Issue 4
Vol. 44
2002

Division of tasks and duties and the perception of injustice: The case of household chores
Gerold Mikula, Heribert H. Freudenthaler

Summary
The present paper deals with perceptions of justice and injustice about the division of household labor between women and men. Four studies explored factors which contribute to women’s justice evaluations of the division of housework. Cognitions about the household labor and its division, and social comparisons in particular, account for the largest proportion of variance of women’s justice evaluations while objective measures of domestic and professional work load, and characteristics of the household system, do not play any major role. More detailed analyses revealed that it is the outcomes of social comparisons which directly affect the justice evaluations. The extent or frequency of making different kinds of comparisons operates as a moderator which determines the weight of various comparison outcomes for the evaluations of justice.

Key words: justice, injustice, family, household labor, social comparison

Mag. Gabriele Dietmaier
Karl-Franzens-Universität Graz
Institut für Psychologie
Abteilung für Klinische Psychologie und Gesundheitspsychologie
Universitätsplatz 2/III
A-8010 Graz
Tel.: 0043-316-380-8519
Fax: 0043-316-380-9808
e-mail: gabriele.dietmaier@uni-graz.at