Abstract
The positive association between energy used and social complexity proposed by Leslie White and his students is examined at the microsociological level of the household. The hypothesis is tested within matrifocal households supported either by welfare or by the mother's earnings. White's macrosociological proposition is found to be conditional on other cultural, social organizational factors. Household energy consumption rises to the extent that the family establishes ties with outside social organizations, with an increase in the tempo of household activity, and, pari passu,with the expressiveness of the personality of the female household head. Energy consumption is a way of coping with the effects of reduced social organizational and personality order. These social factors interact with demographic and technological factors in determining a social organization's level of energy consumption. By considering the institutional, organizational, and motivational measures suggested in this paper, the unreliability of energy use predictions may be reduced.
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This is part of a larger study of “Paternal Authority and the Outcome of Work Training and Income Maintenance Programs” supported by the Grant 51-42-73-05/21-42-74-31 by the Employment and Training Administration of the U.S. Department of Labor to the Center for Research on the Acts of Man, Philadelphia. The author, not the Department, is responsible for the assertions herein. For assistance in the preparation of these materials the author is indebted to Albert J. Kostelny, Jr., Joseph R. Piasecki, the Institute for Survey Research at Temple University, and the Energy Center of the University of Pennsylvania.
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Klausner, S.Z. Social order and energy consumption in matrifocal households. Hum Ecol 7, 21–39 (1979). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00889350
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00889350