Psychology of Women Quarterly, 14 (1990), 567-577. Printed in the United States of America.

WOMEN GROWING STRONGER WITH AGE

The Effect of Status in the United States and Kenya

Judith Todd California State University, Dominguez Hills

Ariella Friedman University of Tel Aviv

Priscilla Wanjiru Kariuki University o f Nairobi

Previous research suggests that there is a shift in the perceived balance of interpersonal power in the second half of life in favor of older women, towards equality between men and women. To see if this age shift in power is universal, a study of women in two cultures, the United States and Kenya, examined the effect of status on the shift. As an indirect measure of interpersonal power, Thematic Apperception Test (TAT) stories were collected from 60 U.S. and 60 Kenyan women and rated by trained judges for aspects of the interpersonal power of the characters in the stories. In each country there were two groups of 15 women under age 36 and 15 women over age 44, one of higher and one of lower status. In both countries, only the higher status women showed the shift in power with age. That status modulated the shift in power with age in two different cultures is discussed in terms of the necessity for a resource base for power.

We thank Professor 0. L. E. Mbatia of the University of Nairobi and Dr. Leonard Moite of California State University, Dominguez Hills, for their kind assistance with arrangements in Kenya. This research was partially supported by a grant to the first author from the California State University Research, Scholarship, Creative Activities Awards Programs.

Requests for reprints should be sent to: Judith Todd, Department of Psychology, California State University, Dominguez Hills, Carson, CA 90747.

Published by Cambridge University Press 0361-6843190 $5.00 + '00 567

5 68 TODD, FREIDMAN, A N D K A R l U K l

A common stereotype in the United States is that the social, economic, and psychological status of the older woman is negative. Older women are often seen as unattractive, poor, helpless, and lonely. The evidence suggests that the reality is quite different. For example, older women whose chil- dren have left home have a greater sense of well-being (Campbell, Con- verse, & Rodgers, 1976), a lower rate of depression (Randolff, 1975), and an improved marital relationship (Glenn, 1975), compared to younger women with children at home.

Studies of interpersonal power - the social control an individual has over others, or more simply, the ability to get one’s way- also contradict nega- tive stereotypes about older women. Gutmann (1987), Neugarten (1968), and others (Friedman, 1987; Hesse-Biber & Williamson, 1984; Levinson, 1978; Todd & Friedman, 1979; Vaillant, 1977; Veroff, Reuman, & Feld, 1984) reported studies that demonstrate an increase in the perceived strength, confidence, and interpersonal power of women relative to men in the second half of life. In a series of cross-cultural studies utilizing the Thematic Apperception Test (TAT), Gutmann (1987) found that both older women and older men tell stories in which the female character is as strong as or stronger than the male character, as compared to the stories of young- er men and women, who see the female as relatively powerless. In a U.S. study, also with the TAT, Neugarten (1968) reported a shift in perceived power toward equality between men and women in older age groups. In a series of studies with her students in Israel, Friedman (1987) found a shift in the balance of power between spouses over the lifespan, with older women becoming relatively less dependent on their husbands and older men becoming more dependent on their wives and more invested in the relationship. This finding suggested that women’s tendency towards nur- turance and investment in the relationship was viewed in the later years as admirable and desirable, rather than as a sign of weakness as it was in the younger years.

The problem comes in the explanation of this so-called “shift in power with age,” a phrase that implies both a developmental change in individu- als and a change in the balance of power between people. Several explana- tions varying along the biological-sociological dimension have been of- fered. Neugarten (1968) suggested that the power shift reflects a decrease in gender role differentiation with age, with men becoming more “femi- nine” and women becoming more “masculine.” Gutmann (1987) believed that the biologically determined reproductive role of each gender causes certain aspects of personality to be expressed or suppressed. While both women and men have the potential to be both nurturant and powerful, the “parental emergency” requires women to nurture the children and men to earn the living and be powerful; the end of the “parental emergency” allows older women to express the previously suppressed powerful side of themselves. Rossi (1980) attributed the shift in power with age to hormonal changes in interaction with social changes.

Women, Power, and Age 569

The more biological views, such as Gutmann’s, ignore the cultural, social, and economic context in which aging takes place. They fail to consider the possibility that interpersonal power requires a resource base in the form of economic resources, social status, or other variables such as attractiveness (Hesse-Biber & Williamson, 1984). Much of the previous research has been conducted in the .United States, where middle-class women have a relatively secure economic base and can expect to grow more prosperous with age, a social condition that may account for their shift in power with age. Previous researchers have utilized cross-sectional designs, so longitudinal interpretations cannot be made. For practical rea- sons probably shared with other studies, the present research does not address this problem. The purpose of the present study was to investigate the effect of higher or lower status on the shift in power with age, and to see whether the modulating effect of status occurs in a country other than the United States.

Because it is difficult to assess interpersonal power directly and cross- culturally, this study incorporated the use of the TAT, a projective measure, as previous studies have done. Interviews with direct questions would be ineffective. Power is an issue that is difficult to talk about, and women especially are inhibited from speaking about or even recognizing their own power. In some countries, such as Kenya, it is considered intrusive to ask people directly about their behavior or opinions. Data from direct ques- tions are subject to distortion by untruths, social desirability, and inaccu- rate memory. Using the indirect, projective TAT as a measure avoids these problems.

To examine the effect of status on the shift in power with age in two different countries, four urban samples of younger and older women were compared: Caucasian and African-American women in the United States, and middle- and lower-class women in Kenya. Because of racism in Ameri- ca, Caucasian women hold a higher status than African-Americans, and so they have a social status basis for power. Furthermore, African-American women are poorer than Caucasians on average and suffer the power-reduc- ing stigma of both race and gender. In the United States, race is accepted as a status variable by most researchers (Webster & Driskell, 1978, 1983). Kenya was chosen for comparison because race is not a status variable there, at least not among Kenyans of African descent, a majority of the population. The higher status middle-class Kenyan women have both a social status and an economic basis for interpersonal power, while poor, lower-class Kenyan women have neither.

Several predictions were made. Because of their higher status, Cauca- sian women were predicted to see women as more powerful than African- Americans would, whereas middle-class Kenyan women would see women as more powerful than the lower class would. Within these differences, it was predicted that the Caucasian women and the middle-class Kenyan women, both groups with a basis for interpersonal power, would show the

5 70 TODD, FREIDMAN, AND KARIUKI

shift in power with age, while the African-American and lower-class Ken- yan women would not. If more biological explanations, such as those by Gutmann (1987), are correct, then all women should show the shift in power with age, regardless of status.

While not a major point of interest for this study, a difference between two cultures as different as the United States and Kenya would not be surprising. Because the political, social, economic, and family roles of Kenyans and AmericanLare not comparable, any difference between them on a psychological measure should not be over-interpreted. Nevertheless, it was thought that because women’s rights are not as strong in Kenya, where wife beating and polygamy are socially acceptable among some groups and are not prohibited by law (Mbeo & Ooko-Ombaka, 1989), as in the United States, American women would see women as more powerful than would Kenyan women.

METHOD

Participants

A total of 120 participants included 15 women age 35 and younger and 15 women age 45 and older from each of four urban groups: U.S. Caucasians, African-Americans, Kenyan middle-class women, and Kenyan lower-class women. The age range was 21-60. Among the younger groups, the mean ages were 26.1 for Caucasians, 26.8 for African-Americans, 29.7 for mid- dle-class Kenyans, and 29.8 for lower-class Kenyans. Among the older groups, the mean age was 51.3 for Caucasians, 49.3 for African-Ameri- cans, 50.3 for middle-class Kenyans, and 47.2 for lower-class Kenyans.

The Americans were students in the Human Services Program at Cali- fornia State University, Dominguez Hills (CSUDH), an urban university with a largely adult student body. AT CSUDH the Caucasian students are drawn from the middle-class neighborhoods, while the African-Americans come from working-class and lower-class neighborhoods near the universi- ty, The average family income of Caucasian students is higher than that of African-American students, although the difference is not great. The Cau- casian participants were housewives, small businesswomen, secretaries, and airline attendants. The African-American participants were employed as clerks, nurses’ aids, teachers’ aids, postal workers, and childcare work- ers; none were housewives.

All Kenyan participants were of African descent. The middle-class Ken- yan women were secretaries, librarians, teachers, and travel agents in Nairobi, while the lower-class women were cleaners at the University of Nairobi and various hotels in Nairobi. The salaries of cleaners in Nairobi in 1989 ranged from $35-50 a month, while middle-class salaries were 10 to 20 times as much.

Women, Power, and Age

Materials

571

Card 4 of the TAT was used to collect stories from the American sample. This card depicts a man who appears to be emotionally upset looking away from a women who is behind him but holding on to him with one hand. This card has been used in previous cross-cultural research on interpersonal power and age (Friedman, 1987; Gutmann, 1987). A copy of Card 4, but drawn with African characters, was used to collect stories from the Kenyan sample.

Proced u re

Data collection. Students in the first author’s classes at California State University, Dominguez Hills, were asked to participate during class time in a study on interpersonal influence. They were asked to sign a consent form, which contained a brief explanation of the study, and then read a cover sheet. The cover sheet asked them to indicate their gender, age, and ethnic group, and instructed them as follows: “Write a story about what is going on in the attached picture. In your story, please tell what is going on, what led up to it, what the characters are thinking and feeling, and how the story ends.”

Stories were collected in several classes until there were 15 stories each from Caucasian and African-American women under age 36 and over age 44, after eliminating stories by men or by women between 36-44 or from other ethnic groups.

In Kenya, middle-class women with whom one or more of the authors was acquainted were approached individually and asked to participate in the study. They were given an oral explanation of the study, and they gave an oral consent. They were given the same cover sheet as above and a copy of the Africanized TAT picture. They took these materials away, wrote their stories privately, and returned them when finished. All these partici- pants were fluent in English and wrote their stories in English, which is taught in all schools in Kenya. Stories were collected until there were 15 from women under age 36 and 15 from women over age 44.

For the lower-class sample, the first two authors approached individual cleaning women at the University of Nairobi and at hotels in Nairobi and invited them to participate in an interview for a small payment ($2-5). They were told that we were teachers interested in studying women in Kenya, that we wanted to learn about their attitudes and beliefs, and that one way to do this is to ask people to tell a story about a picture. Most women seemed interested and pleased to be asked, but a few declined to participate and expressed fear and suspicion. Interviews with individual women were conducted in English or through a hired interpreter, and the women were asked to tell a story, which was written down by one of the interviewers. The oral instructions were similar to the written instructions

5 72 TODD, FREIDMAN, AND KARIUKI

given to other participants. Some women gave long stories, but it was necessary to ask some of them quite a few questions about the picture and the feelings and behaviors of the characters in order to elicit a story. After the story, we conducted an unstructured discussion of the story, our re- search, our lives, and their lives. Almost all the women seemed to enjoy the storytelling and the interviews very much, and many made intimate self- disclosures and asked for advice and help. Again, stories were collected until there were enough in each age group.

Data analysis. Two paid graduate students in psychology, one male and one female, at California State University, Dominguez Hills, were trained to rate the TAT stories on several dimensions of interpersonal pow- er. Neither rater had previous experience with the TAT, and training by the first author consisted of a detailed explanation of the rating scales along with practice ratings until all concerned agreed that they understood how to make the ratings. All stories were rated independently by the two judges, who were blind as to the ethnicity or country of the writer. Stories were rated in a randomized order.

All ratings were made on 5-point scales, with (1) being the more “nega- tive” pole and (5) being the more “positive.” The judges first rated the overall tone of the story on one scale from (1) negative, painful, or unhap- p y to (5) positive, romantic, or optimistic. They rated the ending of the story on a second scale from bad, sad, or tragic, to good, happy, or harmo- nious resolution. Then they checked the main theme of the story from a list of nine common themes, such as “Man rejects woman, woman clings on” or “Man has problem external to the relationship, woman helps or com- forts him.”

There was a separate rating sheet for the female character in each TAT story. The judges rated the overall personality of the female characters on three scales: (a) insecure or vulnerable to emotionally secure or confident, (b) weak to strong, and (c) powerless to powerful. “Weak was further described as “immature, irresponsible,” while “strong” was further de- scribed as “mature, responsible, holds family together.” “Powerless” was also described as “helpless, cannot get way,” while “powerful” was an- chored with “gets own way, calls the shots, influential.” These scales were used because previous research (Friedman, 1987) suggested that at least these three dimensions are important aspects of interpersonal power for women. While these dimensions are probably correlated in most cases, some women told stories in which the female character had no power to affect her outcomes, but nevertheless felt strong as a person, while other female characters were insecure or weak, but were able to get their own way.

In addition, the judges were asked to indicate whether the female char- acter got her way or got what she wanted or needed by the end of the story. Finally, they were asked to list 3 influence strategies used by the female

Women, Power, and Age 573

character from a list of 16 defined strategies, such as bargaining, reason- ing, suggesting, and withdrawal, categories developed from research by Falbo (1982) and others (Falbo 8c Peplau, 1980).

A similar rating sheet was used for the male character in each TAT story. Judges rated the overall personality of the male character on the same three dimensions, indicated whether the male character got his way in the end, and listed the influence strategies the male character used.

Reliability of the rating scales was assessed by the correla- tion between the two judges’ ratings for the female character in the TAT stories. The correlations were T = .71 for the vulnerable-secure scale, T = .56 for the weak-strong scale, and T = .78 for the powerless-powerful scale. Judges agreed as to the main theme of 83% of the stories. As to whether the story character got his or her way, judges agreed as to “yes” or “no or unclear” for 91% of the characters. Agreement between judges on the categories of influence strategies was an unacceptable 18%, and there- fore the strategy data were excluded from further analysis.

Reliability.

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

First, the data on the female character in the TAT stories were analyzed. For each scale the mean of the two judges’ ratings was used. Although previous studies have found three aspects to women’s interpersonal power (Friedman, 1987), the three scales in this study were highly correlated. The correlation between the ratings of the female character on the vulnerable- secure and weak-strong scales was r = .71, p < .01; between the weak- strong and powerless-powerful scales, T = .60, p < .01; and between vul- nerable-secure and powerless-powerful, T = .67, p < .01. Furthermore, there were no differences in the means between the three scales. Therefore, the ratings of the three scales were averaged for an overall power score, which served as the dependent variable in the subsequent analysis.

The mean ratings of the female character in the TAT stories on overall power for each group of subjects are presented in Table 1. A 2 (Status) x 2 (Age) x 2 (Country) analysis of variance on these overall power ratings revealed a significant main effect for status, F(1, 112) = 31.33, p < .001; a significant main effect for age, F(1, 112) = 9.30, p < .01; a significant main effect for country, F(1, 112) = 6.35, p < .05; and a significant in- teraction for Status x Age, F(1, 112) = 5.58, p < .05. None of the other interactions were significant. As predicted, the stories of women of higher status showed greater power than those of lower status, and the stories of older woman showed greater power than those of younger women. While a main effect for country is not surprising, the direction of the difference was unexpected: Kenyan women scored higher on perceived power than Amer- icans, although almost all the effect comes from the extremely high scores of the middle class. The significant Status x Age interaction showed, as

5 74 TODD, FREIDMAN, AND KARIUKI

Table 1 Mean ratings of female TAT character on overall power

United States Kenya African- Middle Lower

Caucasians Americans Class Class ~~

Age < 36 M 2.84 2.60 3.61 2.76 SD 1.09 .91 .94 .83 Age > 44 M 3.82 2.74 4.50 2.84 SD .77 1.20 .47 .83

predicted, that there was a shift in power with age for Caucasian but not African-American women and for middle-class but not lower-class Kenyan women.

Other evidence supported the findings of the analysis of variance. The overall tone of the stories was rated very negatively, M = 1.58, SD = 0.62, by all subjects, probably because of the stimulus value of that partic- ular TAT picture, which “pulls” themes of conflict and unhappiness. How- ever, subjects differed in the endings they gave their stories. Another 2 x 2 x 2 ANOVA on the ratings of the story endings revealed one significant difference, a main effect for status, F(1, 112) = 13.85, p < .01. The mean rating of the story endings of Caucasians and Kenyan middle-class women of all ages was 3.62, while the mean rating of the story endings of African-Americans and Kenyan lower-class women was 2.67. All the wom- en told stories with unhappy themes, but the stories of prosperous women ended optimistically, and those of poorer women ended badly. This differ- ence may reflect how the two groups of women perceive the likely out- comes in their own lives.

Theme analysis also supported this status difference. The most common themes of the stories were “Man rejects woman, woman clings on” (36%), “Man has problem external to the relationship, woman clings on” (14%), “Man has problem external to the relationship, woman helps or comforts him” (14%), and “Other” (12%). While again the stimulus value of the TAT picture may “pull” themes of male rejection, these themes were not equally distributed among groups of participants. The first theme was found in 24% and 20% of the stories of Caucasians and middle-class Ken- yan woman, respectively, while it was found in 43% and 58% of those of African-American and lower-class Kenyan women, respectively. When the first two themes, both of which involve a woman clinging to a man, were combined, these figures became 33 % and 28 % of the stories of Caucasians and middle-cIass Kenyans, and 77% and 62% of those of African-Ameri- cans and lower-class Kenyans. The theme of a relatively helpless, depen-

Women, Power, and Age 5 75

dent female clinging to a rejecting or problematic male may reflect how women of lower status experience the position of women relative to men in their own lives.

The data on whether the character gets her or his way by the end of the story supported the ANOVA findings regarding the shift in power with age. Stories in which both judges agreed that the female character got her way and the male character did not or it was not clear whether he did were found more frequently among the older women in the Caucasian and middle-class Kenyan groups than among any of the other groups. In the United States, there were 10 such stories among the older Caucasian wom- en and only 4 each among the younger Caucasians and the African-Ameri- cans of both ages; this difference approached significance, ~ ~ ( 1 ) = 2.76, p < . lo. In Kenya there were 9 such stories among the older middle-class women, 3 among the younger middle-class, 2 among the older lower-class, and 4 among the younger lower-class; this difference was significant, ~‘(1) = 13.64, p < .01. Only among women of higher status was there an increase with age in the frequency of stories with relatively powerful fe- male characters.

For the male character in the TAT stories, there were no group differ- ences among any of the ratings, all of which tended to be close to 3.0. In general, the stories did not contain as much information about the behav- iors or motivations of the male character as about the female character. With little information, the judges tended to resort to using the neutral scale point of 3 in their ratings. While this tendency results in data with no differences, it may support the projective assumption that women story- tellers identify more closely with the female character in the story than with the male. Alternatively, the absence of much information about the male character may reflect a lack of understanding of males or a relative lack of interest in that character. Since it seems reasonable to assume that women’s lack of power relative to men would make men’s power more salient to women, this lack of difference .in the women’s perception of men’s behavior merits further study. It would also be interesting to repli- cate the present study with male subjects and to investigate the possibility of gender differences in the perception of others’ power.

Consistent with previous research, this study employed the TAT as a measure of perceived interpersonal power. It is assumed that individuals project their own internal personality dynamics, emotions, and percep- tions onto the somewhat ambiguous stimulus of the TAT picture when they tell a story about it. Although dimensions of interpersonal power can be quantitatively and reliably scored from TAT data, does this measure reflect how individuals perceive themselves, how they perceive others, how they actually behave, merely their best description of the stimulus, a “cultural myth,” or some combination of these possibilities? Clearly, the presence of common themes indicates that the stimulus determines the story to some degree. However, differences between groups suggest that the stories reflect

5 76 TODD, FREIDMAN, AND KARIUKI individual differences in the perception of women’s relative interpersonal power in at least some situations, and possibly in the storyteller’s own experience. Future research on women’s interpersonal power which uti- lizes the TAT needs to address this issue; it would also be valuable to investigate whether there is a relation between the stories women tell involving interpersonal power and how they behave.

If we accept the usual assumption that TAT stories reflect to some degree how women perceive the power relations between men and women, then we can conclude that there appears to be a relation between women’s status and how they view the power relations between men and women. Women of higher status tell stories about stronger female characters than do women of lower status. Interpersonal power requires a concrete under- pinning. In the American sample, social status based on race led to differ- ences in power ratings of the TAT stories. In Kenya, the middle-class wom- en had higher social status but also much greater economic resources than the lower-class women. The extreme differential in economic resources among Kenyan women may have led the middle-class Kenyan women, with salaries 10 to 20 times higher than those of lower-class women, to tell stories with the most powerful women characters of all.

Consistent with previous research, this study demonstrated an apparent shift in power with age in favor of older women. Older women tell stories about stronger female characters than do younger women, but only if they are of higher status and therefore have some type of resource on which to base interpersonal power. Women with no basis for power have little per- ceived interpersonal power, which is unlikely to increase with age. If any- thing, the social status of American women, where youth is revered, and the economic position of Kenyan women, where poverty and economic reverses are common, are likely to decrease with age. As long as they retain the advantages of social status or economic security, older women show the shift in power with age.

It is interesting that the shift in power with age was affected by status in two very different countries and with different bases for status, a finding that strengthens the conclusion that the shift in power with age is not universal. However, because this study used a cross-sectional design, longi- tudinal conclusions cannot be drawn. It can be argued that among the higher status women the higher perceived power of the older women repre- sents a genuine lifespan development. It seems unlikely that these women, who grew up under more traditional conditions than today’s younger women, were more powerful when they were young than today’s younger women. It is more likely that they were similar to or even less powerful than today’s younger women, and grew stronger with age. However, it can also be argued that among the lower status women, the power scores of the older women still represent an increase in perceived power with age be- cause they may have started out much less powerful than today’s younger women. Therefore, although it may seem unlikely, it cannot be concluded

Women, Power, andAge 577

that these older women did not exhibit an increase in power with age. Thus the question of biologicaf determinism of the shift in power with age, as with all nature-nurture questions, cannot be answered with certainty from the present data.

The biological process of aging is affected by the social context in which aging takes place. It is clear that aging is not necessarily a negative process for women, especially for those entering midlife. Women of higher status, with the resources on which to base interpersonal power, can look forward to growing stronger with age and having higher perceived power in mid- life.

First draft received: October 23, 1989 Final draft received: April 7, 1990

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