Bp. Buunk et al., The division of labor among egalitarian and traditional women: Differencesin discontent, social comparison, and false consensus, J APPL SO P, 30(4), 2000, pp. 759-779
We compared 118 egalitarian women (subscribers to the Dutch feminist magazi
ne Opzij) with 118 traditional women (subscribers to the widely read Dutch
women's magazine Margriet). On average, egalitarian women had a more equal
division of household labor at home than did traditional women but experien
ced more discontent about the division of labor in their relationship. Egal
itarian women with an unequal division of labor experienced more discontent
than did traditional women with an unequal division of labor. Relative to
traditional women, egalitarian women more often compared their own contribu
tion to housework with their partner's contribution (relational comparison)
and with other women's division of labor (referential comparison). Compare
d to traditional women, egalitarian women gave higher prevalence estimates
of both the percentage of Dutch women doing virtually all housework and the
percentage of woman unhappy with the division of labor.