Honors Theses

Advisor

Catherine Lutz Zois, Ph.D.

Department

Psychology

Publication Date

4-2018

Document Type

Honors Thesis

Abstract

Although husbands today may contribute more home and family labor than in previous decades, the type of contributions they make tend to be those of a “helpmate,” leaving the responsibility for organizing and managing housework and childcare to their wives. Gordon and Whelan-Berry (2005) found that husbands generally spent more time “doing” rather than “managing” in the household. The present study sought to examine working wives’ perceptions of how much their husbands “do” and/or “manage” in terms of housework and childcare. Results provide quantitative support for the high incidence of high-doing but low-managing husbands and shed light on the different implications that husbands’ various contributions have for wives’ marital and life satisfaction. Husbands’ “doing” behavior emerges above their “managing” behavior in terms of its importance in predicting wives’ satisfaction, suggesting that the “helpmate husband” arrangement is not only tolerated, but perhaps even preferred among some women.

Permission Statement

This item is protected by copyright law (Title 17, U.S. Code) and may only be used for noncommercial, educational, and scholarly purposes

Keywords

Undergraduate research

Disciplines

Psychology

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