The Relationship Between Gender-Role Beliefs, Household Labor Division and Marital Satisfaction in Couples

Introduction: Marital satisfaction is important for several reasons, including individual and mental health of the husband, wife and children. One of the main factors in marital satisfaction is the division of household tasks, which varies according to the gender-role beliefs of the couples.  Objective: This study aims to examine the association between marital satisfaction, division of household labor, and gender-role beliefs of couples. Materials and Methods: This is an analytical study with correlational design conducted on 120 couples referred to the health care centers in Mashhad City, Iran, in 2013. They completed a demographic form, Persian version of Evaluation and Nurturing Relationship Issues, Communication, and Happiness (ENRICH) marital satisfaction scale, a researcher-designed household labor division questionnaire, and another researcher-designed gender-role belief questionnaire. The collected data were analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics. Results: Marital satisfaction of spouses had no significant relationship with their gender-role beliefs. Performing household tasks by wives were not significantly associated with their marital satisfaction, but when their husbands participated in household labor, their marital satisfaction increased which was statistically significant (r=0.18, P=0.004). Husbands’ participation in household labor was significantly correlated to their marital satisfaction (r=0.20, P=0.025). Conclusion: Although most husbands believe in traditional gender-roles and wives in modern beliefs, these attitudes do not correlate with their marital satisfaction and the division of household labor. Husbands who had higher marital satisfaction reported more participation in housework.