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

Abstract

Society has witnessed a remarkable transformation in the gender roles recently. The study was aimed to assess the role strain in single and dual earner couples and its relationship with gender ideology and gender role swapping. Participants for the research included 188 adults between the age range of 25-45 years (48 single earning couples and 46 dual earning couples) from Agra, a city situated in north India. Gender Ideology Questionnaire (GIQ), Gender Role Swapping Questionnaire (GRSQ), Role Strain Questionnaire (RSQ) were used to get the required data. Results showed that level of role strain was high in females of dual earning families. The gender role swapping and gender role ideology was found negatively correlated with role strain. The couples who were involved in gender role swapping showed low level of role strain and couples having traditional gender ideology showed high level of role strain.