Spouses’ Gender Role Attitudes, Wives’ Employment Status, and Mexican-Origin Husbands’ Marital Satisfaction

Abstract

Informed by Peplau's (1983) theory of roles, this study examined the complex interplay between spouses' gender role attitudes and wives' employment status as a predictor of Mexican-origin husbands' marital satisfaction. Dissonance between spouses' gender role attitudes about how marital roles should be and the actual behavior enacted within the couple was hypothesized to be inversely related to husbands' marital satisfaction. Data were gathered during in-home interviews with 120 Mexican-origin, legally married and "living as married" couples living in North Carolina in 2007-2008. Hierarchical regression analyses revealed (a) a negative association between wives' employment and husbands' marital satisfaction, (b) that wives' sex-typed gender role attitudes were negatively related to husbands' marital satisfaction only in marriages in which husbands were more sex-typed, and (c) that the negative association between wives' sex-typed gender role attitudes and husbands' marital satisfaction was stronger for employed wives than non-employed wives. These findings were further qualified by a three-way interaction between wives' employment and spouses' gender role attitudes, indicating that in couples with non-employed wives, wives' more sex-typed gender role attitudes were more negatively associated with the marital satisfaction of husbands with more sex-typed attitudes than husbands with less sex-typed attitudes. Specifically, the three-way interaction showed that for couples with non-employed wives, husbands' marital satisfaction was lowest in marital contexts in which both spouses endorsed more sex-typed gender role attitudes.

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

“…Results from this study challenge the historically dominant narrative in early theoretical writings and empirical studies that depicted Mexican-origin couples' sex-typed gender role attitudes as a Mexican cultural value protective of marriage (e.g., Peñalosa, 1968). Our findings offer additional support to an emerging body of research informing clinical practice that underscores within-group variability in Mexican-origin spouses' attitudes and experiences (Parra-Cardona et al, 2008;Updegraff & Umaña-Taylor, 2015) and suggest that the most resilient couples are likely to embrace role flexibility in the context of immigration (Glick, 2010;Hengstebeck et al, 2015). These findings are particularly meaningful given the relatively homogeneous nature of our sample of predominantly lowincome, Spanish-speaking, immigrant couples.…”

Longitudinal Changes Among Latino/a Immigrant Parental Acculturation and Extra-Familial Immigration-Related Stress

“…Although there was not a significant movement toward biculturalism, fathers remained relatively at the same level as reported in baseline measurements. In contrast, fathers in the control condition moved toward a Latino orientation, a finding that contrasts with research indicating that men tend to acculturate at a faster rate than women (Falconier et al, 2013; Hengstebeck et al, 2015). The context in which this study was implemented is considered a Latino enclave in Michigan; however, the specific reasons behind the fathers’ change in the control group toward a Latino orientation can be clarified only in future longitudinal research.…”

External stressors and trajectories of marital quality during the early years of Chinese marriage: Buffering effects of resources at multiple ecological levels

“…As the intended outcome, husbands and wives can overcome constraints along with gendered expectations and maximize the benefits of all available resources. Such intended outcomes may be generalized outside of China to other underrepresented social cultural contexts in which husbands are expected to be providers whereas wives are expected to be housekeepers (e.g., Mexican American households; Hengstebeck et al, 2015).…”