Discuss the causes and ramifications of gaps in marital role expectations. Gaps between partners in their role expectations appear to have a negative impact on their marital satisfaction. The roles are shaped by their parents. The women's movement and other social change have led to new expectations about marital roles. Today, there are options from which to choose.
Women are vulnerable to ambivalence and confusion.
Summarize how spouses' work affects their marital satisfaction and their children. If a husband is highly committed to a satisfying career, he may have less time and energy to devote to his marriage and children. In contrast, job frustration and stress might spill over to contaminate a man's marriage. It appears that marital satisfaction tends to be highest when partners share similar gender-role expectations and when the wife's employment status matches her own preference about it. When mothers work outside the home, fathers tend to devote more time to child care.