Abstract
The paper presents Foa and Foa's Resource Theory (1974) that was used to develop a self-report, multidimensional measure of family well-being, an indicator of family life quality. Facet theory methods of sentence mapping provided an explicit way to explain how theoretical constructs were translated to operational measures, and a rationale for the use of multidimensional scaling analysis to verify the circular structure of resource classes proposed by the theory. Results of the analyses confirmed the theoretical propositions for a sample of 560 adults and indicated a better fit of the data for women's, compared to the men's model.
Similar content being viewed by others
REFERENCES
Andrews, F. M. and S. S. Withey: 1976, Social Indicators of Well Being (Plenum Press, New York).
Arabie, P., J. D. Carroll and W. S. DeSarbo: 1987, Three-Way Scaling and Clustering (Sage Publications, Newbury Park, CA).
Babbie, E. R.: 1992, The Practice of Social Research (Wadsworth, New York).
Ball, R. E. and L. Robbins: 1986, 'Black husbands' satisfaction with their family life', Journal of Marriage and The Family 48, pp. 849–855.
Becker, M.: 1997, The Family Quality of Life Questionnaire. Unpublished (University of Wisconsin and University of South Florida Mental Health Institute, Madison,WI).
Bestuzher-Landa, I.: 1980, 'Way of life and related concepts as part of a system of social indicators', in A. Szlai and F. Andrews (eds.), The Quality of Life: Comparison Studies (Sage, California).
Bowling, A.: 1995, 'What things are important in people's lives? A survey of the public's judgments to inform scales of health related quality of life', Social Science and Medicine 41(10), pp. 1447–1462.
Brinberg, D. and R. Wood: 1983, 'A resource exchange theory analysis of consumer behavior', Journal of Consumer Research 10, pp. 330–338.
Brinberg, D. and P. Castell: 1993, 'A resource exchange theory approach to interpersonal to interpersonal interactions: A test of Foa's theory', in U. G. Foa, J. Converse, Jr., K. J. Tornblom and E. B. Foa (eds.), Resource Theory: Explorations and Applications (Academic Press, San Diego), pp. 41–64.
Brinberg, D. and S. Ganesan: 1993. 'An application of Foa's resource exchange theory to product positioning', in U. G. Foa, J. Converse, Jr., K. J. Tornblom and E. B. Foa (eds.), Resource Theory: Explorations and Applications (Academic Press, San Diego), pp. 219–231.
Bubolz, M. M. and M. S. Sontag: 1993, 'Human ecology theory', in P. Boss, W. J. Doherty, R. LaRossa, W. Schumm and S. Steinmetz (eds.), Sourcebook of Families Theories and Methods: A Contextual Approach (Plenum Press, New York), pp. 419–447.
]Bunge, M.: 1975, 'What is quality of life indicator?', Social Indicators Research 2, pp. 65–69.
Campbell, S.: 1981, The Sense of Well-Being in America: Recent Patterns and Trends (McGraw-Hill, New York).
Carlsson, M. and E. Hamrin: 1996, 'Measurement of quality of life in women with breast cancer: Development of a life satisfaction questionnaire (LSQ-32) and a comparison with EOTC QLQ-30', Quality of Life Research: An International Journal of Quality of Life Aspects of Treatment, Care and Rehabilitation 5(2)d,pp. 265–274.
Carmines, E. and R. A. Zeller: 1979, Reliability and Validity Assessment (Sage Publications, Beverly Hills, CA).
Dillion, W. R. and M. Goldstein: 1984, Multivariate Analysis: Methods and Applications (Wiley, New York).
Epstein, N., L. Baldwin and D. Bishop: 1987, 'The McMaster family assessment device', in N. Fredman and R. Sherman (eds.), Handbook of Measurements for Marriage and Family Therapy (Brunner/Mazel, New York), pp. 77–81.
Farquhar, M.: 1995, 'Elderly people's definitions of quality of life', Social Science and Medicine 41(10), pp. 1439–1446.
Ferrans, C. E.: 1996, 'Development of a conceptual modal of quality of life', Scholarly Inquiry for Nursing Practice 10(3), pp. 293–304.
Foa, U. B., J. M. Converse, E. Tornblom and E. G. Foa: 1993, Resource Theory: Explorations and Applications (Academic Press, San Diego).
Foa, U. G. and E. B. Foa: 1973, 'Measuring quality of life: can it help solve the ecological crisis?', International Journal of Environmental Studies 5, pp. 21–26.
Foa, U. G. and E. B. Foa: 1974, Societal Structures of TheMind (Charles Thomas, Springfield, IL).
Foa, U. G. and E. B. Foa: 1980, 'Resource theory: Interpersonal behavior as exchange', in K. J. Gergen, M. S. Greenberg and R. Willis (eds.), Social Exchange: Advances in Theory and Research (Plenum Press, New York).
Guttman, L.: 1971, 'Measurement as structural theory', Pscyometrica 36, pp. 329–347.
Hawkes, G. R., R. A. Hansen and J. W. Smith: 1980, Quality of life: Perspectives and Review Agricultural and Home Economics Experiment Station (Iowa State University, Iowa).
Jeffres, L. W. and J. Dobos: 1995, 'Separating peoples satisfaction with life and public perceptions of quality of life in the environment', Social Indicators Research 34(2), pp. 181–211.
Jeffres, L. W. and J. Dobos: 1995, 'Seperating peoples' satisfaction with life and public perceptions of quality of life in the environments', Social Indicators Research 34(2), pp. 181–211.
Kachigan, S. K.: 1986, Statistical Analysis (Radius Press, New York).
Kruskal, J. B. and M. Wish: 1978, Multidimensional Scaling (Sage Publications, Newbury Park, CA).
Kruskal, J. B. and M. Wish: 1991, Multidimensional Scaling (Sage Publications, Newbury Park, CA).
Lowman, J. C.: 1987, 'Inventory of family feelings', in N. Fredman, and R. Sherman (eds.), Handbook of Measurement For Marriage and Family Therapy (Brunner/Mazel New York), pp. 91–99.
Loyer-Carlson, V. L. and K. D. Bird: 1993, 'A test of perceptual indicators of family life quality scale'. Paper presented at the National Council of Family Relations Annual Meeting. Baltimore, MD.
Moos, R. H. and B. S. Moos: 1987, 'Family environment scale', in N. Fredman and R. Sherman (eds.), Handbook of Measurement For Marriage and Family Therapy (Brunner/Mazel, New York), pp. 82–86.
Olson, D. H. and H. L. Barnes: 1987, 'Family quality of life', in N. Fredman and Sherman (eds.), Handbook of Measurement For Marriage and Family Therapy (Brunner/Mazel, New York), pp. 86–190.
Paolucci, B. and M. M. Bubolz: 1980, 'Toward a critical theory of the family'. Paper presented at the Theory and Research Methods Workshop, National Council on Family Relations, Portland, Oregon.
Rettig, K. D. and M. M. Bubolz: 1983a, 'Perceptual indicators of family life quality', Social Indicators Research 12(4), pp. 417–438.
Rettig, K. D. and M. M. Bubolz: 1983b, 'Interpersonal resource exchanges as indicators of quality of marriage', Journal of Marriage and The Family 45(3), pp. 497–509.
Rettig, K. D., R. D. Leichtentritt and L. M. Stanton-Duff: 1997, 'Understanding non custodial fathers' family and life satisfaction from resource theory perspective', Unpublished paper under editorial consideration.
Rettig, K. D., S. M. Danes and J.W. Bauer: 1991, 'Family life quality: Theory and assessment in economically stressed farm families', Social Indicators Research 24, pp. 269–299.
Rettig, K. D., S. M. Danes and J. W. Bauer: 1993, 'Gender differences in perceived family life quality among economically stressed farm families', in U. G. Foa, J. Converse, Jr., K. J. Tornblom and E. B. Foa (eds.), Resource Therapy: Exporations and Applications (Academic Press, San Diego), pp. 123–155.
Rettig, K. D.: 1981, Quality of Life: Theory Indicators and Goals (The American College Professors of Textile and Clothing, St. Louis, MO).
Sayers, S. L. and D. H. Baucom: 1995, 'Multidimensional scaling of spouses attributions for marital conflict', Cognitive Therapy and Research 19(6), pp. 667–693.
Schiffman, S. S., M. C. Reynolds and F. W. Young: 1981, Introduction to Multidimensional Scaling: Theory,Methods, and Applications (Academic Press, San Diego).
Schumm, W. R., E. E. McCallum, M. A. Bugaighis, A. P. Jurich and S. R. Bollman: 1986, 'Characteristics of the Kansas family life satisfaction scale in a regional sample', Psychological Reports 58, pp. 975–980.
Shye, S., D. Elizur and M. Hoffman: 1994, Introduction to Facet Theory: Content, Design, and Intrinsic Data Analysis In Behavioral Research (Sage Publications, Thousand Oaks, CA).
Shye, S.: 1989, 'The systemic life quality model: A basic for urban renewal evaluation', Social Indicators Research 21, pp. 343–378.
Sireci, S. G. and K. F. Geisinger: 1995, 'Using subject matter experts to assess content representation: An MDS analysis', Applied Psychological Measurement 19(3), pp. 241–255.
Steyn, A.: 1996, 'Values that support quality marital and family life', The South American Journal of Sociology 27(4), pp. 143–147.
Szalai, A.: 1980, 'The meaning of comparative research on the qualit6y of life', in A. Szalai and F. Andrews (eds.), The Quality of Life: Comparative Studies (Sage, California).
Voydanoff, P. B., B. Donnenelly and M. A. Fine: 1988, 'Economic distress, social integration, and family satisfaction', Journal of Family Issues 9, pp. 545–563.
Wills, T. A., R. L. Weiss and G. P. Patterson: 1974, 'A behavioral analysis of the determinants of marital satisfaction', Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology 42, pp. 802–811.
Young, F. W., Y. Takane and R. Lewyckyi: 1978, 'ALSCAL: A nonmetric, multidimensional scaling program with several individual differnece options', Behavioral ResearchMethods and Instrumentation 10, pp. 451–453.
Zimmerman, C. and M. Frampton: 1935, Family and Society: A study of the Sociology of Reconstruction (Van Nostrand, New York).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Rettig, K.D., Leichtentritt, R.D. A General Theory for Perceptual Indicators of Family Life Quality. Social Indicators Research 47, 307–342 (1999). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1006837329353
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1006837329353