The Role of the Wife in Farm Decisions. Rural Sociology Monograph Number 5

The study investigated the farm wife's role in decision-making related directly to general farm matters and to the adoption of agricultural innovations. Data were collected in personal interviews of 67 farm wives; statistical analysis yielded five major findings, including: (1) wives seeking information about farm matters were also likely to participate in decisions about those matters; (2) wives who participated in farm tasks tended to participate in decision-making; and (3) the husband's acceptance of agricultural innovations was not associated with his wife's involvement in decisions. Income, farm size, and number of children were negatively associated with the wife's involvement in decision-making. Three independent factors, labeled "wife's business-partner role,""age," and"socioeconomic status," were reflected in the interrelationships among all variables. The clustering of variables concerning the wife's farm activities suggests a package of behaviors associated with her role as farm business partner. The strong relationship between the wife's involvement in farm decisions and her information-seeking activity suggests that such wives might be potential candidates for the Agricultural Extension Service. The study has used the same population involved in four earlier research studies, allowing different aspects of innovation-adoption behavior within the group to be observed. (Author/AJ)