductive work. Marshall, Gordon (2009),
Preference theory
, in

Description

The theory sets out five socio-economic conditions which jointly create a new scenario: #The

contraceptive Birth control, also known as contraception, anticonception, and fertility control, is the use of methods or devices to prevent unwanted pregnancy. Birth control has been used since ancient times, but effective and safe methods of birth cont ...

revolution gives women reliable control over their own fertility for the first time in history. #The

equal opportunities Equal opportunity is a state of fairness in which individuals are treated similarly, unhampered by artificial barriers, prejudices, or preferences, except when particular distinctions can be explicitly justified. The intent is that the important ...

revolution gives women genuine access to all positions and occupations for the first time in history #The expansion of white-collar occupations, which are more attractive to women and men. #The creation of jobs for secondary earners, such as

part-time job A part-time job is a form of employment that carries fewer hours per week than a full-time job. They work in shifts. The shifts are often rotational. Workers are considered to be part-time if they commonly work fewer than 30 hours per week. Acco ...

remote work Remote work, also called work from home (WFH), work from anywhere, telework, remote job, mobile work, and distance work is an employment arrangement in which employees do not commute to a central place of work, such as an office building, w ...

ers, and annual hours contracts. #The increasing importance of attitudes and values in affluent modern societies, which gives everyone the freedom to choose their lifestyle. Preference theory posits that in the rare countries that have fully achieved the new scenario for women (she cites only Britain and the Netherlands), women have genuine choices as to how they resolve the conflict between paid jobs and a major investment in family life. These choices fall into three main groups: women who prioritise their careers and espouse achievement values (a work-centred lifestyle) and often remain childless by choice (about 20%); women who prioritise family life and sharing values (a home-centred lifestyle) and often have many children and little paid work (about 20%); and the majority of women who seek to combine paid jobs and family work in some way without giving absolute priority to either activity or the accompanying values (the adaptive lifestyle).

Studies

Catherine Hakim carried out two national surveys, in

Britain Britain most often refers to: * The United Kingdom, a sovereign state in Europe comprising the island of Great Britain, the north-eastern part of the island of Ireland and many smaller islands * Great Britain, the largest island in the United King ...

and

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = '' Plus ultra'' ( Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , ...

, to test the theory, and showed that questions eliciting personal preferences can strongly predict women's employment decisions and fertility. In contrast, women's behaviour did not predict their attitudes, showing that lifestyle preferences are not ''post hoc'' rationalisations. This study also showed that other sex-role attitudes do not have the same impact on women's behaviour; notably, the patriarchal values measured by most social surveys, including the European Social Survey, have virtually no impact on women's personal choices and behaviour.

Criticism

Hakim’s preference theory has attracted great interest in the literature, but also considerable criticism. The main criticism is that it does not demonstrate

causality Causality (also referred to as causation, or cause and effect) is influence by which one event, process, state, or object (''a'' ''cause'') contributes to the production of another event, process, state, or object (an ''effect'') where the ca ...

, that the observed preferences causes changes in fertility patterns, and that it has been suggested that actual fertility may change values and preferences. It has also been suggested that the observed effect of lifestyle preferences on achieved fertility may absorbed by other factors when controlled for.Pdf of working paper version.
/ref> A follow-up study "found that Hakim’s typology does not work well in the

Czech Republic The Czech Republic, or simply Czechia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Historically known as Bohemia, it is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the southeast. Th ...

", that there were no important differences in fertility between the three groups in that country. A second follow-up study, surveying eleven European countries, found support for the theory in only two countries (Britain and

Denmark ) , song = ( en, "King Christian stood by the lofty mast") , song_type = National and royal anthem , image_map = EU-Denmark.svg , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of Denmark , establishe ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Preference Theory Sociological theories

Description

Studies

Criticism

See also

Further reading

References