This study investigated the association between relative earnings and depressive symptoms among 578 married women from dual‐earning households. We also examined the moderating role of both spouses' traditional gender role attitudes. Women's relative earnings in their households did not directly predict their depressive symptoms. However, there was a significant three‐way interaction effect of women's relative earnings and both spouses' traditional gender role attitudes on women's depressive symptoms. Particularly, women with considerably stronger‐than‐average traditional gender role attitudes reported more depressive symptoms when their relative earnings were greater and when their husbands showed strong traditional gender role attitudes. However, women holding even slightly weaker‐than‐average traditional gender role attitudes reported significantly fewer depressive symptoms as their relative earnings increased, even when their husbands showed strong traditional gender role attitudes. These results indicate that traditional wives with high relative earnings may feel threatened by the discrepancy between their values (traditional gender role attitudes) and behaviors (high relative earnings), especially when their husbands hold strong traditional gender role attitudes.
This study examined the relationship between spousal levels of materialism and marital satisfaction while considering the moderating role of wives' relative earnings, using the Actor Partner Interdependence Model (APIM). A total of 301 South Korean heterosexual married couples completed the survey. We found that wives' materialism had actor and partner effects on both spouses' marital satisfaction. Husbands' level of materialism was not associated with their own marital satisfaction but had a positive association with wives' marital satisfaction. The interaction between wives' materialism and their relative earnings significantly predicted both spouses' marital satisfaction. That is, the negative relationship between wives' materialism and both spouses' marital satisfaction was stronger when wives' relative earnings were higher. However, wives' materialism was not related to either partner's marital satisfaction when wives' relative earnings were low. These results can be illuminated by gender differences in mating preferences, and characteristics of materialists and South Korean culture.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.