Ideological Pairings in Couples and Family Processes

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There is broad agreement that gender ideology (gender attitudes, norms, values) is closely linked with family- and employment related behaviors. A rich body of literature demonstrates such linkages, e.g. with respect to couples’ paid and unpaid work-divisions, and to a lesser extent regarding family formation and dissolution. Yet, two major research gaps remain. The first is a theoretically under-developed couple perspective, the second concerns endogeneity in empirical studies. The project aims at addressing both issues. Hypotheses, research questions & objectives: First, although most research assumes that gender ideology affects couple-level outcomes (i.e. gendered work divisions in families, union trajectories, fertility), gender ideology of only one partner is typically measured. We center this project on the argument that both partners’ ideologies need to be incorporated, and interactively so (ideological pairings) to fully capture gender ideologies’ effects on such couple-level outcomes. More specifically, we hypothesize that whether partners agree or disagree on gender ideologies will matter for their work-divisions and family transitions. Ideological pairings will also mediate the effect of other factors, for instance partners’ socio-economic resources, on the studied outcomes. Second, longitudinal studies using advanced methodology to account for reciprocal effects between ideologies and, for instance, gendered work-divisions, are rare. Thus, whether ideology is associated with work-divisions via causal linkages or via selection processes or reverse causality, remains to date unclear. We will address these open questions and provide both conceptual and empirical advances to the field, in four research packages. First, we develop an analytical and empirical framework to assess couples, as a meaningful unit, by drawing on life-course theory. To date such a framework is lacking in family demography and the gendered work-division literature. In a theoretical paper, we will provide such a conceptualization, with a specific focus on how individuals’ and couples joint gender ideologies are intertwined with life course transitions, and couples’ work divisions. Empirically, we will use several high-quality panel studies (e.g. HILDA, Pairfam, Swiss Household Panel, Understanding Societies) and cutting edge-methodology (latent class modeling, SEM, growth curve modeling, fixed effects) to examine, first, how ideological pairings in couples are distributed across time and space. Second, we will assess whether these pairings affect gendered paid and unpaid work divisions and family outcomes such as childbearing and union dissolution. Level of originality & innovation: Our project will be groundbreaking theoretically and empirically for both family demography and family sociology. Primary researchers involved: Natalie Nitsche and Daniela Grunow will lead the project as Co-PIs.