Investigating Gender Differences in the Meaning of Household Chores and Child Care

Abstract

ࡗ Investigating Gender Differences in the Meaning of Household Chores and Child CareThis study examines factors related to the affective meanings (evaluation, potency, and activity) that spouses and cohabitors (N ϭ 309) attach to child care, baby care, and 9 household chores. Gender is related to about a third of these task meanings. Consistent with the feminine care hypothesis, women consider baby care and laundry especially good, potent, and active and consider meal preparation particularly powerful, although contrary to this hypothesis women evaluate washing dishes less positively than men. Consistent with the masculine care hypothesis, men consider auto work and yard work especially good and powerful. When paid and unpaid work patterns are controlled, however, 9 of the 12 gender differences become nonsignificant and 4 new gender differences are identified, suggesting that work patterns both mediate and suppress some gender differences in task meanings. Gender also moderates the relationship between work and 12 task meanings. In several of these equations, women's proportion of nonmasculine work is negatively related to the goodness or the power they associate with a nonmasculine task.The performance of domestic labor can be an expression of love and affection, but it can also feel unpleasant and burdensome; it can be a source of power, but it can also convey weakness (DeVault,

Paid Work and Domestic Labor in Disadvantaged Communities on the Outskirts of Beirut, Lebanon

“…In general, the results show that women perform most of the household labor. In accordance with other published studies, women continue to assume the primary responsibility for the traditionally feminine tasks such as cooking, cleaning, doing the laundry, and attending to children's needs (Antill & Cotton, 1988;Kroska, 2003). The exceptions are in the tasks that are more traditionally associated with men, such as home management, including purchasing drinking water and kerosene for heating purposes, and maintenance tasks, including household and car maintenance.…”

Elderly co-residence and the household responsibilities hypothesis: evidence from Nanjing, China

“…This hypothesis suggests that partners with greater resources are more likely to negotiate their way out of domestic work, which is akin to the economic argument of Gary Becker (1971) that it is "rational" that the partner with the highest wages would spend more time at the salaried job (including the commute) and less time on domestic work to maximize utility. Another hypothesis in the sociology of domestic work divisions, the gender ideology hypothesis, posits that spouses with liberal attitudes divide domestic work more equitably than spouses with conservative or traditional attitudes (Kroska, 2003).…”

“…In addition to these studies of transportation and geography, sociological research on domestic work divisions also sheds light on the interpretation of gender differences in travel behavior (Kroska, 2003;Wang et al, 2010). For instance, the relative resource hypothesis focuses on the role of partner resources, such as earnings, education level, and occupational status, in the bargaining of domestic work divisions (Wang et al, 2010).…”

Relations entre le soutien aux besoins d'autonomie, de compétence et d'affiliation offert par les médecins et la famille et la motivation spécifique à l'activité physique, à l'alimentation et à l'adhérence médicamenteuse chez des patients coronariens du Saguenay-Lac-St-Jean /

“…D'une part, les auteurs ont étudié une population de patients souffrant d'obésité plutôt que de MCV, étudié uniquement le soutien à l'autonomie plutôt que l'ensemble des types de soutien comme 85 le fait la présente étude et considéré un échantillon représenté principalement par des femmes (73% de participation féminine en comparaison de 19,4% pour l'étude actuelle). Tel que rapporté précédemment, les tâches relatives à l'alimentation incombent principalement au sexe féminin (Kroska, 2003). Par conséquent, puisque 73 % des participants sont des femmes, il serait possible de croire que la composition de l'échantillon de l'étude de Williams et al (1996) favorise une association significative entre la motivation autodéterminée et la modification de comportements alimentaires.…”