Empowerment Features in Community : A Comparative Analysis of Women of two

Different Ages

Authors: Dr. Petrescu Poesis Diana Lucia, Toma Roxana Andreea, Marian Amelia Ioana

 

WEST UNIVERSITY OF TIMISOARAFaculty of Sociology and Psychology

Department of Psychology

Eventhough there is not a common consent regarding the definition of power concept, most of the authors admit as essence for the definition that it means the alteration that an agent or an institution causes upon the attitudes and actions of others.

K. Downing (1998) discriminates between Actual Power and Social Power.

Actual Power is the ability of an actor to bring forth or to help to cause definite results, while Social Power is the ability of an actor to deliberately change the constelation of motivs for another actor or actors, of causing or helping to come to some results.

The change of motives structure of an actor through exercising power in the advantage of the actor can be accomplished through diversifing the possibilities spectre, through learning to see the world in a new manner, and implicitly to catch a glimpse of manners of action that before seemed impossible.

Before exercising any influence upon the structures of motives of an actor is very important to have an image of what are the aspects that brings an individual about to take part in actions and makes him assume responsibility for his actions.

Empowerment (Rappaport, 1977) refers to acquire increased powersor the amplification of person’s capacity to actively influence a control upon his own life.

Empowerment refers to the merging of psychological empowerment (the feeling of subject holding and controling upon its relationship with a part of the world) and environment empowerment (resources and possibilities offered/permitted by the environment). (Zani, Palmonari, 2003)

In order to describe the process of empowerment is used the mataphore of a jurney between what’s possible and what’s accomplishable, meaning the purpose of empowerment is to help people to amplify their own posibility for action, to avoid becoming dumbfounded and to give up taking any action in front of a situation they are confrunted with and to enjoy the alternative that brings them satisfaction.

The elements of empowerment can be joined within two core dimensions: an internal positive impulse for actiom and a external “confidence” in the others. Empowerment is conceived as a “positive” direction towards valuation and use of personal and of external resources. (Zani, Palmonari, 2003)

The Concept of Psychological Empowerment

Source: Bruscaglioni (1994)

Internal Locus of Control

Perception of self efficency

Perception ofProficency

(Competence) PsychologicalEmpowerment

Ideology forPossiblity to

have an Influence

Motive/ground for action

and take part in actions

Learnt Hopefullness

The concept of psychological empowerment can be regarded as a complex structure that arises from several dimensions that emerge from at least three different areas (Zani, Palmonari, 2003):

1. a)      Personality (for example assigning to self the results of the own actions, internal locus of control);

2. b)      Knowledge (for example, perception of self efficiency, meaning that the subject feels capable to select and put into practice the most adequate conducts in order to face a given situation);

3. c)      Motivation (for example, the will to take part at actions and the and management of elements of the game). This means that the persons tend to consider that the events are controllable and manageable (propensity for hope) and that it is possible to interfere in order to influence the events (ideology for possibility of change).

RESEARCH HYPOTESIS

1. The influence of parental patterns of authority upon the form of scale of assigned causality dimension for each age group.

2. Emphasizing the specific features of relationship between impulse to action (motivational structure) and the form of scale of assigned causality and control for the considered groups.

3. The ascendancy of parental patterns of authority upon the structure of prevalent needs at personality level for the analyzed age groups.

4. The influence of values promoted by the political system upon the values structure at level of generation.

5. To emphasize of specific features in the structure of dominant needs, of form of scale of assigned causality and of parental patterns of authority for the groups considered within the study.

METHODS USED WITHIN THE STUDY

The Motivational Structure of Personality (Z. Cesare and S. Marke)

Spheres of Control (Paulhus, 1983)

Parental Authority Questionnaire (Baumrind, 1971)

 

VARIABILES :

• Dimensions of Motivational Structure of Personality

• Parental Patterns for Exercising Authority

• Dimensions of Control

(personal, interpersonal and socio-political exercise of control)

• Age of the Subjects

SAMPLE:

There were selected two samples having as criteria the age of the subjects (young adult and grown-up adult ), level of education (college education in development or graduated) and gender (feminine for both samples). Within every sample there was made a random choice of the subjects.

- 34 subjects of feminine gender, with college education in development, having an age mean of 19,31, minimum 18 years old, maximum 23 years old and σ= 0,7

- 30 subjects of feminine gender, with college education graduated, having an age mean of 68,05, minimum 56 years old, maximum 89 years old and σ=9,7

-10

40

90

140

190

NI NIII NV

young adult

Figure 2 – Structure of second level needs

young adult

grown up adult

5

7

9

11

13

15

N1 N3 N5 N7 N9 N11

young adult

Figure 1 – Structure of first level needs

young adult

grown up adult

01020304050

CP CSP

grown upadult

grown up adult

young adult

Figure 3 Dimensions of control

r CP CIP CSP N1 N2 N3 N4 N5 N6 N7 N8 N9 N10 N11 NI NII NIII NIV NV P A M

CP 1

CIP 1

CSP 1

N1 -0.78 1

N2 1

N3 1

N4 1

N5 1

N6 0.63 1

N7 1

N8 1

N9 1

N10 1

N11 1

NI -0.62 1

NII 0.7 0.7 1

NIII 1

NIV 1

NV 1

P 1

A 1

M -0.67 -0.66 1

CP1 0.72

CIP1

CSP1

N11

N21

N31 -0.65 0.89 -0.65

N41

N51

N61 0.71

N71

N81

N91

N101

N111

NI1

NII1

NIII1

NIV1

NV1

P1

A1

M1

Table 1 Correlations on samples for all the variables considered within the study

Table 1 (continued) Correlations on samples for all the variables considered within the studyr CP1 CIP1 CSP1 N11 N21 N31 N41 N51 N61 N71 N81 N91 N101 N111 NI1 NII1 NIII1 NIV1 NV1 P1 A1 M1

CP

CIP

CSP

N1

N2

N3

N4

N5

N6

N7

N8

N9

N10

N11

NI

NII

NIII

NIV

NV

P

A

M

CP1 1

CIP1 1

CSP1 1N11 0.74 1N21 0.7 1N31 1N41 1N51 1N61 0.71 0.76 1N71 0.62 0.67 1N81 1N91 1N101 1N111 1NI1 1NII1 1NIII1 1NIV1 1NV1 1P1 1A1 1M1 0.71 1

Figure 4 Cluster Analysis for Young Adult

Figure 5 Cluster Analysis for Grown Up Adult

CONCLUSIONS

 

• statistic analysis emphasized common features at level of motives (need to dominate, need for performance and aggressive lack of conformism) and at the level of exercising parental authority, the authoritative style being dominant for both samples.

• differences emerged for the manner of exercising control, the young adults showing a better control within interpersonal relations.

• manifestation of authoritarian parental style as a dominant feature brings about a diminution of subject’s capacity to estimate their own abilities for overtaking the obstacles they are confronted with.

• by acquiring control within interpersonal relations determines a an increase of the need to dominate others.

• the development of trust in the ability to influence the political and social area is associated with a diminution of the needs for performance and self exculpating.

• manifestation of aggresivity need dimensions at grown up adults outlines the development of an authoritarian parental style at young adults.

• drawing a parallel between the cluster analysis of each sample emphasized two similar profiles from for the manner of variables grouping regarding the motivational structure of personality, control and patterns of parental authority. The variables that are the most powerful, that increase the manifestation of the others are for both groups the needs of social level: need to exculpate and passive dependency. 

• the transference of values between the two generations – young adults and grown up adults – is a consistent one, the young adults taking over the system of values of the grown up adults.

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