This study analyzed marital satisfaction of husbands and wives as a function of the ideal and actual gender roles that they reported. As predicted, the interaction of ideal versus actual roles for wives as reported by the husbands was significant for both husbands and wives, but, contrary to our expectations, the interaction of wives' ideal and actual roles as reported by wives did not predict marital satisfaction for either set of spouses. The results agree, however, with previous research in which husbands' variables have been associated more strongly with marital outcomes than have wives' variables.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
AltrocchiJ.CrosbyR. D. (1989) Clarifying and measuring the concept of traditional vs. egalitarian roles in marriage. Sex Roles, 20, 639–648.
2.
ArnottC. C. (1972) Husbands' attitude and wives' commitment to employment. Journal of Marriage and the Family, 34, 673–684.
3.
BarnettR. C.BaruchG. K. (1987) Social roles, gender, and psychological distress. In BarnettR. C.BienerL.BaruchE. K. (Eds.), Gender and stress. New York: Free Press. Pp. 122–143.
4.
BowenG. L.OrthnerD. K. (1983) Sex-role congruency and marital quality. Journal of Marriage and the Family, 45, 223–230.
5.
CraneD. R.NewfieldN.ArmstrongD. (1984) Predicting divorce at marital therapy intake: wives' distress and the Marital Status Inventory. Journal of Marital and Family Therapy, 10, 305–312.
6.
CronbachL. J. (1951) Coefficient alpha and the internal structure of tests. Psychometrika, 16, 297–334.
7.
CrossmanR. K.StithS. M.BenderM. M. (1990) Sex role egahtarianism and marital violence. Sex Roles, 22, 293–304.
8.
EdmondsV. H. (1967) Marital conventionalization: definition and measurement. Journal of Marriage and the Family, 29, 681–688.
9.
GrimmellD.SternG. S. (1992) The relationship between gender role ideals and psychological well-being. Sex Roles, 27, 487–497.
10.
GubriumJ. F.HolsteinJ. A. (1993) Phenomenology, ethnomethodology, and family discourse. In BossP. G.DohertyW. J.LaRossaR.SchummW. R.SteinmetzS. K. (Eds.), Sourcebook of family theories and methods: a sourcebook. New York: Plenum. Pp. 651–672.
11.
JeongG. J.BollmanS. R.SchummW. R. (1992) Self-reported marital instability as correlated with the Kansas Marital Satisfaction Scale for a sample of Midwestern wives. Psychological Reports, 70, 243–246.
12.
KibriaN.BarnettR. C.BaruchG. K.MarshallN. L.PleckJ. H. (1990) Homemaking-role quality and the psychological well-being and distress of employed women. Sex Roles, 22, 327–347.
13.
LamkeL. K. (1989) Marital adjustment among rural couples: the role of expressiveness. Sex Roles, 21, 579–590.
14.
LaRossaR.ReitzesD. C. (1993) Symbolic Interactionism and family studies. In BossP. G.DohertyW. J.LaRossaR.SchummW. R.SteinmetzS. K. (Eds.), Sourcebook of family theories and methods: a sourcebook. New York: Plenum. Pp. 135–163.
15.
LiJ. T.CaldwellR. A. (1987) Magnitude and directional effects of marital sex-role incongruence on marital adjustment. Journal of Family Issues, 8, 97–110.
16.
MursteinB. I.WilliamsR. (1983) Sex roles and marital adjustment. Small Group Behavior, 14, 77–93.
17.
OsmondM. W.ThorneB. (1993) Feminist theories: the social construction of gender in families and society. In BossP. G.DohertyW. J.LaRossaR.SchummW. R.SteinmetzS. K. (Eds.), Sourcebook of family theories and methods: a sourcebook. New York: Plenum. Pp. 591–623.
18.
PetersonC. D.BaucomD. H.ElliottM. J.FarrP. A. (1989) The relationship between sex role identity and marital adjustment. Sex Roles, 21, 775–787.
19.
SabatelliR. M. (1988) Measurement issues in marital research: a review and critique of contemporary survey instruments. Journal of Marriage and the Family, 50, 891–915.
20.
ScanzoniJ.FoxG. L. (1980) Sex roles, family, and society: the seventies and beyond. Journal of Marriage and the Family, 42, 743–756.
21.
ScanzoniJ.SzinovaczM. (1980) Family decision making: a developmental sex role model. Beverly Hills, CA: Sage.
22.
SchummW. R.BollmanS. R.JurichA. P. (1981) The dimensionality of an abbreviated version of the Relationship Inventory: an urban replication with married couples. Psychological Reports, 48, 51–56.
23.
SchummW. R.JurichA. P.BollmanS. R. (1980) Dimensionality of an abbreviated Relationship Inventory for couples. Journal of Psychology, 105, 225–230.
24.
SchummW. R.JurichA. P.BollmanS. R.BugaighisM. A. (1985) His and her marriage revisited. Journal of Family Issues, 6, 221–227.
25.
SchummW. R.MillikenG. H.JurichA. P.BollmanS. R.JeongG. J.HawkinsonD. P. (1990) Mobility effect models: a comment on Glenn, McRae, and Brody. Social Forces, 69, 617–620.
26.
SchummW. R.Paff-BergenL. A.HatchR. C.ObiorahF. C.CopelandJ. M.MeensL. D.BugaighisM. A. (1986) Concurrent and discriminant validity of the Kansas Marital Satisfaction Scale. Journal of Marriage and the Family, 48, 381–387.
27.
SpanierG. B. (1976) Measuring dyadic adjustment: new scales for assessing the quality of marriage and similar dyads, Journal of Marriage and the Family, 38, 15–28.
28.
TouliatosJ.PerlmutterB. F.StrausM. A. (1990) Handbook of family measurement techniques. Newbury Park, CA: Sage.
29.
WanousJ. P.ReichersA. E. (1996) Estimating the reliability of a single-item measure. Psychological Reports, 78, 631–634.
30.
WeigelD. J.WeigelR. R. (1990) Congruency of preferences for family-based gender roles and family satisfaction in two-generation farm families. Sex Roles, 22, 649–659.
31.
WeissR. L.CerretoM. C. (1980) The Marital Status Inventory: development of a measure of dissolution potential. American Journal of Family Therapy, 8, 80–85.
32.
WhiteM. B.StahmannR. F.FurrowJ. L. (1994) Shorter may be better: a comparison of the Kansas Marital Satisfaction Scale and the Locke-Wallace Marital Adjustment Test. Family Perspective, 28(1), 53–66.
