Our results suggest a majority of new parents adjust well to parenthood in terms of anxiety, while a smaller subgroup of parents experience continually higher levels of anxiety months after the baby is born.
Researchers have suggested that apart from the actual division of household labor, housework ideology and spousal support also influence perceptions of fairness regarding the division of household labor. Furthermore, although only individual perceived fairness predictors are typically examined, researchers acknowledge that an individual’s perceived fairness is often contingent on a combination of characteristics within a couple. In addition to self-perceived fairness, we examined perceptions of fairness for spouse in 104 couples expecting their first child. Results indicate that couple-level actual division of housework and housework ideology significantly predict perceptions of fairness. Furthermore, our data provide evidence to suggest that some predictors’ influence may depend on the level of analysis (couple vs. individual), as well as the type of perceived fairness examined (self vs. spouse). Findings illustrate the importance of considering predictors at the dyadic level, as well as examining self-perceived fairness and spousal perceived fairness as separate constructs.
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