Long-Term Effects Between Perceived Justice in the Division of Domestic Work and Women’s Relationship Satisfaction

Abstract

This study investigates the nature of the long-term effects among perceived justice in the division of domestic work, change in the division of domestic work, and relationship satisfaction in a two-wave, 3-year longitudinal study of 389 women from Austria, Germany, and Switzerland. Results suggest that long-term effects between perceived justice and relationship satisfaction are bidirectional. Initial relationship satisfaction predicted perceived justice 3 years later and initial perceived justice predicted relationship satisfaction 3 years later. But the effect of perceived justice on relationship satisfaction depended on how the division of work had changed over time. If women’s share of work increased over time, perceived justice at Time 1 predicted greater relationship dissatisfaction at Time 2, whereas if women’s share of work decreased over time, perceived justice at Time 1 predicted greater relationship satisfaction at Time 2.