How husbands and wives in dual-career families perceive their family and work worlds

Abstract

The perceptions of men and women in dual-career families were mapped with a view to understanding their concerns, priorities, and attitudes toward their work and family lives. Sixteen variables which represented aspects of family and work life and members' own attitudes and behaviors were used to map the perceptions through the multivariate factor analytic technique. A sample of husbands and wives in 127 dual-career families in the St. Louis area was used to collect the data. The results of the study indicate that husbands and wives perceive and cognitively structure their family and work worlds in practically the same way. They both see four distinct facets of their work and family lives. These are (1) a psychologically rewarding job dimension, (2) a general effectiveness dimension, (3) an investment-return dynamic in their careers, and (4) an expectation from the organization and consequences dimension. If the results of this study are replicated in different samples of dual-career families, then we could be sure that the perceptions, values, priorities, and cognitive structuring of family and work factors are virtually the same for men and women and that there are no gender differences.