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Social Comparisons and Satisfaction with the Division of Housework

Implications for Men's and Women's Role Strain

University of California, Irvine

Wendy A. Goldberg

University of California, Irvine

Contemporary parents lack clear guidelines for the fair and equitable allocation of family work. According to social comparison theory, under conditions of uncertainty, individuals often compare themselves to others to gain a sense of what is "normal." The authors applied social comparison theory to the examination of satisfaction with the division of housework and the experience of role strain. Results of covariance structure analysis indicated that women reported higher levels of satisfaction when they did less housework than their female friends and greater satisfaction and less role strain when their husbands did more than other male comparison referents. In contrast, men were more satisfied when their wives did more housework than their own mothers did. Satisfaction mediated the link between social comparisons and role strain. Interviews with 25 fathers revealed that some men invoke an image of the "generalized other" to make their own contributions to housework seem more noteworthy.

Key Words: dual-earner couples • social comparisons • fathers • division of labor • gender roles

Journal of Family Issues, Vol. 24, No. 7, 843-866 (2003)
DOI: 10.1177/0192513X03255323


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