EXPLORING WIVES SENSE OF FAIRNESS ABOUT FAMILY WORK - AN INITIAL TESTOF THE DISTRIBUTIVE-JUSTICE FRAMEWORK

This study was designed to test empirically the value of the distribut ive justice framework in terms of understanding wives' sense of fairne ss about the division of family work, as recommended by Thompson. Oper ationalizations of many of the social-psychological cognitions suggest ed by the framework are presented. In a sample of 234 dual-earner wive s randomly selected from metropolitan areas of the western United Stat es, there was qualified support for the framework. Feelings of appreci ation were the strongest predictor of fairness. Deciding together how things would be divided was also a strong predictor. Other effects on fairness were indirect, however, they affected the division of family work which, in turn, influenced wives' sense of fairness. More psychom etric work will be needed, and replication with different samples is n ecessary but the distributive justice framework appears to have signif icant merit for understanding wives' perceptions of fairness about fam ily work.