Role strain in West German dual-earner households

Despite the prevalence of the dual-earner family in industrialized society, little is known about how the strain of combining work and family is related to the personal and marital functioning of employed couples. The present study of middle-aged dual-earner couples examines how each spouse's role strain and the wife's work hours are related to reports of life outlook, marital interaction, and family conflict. Results indicate that husbands who were strained reported more pessimism, a lower level of marital interaction, and greater family conflict than husbands who were not strained. The husband's perceptions of his life are unrelated to his wife's level of strain. On the other hand, the wife's perceptions of marital interaction and family conflict are associated with the role strain of both spouses. Strained wives with strained husbands reported lower levels of marital interaction and greater family conflict than wives in other husband-wife pairs. The results are discussed in terms of the meaning of role strain for family members.