Dual-earner couple's satisfaction with work on the job and in the home

Abstract

The present study examined how satisfied 35 married dual-earner couples were with the work in their place of employment (Job) and in the home (Home). Also of interest was how satisfied each of the partners perceived the other to be in both roles (Job and Home). A secondary purpose was to investigate the usefulness of the Job Description Index (JDI) (Smith, Kendall & Hulin, 1969) for this type of research. Twenty-six of the couples were selected randomly. Each street in the city of Halifax was numbered, and 25 streets were selected randomly. The streets were then sampled in the order in which they were selected, with houses on a chosen street being sampled from 7:00 to 9:00 p.m.. Nine couples were selected through contacts at various local organizations. Each couple individually completed (1) a demographic questionnaire, (2) two forms of the JDI, and (3) two forms of the JDI modified to measure Home job satisfaction. For the Home job satisfaction the Promotion sub-scale was omitted, as it was thought not to apply to household work. Each person in the couple rated their own work (Actual) in their Job and Home, as well as how satisfied they perceived (Perceived) their spouse to be in each situation. The presentation order of all instruments was counterbalanced. Analysis of Variance indicated a significant difference between Actual and Perceived ratings. In general, couples expressed a higher degree of satisfaction in their Job and Home roles (Actual ratings) than what their partner perceived to be the case (Perceived ratings). An interaction between the Job and Home roles and Sex revealed that although men and women were equally satisfied with their Job, women’s satisfaction with their work in the Home was less, while the men’s satisfaction was higher. For Job, the Actual and Perceived ratings were significantly and positively correlated, both for the Total JDI score and for all of the sub-scales (Work, Supervision, People, Pay, Promotion). The relationship between Actual and Perceived ratings of the Home role was not significant for men; it was significant for women only for the Pay sub-scale.