Cultural and Gender Differences in Gender-Role Beliefs, Sharing Household Task and Child-Care Responsibilities, and Well-Being Among Immigrants and Majority Members in The Netherlands

Abstract

The nature and size of culture and gender differences in gender-role beliefs, sharing behavior, and well-being were examined in five cultural groups in The Netherlands (1,104 Dutch mainstreamers, 249 Turkish-, 200 Moroccan-, 126 Surinamese-, and 94 Antillean–Dutch). Acculturative changes in gender-role beliefs and sharing behavior in the immigrant groups were also addressed. It was shown that more egalitarian gender-role beliefs and more sharing were associated with more well-being in all culture and gender groups. Cultural differences were larger for gender-role beliefs than for sharing behavior. Age, educational level, and employment accounted for half of the cultural differences in gender-role beliefs and well-being, but not in household-task and child-care behavior. First-generation immigrants reported more traditional gender-role beliefs than did second-generation immigrants.