Tending to the Emotions of Children: Predicting Parental Performance of Emotion Work with Children

Abstract Scholars, recognizing emotion work as a type of domestic labor, have examined whether domestic labor theories explain emotion work. Few studies, however, have investigated the predictors of emotion work with children. In this study, the authors examine the usefulness of 3 domestic labor theories (i.e., time availability, relative resources, and gender ideology) in explaining relative emotion work with children. Data are from a random sample of couples with children (N = 96 couples). The results suggest that men's labor force hours are negatively related to men's relative performance of emotion work with children and positively related to women's relative performance. Further, women's traditional gender ideologies are related to increased relative emotion work performance with children for women and decreased relative performance for men. Relative income is also a significant predictor of women's performance of emotion work with children. The authors discuss the implications of the study. KEYWORDS: domestic laboremotion workfatherhoodgender ideologymotherhoodparenthood Acknowledgments This article was prepared as a contribution to multistate project W-167 with funding support from the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the Utah Agricultural Experiment Station (Project No. 869). Notes Note. Relative emotion work with children was a dependent variable. *Paired t test of the difference between the means of men and women was significant at the .05 level or higher. Note. Adjusted R 2 was .34 for women and .35 for men. *p ≤ .05. **p ≤ .01. Additional informationNotes on contributorsGary Kiger Gary Kiger passed away on August 11, 2008. Gary will be remembered as an academic leader and researcher who enthusiastically embraced the pursuit of knowledge. He made important contributions to the study of families, including how marital relationships are shaped by the division of domestic labor and the negotiation of the work–family interface.