Combining professional work with family responsibilities – a burden or a blessing?

This paper investigates job-related distress and satisfaction with the work--family interface in various combinations of professional work and family responsibilities in Sweden. The study is based on the self-reports of 1,764 male and female university graduates in paid employment and with children at home. For both women and men, conditions at work seem to be most important. However, the division of responsibilities between partners was also found to have an impact, but in different ways for women and men. Only in families where both partners are gainfully employed and share the domestic work and financial responsibilities, was the psychological well-being and the work--family interface satisfactory for both women and men. In other families, negative effects for either women or men are noticed. The conclusion is that multiple roles and shared responsibilities and demands in the private sphere promote health among both women and men.     

Gender differences in the effect of social resources and social status on the retirement satisfaction and health of retirees

This study explores the effect of positive and negative social support, social reciprocity, and subjective social status on the retirement satisfaction and health of retirees and gender differences therein. Using cross-sectional data from the 2010 and 2012 waves of the Health and Retirement Study (HRS), we found that social support seems to matter more for the retirement satisfaction and health of women, while social reciprocity matters more for the health of men and subjective social status for the retirement satisfaction of men. Implications for the development of social programs and policies over the life course are discussed.     

Does gender ideology explain differences between countries regarding the involvement of women and of men in paid and unpaid work?

Women spend more time doing household work than men, and men spend more time working at paying jobs outside the home than women. But studies also show that there are major differences between countries regarding the degree to which women and men involve themselves in different kinds of labour activity. The main aim of the article is to analyse the significance of gender ideology when studying differences between countries regarding the involvement of women and men in paid and unpaid work. The analysis is based on national random samples from ten OECD countries that were collected within the framework of ISSP 1994. The conclusions are: (a) gender ideology has an impact in all the studied countries on the degree to which women and men involve and engage themselves in labour and (b) gender ideology partially explains the differences between countries regarding women's and men's involvement in paid and unpaid work.     

Women and men – same problems, different treatment

The focus on difference between men and women has been important in the development of gender-specific treatment for alcohol and drug problems. The aim of this article is to examine the views of alcohol and drug treatment staff on differences between men and women in treatment and compare men and women in treatment on issues related to staff attitudes. One data set consists of questionnaires sent to staff working with alcohol and drug problems in Stockholm County (n = 918). Another data set consists of interviews with women and men in treatment for alcohol and drug problems in Stockholm (n = 1865). The results show that staff experience differences between men and women both in their problems and in how they should be treated. Some of these differences are supported by the comparison of women and men in the client-data, but mostly the differences are relatively small or even non-existent.     

The life satisfaction of elderly Chinese widows living alone and those living with adult children

Care of China's elderly population is of concern due to its projected growth as well as to changes in elder care patterns related to shifting social and economic conditions. Increases in life expectancy and, therefore, in the duration of widowhood, particularly for women, magnifies this concern. Studies that examine the living arrangements and life satisfaction of elderly widows in China are limited. This study of 147 elderly widows, both men and women, examined differences in the life satisfaction of those who live with their adult children and those who live alone. This study also examined whether the relationship between living arrangement and life satisfaction was moderated by levels of family and community support. According to study findings, elderly widows living alone have higher life satisfaction than those living with their adult children, and this effect remains with the introduction of controls for health status, family support, community support, gender, age, income and educational level. Further, neither family nor community support moderate the relationship between living arrangement and life satisfaction, although each exerts a direct effect on life satisfaction.     

Gender, Interpersonal Power, and Social Influence

This article reviews research on gender differences in power and their effect on social influence. Evidence indicates that men generally possess higher levels of expert and legitimate power than women do and that women possess higher levels of referent power than men do. These differences are reflected, to some extent, in the influence strategies used by men and women and, more clearly, in gender differences in social influence. Women generally have greater difficulty exerting influence than men do, particularly when they use influence that conveys competence and authority. These findings indicate that gender differences in influence are mediated by gender differences in power.     

性别失衡背景下农民工心理失范的性别差异研究

本文从角色视角,利用调查数据,分析性别失衡背景下农民工心理失范的性别差异及其机制。研究发现,性别、婚姻状况和与“养家糊口”相关的社会角色及特征对农民工的心理失范具有显著影响,其中,男性的心理失范程度要比女性严重,婚姻状态对农民工的心理失范影响没有性别差异,与“养家糊口”相关的社会角色及特征对农民工心理失范的影响存在性别差异。研究进一步发展了暴露差异理论与脆弱性差异理论,认为社会角色与性别角色变迁的不一致导致了角色紧张的出现,从而导致心理失范及其影响因素的性别差异。     

The feminine side to Santa Claus. Women's work of kinship in contemporary gift-giving relations

The predominant male-breadwinner model having been surpassed by other forms of household organization, discussion rises on whether the female role of caretaker within households also undergoes change. The question certainly becomes relevant concerning an often less visible and/or overlooked aspect of the caretaker role, which is the ‘work of kinship’. This article looks at a specific aspect of this, which can be considered as even more invisible than other caring tasks: the responsibility for gift exchange. More precisely, we explore women's role in, contribution to and attitude towards the gift-giving process on three domains: the buying, giving and receiving of gifts. Results point to important gender differences: women remain chief responsible for gift selection and gift giving and invest more time in selecting the appropriate gifts for kin. They also show greater satisfaction with the gift-giving process, of which they tend to stress the symbolic value instead of the instrumental value, which is more strongly emphasized by men. This shows that traditional role models endure in an important but often invisible aspect of the work of kinship and more generally of the caretaker role and that these role models also seem to be strongly culturally integrated by men and women.     

Differences Between Men and Women in Social Relations, Resource Deficits, and Depressive Symptomatology During Later Life in Four Nations

This article examines gender differences in social relations and resource deficits in France ( N = 553), Germany ( N = 516), Japan ( N = 491), and the United States ( N = 514). These data, from regionally representative samples, indicate few gender differences in quantity or quality of social relations, but that women are more likely than men to experience widowhood, illness, and financial strain. In all countries, more deficits and more negative social interactions are associated with higher levels of depressive symptoms. Interestingly, among women in France and Japan but not among men in any country, quality of social relations offsets the negative consequences of resource deficits. Findings suggest that quality of social relations may have important implications for helping people, particularly women, cope with resource deficits common in late life.     

Gender, Values, and Environmentalism

Objective . The social psychological values altruism, self-interest, traditionalism, and openness to change are key correlates of environmental concern and proenvironmental behavior. We investigate the relationship between gender and these values to better understand gender differences in environmentalism. We consider both gender differences in value priorities (differences in mean response on value scales) and differences in the meaning of values (differences in the factor structure of values) as well. Methods . Our analysis is based on data from a random-digit dialed national telephone survey of U.S. adults conducted in 1994. We examine differences in factor structure of values for a group of 145 white men and 200 white women using confirmatory factor analysis and differences in mean value scores using multivariate analysis of variance. Results . We find no substantial differences in value factor structure, but differences in value priorities, with women ranking altruism as more important than men. Conclusions . Our analysis supports work that focuses on mean differences in environmentalism across genders without examining gender differences in factor structure, although further examination of gender differences in factor structure is warranted. Our results also highlight the importance of gender differences in altruism as a basis for gender differences in environmentalism.     

Gender similarities of social work managers

The purpose of this research was to determine if men and women social work administrators can be distinguished from one another by their work behaviors or their attitudes about work priorities. In addition, this prior question is addressed: To what degree is the state of knowledge in social work administration based on research that excludes women managers? Data from two independent samples of directors of hospital social work departments are examined as well as seven years of empirical research published in Administration in Social Work. The authors found that women and men social work managers are quite similar in their use of time and their perceptions of the priority of various organizational goals. Also, they found that the growing empirical research record is based on samples that consistently included women, and generally more than half of the samples are women. After offering an explanation of the findings, the authors propose a research agenda for those interested in social work administration.     

The emotional terrain of parenting and marriage: Emotion work and marital satisfaction

This study examines how the division of labor surrounding emotion work relates to the marital satisfaction of husbands and wives. The analysis is performed on data from a random sample of couples with at least one child from a northern city in a western state (N = 96 couples). Results suggest that for both husbands and wives the emotion work received from and performed for their spouse is significantly and positively related to marital satisfaction. Results also suggest that the marital satisfaction of husbands is enhanced when they are involved in performing emotion work for children, but if their levels of emotion work for children begin to approach or exceed that of their wives then their marital satisfaction tends to decline. Implications of the study are discussed.     

Work Life and Social Fulfillment: Does Social Affiliation at Work Reflect a Carrot or a Stick?*

Objectives. Work life and home life appear to be in increasing competition for scarce time and attention. Does the workplace offer a social haven for people? And if so, for whom is it most attractive? Or does the increasing affiliation with work life result from heightened job insecurity, which demands that employees focus on work in order to keep their jobs? Methods. In this article we analyze a unique data set incorporating all book‐length workplace ethnographies (N=149) to address these questions. This data set provides rich measures of social life at work and related correlates. Results. We find that rich social lives are common at work and that these correlate strongly with fulfillment, pride, and meaning in work. Well‐paid employees are much more likely to experience a rich social life at work than are lower‐level employees. Job security appears to be a relative constant, unrelated to the richness of social life on the job. Men are more socially involved at work than women, reflecting their greater average involvement in work life relative to family life. This relationship, however, does not hold net of controls, suggesting that it reflects underlying differences in the jobs men and women hold. Conclusions. These findings suggest a bifurcated labor force in which upper‐status employees reap both greater material and greater social rewards from their jobs and, as a result, are more drawn to work, and to workaholism, than lower‐status workers.     

Exploratory analysis of verbal aggression in romantic relationships among unmarried men and women: Predictive patterns by gender and race

This is an exploratory study that examined verbal aggression in romantic relationships among unmarried Black and White women and men as a function of gender and race. We employed an ecological approach to examine the receipt of verbal aggression separately for men and women at the levels of individual, relationship, and community. We also explored whether gender-specific correlates of verbal aggression interacted with race. Analyses were based on a sample of 212 women and 133 men in non-marital romantic relationships recruited from 21 U.S. cities for a larger study. Linear mixed-effects models revealed that factors related to experiencing verbal aggression differed substantially for unmarried women and men in romantic relationships. Interesting racial differences also emerged distinctly for women and men.     

Class and gender inequalities in different types of welfare states: the Social Citizenship Indicator Program (SCIP)

Korpi W. Class and gender inequalities in different types of welfare states: the Social Citizenship Indicator Program (SCIP) Int J Soc Welfare 2010: ??: ??–??© 2010 The Author(s), Journal compilation © 2010 Blackwell Publishing Ltd and International Journal of Social Welfare. This article considers the role of legislated welfare state institutions as mediators of effects of political and structural forces on citizens' levels of living of relevance to inequalities in health and mortality. The focus is on institutional structures of welfare state programmes relevant to class inequality, as indicated by income inequalities, and to gender inequality, conceived of as differences in agency. I introduce the Social Citizenship Indicator Program, a database providing quantitative and qualitative information on structures of main social insurance programmes in 18 countries from 1930 to 2000, on about 300,000 data points. It is used to delineate types of distributive institutions of relevance for income inequality. Institutions relevant for gendered agency inequality affect choices by women, especially mothers, between unpaid and paid work. Driving forces behind the emergence of differences in distributive institutions are discussed, and patterns of class and gender inequalities are outlined.     

Social Support and its Correlation with Loneliness and Subjective Well-being: A Cross-cultural Study of Older Nepalese Adults

Population aging in Nepal is a recent phenomenon, due more to demographic changes than to socio-economic development. The study had three goals: to analyze the social support exchange among elderly men and women; to discover the main sources of support in loneliness and subjective well-being in the elderly; and to study the cross-cultural differences in support among elderly Chhetri ( N  = 137, mean age = 69.1 [7.2] years) and Newar people ( N  = 195, mean age = 68.8 [7.7] years) in one ward in Kathmandu. The data were collected using face-to-face interviews. The dependent variables were loneliness and subjective well-being (SWB). The results for both ethnic Chhetri and Newar respondents show that their major support comes from their children living in the same household and their spouses. I conclude that the sources of social support and social support exchange are similar between the two castes/ethnicities and that there are no cross-cultural differences between them in terms of support for loneliness and SWB-life stability, although there are cross-cultural differences in their SWB-life satisfaction. Providing social support to friends and neighbors appears to be related to less loneliness and increased SWB in both castes/ethnicities.     

How Appreciated Do Wives Feel for the Housework They Do?*

Objective. Sense of appreciation for the work one does contributes to subjective well‐being and relational satisfaction, but few studies examine the factors that may affect levels of recognition for household labor. We formulate and test hypotheses based on the effort‐reward imbalance model in occupational health research to investigate the extent to which married women feel that the work they do around the house is appreciated. Methods. We use data from a sample of married women from the 1987–1988 National Survey of Families and Households to test these hypotheses. Results. We find that wives' absolute time spent in housework and the share they do are both important in shaping their perception of appreciation for housework. Women who hold relatively liberal attitudes toward gender roles and those who have more options outside marriage are less likely to feel appreciated. Finally, wives who often share time with their husbands tend to report higher levels of gratitude for their work at home than those who do so rarely. Conclusions. This study suggests that the literature on psychological and relational outcomes of household labor should go beyond amounts and divisions of housework to include beliefs about roles, couples' dependency, and their relationship.     

Equal opportunities,true options or hidden unemployment? A comparative perspective on labour‐market marginality

Previous studies have shown that women generally adjust to unemployment better than men. This study shows that young women value work equally as highly as men, and have negative feelings when unemployed, which indicates the existence of a closed gender gap. However, children have a different influence on men's and women's unemployment experiences. Being a parent increases job-search activity and work involvement among men. On the other hand, children moderate negative experiences of unemployment among women, and they decrease their job-search activity and work involvement. Being a parent increases labour-market marginality among young unemployed women. For young men it is a motivational factor for searching for and getting a job. The comparison shows furthermore that patterns of re-employment vary in the involved countries: Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, Sweden and Scotland. They reflect differences in the overall unemployment situation in the countries and the welfare strategies applied.     

Differences in Actual and Perceived Online Skills: The Role of Gender*

Objective. The literature on gender and technology use finds that women and men differ significantly in their attitudes toward their technological abilities. Concurrently, existing work on science and math abilities of students suggests that such perceived differences do not always translate into actual disparities. We examine the yet‐neglected area concerning gender differences with respect to Internet‐use ability. In particular, we test how self‐perceived abilities are related to actual abilities and how these may differ by gender. Methods. We use new data on web‐use skill to test empirically whether there are differences in men's and women's abilities to navigate online content. We draw on a diverse sample of adult Internet users to investigate the questions raised. Results. Findings suggest that men and women do not differ greatly in their online abilities. However, we find that women's self‐assessed skill is significantly lower than that of men. Conclusions. Women's lower self‐assessment regarding their web‐use skills may affect significantly the extent of their online behavior and the types of uses to which they put the medium. We discuss the implications of these findings for social inequality.     

Gender, Financial Risk, and Probability Weights

Women are commonly stereotyped as more risk averse than men in financial decision making. In this paper we examine whether this stereotype reflects gender differences in actual risk-taking behavior by means of a laboratory experiment with monetary incentives. Gender differences in risk taking may be due to differences in valuations of outcomes or in probability weights. The results of our experiment indicate that value functions do not differ significantly between men and women. Men and women differ in their probability weighting schemes, however. In general, women tend to be less sensitive to probability changes. They also tend to underestimate large probabilities of gains more strongly than do men. This effect is particularly pronounced when the decisions are framed in investment terms. As a result, women appear to be more risk averse than men in specific circumstances.