RELATIVE ASSETS AND CONFORMITY IN ATTITUDES: A TEST OF BARGAINING THEORY ON NEWLY MARRIED INDONESIAN WOMEN
Open Access
Author:
Lankes, Jane Louise
Graduate Program:
Sociology
Degree:
Master of Arts
Document Type:
Master Thesis
Date of Defense:
October 13, 2017
Committee Members:
Roger Kent Finke, Thesis Advisor/Co-Advisor Valarie Elizabeth King, Thesis Advisor/Co-Advisor Nancy Kay Luke, Committee Member
Keywords:
bargaining theory attitudes identity religion Indonesia
Abstract:
The applicability of bargaining theory has been demonstrated across a variety of outcomes, including fertility, housework, migration, household spending, and healthcare, among others. Yet, the outcomes studied thus far are limited in their scope. Scholars have focused on outcomes that are couple-level (not differing between partners), behavioral, or both. Using Waves IV and V of the Indonesia Family Life Survey (IFLS), I test the applicability of bargaining theory to individual-level, non-behavioral outcomes in a sample of newly married Indonesian women. I find that while relative resources replicate past literature for the behavioral outcome of healthcare, they do not predict women’s conformity in attitudinal and identity measures connected to religiosity. The results highlight limitations of bargaining theory, and I discuss potential reasons why the theory does not appear to hold for attitudinal and identity measures.
