Full metadata
Title
Meaning, Perception and Decision-Making Examining Divisions of Housework in Newly Cohabitating Dual-Earner Couples
Description
The division of household tasks has been studied extensively over the past fifty years, but there are unanswered questions about why partners still report imbalances. In this study, I employed a grounded theory research design to systematically collect and analyze data from newly cohabitating, dual-earner couples to generate theory. Three prominent theories (relative resources, time availability and gender ideology) served as the framework for this research. The purpose of this study was to expose the processes of meaning-making, interpretations and decision-making regarding divisions of housework and to determine if, and if so how, dissymmetry in household tasks are understood. My research questions addressed the meanings newly cohabitating couples ascribed to household tasks by and explored how they understand their allocation of these tasks. Eighteen in-depth interviews of six newly cohabitating couples were conducted. Results from the study highlight six major themes that contribute to couples’ meaning-making processes regarding housework performance: care, consistency, expectations, gender & upbringing, micromanagement, and task preference. These findings contribute to the broader body of housework literature by demonstrating how grounded theory methods may offer a unique approach to the examination of household task performance. Further, germination of the blended output theory of housework (B.O.T.H.) that emerged from this study could provide an opportunity to better understand changing family structures.
Date Created
2019
Contributors
- Taylor, Jameien R (Author)
- Alberts, Janet (Thesis advisor)
- Manninen, Bertha (Committee member)
- Broome, Benjamin (Committee member)
- Arizona State University (Publisher)
Topical Subject
Resource Type
Extent
131 pages
Language
eng
Copyright Statement
In Copyright
Primary Member of
Peer-reviewed
No
Open Access
No
Handle
https://hdl.handle.net/2286/R.I.55625
Level of coding
minimal
Note
Doctoral Dissertation Communication 2019
System Created
- 2020-01-14 09:18:34
System Modified
- 2021-08-26 09:47:01
- 3 years 2 months ago
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