This study investigated the attitudes of sixty-four adolescents who completed an instrument designed to measure attitudes toward factors which influence mate selection. The hypotheses examined attitudes toward mate selection and gender, socioeconomic status, educational goals, family structure, and preferred age at marriage. The data were analyzed by calculating percentages and mean scores. The analysis of data revealed that adolescents valued personality-oriented characteristics as the most important characteristics desired in a mate; males and females held different values for certain factors; adolescents from various socioeconomic levels held different values for certain factors; adolescents with different educational goals, and adolescents residing in various family structures held similar values for each factor; and adolescents with various preferences for age at marriage held different values for certain factors.

The purpose of this study was to test the effectiveness of a teaching unit for improving self-esteem in high school students. To measure the level of self-esteem, the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale was chosen. The data were compiled from twenty-one high school students in a rural Texas high school. The female level of self-esteem was significantly lower than the male self-esteem level prior to studying the class unit. There were no significant differences in levels of self-esteem on the pretest and post test, although there was a slight improvement in the female level.

The purpose of this study was to determine the attitudes of retail sales personnel toward shoplifting as well as toward procedures and devices designed to minimize shoplifting. The study also sought to examine employees' recall of training in regard to shoplifting and its prevention. It was concluded that most of the employees are aware of the high cost of shoplifting to retail stores. The majority of the employees do not define shoplifting in terms of the value of the merchandise taken. Uniformed guards, locked display cases and electronic article surveillance devices were ranked high in terms of effectiveness as shoplifting prevention devices. The majority of employees reported they had received training to prevent shoplifting but also indicated they desired more training in certain areas.

The problem of this study was to determine if the sex role identification, age, education, and income of employed married couples were related to their perception of who should and does perform household tasks. The forty-five couples were volunteers from organizations for working women. Each spouse completed a Bem Sex Role Inventory and a Household Task Inventory. Using Chi-square and t-tests no significant differences were found between sex role identification, education level, income level, and the sharing of household tasks. When a Pearson product-moment correlation coefficient was used, age and sharing of household tasks were found to have an inverse relationship with the young sharing more tasks. The study concluded that couples expect household tasks to be shared but females tend to perform the traditional feminine tasks and males the traditional masculine tasks.

Quality of housing was examined in relation to living arrangement, race, socioeconomic status, age, gender, income, health, and renter-owner status. There appeared to be differences in housing quality for those of younger ages, females, and owners. White subjects occupied good quality housing while Blacks occupied fair quality housing. Proportion of income allocated to housing was examined by renter-owner status, race, gender and living arrangement. Renters allocated an average of 34 per cent compared to 17 per cent for owners. Females living alone occupied good quality housing, committed the highest proportion of income to housing, and one-third had incomes below the poverty threshold while two-thirds were near poverty. Subjects allocated more for utilities than others over sixty-five, nationally.

This study is an assessment of preferences and the perceived satisfaction of clothing for a group of large-sized women shopping in the Dallas metropolitan area. Demographic information was gathered from the respondents to compare the relationship between the clothing preferences and the demographic variables. The participants in this study were sixty large-sized women who shopped in two large-sized specialty stores in Dallas, Texas. The data were collected by use of a personal interview instrument developed by the researcher. This study concludes that large-sized women perceived the selection of large-sized clothing ranging from good to fair with variation in their satisfaction of style, price, fabric, and availability. Large-sized women prefer the following style features: the A-line skirt, the V-neckline, the A-line dress, the bishop sleeve, the solid fabric design, and the color green.

This study is an investigation of factors which determine father involvement in infant caretaking activities. Concerns involved fathers' past parental relationships, fathers' preparation for childbirth, sex of the infant, complexity of the caretaking task, fathers' participation in childbirth, fathers' desire for a male or female infant, and amount of early physical contact between father and infant. Data indicated significant relationships between father participation and the sex of the child, complexity of the caretaking activity, and amount of early physical contact between the father and infant. Data indicated no significant relationships between father participation and fathers' past parental relationships, fathers' preparation for childbirth, fathers' participation in childbirth, and fathers' desires for a male or female infant.

This study investigated factors influencing the selection of apparel worn to work by women who attended fashion and wardrobe seminars in the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex. Clothing selection factors were analyzed by computer according to age, marital status, work status and education. The majority most frequently wore suits and separates to work. Single participants preferred separates. Most wore sizes considered average. Respondents most frequently purchased apparel from department stores. Brand name and designer apparel were occasionally purchased. Though interested, few respondents had taken advantage of personal consultant services. It was recommended that retailers make wardrobe services known to the public.

This study analyzed male high school students' perceptions of the child development course and father role. A two-part questionnaire was administered to 192 males. In Part I, descriptive statistics determined that more males would enroll in child development if the female-oriented image was changed, if they knew more about the course, and if their friends enrolled. In Part II, a t-test was used to analyze the results of the FRO. Six hypotheses examined the perceptions of males with and without parent training toward father roles of nurturing, problem solver, provider, societal model, recreational, and total scores of both groups. Results indicated males without parent training had a more traditional view toward the problem-solver role.

The purpose of the study was to investigate teenage girls' attitudes toward fashion advertising and media. The study also sought to determine the influence of class enrollment and employment on attitudes toward fashion advertising. The data were collected by questionnaires administered to 121 high school girls enrolled in child development and fashion design major study classes. Descriptive statistics were computed along with a t-test for the difference between means for independent samples. Teenagers were found to possess many positive attitudes toward fashion advertising and to view print advertising less negatively than broadcast advertising. A highly significant difference was found between attitudes toward fashion advertising and class enrollment. In addition, a significant difference was found between attitudes toward fashion advertising and employment.