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.
[ 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 contr ...
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 jobs, remote workers, and annual hours contracts.
#The increasing importance of attitudes and values in affluent modern societies, which gives everyone the freedom to choose their lifestyle
Lifestyle often refers to:
* Lifestyle (sociology), the way a person lives
* ''Otium'', ancient Roman concept of a lifestyle
* Style of life (german: Lebensstil, link=no), dealing with the dynamics of personality
Lifestyle may also refer to:
Bu ...
.
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")
, i ...
, 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.
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 cau ...
, 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. The ...
", 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 = Danish Realm, Kingdom of Denmark
...
).[
]
See also
* Decision theory
Decision theory (or the theory of choice; not to be confused with choice theory) is a branch of applied probability theory concerned with the theory of making decisions based on assigning probabilities to various factors and assigning numerical ...
* Liquidity preference
__NOTOC__
In macroeconomic theory, liquidity preference is the demand for money, considered as liquidity. The concept was first developed by John Maynard Keynes in his book '' The General Theory of Employment, Interest and Money'' (1936) to e ...
* Revealed preference
* Time preference
In economics, time preference (or time discounting, delay discounting, temporal discounting, long-term orientation) is the current relative valuation placed on receiving a good or some cash at an earlier date compared with receiving it at a later ...
Further reading
*
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Preference Theory
Sociological theories