Wives’ Employment and Marital Dissolution: Consideration of Gender Ideology and Marital Interaction

Abstract

This study examines both the mediating effects of marital interaction and gender ideology, as well as the moderating effect of gender ideology in understanding the relationship between wives' work hours and marital dissolution. This paper also explores the role of gender for couples who disagree in their relation-ship assessments. Wives' additional work hours are positively associated with marital dissolution, an ef-fect that operates through increased gender egalitarianism (for both spouses and for wives only) and de-creased marital interaction (for both spouses and for wives only). Lastly, for couples who differ in their reports of gender ideology and marital interaction, the likelihood of marital dissolution is contingent upon wives' assessments of their relationship. The implications of this study and the avenues for future re-search are also discussed.