The influence of gender-role attitudes, spousal intimacy, and spousal fusion/individuation on job/family stress in dual-career families

The purpose of this study was to examine the predictive value of a model comprised of gender-role attitudes, spousal intimacy, and spousal fusion/individuation on role strain and time management. Spousal intimacy and spousal fusion/individuation were measured as two separate dimensions. Identical questionnaires were mailed to Knoxville, Tennessee, dual- career couples. Forty-eight couples with one to three children participated. F-ratios showed that the model was not predictive of time management but was predictive of role-strain. Spousal intimacy and gender accounted for a significant amount of variance in role-strain in the combined males and females group. When follow-up analyses of males and females individually were done, a model containing the variables of spousal fusion/individuation and spousal intimacy accounted for a significant amount of variance in the female group.