Abstract
This study used a sample of 121 employed, married (or cohabitating) mothers with a high socioeconomic status (SES) primarily from the Midwest United States to examine the relationship between division of household labor, perceived fairness, and distress. Due to inconsistent findings in prior literature, perceived fairness was examined as both a mediator and moderator between division of household labor and distress. Analyses indicated that perceived fairness played a mediating (but not moderating) role, suggesting that an individual’s perceptions of fairness are one mechanism by which division of household labor influences marital and personal distress in married individuals. Post hoc analyses also indicated that increased marital distress may explain the link between perceived unfairness and personal distress. Although results must be interpreted with caution due to the selectivity of the sample, the present study provides additional support for the importance of perceived fairness in the link between division of household labor and distress.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Adams, G. A., King, L. A., & King, D. W. (1996). Relationships of job and family involvement, family social support, and work-family conflict with job and life satisfaction. The Journal of Applied Psychology, 81, 411–420.
Amato, P. R., & Booth, A. (1995). Changes in gender role attitudes and perceived marital quality. American Sociological Review, 60, 58–66.
Ashmore, R. D., Del Boca, F. K., & Bilder, S. M. (1995). Construction and validation of the Gender Attitude Inventory, a structured inventory to assess multiple dimensions of gender attitudes. Sex Roles, 32, 753–785.
Assh, S. D., & Byers, E. S. (1996). Understanding the co-occurrence of marital distress and depression in women. Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, 13, 537–552.
Bartley, S. J., Blanton, P. W., & Gilliard, J. L. (2005). Husbands and wives in dual-earner marriages: decision-making, gender role attitudes, division of household labor, and equity. Marriage and Family Review, 37, 69–94.
Bentler, P. M. (2006). EQS structural equations program manual. Encino, CA, US: Multivariate Software, Inc.
Bianchi, S., Casper, L., & King, B. (2005). Work, family, health, and well-being. Mahwah, NJ, US: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates Publishers.
Bird, C. E. (1999). Gender, household labor, and psychological distress: The impact of the amount and division of housework. Journal of Health and Social Behavior, 40, 32–45.
Blaisure, K. R., & Allen, K. R. (1995). Feminists and the ideology and practice of marital equality. Journal of Marriage and the Family, 57, 5–19.
Botkin, D. R., Weeks, M. O. N., & Morris, J. E. (2000). Changing marriage role expectations: 1961-1996. Sex Roles, 42, 933–942.
Brim, O. G., Ryff, C. D., & Kessler, R. C. (2004). The MIDUS national survey: An overview. In O. G. Brim, C. D. Ryff, & R. C. Kessler (Eds.), How healthy are we? A national study of well-being at midlife (pp. 1–34). Chicago: The University of Chicago Press.
Coltrane, S. (2000). Research on household labor: modeling and measuring the social embeddedness of routine family work. Journal of Marriage and the Family, 62, 1208–1233.
Davidson, A. R., & Jaccard, J. J. (1979). Variables that moderate the attitude-behavior relation: results of a longitudinal survey. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 37, 1364–1376.
Frisco, M. L., & Williams, K. (2003). Perceived housework equity, marital happiness, and divorce in dual-earner households. Journal of Family Issues, 24, 51–73.
Grote, N. K., & Clark, M. S. (2001). Perceiving unfairness in the family: cause or consequence of marital distress? Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 80, 281–293.
Grote, N. K., Naylor, K. E., & Clark, M. S. (2002). Perceiving the division of family work to be unfair: do social comparisons, enjoyment, and competence matter? Journal of Family Psychology, 16, 510–522.
Hatfield (Walster).E. Walster, G. W., & Berscheid, E. (1978). Equity: Theory and research. Boston: Allyn and Bacon.
Helmreich, R. L., Spence, J. T., & Gibson, R. H. (1982). Sex-role attitudes: 1972–1980. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 8, 656–663.
Hoyle, R. H. (1995). Structural equation modeling: concepts, issues, and applications. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.Kamo, Y. (2000). “He said, she said”: Assessing discrepancies in husbands’ and wives’ reports on the division of household labor. Social Science Research, 29, 459–476.
Jackson, D. L. (2003). Revisiting sample size and number of parameter estimates: some support for the N:q hypothesis. Structural Equation Modeling, 10, 128–141.
Karney, B. R., Kreitz, M. A., & Sweeney, K. A. (2004). Obstacles to ethnic diversity in marital research: on the failure of good intentions. Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, 21, 509–526.
Kamo, Y. (2000). “He said, she said”: assessing discrepancies in husbands’ and wives’ reports of the division of household labor. Social Science Research, 29, 459–476.
King, L. A., & King, D. W. (1985). Sex-role egalitarianism: biographical and personality correlates. Psychological Reports, 57, 787–792.
Kline, R. B. (2005). Principles and practice of structural equation modeling (2nd ed) (pp. 63-66). New York: Guilford Press.
Larsen, K. S., & Long, E. (1988). Attitudes toward sex-roles: traditional or egalitarian? Sex Roles, 19, 1–12.
Lavee, Y., & Katz, R. (2002). Division of labor, perceived fairness, and marital quality: the effect of gender ideology. Journal of Marriage and the Family, 64, 27–39.
Lennon, M. C., & Rosenfield, S. (1994). Relative fairness and the division of housework: the importance of options. American Journal of Sociology, 100, 506–531.
Mills, J., & Clark, M. S. (1994). Communal and exchange relationships: Controversies and research. In R. Erber, & R. Gilmour (Eds.), Theoretical frameworks for personal relationships (pp. 29–42). Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
Nomanguchi, K. M., & Milkie, M. A. (2003). Costs and rewards of children: the effects of becoming a parent on adults’ lives. Journal of Marriage and the Family, 65, 356–374.
Proulx, C. M., Helms, H. M., & Buehler, C. (2007). Marital quality and personal well-being: a meta-analysis. Journal of Marriage and the Family, 69, 576–593.
Radloff, L. S. (1977). The CES-D scale: a self-report depression scale for research in the general population. Applied Psychological Measurement, 1, 385–401.
Rogers, S. J., & Amato, P. R. (2000). Have changes in gender relations affected marital quality? Social Forces, 79, 731–753.
Roxburgh, S. (2004). ‘There just aren’t enough hours in the day’: the mental health consequences of time pressure. Journal of Health and Social Behavior, 45, 115–131.
Sanchez, L., & Gager, C. T. (2000). Hard living, perceived entitlement to a great marriage, and marital dissolution. Journal of Marriage and the Family, 62, 708–722.
Schuster, T., Kessler, R. C., & Aseltine Jr., R. H. (1990). Supportive interactions, negative interactions, and depressed mood. American Journal of Community Psychology, 18, 423–437.
Thompson, L. (1991). Family work: women’s sense of fairness. Journal of Family Issues, 12, 181–196.
Thornton, A. (1989). Changing attitudes toward family issues in the United States. Journal of Marriage and the Family, 51, 873–893.
Voydanoff, P., & Donnelly, B. W. (1999). The intersection of time in activities and perceived unfairness in relation to psychological distress and marital quality. Journal of Marriage and the Family, 61, 739–751.
Whisman, M. A. (2001). The association between depression and marital dissatisfaction. In S. R. H. Beach (Ed.), Marital and family processes in depression: A scientific foundation for clinical practice (pp. 3–24). Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.
Wicker, A. W. (1969). Attitudes versus actions: the relationship between verbal and over behavioral responses to attitude objects. The Journal of Social Issues, 25, 41–78.
Wilkie, J. R., Ferree, M. M., & Ratcliff, K. S. (1998). Gender and fairness: marital satisfaction in two-earner couples. Journal of Marriage and the Family, 60, 577–594.
United States Census Bureau. (January 2008a). Educational attainment in the United States: 2007. Retrieved on September 18, 2008 from: http://www.census.gov/population/www/socdemo/education/cps2007.html
United States Census Bureau. (August 2008b). Income, poverty, and health insurance coverage in the United States: 2007. Retrieved on September 16, 2008 from: http://www.census.gov/prod/2008pubs/p60-235.pdf
United States Department of Labor. (2001). Standard Occupational Classification. Retrieved on September 16, 2008 from: http://www.bls.gov/soc/soc_majo.htm
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Appendix A
Appendix A
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Claffey, S.T., Mickelson, K.D. Division of Household Labor and Distress: The Role of Perceived Fairness for Employed Mothers. Sex Roles 60, 819–831 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11199-008-9578-0
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11199-008-9578-0