The Interplay between Equity and Gender Ideology in Perceived Housework Fairness: Evidence from an Experimental Vignette Design

Abstract

Previous survey studies on the perceived fairness of the division of housework have suffered from limitations resulting from the use of observational data, namely reverse causation, unobserved heterogeneity, and the difficulty of estimating more than one causal effect at once. This article overcomes these limitations by using an innovative method in this research field: a survey-based vignette design combining the benefits of experiments with a higher capability of generalization. From our findings based on Italian primary data, we argue that equity and gender ideology theories explain different elements of the fairness evaluation process and are not mutually exclusive. Consistent with equity theory, under certain conditions it is considered fair to exchange paid and unpaid time. However, unlike equity theory, the economic value of time is not an issue. Moreover, a request to renegotiate housework is more legitimate if it redresses a prior inequity and, for women, irrespective of the asker's gender. Gender ideology affects partners' equity considerations, weighting their contribution to paid and unpaid work differently.

Housework division and gender ideology: When do attitudes really matter?

“…The role of gender ideology has been also studied in relation to perception of housework fairness (e.g.,Carriero and Todesco 2017) …”

Diverging Trends in Satisfaction With Housework: Declines in Women, Increases in Men

“…Further research is needed to examine whether and to what extent such factors (a) have changed in the suggested ways, (b) influence satisfaction with housework (and fairness evaluations in couples) in the suggested ways, and (c) explain—if adequately measured—the trends observed across cohorts. Research into these issues is challenging given the high demands placed on the data to capture these factors longitudinally as well as potential endogeneity issues related to the performance of and satisfaction with housework (Carriero & Todesco, ).…”

“…Research has shown that gender identities of older cohorts provide such justifications (Lennon & Rosenfield, ; DeMaris & Longmore, ). A related explanation comes from equity theory, which posits that an unbalanced division of housework is considered fair and satisfying if the partner who does less housework compensates for it by doing more market work (Carriero & Todesco, ; DeMaris & Longmore, ).…”

Suicide in China: Community Attitudes and Stigma

“…Vignette experiments consist of a stem, a carefully constructed brief story or description, which is then systematically manipulated based on the factors under examination (e.g., gender, age, ethnicity, comorbidity). This innovative experimental method has been used to investigate a variety of phenomena, (e.g., health and mental health care, stigma, racial microaggression, gender equity, program structure and implementation, procedural justice) across diverse populations, including China, Hong Kong, and South Korea (Bhise et al., 2018; Brewer et al., 2017; Carriero & Todesco, 2017; Gearing et al., 2013, 2015; Haroz et al., 2019; Hughey et al., 2017; Huang et al., 2019; Schwalbe et al., 2013; Trinkner et al., 2019; Walker et al., 2013; Yang et al., 2008).…”