GENDER, PARENTHOOD, AND ANGER

We examine how gender inequality in the family affects anger. A sociol ogical model of distress predicts that conditions of inequality and di sadvantage result in higher levels of all types of distress. However, most research on gender and parenthood has measured distress with depr ession and anxiety. Theoretically, anger results from perceptions of s ocial inequality. Using data from a national probability sample of 2,0 31 adults, we find that women have higher levels of anger than men, th at each additional child in the household increases anger, and that ch ildren increase anger more for mothers than for fathers. Parenthood in troduces two types of objective stressors into an individual's life: e conomic strains and the strains associated with child care. Women are exposed to both types of strain more than men. Economic hardship, chil d-care responsibilities in the household, and difficulties arranging a nd paying for child care all significantly increase anger, and explain the effects of gender and parenthood perspective, we find that mother s have the highest levels of anger because of economic inequality and the inequitable distribution of parental responsibilities. Mothers als o are more likely to express their anger than others. However, express iveness does not account for differences in anger between men and wome n or between parents and nonparents.