Sex typing and division of labor as determinants of marital change across the transition to parenthood.

Abstract

This investigation examines the proposition that wives who describe their personality in ways that deviate from sex stereotypes will become less positive and more negative about their marriage from before to after they become mothers, particularly when the transition to parenthood is accompanied by an increase in the traditionalism of marital roles. Sixty-one couples were studied longitudinally from the last trimester of pregnancy through the third postpartum month. The wives completed the Personal Attributes Questionnaire (Spence & Helmreich, 1978), which measures the extent to which they ascribe personality attributes stereotyped as "masculine" (i.e., instrumental, agentic) and "feminine" (expressive, affectional) to themselves, and several questionnaires assessing the marital relationship at both times of measurement. Results revealed that the more division of labor changed toward traditionalism, the greater the decline in wives' evaluations of the positive aspects of marriage and that changes in wives' evaluations of both positive and negative aspects of marriage can be significantly predicted by the interaction of the wives' expressivity and changes toward increased traditionalism in division of labor. Additional analyses showed that wives who do not ascribe female sex-typed attributes to themselves (relative to those who see themselves in sex-stereotyped ways) are more apt to evaluate their marriage less favorably from before to after parenthood when roles shift toward greater traditionalism.

Father Involvement and Marital Relationship during Transition to Parenthood: Differences between Dual and Single-Earner Families

“…The higher the two final scores, the greater the perceived support of the partner (for the whole scale, α = .90 at T1 and α = .92 at T2). (Belsky et al, 1986): Participants reported the division of seven childrearing tasks using a scale ranging from 1 (always the mother) to 7 (always the father) (e.g., "Who usually feeds the baby?"). A final single score is obtained (ranging from 7 to 49); the higher the score, the greater the father's involvement.…”

“…Studies have also very conclusively shown a strong tendency for sex-typing in the division of labour, with a significant increase in women's commitment to domestic tasks after the transition (Belsky, Lang, & Huston, 1986;Cowan & Cowan, 2000;goldberg & Perry-Jenkins, 2004). Regarding childrearing, the studies that have explored prenatal expectations and father's actual involvement after baby's birth have found that the expectations are very optimistic and inconsistent with father's participation in subsequent months (Belsky et al, 1986;Cowan & Cowan, 2000;goldberg & Perry-Jenkins, 2004).…”

“…Regarding childrearing, the studies that have explored prenatal expectations and father's actual involvement after baby's birth have found that the expectations are very optimistic and inconsistent with father's participation in subsequent months (Belsky et al, 1986;Cowan & Cowan, 2000;goldberg & Perry-Jenkins, 2004). This discrepancy was described by Belsky (1985) as violated expectations, referring to the experience of parents who face a reality quite different from the one they had anticipated.…”

L'interdépendance entre les sous-systèmes conjugal et parental: une analyse personne-processus-contexte

“…Il est probable que les parents partagent moins d'activités gratifiantes et intimes car ils doivent consacrer temps et investissement à leur enfant. Comme le suggèrent aussi certains auteurs, l'avènement de l'enfant peut apporter des changements dans la nature des relations entre les parents en favorisant les échanges instrumentaux au détriment des échanges affectifs (Belsky, Lang, & Huston, 1986). Selon d'autres travaux, l'entente entre les parents sur la façon d'éduquer les enfants constitue une connexion importante entre les sous-systèmes conjugaux et parentaux (Jouriles, Murphy, Farris, Smith, Ritchers, & Waters, 1991).…”

Parental Psychological Distress and Confidence After an Infant’s Birth: The Role of Attachment Representations in Parents of Infants with Congenital Anomalies and Parents of Healthy Infants

“…In response to the additional tasks of childcare after the infant's birth, mothers and fathers tend to adopt more traditional gender roles regarding work and family: while mothers assume the role of main caregivers (i.e., infant care and household), fathers assume the role of providers (i.e., managing family finances; Belsky, Lang, & Huston, 1986;Katz-Wise, Priess, & Hyde, 2010).…”