Marital Processes Linking Gender Role Attitudes and Marital Satisfaction Among Mexican‐Origin Couples: Application of an Actor–Partner Interdependence Mediation Model

Abstract

Informed by dyadic approaches and culturally informed, ecological perspectives of marriage, we applied an actor-partner interdependence mediation model (APIMeM) in a sample of 120 Mexican-origin couples to examine (a) the associations linking Mexican immigrant husbands' and wives' gender role attitudes to marital satisfaction directly and indirectly through marital processes (i.e., warmth and negativity) and (b) whether the associations between spouses' gender role attitudes and marital processes were moderated by wives' employment. Although previous research has identified spouses' gender role attitudes as potential predictors of spouses' marital satisfaction, no study has examined these links in a dyadic model that elucidates how gender role attitudes may operate through processes to shape marital satisfaction and conditions under which associations may differ. We found that when spouses reported less sex-typed attitudes, their partners reported feeling more connected to them and more satisfied with the marriage, regardless of whether wives were employed. Our results suggest that marital satisfaction was highest for those Mexican-origin couples in which marital partners were less sex-typed in their attitudes about marital roles to the extent that partners' attitudinal role flexibility promoted spouses' feelings of warmth and connection to their partner.

Female Labor Force Status and Couple's Marital Satisfaction: A Chinese Analysis

“…Women's work hours still had same effects on their marital satisfaction, with positive responses between 40 and 60 h but negative responses beyond 60 h. The analysis determines that whether wives participate in the labor market has no effect on their own or their counterparts' marital satisfaction, which contradicts Hypothesis 1. This conclusion follows Vannoy and Philliber (1992), Blair (1998), and Helms et al (2018), who declare that wives' employment has limited effect on couples' marital satisfaction. Wives who work more than 60 h/week negatively affect their marital satisfaction, which contradicts Hypothesis 4 in terms of workload.…”

He hurts her womb: Physical-sexual violence and pregnancy complications among women in Afghanistan

“… 51 Evidence shows that this continuous disagreement often results in low marital satisfaction and violence is often used as a way of dealing with the conflicts or resolving the differences. 52 - 54 However, study shows that these forms of violence can be resolved through counselling like systematic couples therapy and relationship enhancement education and counselling and thus recommends reducing physical, psychological and sexual violence against women during pregnancy in LMIC settings. 55 …”

Gender Role Ideologies, Marital Satisfaction, and Eudaimonic Well-Being in Evangelical Women

“…Mexican American couples rated lower marital satisfaction when the couple held traditional gender role ideologies and the wife was unemployed (Hengstebeck et al, 2015). Mexican American couples also experienced lowered sense of warmth, connection, and intimacy, which in turn related to lowered marital satisfaction, when their partner held sex-typed gender role beliefs (Helms et al, 2019). In addition, Chinese-Canadians reported lower intimacy in marriage and decreased marital satisfaction when the couple held traditional gender role ideologies (Marshall, 2008).…”

“…The above literature indicates that holding more egalitarian gender role ideologies is beneficial for women, specifically for marital satisfaction (Helms et al, 2019; Hengstebeck et al, 2015; Marshall, 2008; Stanik & Bryant, 2012) and eudaimonic well-being (Grieve et al, 1988; Kulik, 2006; van de Vijver, 2007; Weiss et al, 2012). However, these relationships have not been adequately established in an Evangelical population, where the religious influences on these variables may affect the relationships between them.…”