Doctoral Dissertations

Date of Award

12-1994

Degree Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy

Major

Social Work

Major Professor

Catherine Faver

Committee Members

Charles Glisson, Greer Fox, Tom Ladd

Abstract

In order to better understand the difficulties which dual-career couples confront, there is a growing need to investigate the causes and the consequences of the gendered division of household labor, which is hypothesized to be the core problem of dual-career families. The purpose of the study was to develop a comprehensive theoretical model which explains the complex interrelationships among power structure, division of household labor, role conflict, marital satisfaction, and stress. Using the data collected by nonrandom sampling from 191 Korean dual-career couples living in Seoul, Korea, a theoretical model developed in this study was tested. In particular, the effects of different types of power which have not been previously studied (definitional power, personal power, and positional power) were explored. In order to examine gender differences, a male model and a female model were developed separately and compared. For data analysis, a covariance structure analysis (CSA) was used. At first, the most adequate measurement models for power structure and for the endogenous variables were found by means of confirmatory factor analysis (CPA). Then, the best-fitting models for males and females were found through the structural sub-model comparison. As a result of structural analysis, significant relationships between the latent variables were found for the male and female models. As a result of comparing the male and female models, four significant common relationships were found; 1) Greater personal power increases marital satisfaction; 2) Higher level of inter-role conflict increases stress; 3) A husband's greater resource power reduces his share of housework, while a wife's greater resource power increases her share; 4) A husband's greater share of housework reduces his intra-role conflict, whereas a wife's greater share increases her intra-role conflict. The first two relationships can be generalized across genders. The last two relationships, which are also significant for both males and females, differ in the direction of the associations. With the exception of these four common relationships, the analyses revealed substantial gender differences in dual-career family life and marital relationships experienced by husbands and wives. The findings of this study reflect the complex interrelationships between the variables of interest:

1) Husband's division of household labor was negatively associated with his resource power and definitional power, while positively associated with his positional power.

2) Wife's division of household labor was positively associated with her resource power.

3) Husband's intra-role conflict was negatively associated with the amount of housework he shares.

4) Wife's intra-role conflict was positively associated with her share of household tasks, while negatively associated with her resource power.

5) Husband's inter-role conflict was positively associated with his share of housework and his positional power, while negatively associated with his personal power.

6) Wife's inter-role conflict was positively associated with her intra-role conflict.

7) Husband's greater share of housework directly increases his inter-role conflict, and indirectly decreases wife's inter-role conflict.

8) Husband's marital satisfaction is positively related to his greater share of housework and his personal power.

9) Wife's marital satisfaction is positively associated with her greater resource power and her personal power, while negatively associated with her inter-role conflict.

10) Husband's stress is positively associated with his intra-role conflict and inter-role conflict.

11) Wife's stress is positively associated with her inter-role conflict. The gender differences found in the interrelationships among power structure (comprised of four power bases), division of household labor, two types of role conflict, marital satisfaction and stress were discussed. Several strategies to alleviate the difficulties experienced by dual-career couples were suggested for social work practice, and implications for social policy development were discussed.

Download
Files over 3MB may be slow to open. For best results, right-click and select "save as..."

Share

COinS