The purposes of this study were to examine the occupational goals of women in banking, manufacturing, and education; to examine women's awareness of their own potential; to compare the attitudes of working women toward themselves; to compare the attitudes, self-concepts, and career achievement between females aged twenty-five to thirty-five and females aged forty to fifty; and to compare the attitudes, self-concepts, and career achievement of females in banking, manufacturing, and education.

A national probability sample of over 4,000 American women was surveyed to determine the variables associated with magnitude of satisfaction with life. A life satisfaction index was constructed from the women's responses to satisfaction with five domains of life. Satisfaction with community, leisure, friends, and family were measured on a seven-point scale. Work satisfaction, which was measured on a four-point scale, was weighted to give it comparable status with other components of the index.