The Importance of Examining Traditional Gender Roles and Sexist Attitudes within Intimate Relationships: Consequences for Couples, Parents, and Wellbeing

Abstract

My thesis aims to show that intimate mixed-gender relationships play a critical role in the ways gender inequalities are maintained and impact women and men. In four chapters, I examine the presence and relationship consequences of traditional divisions of labour (Chapter Two) and investigate the relationship and wellbeing effects of sexist attitudes which harm versus facilitate relationships (Chapters Three-Five). Each chapter provides insights into why traditional gender roles generate costs, but ultimately may be accepted by women and men. In Chapter Two, despite structural changes that may have allowed for more equality, couples agreed that women unfairly did more household labour during COVID-19 lockdown, which led to poorer relationship quality for women. In Chapter Three, I investigated attitudes that support these traditional gender roles: hostile sexism (antagonistic depictions of mixed-gender relations) and benevolent sexism (complementary and cooperative depictions of traditional gender roles). Men’s hostile sexism predicted poorer relationship quality and wellbeing for men and their women partners, whereas men’s benevolent sexism predicted greater relationship quality and wellbeing for men, but not women partners. Women’s sexism showed opposite effects: women’s hostile sexism was positively associated with men’s relationship quality and wellbeing, whereas women’s benevolent sexism predicted greater relationship conflict and lower wellbeing for women and men partners. In Chapter Four, I explored whether the benefits of benevolent sexism emerge in a context highly relevant to traditional gender roles in relationships—parenting. Men’s and women’s benevolent sexism alleviated parenting-related strain and in turn, psychological distress for couples with young children during COVID-19 lockdowns. However, like Chapter Three, the benefits were stronger for men and more limited for women. Finally, in Chapter Five, I demonstrated how the distinct costs and benefits of hostile and benevolent sexism create biases in women’s and men’s perceptions of partners’ sexist attitudes. Women overestimated men’s hostile sexism but underestimated men’s benevolent sexism. In contrast, men overestimated women’s benevolent sexism. Overall, my thesis emphasises the importance of investigating traditional gender roles and sexist attitudes in the context of intimate relationships, and highlights the need for future research to identify how to maintain fulfilling relationships, while also promoting gender equality.