Keywords

domestic labor, dual-earner couples, family work

Abstract

This study explored the psychometric properties of the Orientation Toward Domestic Labor Questionnaire (ODL-Q) with a sample of 622 dual-earner wives. Adequate internal consistency reliability was obtained for most of the construct in the ODL-Q. In addition, construct validity for the ODL-Q was provided with multiple regression and discriminant analyses of the constructs' relationships to wives' sense of fairness about family work. The ODL-Q scales accounted for 57% of the variance in wives' sense of fairness. Effective communication about domestic labor (expressions of appreciation, sympathetic listening, mutual decision making) was by far the most powerful predictor and discriminator of fairness. Further validity was demonstrated in a cluster analysis identifying 3 groups of dual-earner wives suggested by A. Hochschild's (1989) qualitative study of family work. Implications for the construction of gender through domestic labor are discussed.

Original Publication Citation

Hawkins, A. J., Marshall, C. M., & Allen, S. M. (1998). The Orientation toward Domestic Labor Questionnaire: Understanding dual-earner wives’ sense of fairness about family work. Journal of Family Psychology, 12, 244-258.

Document Type

Peer-Reviewed Article

Publication Date

1998

Permanent URL

http://hdl.lib.byu.edu/1877/7021

Publisher

Journal of Family Psychology

Language

English

College

Family, Home, and Social Sciences

Department

Family Life

University Standing at Time of Publication

Full Professor

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