Gender and Age Differences in Brazilian Children's Friendship Nominations and Peer Sociometric Ratings

This article reports on an investigation into the relation between young adults' retrospective reports of their mothers' and fathers' division of household labor (egalitarian or traditional) and parenting styles (authoritative, permissive, authoritarian, or disengaged). Participants' own gender attitudes were also tested in relation to parents' division of labor and parenting. The sample included 294 women and men (M =19-years old) who were raised in 2-parent households and came from a range of ethnic backgrounds. When mothers' parenting was evaluated, permissive parenting was more likely among those from egalitarian households whereas authoritarian parenting was more likely among those from traditional households. When fathers' parenting was evaluated, authoritative parenting was more likely among participants from egalitarian households and disengaged parenting was more likely among those from traditional households. The association between fathers' parenting style and division of labor was specific to the division of childcare (rather than housework). Participants' gender attitudes were not related to parents' division of labor or parenting style.     

More on the Gendered Division of Household Labor: A Response to Commentators

This article is a response to the commentaries made regarding our original article (Lachance-Grzela and Bouchard 2010), which reviewed the state of research on the division of household labor and summarized the main theoretical perspectives used to explain why women continue to complete the larger share of household tasks. In the following pages, we underline how the commentators were helpful in identifying some limitations of the current research on the allocation of household labor and in suggesting relevant paths for future studies. We discuss points on which the commentators agree, such as the need to achieve a better understanding of all forms of inequalities, and points on which they disagree, such as the way researchers should proceed when studying the impact of national context. We also reply to each individual commentary. In response to Coltrane (2010), we discuss the causal loops that exist between gender inequalities in the private and public spheres. We agree with Davis (2010) who proposed that studying the question from other angles could help understand why household labor continues to be divided along gendered lines. We add to Claffey and Manning’s discussion (2010) of the paradox which stems from the fact that couples often perceive an objectively unequal division of household labor as fair to both partners. In conclusion, we take the opportunity to address additional issues related to the division of household labor. For instance, from a clinical psychology standpoint, we discuss how couples who strive to achieve a more egalitarian division of household labor do so.     

Equality in the division of household labor: a comparative study of Jewish women and Arab Muslim women in Israel

In this study, the author compared perceptions of gender-based equality in the division of household labor among Jewish women (n = 60) and Arab Muslim women (n = 62) from dual-earner families in Israel. Guided by theories regarding the division of household labor, the author also explored the impact of 3 sets of variables--resources, gender-role attitudes, and job flexibility (flextime)--on perceived equality in the division of household labor. The findings revealed that the Jewish women tended to perceive the division of household labor as more egalitarian than did their Arab Muslim counterparts. Furthermore, the Jewish women had more egalitarian gender-role attitudes and more job flexibility than did the Arab Muslim women. However, all 3 sets of variables predicted perceived equality in the division of household labor to the same extent for both groups of women. Moreover, for both groups, education level correlated with attitudes toward household labor and with extent of job flexibility. Overall, the findings suggest that education may contribute to improving women's quality of life in both traditional and modem sociocultural contexts.     

Division of Labor in Student Households: Gender Inequality,Perceived Justice,and Satisfaction

Two studies of households of students sharing flats (Study 1) and cohabitating student couples (Study 2) examined gender inequalities in the division of household labor and related differences in perceived justice of and satisfaction with the division. Results showed that women spent more time and made larger contributions to the majority of tasks in both types of households although male and female students did not differ in time availability and resources contributed to the household. Perceived justice was equally high with both sexes, but women were somewhat less satisfied than men. Both sexes regarded the division of household tasks more just the less it departed from an equal division. Gender role orientation moderated this correlation with men but not with women. Satisfaction ratings were positively correlated with perceived justice and negatively correlated with the relative size of participants' contributions to the household tasks.     

Division of Household and Childcare Labor and Relationship Conflict Among Low-Income New Parents

We examine the relationships among the division of housework and childcare labor, perceptions of its fairness for two types of family labor (housework and childcare), and parents’ relationship conflict across the transition to parenthood. Perceived fairness is examined as a mediator of the relationships between change in the division of housework and childcare and relationship conflict. Working-class, dual-earner couples (n?=?108) in the U.S Northeast were interviewed at five time points from the third trimester of pregnancy and across the first year of parenthood. Research questions addressed whether change in the division of housework and childcare across the transition to parenthood predicted mothers’ and fathers’ relationship conflict, with attention to the mediating role of perceived fairness of these chores. Findings for housework indicated that perceived fairness was related to relationship conflict for mothers and fathers, such that when spouses perceived the change in the division of household tasks to be unfair to either partner, they reported more conflict, However, fairness did not significantly mediate relations between changes in division of household tasks and later relationship conflict. For childcare, fairness mediated relations between mothers’ violated expectations concerning the division of childcare and later conflict such that mothers reported less conflict when they perceived the division of childcare as less unfair to themselves; there was no relationship for fathers. Findings highlight the importance of considering both childcare and household tasks independently in our models and suggest that the division of housework and childcare holds different implications for mothers’ and fathers’ assessments of relationship conflict.     

Multicultural Women's Experience of Household Labor, Conflicts, and Equity

This study examines a group of 419 multicultural women (64 African Americans, 136 Asian Americans, 171 Hispanic Americans, and 48 Middle Eastern Americans) from Southern California. It examines Chafetz's thesis that women with macrolevel power (high socioeconomic status, SES) will show higher levels of conflict with their spouses over household labor. Such conflict is expected to relate to dissatisfaction with the division of household labor as well as time or task differences with spouses over housework. The multicultural women in this study differed among themselves by SES (proportional income, job status, and education) as well as by the household time and tasks with their spouses, but such factors did not influence conflict. Results indicate that regardless of ethnicity or macrolevel power, multicultural women who perform more household tasks than other women are more dissatisfied with the division of labor. These variables alone influence the number of conflicts per week reported by racial and ethnic couples. When reasons for conflict are compared, the equity issue of unfair share is cited more frequently than any others. In general, comparisons with one's spouse on traditional woman's tasks and time on women's work are not salient to the experience of household labor conflicts among multicultural women even when macrolevel power is attained. The majority of our respondents earn 39% of the household income and work for pay 30 hr/week, yet perform the majority of necessary household labor. The proportional income and overall education levels of this sample are similar to Census Bureau statistics for their respective U.S. groups in 1995–1996.     

The influence of parents and family context on children's involvement in household tasks

To determine the relative impact of a number of family variables on children's performance of gender-typed household tasks, this study took account of the gender of the child, the gender of a sibling within the same age range (8–14 years), whether a first or second child and three parental variables: the degree of encouragement given to perform masculineand femininetasks, parental involvement in the same tasks, and parents' general egalitarianism. The sample consisted of 191 white, mainly Anglo Australian two-parent families, with the two oldest children in a boy—boy, girl—girl, boy—girl, or girl—boy sequence. To check on the robustness of effects, measures were taken on two occasions, on average 16 months apart. Among the family context variables, the gender of the child was the strongest contributing variable, with girls doing more feminine tasks than boys and boys doing more masculine tasks than girls. There was limited support for the proposition that first children do more housework than second children of the same gender, while the results for gender of sibling were small and inconsistent. Among the parental variables, encouragement had strong positive effects for feminine tasks (i.e., more encouragement by parents corresponded to more involvement by children). In contrast, parental involvement in the same tasks (modeling) and parental egalitarianism predicted only the performance of masculine tasks, and the direction of the effects was mostly negative (e.g., the more a father was involved in masculine tasks, the less a child did of those tasks). The results point to involvement in gender-typed activities being influenced by multiple factors, with parental encouragement and gender of child being most prominent among these. They also point to the value of sampling on more than one occasion and of considering separately the performance of feminine and masculine tasks. This research was financially supported by the Australian Research Council. We are happy to acknowledge that support, together with the essential assistance of the Department of Education and the many parents and children who participated in the study.     

Wage-Earning Patterns,Perceived Division of Domestic Labor,and Social Support: A Comparative Analysis of Educated Jewish and Arab-Muslim Israelis

In a sample of educated men and women from dual-earner families, we examined differences between Israeli Jews (n = 116), living in a relatively egalitarian society, and Israeli Arab Muslims (n = 163), living in a relatively patriarchal–hierarchical society. Comparisons were made in terms of wage-earning pattern, division of domestic labor, and degree of support given to working people by various family sources, all based on self-reports. Findings indicate that perceived division of domestic labor is characteristically more traditional among Arab-Muslims than among Jews. Arab-Muslim men tend toward lesser participation in household tasks than do Jewish men, but take upon themselves a larger role in public tasks, which are of a representative nature. No differences were found between groups for wage earning: the dominant pattern is the man as primary wage earner (traditional pattern), followed by both spouses earning equal amounts (modern pattern), with few families in which the wife earns more (innovative pattern). In the traditional and innovative patterns, men tended to perform public tasks more than did men in modern wage-earning families. Arab-Muslims and Jews enjoy equal measures of social support; for both, the main source of support is the spouse, followed by the extended family, and then by the children.     

The Division of Labor Among Egalitarian and Traditional Women: Differences in Discontent, Social Comparison, and False Consensus

We compared 118 egalitarian women (subscribers to the Dutch feminist magazine Opzij ) with 118 traditional women (subscribers to the widely read Dutch women's magazine Margriet ). On average, egalitarian women had a more equal division of household labor at home than did traditional women but experienced more discontent about the division of labor in their relationship. Egalitarian women with an unequal division of labor experienced more discontent than did traditional women with an unequal division of labor. Relative to traditional women, egalitarian women more often compared their own contribution to housework with their partner's contribution (relational comparison) and with other women's division of labor (referential comparison). Compared to traditional women, egalitarian women gave higher prevalence estimates of both the percentage of Dutch women doing virtually all housework and the percentage of women unhappy with the division of labor.     

The relationship of sex-role identity,life style,and mental health in suburban american homemakers: 1. Sex role,employment and adjustment

Prior research has suggested that a traditional feminine role may be a mental health liability for women. The present study investigates whether adjustment difficulties among homemakers may be a function of discrepancies between life roles and sex-role orientation. Subjects were 97 suburban mothers divided into full (N=59) and part-time (N=38) homemaker groups. Each subject was given the Bem Sex Role Inventory and SCL-90-R, which yields nine symptom scores and an overall adjustment index. A 4 (sex-roles) by 2 (homemaker status) ANOVA for overall adjustment was carried out. Significant differences were found only for sex roles, androgynous subjects showing significantly less symptomatology than undifferentiated subjects. In a stepwise multiple discriminant analysis, to predict sex roles from the nine symptom scores, masculine and androgynous groups reported symptoms of depression, anxiety, and interpersonal sensitivity much less frequently than feminine and undifferentiated subjects. High masculinity among this group of women (masculine or androgynous sex-role orientation) thus appears as a key factor related to adjustment, whereas life role-sex role consistency does not.     

Parental Division of Household Labour and Sibling Relationship Quality: Family Relationship Mediators

Research examining antecedents to sibling relationship quality have explored factors such as parenting and temperament (Brody, 1998); however, there has been no previous research on the topic of the current study. The present study used a cross‐informant approach to examine parent–child and marital relationships as potential mediators of links between parents' gendered attitudes and behaviours and sibling relationship quality. One hundred and twenty‐four families with older (M = 7.4 years) and younger (M = 5.2 years) siblings were assessed. Parents reported on division of household labour, gender‐role attitudes and marital satisfaction. Each child reported on sibling relationship quality and parental warmth and hostility. Results revealed a link between more egalitarian division of household labour and more positive sibling relationship quality. Furthermore, this association was not mediated by the marital nor parent–child relationship. We conclude that families with a more egalitarian division of household labour may model positive interactions for siblings. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Associations between parental gendered attitudes and behaviours and children’s gender development across middle childhood

The present study used a longitudinal, multi-informant approach to examine which specific elements of parents’ gendered attitudes and behaviours were predictive of multiple dimensions of children’s gender development. One hundred and six families with two children (older sibling M = 7.45 years and younger sibling M = 5.19 years at Time 1) were assessed at two time points four to five years apart. At Time 1, parents reported on division of household labour, their own gender-role attitudes (GRAs), and children’s gendered preferences. At Time 2, children reported on their gendered preferences, GRAs and gendered personality traits. Results from multilevel modelling showed that fathers’ egalitarian GRA and egalitarian division of household tasks were predictive of egalitarian child GRA and outcomes, but child sex did not moderate these relationships. As some gender measures were more strongly correlated than others, these findings highlight the importance of examining multiple dimensions of both children’s and parents’ gendered attitudes and behaviours.     

The Role of Couple Discrepancies in Cognitive and Behavioral Egalitarianism in Marital Quality

Although gender ideologies and perceptions of equity in the division of household tasks have been associated with marital quality, there is limited understanding of the relationship between discrepancies (in husbands’ and wives’ subjective ideals and accounts of the division of labor) and relationship quality. We examined cognitive egalitarianism (beliefs about gender roles), behavioral egalitarianism (perceptions of the division of household tasks and management), and marital quality among 220 heterosexual, newlywed couples (N?=?440) living in east and central regions of the United States. We used multi-level modeling to examine associations between cognitive egalitarianism, behavioral egalitarianism, and marital quality with a specific focus on discrepancies in the reports of husbands and wives. As hypothesized, both husbands and wives had lower marital quality when their cognitive egalitarianism was discrepant from their partner, and such a discrepancy had a greater influence on wives’ reports of marital quality, especially for wives with higher cognitive egalitarianism. Although we expected similar results for the associations between behavioral egalitarianism and marital quality, we found that the strength of the association between wives’ behavioral egalitarianism and marital quality decreased as the discrepancy from their husbands’ behavioral egalitarianism increased. The association between cognitive egalitarianism and marital quality also increased as behavioral egalitarianism increased for wives but not for husbands. The results of this study illustrate the central role of spousal discrepancy in perceptions and enactment of household labor.     

Gendered Division of Childrearing: Ideals,Realities, and the Relationship to Parental Well-Being

Recent cultural expectations about fathers' involvement in childrearing may have changed more rapidly than fathers' behaviors, creating discrepancies between parenting ideals and realities that can generate tensions in family life. In this study, a 1999 national probability sample of 234 married parents, both mothers and fathers expressed strongly egalitarian ideals that fathers should be equally involved in child-rearing across five nurturant domains—discipline, emotional support, play, monitoring, and care-giving—as well as in financial support. In contrast, mothers perceived much less father involvement in actual parenting than fathers perceived—especially in disciplining and providing emotional support for their children. Ideal–actual discrepancies were related to well-being: if fathers were seen as less than ideally involved in nurturant parenting, parents reported more stress and fathers who perceived greater than ideal father involvement in financial support were more likely to say the division of household labor was unfair to the mother. Ideal–actual gaps differed for mothers and fathers and were sometimes differentially related to well-being. For example, less than ideal father involvement in disciplining children was associated with mothers' higher stress levels, and the discrepancy in expectations about father involvement in play and monitoring children was correlated with mothers' increased feelings of unfairness in the household division of labor. On the other hand, fathers who felt an ideal–actual gap in disciplining children almost always felt overly involved in discipline and were less likely to report that the division of labor in the household was unfair to their spouses.     

Just health care (II): Is equality too much?

In a previous essay I criticized Engelhardt's libertarian conception of justice, which grounds the view that society's obligation to assure access to adequate health care for all is a matter of beneficence [1]. Beneficence fails to capture the moral stringency associated with many claims for access to health care. In the present paper I argue that these claims are really matters of justice proper, where justice is conceived along moderate egalitarian lines, such as those suggested by Rawls and Daniels, rather than strong egalitarian lines. Further, given the empirical complexity associated with the distribution of contemporary health care, I argue that what we really need to address the relevant policy issues adequately is a theory of health care justice, as opposed to an all-purpose conception of justice. Daniels has made an important start toward that goal, though there are some large policy areas which I discuss that his account of health care justice does not really speak to. Finally, practical matters of health care justice really need to be addressed in a ‘non-ideal’ mode, a framework in which philosophers have done little.     

Linking Job Work Hours to Women’s Physical Health: The Role of Perceived Unfairness and Household Work Hours

Although the relationship between job work hours and women’s physical health has been examined, limited empirical research examines the family demand conditions that explain this relationship. Given the challenge of integrating work and family demands, we examine the boundary conditions under which job hours relate to women’s physical health by integrating the influences of household work hours, perceived unfairness of division of household labor, and traditional gender ideology. Using a large, multi-national archival dataset, our results show that women working long job hours are more likely to report decreased physical health and that this relationship is moderated by the hours and fairness perceptions of household labor: The lowest physical health was observed at high job hours and high household hours and also when women felt that they did less than their fair share of household labor. However, looking at the slopes of these relationships, the negative relationship between job hours and physical health was stronger when women worked lower household hours or felt that they contributed less than their fair share of household labor—suggesting that maintaining a contribution to household labor might be important for working women. Furthermore, these results suggest that policy and organizational interventions aimed at supporting women’s physical health could take their household labor contributions and fairness perceptions into account when assessing the negative impact of high job work hours.     

Egalitarian Attitudes Towards the Division of Household Labor Among Adolescents in Iceland

Iceland ranks among the most egalitarian nations in the world according to various quantitative indicators. Gender inequalities nevertheless persist, and egalitarian attitudes among youth have declined in recent years. A national survey among 2,031 students aged 15–16 in 2006 showed that girls and adolescents reporting same-sex attraction hold more egalitarian attitudes towards the division of household labor. A family background of distant immigration, traditional families, and economic affluence were associated with less egalitarian attitudes, as were hours of internet use. Both essentialist and neo-liberal gender ideologies tended to legitimize traditional attitudes. An essentialist gender ideology was associated with more traditional attitudes among girls while a neo-liberal gender ideology was more strongly associated with traditional attitudes among boys.     

Explaining the Sense of Family Coherence Among Husbands and Wives: The Israeli Case

ABSTRACT

This study examined variables belonging to the family environment that explain the sense of family coherence among husbands (n = 133) and wives (n = 133) in Israel. Specifically, the explanatory variables tested were spousal power relations (as expressed in equality in the division of household labor and decision making), and perceived family conflict. In general, the sense of family coherence among spouses was found to be high. Perceived family conflict contributed to explaining the sense of family coherence for both husbands and wives. Equality in the division of household labor and in decision making had a greater impact on husbands than wives. Family coherence correlated negatively with age for husbands and positively with income for wives. The explanatory variables had a greater impact on the sense of family coherence among husbands than among wives.     

The Role of Social and Cognitive Processes in the Relationship Between Fear Network and Psychological Distress Among Parents of Children Undergoing Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation

The current study examined whether cognitive and social processing variables mediated the relationship between fear network and depression among parents of children undergoing hematopoietic stem cell transplant (HSCT). Parents whose children were initiating HSCT (N = 179) completed survey measures including fear network, Beck Depression Inventory, cognitive processing variables (positive reappraisal and self-blame) and social processing variables (emotional support and holding back from sharing concerns). Fear network was positively correlated with depression (p < .001). Self-blame and holding back emerged as individual partial mediators in the relationship between fear network and depression. Together they accounted for 34.3 % of the variance in the relationship between fear network and depression. Positive reappraisal and emotional support did not have significant mediating effects. Social and cognitive processes, specifically self-blame and holding back from sharing concerns, play a negative role in parents’ psychological adaptation to fears surrounding a child’s HSCT.     

Attitudes of adolescents toward division of labor in the home

A statewide study of adolescents' attitudes toward division of labor in the home was conducted to determine if adolescents are becoming more egalitarian in their approach to sex roles. This investigation attempted to examine adolescents' attitudes toward household tasks based on gender and maternal employment. A survey-research design was employed to collect data on 893 students in grades 7 to 12 as part of a larger study to develop a profile of today's adolescents. In general, the findings indicated that adolescents' attitudes were still somewhat traditional. Although some variations in sex-role performance of tasks were evident between males and females and students with employed and unemployed mothers, these differences were not significant.