ABSTRACT
We began this project in an effort to discover whether women from the seven racial/ethnic groups under investigation preferred or practiced reciprocal empowerment rather than the other forms of power being evaluated. We were also interested in revealing what differences might surface in relation to the women's perceptions of power. Our results were mixed. Survey results indicated that when the women were asked to indicate their level of agreement versus disagreement with statements embodying the attributes of traditional power, empowerment, personal authority, and reciprocal empowerment—overwhelmingly and without exception—they chose those statements which represent personal authority and reciprocal empowerment. Survey results also indicated that although they rejected empowerment, they embraced its attributes when they were stated in a form consistent with reciprocal empowerment. Also without exception, and as anticipated, the women generally rejected traditional power. Yet results from the interview presented a rather interesting turn. At first glance it appeared that the women did not describe reciprocal empowerment; however, a more careful examination of the power attributes used by these women in their responses suggested that many of our participants found affinity with what we now propose as a revised form of reciprocal empowerment.
