EXPLAINING HUSBANDS' PARTICIPATION IN DOMESTIC LABOR

Three hypotheses of husbands participation in domestic labor (i.e., housework and child care) are examined: (1) the relative resources hypothesis states that the more resources (e.g., socioeconomic characteristics) a husband has relative to his wife, the less domestic labor he does; (2) the sex role ideology hypothesis maintains that the more traditional the husband's sex role attitudes, the less domestic labor he performs; and (3) the demand/response capability hypothesis states that the more domestic task demands on a husband and the greater his capacity to respond to them, the greater his participation in domestic labor. OLS regression results from a nationally-representative sample of employed persons overwhelmingly supports the demand/response capability hypothesis. The analysis suggests that neither attitude change nor education will alter the division of domestic labor. Rather, findings indicate that younger men who have children, employed wives, and jobs that do not require long work hours are most likely to be involved in houschold activities.     

Integrative and Masking Emotion Work: Marital Outcomes Among Dual-Earner Couples

This study redresses a gap in the literature concerning the outcomes of emotion work by exploring how both integrative and masking emotion work relate to marital quality and marital conflict. Using data from a random sample of dual-earner couples in a northeastern city in an upper Midwestern state (n = 99 couples), this study explores the emotion-work performance of each partner. The findings show that men’s integrative emotion work is only significantly associated with men’s marital quality, whereas men’s masking emotion work significantly predicts their partner’s marital quality, men’s marital quality, and men’s marital conflict. Women’s integrative emotion work is significantly associated with women’s marital quality and their partner’s marital conflict, whereas women’s masking emotion work predicts women’s marital quality and marital conflict. Altogether, the findings suggest that considering both masking and integrative emotion work helps gain a fuller understanding of how emotion work shapes marital outcomes.     

Community,Family, and Individual Factors Associated with Adolescents’ Vulnerability,Daily Stress,and Well-being Following Family Separation

ABSTRACT

This study identified correlates of resilience among adolescents from separated families. Twenty-four adolescents (age 9–14 years) and their parents completed measures of sociodemographic risk and protective factors, interparental conflict, and adolescent responses to conflict. Adolescents reported their behavior, learning, mood, and anxiety difficulties as well as their stress and well-being using a 5-day diary. Resilient adolescents reported more constructive family representations, reported lower interparental conflict, and were from schools and neighborhoods that were more advantaged. Resilient adolescents reported significantly less stress across the diary days than vulnerable adolescents. The results of this study highlight the role of sociodemographic factors, family functioning, and adolescents’ own individual characteristics in their adjustment to their parents’ separation.     

Moral hazard in marriage: the use of domestic labor as an incentive device

This paper argues that some women in developing countries use domestic labor as a tool to incentivize husbands. A theoretical model is derived based on the traditions of rural Malawi, where men often supplement farm income with wage labor. As wage labor is not observed by the wife, this creates moral hazard: husbands may not make enough effort to bring home wages. The model predicts that women overcome this by using domestic labor as an incentive device: they increase their domestic labor and reduce their leisure in response to good consumption outcomes, but only if they cannot rely on divorce threat as an alternative source of incentives. This prediction is confirmed using survey data from Malawi. Identification is based on the fact that Malawi’s kinship traditions exogenously determine women’s accessibility to divorce. Where divorce is not an option, women make inefficient labor choices in order to provide incentives.     

War is where the hearth is: gendered labor and the everyday reproduction of the geopolitical in the army reserves

The feminized imaginary of “home and hearth” has long been central to the notion of soldiering as masculinist protection. Soldiering and war are not only materialized by gendered imaginaries of home and hearth though, but through everyday labors enacted within the home. Focusing on in-depth qualitative research with women partners and spouses of British Army reservists, we examine how women’s everyday domestic and emotional labor enables reservists to serve, constituting “hearth and home” as a site through which war is made possible. As reservists – who are still overwhelmingly heterosexual men – become increasingly called upon by the state, one must consider how the changing nature of the Army’s procurement of soldiers is also changing demands on women’s labor. Feminist IPE scholars have shown broader trends in the outsourcing of labor to women and its privatization. Our research similarly underscores the significance of everyday gendered labor to the geopolitical. Moreover, we highlight the fragility of military power, given that women can withdraw their labor at any time. The article concludes that paying attention to women’s everyday labor in the home facilitates greater understanding of one of the key sites through which war is both materialized and challenged.     

The effect of parental labor supply on child schooling: evidence from trade liberalization in India

This paper estimates the effect of changes in maternal and paternal labor supply on the schooling rates of children in India using the variation in industry-specific tariffs during a period of trade liberalization. The results show that an increase in maternal labor supplied outside of the household leads to a higher schooling probability for younger children. Specifically, a 1 day per week increase in maternal labor supply is associated with an approximately 5 % points increase in the schooling probability for children between the ages of 7 and 10. However, father’s labor supply has an insignificant effect on child schooling across all specifications. The effect for older children between the ages of 11 and 14, who face a tradeoff between schooling, market work, and domestic work, is also found to be insignificant.     

Parental leave benefits and breastfeeding in Germany: effects of the 2007 reform

While breastfeeding is associated with health benefits for both mothers and children, it may also make it difficult for mothers to return to the labor market early. Maternity and parental leave regulations have been developed to mitigate this conflict. In 2007, Germany passed a reform introducing a new parental leave benefit (Elterngeld). In this paper, we address the question of whether the new parental leave benefit impacts breastfeeding initiation and duration in Germany. We use the reform as an exogenous policy variation to obtain causal evidence on breastfeeding behavior, applying a difference-in-differences approach. Mothers in particular benefit from the reform especially if they were employed prior to childbirth or if they have a household income above the income threshold of the previous parental leave scheme (treatment group). The reform did not bring significant changes within the first year of a child’s life for all other mothers (control group). We draw on representative survey data from the Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP) study. Three breastfeeding measures are used for the 2004 to 2009 cohorts: (1) breastfeeding at birth; (2) breastfeeding for at least 4 months; and (3) breastfeeding for at least 6 months. We find no effect of the Elterngeld reform on breastfeeding initiation but do observe an effect on breastfeeding duration. Our results are robust over various sensitivity tests, including placebo regressions, the application of matching approaches, and controlling for regional indicators, among others. Thus, our empirical results provide evidence that the reform’s goal of allowing parents to spend more time with their children during the first year of life also impacted breastfeeding behavior.     

Emulating Parental Levels of Taking Conflict Personally: Associations with Behavioral and Mental Health Outcomes in Adult Children

Taking conflict personally (TCP) is a construct that measures individuals’ tendency to perceive conflict as a personal attack and focus less on the content of a conflict. This study examined parent–child transmissions of the six dimensions of TCP, as well as the relationship between adult child TCP and their conflict communication, depressive symptoms, and anxiety. Data were collected from 110 (N = 330) mother–father–child triads. The results showed significant links between father-child reports of persecuted feelings (i.e., belief that others intentionally provoke conflict) and stress reactions (i.e., psychological reaction) during conflict. There were also significant links between mother–child reports of positive and negative relational effect (i.e., belief that conflict benefits/damages relationships). Adult children’s reports of four of the six TCP dimensions were associated with their depressive symptoms and anxiety, and the results showed significant indirect effects from parent TCP to adult child verbal aggression, constructive conflict, depressive symptoms, and anxiety.     

A Cross-Cultural Examination of Family Communication Patterns,Parent-Child Closeness,and Conflict Styles in the United States,China, and Saudi Arabia

The current study was designed to examine the impacts of family communication patterns (FCP), relational closeness, and culture on adult children’s conflict styles with their parents. Participants (N = 594) from the United States, China, and Saudi Arabia completed self-report questionnaires that included questions about their family’s conversation and conformity orientations, relational closeness, and their conflict styles with their parents. The results show that conversation orientation is a positive predictor of collaboration and compromise, conformity orientation is a positive predictor of accommodation and avoidance, and relational closeness is a negative predictor of dominance across cultures. Relational closeness also interacts with conversation orientation to influence dominance. The cross-cultural invariance provides empirical evidence of the universal application of FCP in family conflict communication. More importantly, significant interactions between culture and conformity orientation and closeness show that culture’s influence on family communication is better understood through indirect rather than direct roles.     

Beyond the Bedroom: Cognitive,Affective, and Behavioral Responses to Partner Touch in Women With and Without Sexual Problems

Women with female sexual problems (FSP) are more likely than unaffected women to demonstrate negative appraisals, negative affect, and avoidance of sexual activity. Research suggests affected women also experience negative affect and avoidance in response to intimate partner contact for fear it will lead to sex. This online study examined whether women with FSP (N = 157) and without FSP (N = 129) exhibited different perceptions, affective reactions, and behavioral responses to hypothetical touch occurring outside sexual activity. Women (M_age = 30.70; SD = 6.66) were randomly assigned to one of three conditions representing hypothetical interactions with their partner (affectionate, sexual, or no touch), and answered questions about their perceptions of their partner’s sexual intentions and their own anticipated negative affect and behavioral avoidance. Women with FSP reported higher perceptions of sexual intent, negative affect, and avoidance in the sexual touch condition, and higher negative affect in the affectionate touch condition, than women without FSP. Results highlight that women with FSP have more negative reactions to partners’ hypothetical affectionate and sexual touch than women without FSP. Interventions for FSP may benefit from targeting women’s perceptions, affective reactions, and behavioral reactions to partner touch when it occurs outside of explicitly sexual contexts.     

Cross‐Cultural Consistency of the Demand/Withdraw Interaction Pattern in Couples

In order to examine the cross‐cultural consistency of several patterns of couple communication, 363 participants from four different countries (Brazil, Italy, Taiwan, and the United States) completed self‐report measures about communication and satisfaction in their romantic relationships. Across countries, constructive communication was positively associated with relationship satisfaction, whereas demand/withdraw communication was negatively associated with relationship satisfaction. Woman demand/man withdraw communication was significantly more likely than man demand/woman withdraw communication. Also, some evidence suggested women wanted greater closeness versus independence in their relationships than did men. Differences between partners in desire for closeness versus independence were associated with greater demand/withdraw communication. The possible bases for the demand/withdraw pattern of communication and its gender linkage are discussed.     

Tending to the Emotions of Children: Predicting Parental Performance of Emotion Work with Children

Scholars, recognizing emotion work as a type of domestic labor, have examined whether domestic labor theories explain emotion work. Few studies, however, have investigated the predictors of emotion work with children. In this study, the authors examine the usefulness of 3 domestic labor theories (i.e., time availability, relative resources, and gender ideology) in explaining relative emotion work with children. Data are from a random sample of couples with children (N = 96 couples). The results suggest that men's labor force hours are negatively related to men's relative performance of emotion work with children and positively related to women's relative performance. Further, women's traditional gender ideologies are related to increased relative emotion work performance with children for women and decreased relative performance for men. Relative income is also a significant predictor of women's performance of emotion work with children. The authors discuss the implications of the study.     

Exploring Facebook: Attachment Style and Nonverbal Message Characteristics as Predictors of Anticipated Emotional Reactions to Facebook Postings

The present study investigates people’s perceived likelihood of experiencing negative emotion in response to a potentially jealousy-inducing Facebook wall post that was ostensibly sent by a rival. Facebook messages were varied so that participants (n = 821) viewed a message containing text only or text plus either an attractive or unattractive photo of the sender, a winking face emoticon, words in all capitals, or triple exclamation points. Participants were then asked to indicate the degree of negative emotion they would feel if they saw this message on their romantic partner’s Facebook wall. The addition of wink-face emoticons and physical attractiveness cues in a Facebook wall post contributed to differences in likely experienced emotion. Participants also reported a greater likelihood of experiencing negative emotion if they were high in preoccupied attachment and low in dismissive attachment. Finally, women reported being more likely to experience negative interpersonal affect in response to the Facebook post than did men. Implications for the role nonverbal cues play in computer-mediated contexts, such as Facebook, are discussed.     

Ranging characteristics of the domestic cat (Felis catus) in an urban environment

In many countries, high densities of domestic cats (Felis catus) are found in urban habitats where they have the potential to exert considerable predation pressure on their prey. However, little is known of the ranging behaviour of cats in the UK. Twenty cats in suburban Reading, UK, were fitted with GPS trackers to quantify movement patterns. Cats were monitored during the summer and winter for an average of 6.8 24 h periods per season. Mean daily area ranged (95 % MCP) was 1.94 ha. Including all fixes, mean maximum area ranged was 6.88 ha. These are broadly comparable to those observed in urban areas in other countries. Daily area ranged was not affected by the cat’s sex or the season, but was significantly larger at night than during the day. There was no relationship between area ranged and habitat availability. Taking available habitat into account, cat ranging area contained significantly more garden and other green space than urban habitats. If cats were shown to be negatively affecting prey populations, one mitigation option for consideration in housing developments proposed near important wildlife sites would be to incorporate a ‘buffer zone’ in which cat ownership was not permitted. Absolute maximum daily area ranged by a cat in this study was 33.78 ha. This would correspond to an exclusory limit of approximately 300–400 m to minimise the negative effects of cat predation, but this may need to be larger if cat ranging behaviour is negatively affected by population density.     

Parental Conflict and College Student Functioning: Impact of Child Involvement in Conflict

Parental conflict is associated with negative effects on children, and child feelings of involvement in conflict might exacerbate negative outcomes. Research has yet to explore the long-term impact of both parental conflict and caught feelings. In a sample of college students, linear regressions (N = 800) indicated that regardless of parent marital status, children’s feelings of involvement in parental conflict were important predictors of academic and psychological functioning, and in some cases mediated the relationship between conflict and adult child outcomes. Given that parental conflict is common, it appears important to minimize children’s involvement in conflict, as it can have lasting impacts.     

Scale direction effects in agree/disagree and item-specific questions: a comparison of question formats

The effect of the response scale direction on response behavior is a well-known phenomenon in survey research. While there are several approaches to explaining how such response order effects occur, the literature reports mixed evidence. Furthermore, different question formats seem to vary in their susceptibility to these effects. We therefore investigate the occurrence of response order effects in Agree/Disagree (A/D) and Item-Specific (IS) questions. We conducted an experiment among n = 930 students in which we varied the scale direction (decremental vs. incremental) within A/D and IS questions and asked respondents to evaluate the questionnaires. The results reveal response order effects within the A/D but not within the IS question format. Furthermore, respondent’s evaluations suggest that completion of the IS questionnaires requires more consideration than the completion of the A/D questionnaires. Altogether, our findings indicate that IS questions are more robust against response order effects than A/D questions.     

Age‐Related Changes in Demand‐Withdraw Communication Behaviors

Demand‐withdraw communication is a set of conflict‐related behaviors in which one partner blames or pressures while the other partner withdraws or avoids. The present study examined age‐related changes in these behaviors longitudinally over the course of later life stages. One hundred twenty‐seven middle‐aged and older long‐term married couples were observed at 3 time points across 13 years as they engaged in a conversation about an area of relationship conflict. Husbands' and wives' demand‐withdraw behaviors (i.e., blame, pressure, withdrawal, avoidance) were objectively rated by trained coders at each time point. Data were analyzed using dyad‐level latent growth curve models in a structural equation modeling framework. For both husbands and wives, the results showed a longitudinal pattern of increasing avoidance behavior over time and stability in all other demand and withdraw behaviors. This study supports the notion that there is an important developmental shift in the way that conflict is handled in later life.     

Fertility Intentions, Career Considerations and Subsequent Births: The Moderating Effects of Women’s Work Hours

Prior research indicates a negative relationship between women’s labor force participation and fertility at the individual level in the United States, but little is known about the reasons for this relationship beyond work hours. We employed discrete event history models using panel data from the National Survey of Families and Households (N = 2,411) and found that the importance of career considerations mediates the work hours/fertility relationship. Further, fertility intentions and the importance of career considerations were more predictive of birth outcomes as women’s work hours increase. Ultimately, our findings challenge the assumption that working more hours is the direct cause for employed women having fewer children and highlight the importance of career and fertility preferences in fertility outcomes.