PSYCHOLOGICAL VARIABLES ASSOCIATED WITH THE HOUSEHOLD WORK OF GIRLS AND BOYS IN EARLY ADOLESCENCE

Examined in this study were a number of psychological variables associ ated with the self-reported performance of household work in a sample of White Australian boys and girls in early adolescence. The research was informed by a gendered view of household work It was hypothesized that individual differences for girls', more than for boys', performan ce of household work would be related to a number of intraindividual a nd interindividual psychological variables. Aspects of the results sup ported that prediction. For example, individual differences in the amo unt of household work performed by girls, bur not by boys, correlated with feelings of competence in the work, motivation to perform the wor k, and reports of parenting style. The results were consistent partly with claims about gender differences in the meaning of household work and factors contributing to the performance of household work and show ed that those differences might have emerged at least by early adolesc ence.