A qualitative study of gender role identity and relationship satisfaction in adults raised in equal parenting households

This multi-method dissertation study focused on the experiences of adults who were raised in households where cohabitating male and female parents shared parenting tasks equally or near-equally, dividing childcare based on criteria other than gender. An online survey of 182 females and 52 males over 18 years of age was utilized to examine the relative frequency of shared parenting in the survey sample, to identify subjects who experienced the highest degree of shared parenting for more in depth, qualitative study, and to identify relevant demographic factors such as age and race of those adults who experienced shared parenting as children. Survey data also provided information on the degree of sharing of various childcare tasks at different ages of children, and on the frequency of male and female parents working outside the home at various ages of their children. Ten interview participants were then chosen for qualitative study based on having experienced a high level of shared parenting and their current relationship status. They participated in semi-structured interviews focused on their respective experiences of their parents’ sharing of childcare and on the impact of this parenting style on each subject’s later gender role identity and relationship satisfaction. Interviews were transcribed verbatim based on the methodology described by McCracken (1988), and common themes were identified. To provide corroborative quantitative data related to gender role identity and relationships satisfaction, interview subjects were also given the Bem Sex Role Inventory and Dyadic Adjustment Scale-7. Scores were measured against the normed samples for these instruments. Adult children of equally parenting partners interviewed for qualitative study were found to have flexible gender role identities and high relationship satisfaction. Survey findings demonstrated that those under forty years of age were twice as likely to have experienced shared parenting, but that shared parenting has not increased in proportion to the increases in mothers in the workforce.Psy.DIncludes bibliographical referencesby Stephanie L. Sass