Investigating Gender Differences in the Meaning of Household Chores and Child Care

This study examines factors related to the affective meanings (evaluation, potency, and activity) that spouses and cohabitors (N = 309) attach to child care, baby care, and 9 household chores. Gender is related to about a third of these task meanings. Consistent with the feminine care hypothesis, women consider baby care and laundry especially good, potent, and active and consider meal preparation particularly powerful, although contrary to this hypothesis women evaluate washing dishes less positively than men. Consistent with the masculine care hypothesis, men consider auto work and yard work especially good and powerful. When paid and unpaid work patterns are controlled, however, 9 of the 12 gender differences become nonsignificant and 4 new gender differences are identified, suggesting that work patterns both mediate and suppress some gender differences in task meanings. Gender also moderates the relationship between work and 12 task meanings. In several of these equations, womenʹs proportion of nonmasculine work is negatively related to the goodness or the power they associate with a nonmasculine task.