Sex Roles and Marital Adjustment in Indian Couples

Background: Marital theorists suggest a link between sex role differences and close relationships for men and women. Marriage is often a context for the activation and expression of sex roles. As marital adjustment is influenced by complementarity of roles between husband and wife, the same could ho...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:International journal of social psychiatry 2004-06, Vol.50 (2), p.129-141
Main Authors: Isaac, Rathna, Shah, Anisha
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adaptation, Psychological
Adjustment
Adult
Androgyny
Biological and medical sciences
Couple and family
Family Relations
Female
Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology
Gender Identity
Gender roles
Humans
India
Interpersonal relations
Male
Marital adjustment
Marital life
Marital problems
Marriage
Marriage - ethnology
Marriage - psychology
Middle Aged
Psychology
Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry
Psychology. Psychophysiology
Sampling Studies
Sex roles
Social psychiatry
Social psychology
Surveys and Questionnaires
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Summary:Background: Marital theorists suggest a link between sex role differences and close relationships for men and women. Marriage is often a context for the activation and expression of sex roles. As marital adjustment is influenced by complementarity of roles between husband and wife, the same could hold true for sex roles as well. Aim: To study the relationship between sex roles and marital adjustment in Indian couples. Methods: The sample consisted of 20 distressed and 20 non-distressed couples from a marital and family therapy centre in the city of Bangalore, India. The measures used included a sociodemographic data sheet, the Dyadic Adjustment Scale, the Bem Sex Role Inventory and a semi-structured interview schedule for gendered experiences. Means, percentages and ANOVAS were used to analyse statistically the data. Content analysis was applied on material from the semistructured interview schedule. Results: The study revealed that: (a) the group as a whole showed greater femininity than masculinity; (b) more non-distressed individuals show high androgyny; (c) androgynous dyads show better marital adjustment; and (d) qualitative analysis suggests a trend for couples to move towards more gender-neutral constructions of marriage. Conclusions: The results indicate a link between androgyny and marital adjustment. The results also suggest the type of match between dyads.
ISSN:0020-7640
1741-2854
DOI:10.1177/0020764004040960