Role Conflict in Single- and Dual-Earner Couples and its Relationship with Gender Ideology and Gender Role Swapping

Abstract

In the recent past, society has confronted a vivid transformation in the roles and responsibilities of men and women in the workplace and home. The study aimed to assess the role conflict in single- and dual-earner couples and its relationship with gender ideology and gender role swapping. Participants for this research included 48 single-earning couples and 46 dual-earning couples from Agra city. Thus, the total sample consisted of 188 adults between the age range of 25–45 years. Self-constructed tools like Gender Ideology Questionnaire (GIQ), Gender Role Swapping Questionnaire (GRSQ), and Role Conflict Questionnaire (RCQ) were used to get the required data. Results showed that the level of role conflict was high in dual-earning families and especially females were more found in the category of a high level of role conflict than males. The couples who were involved in gender role swapping showed a low level of role conflict and couples having egalitarian gender ideology showed a high level of role conflict. Thus, the perception of gender ideology is not helping in reducing role conflict but it is the actual gender-role swapping, which was found negatively correlated with role conflict.

Keywords: Role Conflict, Single-Earner Couples, Dual-Earner Couples, Gender Ideology, Gender-Role Swapping

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