Housework and couple satisfaction: Satisfaction with housework division and gender ideology among Italian dual-earner couples

This article reports on a study that examined the division of housework in 105 Italian dual-earner couples and the relationships between this division, the participants’ satisfaction with it, gender ideology, and couple satisfaction. The findings show that women devoted much more time to housework than men, performed a greater number of routine female tasks, and reported lower levels of satisfaction with housework arrangements. However, women and men did not differ in levels of couple satisfaction. Satisfaction with housework distribution was found to mediate the relationship between actual housework performance and couple satisfaction in different ways for women and men: Women’s couple satisfaction was explained by satisfaction with the distribution of traditionally female (routine) tasks and men’s couple satisfaction was linked to satisfaction with the distribution of hours devoted to housework. Gender ideology directly influenced couple satisfaction: Women and men with less traditional gender ideologies were more satisfied with their relationships.