The Psychology of Gender 4th Edition

450 Chapter 12

birth control, women’s increase in educa-

tion, and the decline in the wage gap. In fact,

the increase in employment among married

women is larger among those whose hus-

bands are in the top half rather than the bot-

tom half of the income distribution.

The question is, are combining work

and family roles good for health? This is the

“multiple roles question.” There are two the-

ories about the effects of multiple roles on

health, each of which makes opposing pre-

dictions. Therole scarcity hypothesissug-

gests multiple roles have a negative effect on

health because time and resources are lim-

ited and additional roles tap resources. This

is also referred to asrole strain. The scarcity

hypothesis predicts two kinds of strain that

stem from the possession of multiple roles:

Role overloadrefers to the difficulties in

fulfilling obligations for all of one’s roles

because time is limited;role conflictrefers

to the demands of one role conflicting with

the demands from another role. You are

suffering from role overload when you feel

stressed because you have three exams on

Monday, a party to plan for Saturday, and a

fund-raising event to attend on Sunday. You

suffer from role conflict when your grand-

mother turns 90 and your best friend turns

21 on the same Saturday, and family obliga-

tions prevent you from celebrating the oc-

casion with your best friend. In either case,

having more roles is problematic because it

is difficult to meet all the demands of mul-

tiple roles.

By contrast, therole expansion hy-

pothesis(also known as therole enhancement

hypothesis) suggests benefits are to be gained

from having diverse roles. The additional

resources gained by multiple roles outweigh

the increase in strains that might arise from

more roles. Resources from one role can be

labor force are likely to have opted out of paid labor to

work inside the home.

■ Although there is a selection effect, meaning that the

healthiest people are likely to become employed, lon-

gitudinal studies show that employment leads to good

health for women and men.

■ Control theory explains how women’s paid employ-

ment can influence both women’s and men’s health:

Increased relative income has a positive effect on

health, whereas increased family demands have a

negative effect on health.

■ The effect of retirement on health depends on whether

the person chooses to retire and the circumstances

surrounding retirement. Retirement takes place in the

context of other life stressors that entail caregiving re-

sponsibilities for women.

Combining Paid Labor with Family Roles

Historically, men have easily combined

the roles of paid worker, spouse, and par-

ent. Today, more women are combining

all three of these roles. The labor force par-

ticipation rates of married women are as

high as, or even higher than, those of un-

married women. In 2007, 69% of married

women with children were employed; 75%

of women with children between the ages of

6 and 13 and 62% of women with children

under 6 (Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2010).

Women with children are not necessarily

employed full time, however. More married

than unmarried women work part time, es-

pecially if they have children. Many reasons

account for the sharp increase in the num-

ber of married working women since 1960.

Desire for more income is one reason, but

there are other important factors, such as

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