Put Yourself in My Work Shoes

Abstract

Level and type of spousal shared work has been oversimplified in past research. This research proposes that being similar to a spouse, in the case of paidwork, differs depending on whether spouses shareworkplace, occupation, or both. And this level and type of similarity can influence the level and qualitative characteristics of work-related spousal support as an indicator of marital satisfaction. The results of this study are based on 52 individual semistructured interviews with each member of 26 professional married couples for whom work is shared in terms of occupation, workplace, both, or neither. The level and characteristics of spousal support vary to some extent by occupation pattern. Most strikingly, people who share both occupation and workplace feel that they work closely with their spouses and that working together has been beneficial to their marriages. However, the components of working together qualitatively vary by occupation category.