Your instructor will assign peer reviewers. You will review a fell.docx

Your instructor will assign peer reviewers. You will review a
fellow student's Week 1 materials and provide substantive and
constructive feedback to them on the direction for their final
paper (250 word minimum). Is something useful missing from
the outline? Do you know additional sources (or places to find
good sources) the person might want to include? Do you
understand clearly his or her topic and thesis?
Fellow Student week I material:
Title of Paper: Long Term Effects of Child Abuse and Neglect.
Introduction:
The voice that is hardly heard. Child abuse and neglect have
become predators within human history. As time has passed the
outstanding cases that have come about over the many years
have raised many eyebrows and society has become appreciative
to the revilement of these evil acts within all communities.
Child abuse and neglect can take place in a home as well as
outside a home places many couldn’t even imagine such as
within our school system as well as playgrounds. Even though
many times these evil acts take place within a home it can be
done by family, friends and acquaintances of the child. Child
abuse and neglect can be performed in various ways such as
neglect, physical abuse, sexual abuse, psychological abuse and
emotional abuse.
Direct Statement and Research Question:
The voice that is hardly heard. Can child abuse and child
neglect affect an individual?
Proposal:
The paper that I am presenting to you today will explore the
aspects of child abuse, child neglect, effects of the abuse, signs
of abuse, signs of neglect, symptoms, risk factors, treatment and
prevention. Individuals have their own presumptions of their
definition of child abuse as well as child neglect. Some of those
presumptions that I have heard were the failure to provide

enough love to a child, the failure to provide enough necessities
to a child. Child neglect and abuse goes deeper than this the
emotional neglect, physical neglect and medical neglect. Where
a child sustained physical injuries due to the act of hitting,
shaking, burning and kicking describes physical abuse. Sexual
activity that the child cannot consent of or comprehend refers to
sexual abuse. These acts involve anal and genital intercourse,
oral contact, and fondling. Emotional as well as psychological
abuse involves those words of putting children down, vulgar
language, screaming and yelling can all involve emotional as
well as psychological abuse towards a child.
Methodology and Data:
I plan on delivering my methodology through statistics such as
research journals and individuals in society that also work with
children who have been abused as well as neglected such as
interviewing social workers, teachers, health professionals and
individuals within society. Understanding that many abused
children do not come forward because of that fear that has been
placed in them. The fear of becoming the blame, the fear of
being rejected or refused, the fear of the blame and the fear of
being ashamed so I chose this way of researching my topic
because many of the governmental statistics only present a
small number of abused children because it is very hard for
children to actively engage in speaking out. I want to be able to
analyze this paper through actual real life events that has taken
place as well as real research that unfolds the truth to child
abuse and child neglect not only what acts represent the two but
how they can truly damage a child how they can truly damage
that child’s adulthood as well.
Reference draft:
Atiqul Haque, M., Janson, S., Moniruzzaman, S., Rahman, A. K.
M. F., Islam, S. S., Mashreky, S. R., & Eriksson, U.-B. (2019).
Children’s exposure to physical abuse from a child perspective:
A population-based study in rural
Bangladesh. PLoS ONE, 14(2), 1–16. https://doi-org.proxy-
library.ashford.edu/10.1371/journal.pone.0212428 (Links to an

external site.)
Bamatraf, F. F. (2019). Prevalence and Risk Factors of
Childhood Abuse among Hadhramout University Students in
Yemen. Middle East Journal of Family Medicine, 17(5), 42–
54. https://doi-org.proxy-
library.ashford.edu/10.5742MEWFM.2019.93645 (Links to an
external site.)
Bütün Ayhan, A., & Beyazit, U. (2019). A Study on the Mother
Education Program for the Prevention of Child
Neglect. Psychological Reports, 122(6), 2178–2200. https://doi-
org.proxy-library.ashford.edu/10.1177/0033294118825100
Christ, C., de Waal, M. M., Dekker, J. J. M., van Kuijk, I., van
Schaik, D. J. F., Kikkert, M. J., Goudriaan, A. E., Beekman, A.
T. F., & Messman-Moore, T. L. (2019). Linking childhood
emotional abuse and depressive symptoms: The role of emotion
dysregulation and interpersonal problems. PLoS ONE, 14(2), 1–
external site.)
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Kretzer, J. (2019). 'It’s never black and white’: Early
interventionists’ experiences supporting abused children and
their families. Psychological Services, 16(1), 103–
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McCarroll, J. E., Fullerton, C. S., & Ursano, R. J. (2018).
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Dale, C. A. (2019). Assessing the Relational Nature of Child
Physical Abuse and Neglect Among 12-Year-Old Girls. Journal
of Social, Behavioral & Health Sciences, 13(1), 98–114.
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Denov, M. S. (2004). The Long-Term Effects of Child Sexual
Abuse by Female Perpetrators: A Qualitative Study of Male and
Female Victims. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 19(10),
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external site.)
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suspected cases of child abuse and neglect among nurses in a
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sexual abuse: An update. Professional Psychology: Research
and Practice, 21(5), 325–330. https://doi-org.proxy-
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(2019). Negative mood induction: Affective reactivity in
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term effects of incestuous child abuse in college women: Social
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& Linkh, D. J. (2020). Self-reporting DSM–5/ICD-11 clinically
significant intimate partner violence and child abuse:
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Australian paediatric nurses. Australian Journal of Advanced
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library.ashford.edu/10.1111/fare.12310
53A Qualitative Study on Work-Life Balance of Software
Professionals© 2017 IUP. All Rights Reserved.
A Qualitative Study on Work-Life Balance
of Software Professionals
Rajni Gyanchandani*
* Assistant Professor, Sinhgad Institute of Management and
Computer Application, Narhe, Pune 411041,
Maharashtra, India. E-mail: [email protected]
Work-life balance is characterized by a condition of balance in

which the demands
of both a man's occupation and individual life are equivalent. It
involves contributing
equivalent measures of time and vitality between work and
individual life. The
transformation of information and communication technologies
and its usage has
affected individuals work and family lives positively or
negatively. The objective of
this study is to explore the work-life balance among select
employees (N=30). The
study employs thematic analysis through six themes: social
need, personal need,
time management, team work, compensation and benefits, and
work. The outcomes
suggests that many employees relinquish their own time keeping
in mind the end
goal to strike a balance between work and life. Employees,
particularly women, have
a great deal of role clash as moms and other family members.
Men nowadays need
to take up family duties. A considerable measure of adapting
procedures that the
workers used have been talked about in the present study.

Introduction
The conventional wisdom indicates that employees will never
feel truly satisfied with work
until they are satisfied with life. But in this new age it seems
that organizations have
failed to comprehend that work-life balance is an important
aspect for the individual as
well as for the organization. The survival of any enterprise
today is not only dependent
on its own ability to innovate and systemize its activities but
also on the happy workers
and it can be achieved by maintaining the balance between work
and personal life. So
the biggest challenge for human resource professionals is
recruiting, training and retaining
the people by keeping in mind the cost involved in all and this
it is very important that
organizations cultivate the culture that provides for balance
between the professional and
non-professional life of employees. Work-life balance is the
term used to describe those
practices at workplace that acknowledge and aim to support the
needs of employees

in achieving a balance between the demands of their family life
and work lives (Agarwal,
The IUP Journal of Organizational Behavior, Vol. XVI, No. 4,
201754
2009). According to Kofodimos (1993), work-life balance
alludes to “a fulfilling, sound,
and beneficial life that incorporates work, play and love”. Work
culture ought to provide
great environment to an individual and his/her family. Thus, the
work-life balance is about
overseeing internal pressure from one’s own particular cravings
and setting sensible
objectives which do not impinge on family commitments. Work-
life balance can be defined
as a state of equilibrium in which sufficient amount of time
should be given to personal/
family interests and organizational interests. Those who achieve
this balance tend to
achieve higher level of job satisfaction, organizational
commitment, as well as lower level
of stress and turnover. In sum, proof proposes a work technique
of “running yourself worn
out” which has costs both for meeting performance objectives

and be pleased about life;
the employee and the organization gain most when specialists
experience extraordinary
equivalence between what they do on and off the clock.
Literature Review
The paper explores the work-life balance among select
employees explaining thematic
analysis through six themes: social need, personal need, time
management, team work,
compensation and benefits, and work.
Work/Life Balance Defined and Explored
Work-life balance is a challenging issue for the organizations
and has attracted the
attention of many researchers. Work-life balance was initially
utilized in the 1970s to
describe the balance between an individual’s work and personal
life (Newman and
Mathews, 1999). Work-family conflict is characterized by the
incongruence between
obligations at home and workplace, which are observed to be
commonly inconsistent
(Greenhaus and Beutell, 1985). Work ought to give great
environment to an individual

and his family. Hence, work-life balance is about managing
internal pressure from one’s
own desires and setting reasonable objectives which do not
perpetrate on family
obligations. The absence of inadmissible level of contentions
among work and non-work
demands may bring about lower organizational performance.
Work-life balance is described as the sum of practices of
individuals who control and
oversee both life and career with accomplishment and
fulfillment. It is the term used to
describe those practices at workplace that recognize and intend
to support the efforts
of employees in accomplishing a balance between demands of
their family and work-
life. Work-life balance implies conforming the pattern of work
so that the employee can
benefit from a better fit between their work and zones of their
own life and in the long
run would accomplish feasible improvement and profitability.
Theories of Work-Life Balance
A great deal of speculation has been encircled on work-life
balance which have been bound

as a singular outline work not recognized all around (Pitt-
Catsouphes et al., 2006).
Professionals
A few frameworks on work-life balance incorporate spillover,
segmentation, compensation,
congruence, enrichment, inter role conflict, border and
boundary theory (Zedeck and
Mosier, 1990; Frone et al., 1992; Clark, 2000; Edwards and
Rothbard, 2000; Frone, 2003;
and Greenhaus and Powell, 2006). The theories which are
prominent in work-life balance
are as follows:
• Spillover Theory: Spill-over is a process whereby experiences
in one role affect
experiences in the other, rendering the roles more alike.
Research has
examined the spill-over of mood, values, skills and behaviors
from one role to
another (Edwards and Rothbard, 2000). A considerable research
work has been
done on spillover theory (Zedeck and Mosier, 1990).

Researchers have quite
a while ago perceived that work and family are most certainly
not ‘isolate
circles’, yet are related areas or parts with ‘permeable’ limits
(Kanter, 1977;
and Pleck, 1977). Spillover can be both positive or negative and
if an employee
is feeling stressed in one domain, he/she may feel dissatisfied
with other domain
also. On the other hand, positive spillover is when the employee
is satisfied
with one domain of his life either work or family, he will feel
satisfied and happy
with the other domain as well. This theory supports work-life
balance theory
taking into account that distressing occasions and issues in one
space has
an impact on how workers see their fulfillment in the other
space.
• Segmentation Theory: Work and family were considered two
separate areas
and independent of each other (Edwards and Rothbard, 2000).
Segmentation
theory has been used to define that work and life are two

different areas and
do not impact each other. This theory has been used for the
study as it states
that if employee wants to feel satisfied, he can maintain the
balance between
work and personal life by disconnecting himself with one of the
domains, i.e.,
either work or family.
• Compensation Theory: It considered work and family to have
a place with
two different spaces and the negative experience of one space
could be repaid
with the positive experience of other space. In other words,
work and family
display alter relationship (Clark, 2000).
• Congruence Theory: According to this theory, additional
factors such as
knowledge, identity, hereditary compel or level of education
could positively impact
both work and family domains evenly, however they are not
identified with work
and family influence (Zedeck, 1992; and Edwards and Rothbard,
2000).

• Inter-Role Conflict Theory: It implies that taking care of a
demand in one
area (work) makes it hard to meet the demands in other space
(family)
(Greenhaus and Beutell, 1985). For instance, role conflict arises
when an
employee has to do overtime due to work pressure and at the
same time faces
family pressure to come home.
201756
• Enrichment Theory: Enrichment theory refers to how
encounters from
instrumental sources (aptitudes, capacities, and values) or
affective sources
(inclination, fulfillment) improve the nature of the other area
(Morris and Madsen,
2007).
• Work Family Border Theory: Work-family border theory is
devoted only to
work and family domains. The result of enthusiasm in this
theory is work-family

balance, which refers to satisfaction and good functioning at
work and at home,
with a minimum of role conflict (Clark, 2000).
• Boundary Theory: Boundary theory is a general cognitive
theory of social
classification (Zerubavel, 1991) which concentrates on results,
for example, the
implications individuals allot to home and work and the
straightforwardness and
recurrence of transitioning between roles (Ashforth et al.,
2000). Boundary and
border theory connected to a scope of work family themes like
adaptable
calendars working with family and so on. This theory lead to
further analysis of
nature of borders, their permeability, the ease with which they
can manage and
move on. In the analysis of work-life balance, the analysis of
borders can help
to decide how far an individual can control issues determining
work-life balance.
According to Tomazevic et al. (2014) the meaning of work-life
balance is to adequately
combine professional life with personal commitments and make

a concordance between
these two viewpoints. It can be characterized as the
nonappearance of contention among
organizational and individual life.
Kumar and Khyser Mohd (2014) emphasize that work-life
balance is about individuals
having a measure of control over when, where and how they
work. The authors identified
two main variables, time and stress. The manager should be able
to distinguish issue,
and discover an answer with cooperation of others. Organization
must incorporate
work-life balance as a HR approach. The investigation primarily
concentrates on the
results of imbalanced work-life confronted in the everyday life
and the role of the
organization in accomplishing work-life balance.
Felicity Asiedu-Appiah (2013) study presumed that work-life
balance is critical in
improving employee performance at work and home. The
authors identified that gender
difference exists in work-life balance needs since work and non-
work duties are different

for men and women. Same study demonstrated that women
exhibited greater necessity
for work-life balance when compared with men. An individual
derives satisfaction in life
from work and family domains.
According to Lingard et al. (2012) work-life strategies present
the importance of the
issues of creating positive feelings among employees, directing
work-life balance and
adaptation of participants. Communication channels should
function very well and the
cultural conditions of the country where the organization is
located, should be taken into
Professionals
account to realize work-life strategies and applications used in
organizations (Lingard
et al. 2012). Kalliath and Brough (2008) found that “work-life
balance is the individual
discernment that works and non-work exercises are perfect and
advance development
as per an individual’s present life priorities”.

Jang (2009) examined the relationship between work-life
balance and the well-being
of working parents. The objective of this study was to identify
how working parents cope
with the demands of work and life. The study considered 27
parents with either ill or
disabled children in New Jersey. The author used both
qualitative and quantitative
techniques. The outcome discussed the impact of formal and
casual work environments
in improving the wellbeing of employees with kids in general
and those with a sick or
handicapped child in particular.
Reddy et al. (2010) researched work-life balance among married
women employees.
The study took various factors into consideration that lead to
work-family conflict and
family-work conflict among married women employees. Work-
family conflict and family-
work conflict surveys were conducted on 90 married working
ladies aged between 20 to
50 years. The discoveries of the review underscored the need
for mediation by the
management of work-family conflicts at organizational level as

these affect occupational
satisfaction and employee performance.
Margo et al. (2008) carried out in-depth interviews of 18
teleworking mothers working
in a Canadian financial corporation. The questions asked were
related to their work,
leisure, and their perception of work-life balance. The outcome
of their study suggested
that the mothers’ viewed teleworking positively because of the
flexible schedule that can
go with the rhythm of their children’s school and holiday.
Matjasko and Feldmen (2006) investigated how intrinsic work
motivation, work hours,
and taking time for oneself influenced the interplay between the
emotional climates of
work and home. The authors examined day-to-day emotional
transmission between work
and home (spillover) for 143 families using the experience
sampling method and interview
data from the Sloan Center’s 500 family study. They focused on
getting work home in
expanded natural setting and help the workers in devoting time
for themselves in the midst

of everyday demands between work and home. Confirmations
from the review demonstrate
how bringing back work home can influence mothers’
satisfaction, tension and fathers’
nervousness. Among fathers there is an increased intrinsic work
motivation and a more
prominent general tension at home. The ramifications of the
review suggested women’s
efficiency and wellbeing in two working-parents families.
Objective
• To understand the theory of work-life balance;
• To gain knowledge about how workers manage balance
between work and
individual commitments and roles;
201758
• To comprehend the work-related issues and difficulties
confronted by the
employees; and
• To comprehend the family-related issues and difficulties
confronted by the

employees.
Data and Methodology
The study was conducted on software professionals working in
Pune. A conceptual
framework based on a model of Pareek and Purohit (2010)
connecting work and personal
life reflects the questions and provides a broad architecture for
the literature review and
a thematic framework for an aspect of the data analysis. The
elements of the study include
features such as a measure of work/life balance like social need,
personal need, time
management, team work, compensation and benefits, and work
to underpin the analysis
of work/life balance of software professionals.
A semi-structured interview schedule was developed by the
author to study the work-
life adjustment of the members and how function, family and
self-related issues are
interconnected in empowering them to adjust between
individual and professional
responsibilities and duties. It was administrated to 30
employees working in IT companies

in HR and specialized employments. The study used qualitative
techniques, which helped
the author in gaining deeper insight into participants’
experiences. The study investigates
the gender differences and contrasts the variables studied in the
study. A number of past
studies have also utilized phenomenological gender and work-
life balance to study the
phenomenon of work-life balance by exploring the lived
experiences of women (Lewis,
2003; Millward, 2006; and Woodward, 2007).
The author developed semi-structure interview schedule and
used it to understand the
inside and outside of the work-life adjustment difficulties,
issues and adapting procedures
utilized by the employees. These questions helped the author in
comprehending the work-
life-balance which is generally inaccessible in quantitative
information and furthermore to
comprehend their coping strategies. The questionnaire (see
Appendix) consists of 19
open-ended questions which are divided into six categories:
• Social Need

• Personal Need
• Time Management
• Team Work
• Compensation and Benefits
• Work
Based on the scale developed by Pareek and Purohit (2010), the
author arrived at
the above six categories for measuring work-life balance.
Professionals
• The selection technique used was purposive sampling. The
sample for the
quantitative analysis consisted of 30 employees from IT
companies. The sample
selected was a conscious choice comprising of dynamic women
employees
with family duties. For this review, face-to-face semi-organized
interviews were
conducted. Every member was given the option to withdraw
from the study at
any time. Only employees working in the IT sector were

selected for the study.
IT sector has been chosen because it is the technology which
made it possible
to be in constant touch with employees both during the day and
at night. To
a large extent in the IT sector, an employee is expected to be
engaged on the
job almost at all times and it creates work-life imbalance. In the
IT sector five
companies had been selected for the study.
• Employees with working spouses (full-time) were selected for
the study. This
is because Women’s Liberation Development was an impetus to
enable women
continuing a profession while having a family. These changes
have posed new
difficulties for families such as the division of tasks at home
and child care.
Now mother and father both are equally responsible and this
created author's
interest in selecting employees with working spouses for the
study.
• Employees with at least one child were selected for the study.
The reason

behind this selection is that the individual’s participation inside
the work
constraints has expanded as both parents are working. So the
author decided
to identify employees who have children and are working to
ascertain their
experiences of work-life balance.
Results and Discussion
Thematic Analysis was utilized in the current study: The
information obtained in the
present study was dissected by arranging the items/questions in
the semi-structured
interview into themes and the reactions of the members was
dissected under those topics.
This area of the study talks about the subjective results obtained
from the semi-structured
interview which was conducted on 30 employees working in the
IT sector. The analysis
was done by using thematic analysis as qualitative approaches
are extraordinarily
different, complex and nuanced (Holloway and Todres, 2003)
and thematic analysis ought
to be viewed as a foundational strategy for qualitative analysis,

and also identified that
‘thematizing meanings’ as one of a few shared nonspecific
abilities crosswise over
qualitative analysis. For this reason, Boyatzis (1998) describes
it not as a particular
strategy but rather as a device to use crosswise over various
strategies. Similarly, Ryan
and Bernard (2000) find thematic coding as a procedure
performed inside ‘major’
systematic conventions, (for example, grounded hypothesis), as
opposed to a particular
approach in its own privilege. We contend thematic analysis
should be viewed as a
strategy in its own particular right. From the answers obtained
from the participants
following results have been revealed:
201760
• Social Need: Social needs include love, belonging, acceptance
and safety.
Satisfaction of these needs is important in order to feel
supported and accepted.

Having one’s social needs met also helps prevent problems such
as loneliness,
depression and anxiety. When a person develops an emotional
connection with
other people, he/she can more easily cope with depressing
situations and can
find strength through interacting with other people. When
participants were
asked about fluffing their social needs they report that they are
not able to
maintain connections with others such as friends, family and
team members.
But fulfillment of this need is very important in order to avoid
problems such
as anxiety, depression or loneliness as we all need to feel
accepted and
supported by others.
A few of the reactions by the employees related to the social
needs are:
• I find it difficult to take leave at the time of social
emergencies.
• I do not find enough time to spend with my friends.
• I find it difficult to attend and enjoy the parties.

• Personal Need: The personal need of the employee is related
to the need of
spending time with family, time for personal interest and so on.
When
respondents were asked about the challenges they face to fulfill
the personal
need, few men reported that their working wives were not happy
with the time
they spent on household task. The other challenges which were
reported by
employees were getting children ready for school before office,
not able to spend
time with children, and inability to listen to children’s stories
about their school,
friends and teachers, and travel to school. A few of them also
said that meeting
teacher or going for parent-teacher meeting is also a challenging
task for them
and also they do not find time for themselves which they want
to utilize for
their hobbies, recreation, health, me-time and so on.
A few of the reactions by the employees related to the personal
needs are:
• I am not able to give time for my personal interest as it is

difficult to maintain
the balance between role of an employee and a parent.
• I do not find me-time.
• Time Management: On being approached about what they
accomplish during
their ‘personal time’, the employees complain that they do not
have time for
themselves by any means. They say that they need to do a great
deal for their
wellness and leisure activities for which they do not find time
by any stretch
of the imagination.
A few of the reactions by the employees related to time
management are:
• I do not get time for my sick partner/child/parent.
Professionals
• Organization emphasizes on time more than on task and it
creates problem
in managing time.
• I cannot adjust my working schedule to attend my family

priorities.
• I do not get time to invite my friends for a party at home.
• Work: When participants were asked about the work-related
questions, many
employees complained about unstructured work schedule. The
employees also
complained that because of heavy work load, lunch also gets
delayed and also
they do not get leisure time. The respondents also stated that
emphasis should
be given on task completion than on the time to stay in the
organization.
A few of the reactions by the employees related to the work are:
• When my spouse and kids have vacation I cannot make plan of
outing with
them as I do not know when, what important work has been
scheduled.
• There is ambiguity in role and the task I am supposed to
perform in the
organization.
• A few women have responded that they are not able to give
sufficient time
to their kids and in-laws.

• Team Work: When respondents were asked about the questions
related to
the team work, many employees said that they cannot rely on
their team as
they are also heavily loaded with work that teammates are not
able to help
each other and thus feel dissatisfied.
A few of the reactions by the employees related to team work
are:
• I experience work pressure while doing a group task.
• A few respondents said that they can share their task with
their colleagues
whenever needed and enjoy working in teams as their teammates
are
cooperative.
• Compensation and Benefits: Monetary satisfaction is one of
the important
factors which helps in maintaining work-life balance of
individuals. It also
includes the benefits provided by the organization.
Compensation for extra work
gives satisfaction. When respondents were asked about the extra
benefits and

compensation, they made it clear that they do not get additional
payment for
the overtime as the organization considers it as part of their
duties
A few of the reactions by the employees related to the
compensation and benefits
are:
• I am able to meet the basic requirement of my family.
• I enjoy the privileges offered by the organization and also able
to enjoy
holiday with my family.
201762
• A few participants responded that they do not get compensated
for putting
in extra effort in the organization.
Conclusion
The issues talked about in the study can help in determining and
outlining mediation/
preparing programs and other employee-friendly arrangements
by organizations. The

study talks about the issues confronted by a greater proportion
of the employees on the
whole - work, life, self, and other issues that may influence a
representative’s harmony
among among organizational and individual responsibilities and
individual responsibilities
and their influences on execution at work. Organizations can
use the present study to
realize strategies that support and encourage the representatives
to adapt to these issues.
Accomplishing a decent balance between work and family
duties is a growing worry
for contemporary employees and organizations. There is
currently mounting proof
connecting work-life awkwardness to diminished wellbeing and
prosperity among
individuals and families. It is definitely not surprising then that
there is growing enthusiasm
among organizational stakeholders for preparing work-life
policies in their organizations.
Work-life balance policies are most likely to be effectively
mainstreamed in organizations
which have an unmistakable comprehension of their business
reason and which regard

the significance of work-life balance for all employees.
Whatever the course, it is hoped
that the study can be used as a framework and offers a premise
for reflection and open
deliberation on work-life balance issues in the IT industry in
Pune city.
Limitations of the Study:
• The first limitation of qualitative study is that the quality of
the study depends
greatly on the individual researcher. Because the researcher
designs the type
of questions he/she will ask and can inadvertently influence the
results due to
his/her own personal beliefs.
• The other limitation which the author faced was long and
tedious process of
applying qualitative models of analysis to quantitative or
numerical data. The
author carefully pondered over the data in detail while crafting
the analysis.
• It is difficult to analyze the qualitative data as compared to
quantitative data
as the latter does not fit neatly in a standard category.

• The presence of the author in the process of data gathering is
unavoidable and
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Demographic Profile
Name:
Marital status:
Is your partner employed?:

Do you have children?:
If yes, number of children:
1. How many days in a week do you normally work? Are you
satisfied with the working
hours of the organization?
2. Do you get enough time for your family post the working
hours?
3. Do you feel that you are able to balance your work-life?
4. How often do you think or worry about work (when you are
not actually at work
or traveling to work)?
5. Does the organization take initiatives to manage work-life of
its employees? If yes,
can you tell some of them?
6. Who helps you to take care of your children?
7. Do you regularly meet your child/children teachers to know
how your child is
progressing?
8. Do you have more pressure of work in the organization or is
it evenly distributed
and how do you feel about the amount of time you spend at
work?

9. Do you ever feel tired or depressed because of work? If yes
how do you manage
stress arising from your work?
10. Does your organization provide you with yearly Master
health checkup?
11. Does your organization encourage the involvement of your
family members in work-
achievement reward functions? If yes, specify the name of such
program
12. How do you rate the leave policy of the company?
13. Do you suffer from any stress-related disease?
Appendix
Questionnaire
Professionals
Reference # 06J-2017-10-03-01
Appendix (Cont.)
14. Are you able to spend quality time with your friends,
family?
15. Do you get sufficient time for your sick

partner/child/parent? In other words do
you feel that you can adjust your working schedule to attend to
your family
priorities?
16. How do you meet your household requirements?
17. Do you find it difficult to meet the expectations of your
senior or subordinates?
18. Do you enjoy your job?
19. Do you think that if employees have good work-life balance
the organization will
be more effective and successful? If yes how?
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https://doi.org/10.1177/0146167218797294
Personality and Social
Psychology Bulletin

2019, Vol. 45(5) 808 –823
© 2018 by the Society for Personality
and Social Psychology, Inc
Article reuse guidelines:
sagepub.com/journals-permissions
DOI: 10.1177/0146167218797294
pspb.sagepub.com
Article
Partner with the right person because you cannot have a full
career and a full life at home with the children if you are also
doing all the housework and childcare.
—Sheryl Sandberg (2013)
In understanding gender disparities in career advancement,
social psychologists have focused on how stereotypes about
women constrain women’s career decisions (Brown &
Diekman, 2010; Ceci & Williams, 2011; Park, Smith, &
Correll, 2010; Stout, Dasgupta, Hunsinger, & McManus,
2011). But as Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg suggests,
the dynamics in heterosexual couples can also impact wom-
en’s ability to freely pursue their career. Although there is
an active literature on the gendered distribution of domestic
labor in sociology and economics (England, 2010; Haddock,
Zimmerman, Lyness, & Ziemba, 2006; Kroska, 2004; Offer
& Schneider, 2011), social psychologists have not exam-
ined how expectations about men’s roles constrain wom-
en’s own aspirations to adopt counterstereotypic roles. In
line with field theory (Lewin, 1939), which highlights how
social forces constrain and afford individuals’ behavior, it
stands to reason that women’s expectations of adopting tra-
ditional roles (i.e., becoming a caregiver rather than a
breadwinner) are causally predicted by their perception that
men are becoming more involved in childcare. We tested

this complementarity hypothesis across five experiments
and an internal meta-analysis.
The Division of Domestic Labor and
Asymmetrically Changing Gender
Roles
Over the past several decades, gender roles have both
changed and stayed the same. In 1970, almost half of all two
parent households had a mother who stayed at home, whereas
today nearly 70% of families in the United States are com-
prised of dual-earner parents (Pew Research Center, 2015).
Although men generally outearn their partners, women are
increasingly likely to be the primary economic provider in
their families (Pew Research Center, 2013). Despite this evi-
dence of women’s expanding roles, family responsibilities
continue to fall disproportionately to them (Hochschild &
Machung, 2012). In fact, after having children, women are
797294PSPXXX10.1177/0146167218797294Personality and
Social Psychology BulletinCroft et al.
research-article2018
1The University of Arizona, Tucson, USA
2The University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada
Corresponding Author:
Alyssa Croft, The University of Arizona, 1503 E University
Blvd., Tucson,
AZ 85721-0001, USA.
Email: [email protected]ail.arizona.edu
Life in the Balance: Are Women’s
Possible Selves Constrained by Men’s
Domestic Involvement?

Alyssa Croft1, Toni Schmader2, and Katharina Block2
Abstract
Do young women’s expectations about potential romantic
partners’ likelihood of adopting caregiving roles in the future
contribute to whether they imagine themselves in nontraditional
future roles? Meta-analyzed effect sizes of five experiments
(total N = 645) supported this complementarity hypothesis.
Women who were primed with family-focused (vs. career-
focused)
male exemplars (Preliminary Study) or information that men are
rapidly (vs. slowly) assuming greater caregiving responsibilities
(Studies 1-4) were more likely to envision becoming the
primary economic provider and less likely to envision becoming
the
primary caregiver of their future families. A meta-analysis
across studies revealed that gender role complementarity has a
small-to-medium effect on both women’s abstract expectations
of becoming the primary economic provider (d = .27) and
the primary caregiver (d = –.26). These patterns suggest that
women’s stereotypes about men’s stagnant or changing gender
roles might subtly constrain women’s own expected work and
family roles.
Keywords
gender roles, possible selves, stereotypes, romantic
relationships, work–life balance
Received July 26, 2016; revision accepted August 7, 2018
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18797294&domain=pdf&date_stamp=2018-10-04

Croft et al. 809
more likely than men to reduce their work commitment, earn
lower salaries, and advance slowly in their career (Stone,
2007). Many women embrace this choice (Park et al., 2010).
However, twice as many working mothers as fathers report
that parenting responsibilities stand in the way of their career,
particularly among families of highly career-focused men
(Pew Research Center, 2015). Such data suggest that many
women feel their career choices are constrained by men’s
lower caregiving contributions (Croft, Schmader, & Block,
2015).
It is not surprising that women, once parents, might make
a rational decision to prioritize family over career. Our ques-
tion is whether women anticipate this trade-off in advance of
negotiating work and family responsibilities with a partner.
Young heterosexual women expect a traditional, gender-
based division of labor in their future relationship (Askari,
Liss, Erchull, Staebell, & Axelson, 2010; Hodges & Park,
2013; Park, Smith, & Correll, 2008). But what if they
believed that men’s interest in childcare was increasing? For
example, although the percentage of stay-at-home fathers is
still low, it has been increasing over the last two decades
(Pew Research Center, 2014), and working couples are
increasingly sharing family responsibilities equally (Pew
Research Center, 2015). Are these, albeit modest, changes in
men’s caregiving roles incorporated into how young women
view their own future?
Schemas of the Self, Others, and
Relationships
When women envision their future, they imagine the person

they might become (Oyserman & James, 2011). Self-schemas
are people’s cognitive representations of the self, informed
by their past experiences, current context, and future expec-
tations. The self-schemas people have for the person they
could become are called possible selves (Markus & Nurius,
1986; Smith & Oyserman, 2015). Unlike current self-sche-
mas, possible selves are uniquely based on anticipated social
roles and environments people might inhabit. Some past
research has shown that possible selves about being a parent
or provider can be influenced by pragmatic concerns (e.g,
Bloom, Delmore-Ko, Masataka, & Carli, 1999; Lee &
Oyserman, 2007, 2009; Smith, James, Varnum, & Oyserman,
2014). Of greater relevance to the current research is the way
in which possible selves are shaped by gender stereotypes.
Consistent with social role theory (Eagly & Steffen, 1984;
Eagly & Wood, 2013), because young girls see women as
caregivers and men as breadwinners, gender-stereotypic role
expectations are internalized into possible selves. Such ste-
reotypes are especially likely to influence people’s possible
selves when imagining themselves in a distant future that is
necessarily more abstract. For example, a recent study
showed that grade school–aged girls aspire to more gender-
neutral (than female-stereotypic) occupations to the extent
that their fathers exhibit less male-stereotypic behavior by
engaging in domestic tasks (Croft, Schmader, Block, &
Baron, 2014). In addition, there is a notable gender differ-
ence in the family-related possible selves of college students
who imagine their lives in 10 to 15 years, but no such differ-
ence when imagining themselves only 1 year in the future
(Brown & Diekman, 2010). This pattern suggests distant
possible selves are shaped, at least to some degree, by stereo-
typic expectations.
Women’s (and men’s) possible selves are not only a

function of the schemas they have about themselves, but
also the schemas about future romantic partners. Aron and
Aron (1986) theorized that the perception of oneself
includes the resources, perspectives, and characteristics of
one’s relationship partner. Importantly, relationship sche-
mas are defined not merely by expectations of the self and
the partner as individuals, but also by expectations about
relationship dynamics (e.g., forecasted division-of-labor).
Heterosexual women’s stereotypical expectations about
their future partner should therefore inform their own pos-
sible selves, but the abstract nature of these future forecasts
makes them susceptible to stereotypes and norms. Thus,
women’s own future selves might be shaped by their beliefs
that men (and therefore future partners) will continue to be
less communal than women (Diekman & Eagly, 2000).
There is some initial support for gender role complemen-
tarity in future selves. In a clever study, men and women who
were randomly assigned to imagine becoming the primary
breadwinner or primary caregiver of their future families
reported preferring a partner with a role complementary to
their own (Eagly, Eastwick, & Johannesen-Schmidt, 2009).
Our research examines the reverse relationship: When
women expect that men’s roles are unchanging (i.e., men
remain more career- than family-focused), are women less
likely to imagine themselves becoming the economic pro-
vider of their family? And if instead women encounter evi-
dence that men are becoming more family-focused, are they
more likely to imagine themselves as a future economic
provider?
In addition to women’s anticipated adoption of provider
roles, we also considered their anticipation of becoming the
primary caregiver to their children. On one hand, expecta-
tions that men are becoming more involved in caregiving
might lead women to feel less pressure to take on caregiving

responsibilities themselves. However, we also recognize that
social pressures and individual expectations surrounding
motherhood are quite strong. For example, even when fathers
are involved in childcare, women often find it difficult to
give up the primary caregiver role and still manage how
these tasks are done (Allen & Hawkins, 1999). The role of
primary caregiver might be difficult for women’s to relin-
quish given that it can be a source of power (Williams &
Chen, 2013). Thus, we examined how change in male roles
affects women’s anticipation of becoming the primary eco-
nomic provider and the primary caregiver of their future
families as distinct outcomes.
810 Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin 45(5)
Overview of the Current Research
Five studies (total N = 645) provide a test of the complemen-
tarity hypothesis—stating that the likelihood that heterosex-
ual women anticipate adopting nontraditional gender roles in
their future families (i.e., becoming the primary breadwinner,
and not the primary caregiver) is at least partly contingent
upon their expectations about men’s willingness to adopt non-
traditional roles (i.e., becoming the primary caregiver).
Although parallel complementarity effects could be tested for
men’s future role expectations, we limited our focus to out-
comes for women but will consider the generalizability of
these effects in the general discussion. In the Preliminary
Study, we used counterstereotypical male exemplars to prime
women with thoughts of family-oriented men (vs. career-ori-
ented men) prior to measuring their career- and family-related
possible selves and estimates of the time they will spend on
work and childcare. In Studies 1 to 4, we sought to broaden
the ecological validity of the design by providing participants

with normative messages (like those they might read in the
news) indicating that men are increasingly assuming caregiv-
ing roles (as opposed to staying more career-focused). We
recruited larger sample sizes with each subsequent study and
preregistered hypotheses and analyses for Study 4.
Preliminary Study: Evidence for
Complementarity
In this preliminary study, participants viewed a set of profiles
of men who were either career-oriented, family-oriented, or
career-family balanced. We originally designed this study to
examine how exposure to these profiles might influence
men’s expected gender roles, but the key discovery was that
women primed with more family-oriented (as compared with
career-oriented) male exemplars were more likely to envi-
sion themselves, complementarily, as the primary economic
provider in their future families. Because these initial effects
were used to formulate the complementarity hypothesis, we
focus our presentation on these preliminary findings among
women in the sample. The data for men are summarized in
Supplementary Online Materials (SOM) and footnoted in
results when relevant.
Method
Participants and Design
A sample of 74 heterosexual undergraduate women partici-
pated in this study for course credit (62% East Asian/23%
White). Age data were not collected in this study. Participants
were randomly assigned to one of three male exemplar prime
conditions in a between-subjects design. This study was run
in 2011, and the sample size was planned based on conven-
tions at that time (Simmons, Nelson, & Simonsohn, 2011).
More sample characteristics for each of the studies are pro-

vided in Table 1 and SOM; sensitivity analyses for this and
all studies are detailed alongside key effects for the critical
comparisons in Table 3.
Procedure
In a two-part study on life narratives, participants were first
asked to rate five similar profiles of men to ostensibly help us
select stimuli for future research. Based on random assign-
ment to condition, these profiles were all either (a) career-
oriented, (b) family-oriented, or (c) career–family balanced.
After viewing each profile, participants completed questions
that included the manipulation checks. During the second
part of the study, participants imagined and made ratings of
their lives 15 years in the future. Measures central to the
complementary hypothesis are reported here, but all addi-
tional measures included in this exploratory study (and each
subsequent study) are listed in SOM.
Materials and Measures
Exemplar primes. The profiles were adapted from Stout et al.
(2011; Study 2). In the family-oriented condition, the men
took time off from their successful careers (as women often
do) to raise small children, whereas in the career condition
the men worked full-time (as men often do). In the balanced
condition, the exemplars were portrayed as having thriving
careers paired with flexible schedules that allowed for some
childcare (see SOM). Across condition, facts about men’s
(former) occupation, children, and wives’ careers were held
Table 1. Sample Characteristics for All Studies.
Study N
% who expect

graduate degree
(for self)
% who expect
graduate degree
(for partner)
Expected
personal
income
Expected
combined
household income
Anticipated
work hours
M (SD)
Career
ambition
M (SD)
Preliminary 74 63 64 $60-70,000 $110-120,000
1 33 67 55 $70-80,000 $150,000 or more
2 121 63 56 $80-90,000 $140-150,000
3 114 61 42 $70-80,000 $140-150,000 35.32 (10.5) 6.90 (1.20)
4 303 71 57 $90-100,000 $150-160,000 39.67 (11.95) 7.25
(1.15)
Note. The first four studies were conducted at a large Canadian
university and used CAD for income estimates. Study 4 was

conducted at a large
American university and used USD for income estimates. Career
ambition was measured on a 1 to 9 scale.
Croft et al. 811
constant. Pilot data on a separate sample of 25 undergradu-
ates (both men and women participated, but no gender data
were collected) revealed that the career-focused exemplars
were rated as significantly more career-oriented (M = 5.96)
than the family-oriented exemplars (M = 2.19), and both
were significantly different from the balanced exemplars
(M = 4.14), all ps < .001 (1 = family-oriented; 4 = bal-
anced; 7 = career-oriented).
Ratings of exemplars. Participants’ ratings of each of the five
exemplars’ degree of career–family balance on a 7-point scale
(1 = family; 4 = balanced; 7 = career) were averaged to pro-
vide a manipulation check (α = .84). Participants also rated
the exemplars’ agency (α = .89) and communion (α = .89) on
the 16 item Personal Attribute Questionnaire (PAQ; Spence,
Helmreich, & Stapp, 1975) using a 1 (not at all descriptive) to
5 (very descriptive) scale.
Participants’ future lives. Participants first provided demo-
graphic information for their future life expectations by indi-
cating whether or not (yes/no) and how likely (1 = not at all
likely to 7 = extremely likely) they will be to be married and
have children. They also rated the highest level of education
anticipated for themselves and their spouse, and their pro-
jected annual household and personal income.
Participants rated their abstract future roles as the likeli-
hood of becoming the primary economic provider (“bread-

winner”) and primary caregiver of their future families on
two 7-point scales (0 = not at all likely, 6 = extremely likely).
To assess more concrete task estimates, participants first
allotted a percentage of their total waking hours they would
spend on each of several daily tasks (e.g., work, childcare).
They also completed an adapted Day Reconstruction Method
(DRM; Kahneman, Krueger, Schkade, Schwarz, & Stone,
2004) to forecast a typical Wednesday in their lives 15 years
in the future (see SOM). These anticipated daily schedules
were then manually tallied for the number of hours spent at
work and on childcare. Because these two ways of quantify-
ing time spent working, r(67) = .69, p < .001, and on child-
care, r(67) = .36, p = .003, were correlated, the percentage
and DRM measures were standardized and averaged to cre-
ate two variables of estimated time for work and childcare.
Correlations among study variables in this and all studies are
summarized in SOM.
Ratings of Exemplars
A one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) on exemplar rat-
ings revealed the expected effect of condition with all means
differing from one another, all ps < .001, F(2, 68) = 69.42,
p < .001, ηp
2 = .67 (see Table 2).1 There were also condition
differences in perceived exemplar agency, F(2, 68) = 18.63,
p < .001, ηp
2 = .35, and communion, F(2, 68) = 9.83, p <
.001, ηp

2 = .22. The career-oriented exemplars were rated as
significantly more agentic (M = 4.03, SD = .33) and less
communal (M = 3.15, SD = .52) than both the family-ori-
ented and balanced exemplars, both ps < .001. The family-
oriented and balanced exemplars were rated as similarly
agentic (Mfamily = 3.22, SD = .57; Mbalance = 3.43, SD = .48)
and communal (Mfamily = 3.82, SD = .65; Mbalance = 3.82,
SD = .61) to one another, both ps > .12.
Future Roles
The complementarity hypothesis (based on the results of this
study) posits that women’s imagined roles are shaped by
Table 2. Manipulation Check Results for All Studies, Broken
Down by Attention Checks (Recall of Manipulation About
Men’s Roles)
and Personal Beliefs About Men’s Roles.
Study Conditions n
Attention
Check 1 M (SD) Cohen’s d
Attention
Check 2 M (SD) Cohen’s d
Personal
Belief 1 M (SD) Cohen’s d
Personal
Belief 2 M (SD) Cohen’s d
Prelim Family 24 Item A 3.23 (0.55) −3.40***
Career 25 5.17 (0.59) — — — — — — — — —
Balance 24 4.08 (0.55)

1 Rapid 17 Item B 5.82 (1.33) 2.25*** — — — Item D 5.24
(1.20) .85* — — —
Slow 16 2.69 (1.45) 4.00 (1.67)
2 Rapid 36 Item C 2.19 (1.39) −.97*** Item E 3.25 (1.23) −.46*
Slow 40 3.68 (1.66) — — — 3.88 (1.49) — — —
Control 45 — 3.87 (1.67)
3 Rapid 59 Item B 4.95 (1.39) 2.52*** Item C 1.72 (1.25)
−.90*** Item E 3.12 (1.27) −.41* — — —
Slow 55 1.85 (1.09) 2.79 (1.12) 3.67 (1.43)
4 Rapid 138 Item B 5.59 (1.39) 1.84*** Item C 1.48 (0.93)
−1.27*** Item E 3.43 (1.47) −.17 Item F 4.12 (1.18) .78***
Slow 165 2.72 (1.71) 2.92 (1.30) 3.67 (1.29) 3.41 (1.34)
Note. Text in bold denotes comparison groups for Cohen’s d
calculations. All Cohen’s d were calculated using
http://www.uccs.edu/~lbecker/. Attention check items: (A) Rate
the individual’s level of balance between family and career: 1 =
family-oriented, 4 = balanced, 7 = career-oriented; (B)
According to the graphs you saw in today’s study, what is
the rate at which men’s roles in society are changing?: 1 = very
slowly, 7 = very rapidly; (C) According to the graphs you saw
in today’s study, men are: 1 = increasing their focus
on family, 4 = staying the same, 7 = increasing their focus on
career. Personal beliefs items: (D) Please indicate whether or
not you agree with the following statement: Men’s roles
in society are changing and will continue to do so in future
years: 1 = completely disagree, 7 = completely agree); (E) I
personally believe that men are: 1 = increasing their focus on
family, 4 = staying the same, 7 = increasing their focus on
career; (F) I personally believe that men’s roles are changing: 1
= very slowly, 7 = very rapidly.
*p < .05. ***p < .001.

http://www.uccs.edu/~lbecker/
their perceptions of men’s childcare engagement. A one-way
ANOVA on expectations of becoming the primary economic
provider yielded a significant effect of condition, F(2, 70) =
3.61, p = .03, ηp
2 = .09 (see Figure 1). As expected, women
who viewed family-oriented men anticipated becoming the
primary provider more than those who viewed either career-
oriented, d = .64, p = .03, or balanced men, d = .73, p = .02
(see Table 3). The manipulation had no significant effect on
becoming the primary caregiver, F(2, 70) = 1.41, p = .25,
ηp
2 = .04, and ratings of these two roles were uncorrelated,
r = –.08, p = .52.2 Additional analyses in this and all studies
directly comparing the provider to the caregiver ratings can
be found in SOM.
Concrete Tasks
One-way ANOVAs of the concrete task measures revealed
no effects on estimated time on work, F(2, 71) = .92, p =
.40, ηp
2 = .03, or childcare, F(2, 71) = .22, p = .80, ηp
2 =
.01 (see Table 4). Interestingly, these concrete time estimates
Table 3. Descriptive Statistics, Estimates of Effect Size, and
Sensitivity Analyses for Future Role Measures in All Studies.

Study Conditions n
Sensitivity
analysis
M (SD)
Provider
Cohen’s d
Provider
95% CI
Provider
M (SD)
Caregiver
Cohen’s d
Caregiver
95% CI
Caregiver
Prelim Family 24 d = .82 3.25 (1.29) .64* [0.06, 1.21] 3.58
(1.71) −.33 [–0.89, 0.24]
Career 25 2.36 (1.50) 4.12 (1.48)
Balanced 24 2.25 (1.45) 3.33 (1.83)
1 Rapid change 17 d = .89 3.71 (0.85) .90* [0.18, 1.61] 4.29
(0.59) −.24 [–0.92, 0.45]
Slow change 16 2.75 (1.24) 4.50 (1.10)
2 Rapid change 36 d = .58 3.28 (0.88) .58* [0.12, 1.04] 4.08
(0.87) −.44 [–0.89, 0.02]
Slow change 40 2.65 (1.27) 4.55 (1.22)
Control 45 2.91 (1.17) 3.96 (1.22)

3 Rapid change 59 d = .47 2.93 (1.29) .13 [–0.24, .50] 4.07
(1.19) −.13 [–0.50, 0.24]
Slow change 55 2.76 (1.26) 4.22 (1.05)
Same primary provider measure used in
Studies 1-4
Same primary caregiver measure used in
Studies 1-4
4 Rapid change 138 d = .29 3.29 (1.19) .13 [–0.15, 0.41] 3.79
(1.28) −.25* [–0.23, 0.03]
Slow change 165 3.13 (1.25) 4.11 (1.33)
New relative provider measure New relative caregiver measure
Rapid change 138 3.90 (0.91) .28* [0.05, 0.51] 4.30 (0.74)
−.32* [–0.55, –0.09]
Slow change 165 3.64 (0.95) 4.57 (0.93)
Note. Text in bold denotes comparison groups for Cohen’s d
calculations and sensitivity analyses (α = .05, 1 – β = .80, two-
tailed for preliminary study,
one-tailed for Studies 1-4). All Cohen’s d calculated using
http://www.uccs.edu/~lbecker/. Studies 1 to 4 excluded
participants who are not heterosexual
or do not anticipate having a partner and/or children. CI =
confidence interval.
*p < .05.
Figure 1. Preliminary study: Women’s expected likelihood of
becoming the primary economic provider and primary caregiver
for their
families, 15 years in the future.
Note. Error bars represent standard errors.

Croft et al. 813
were generally unrelated to women’s abstract roles expecta-
tions (see Table 4).
The patterns from this exploratory study suggested that
women’s abstract possible selves (but not their concrete task
estimates) might be contingent upon the extent to which they
perceive men as interested in childcare. Interestingly, these
effects were specific to the economic provider and not the
caregiver role, which led us to formulate the complementar-
ity hypothesis, whereby a prime of men’s caregiving behav-
ior would have a complementary effect on women’s imagined
provider role in their future family.
Study 1
Because the Preliminary Study had not been specifically
designed to test the complementary hypothesis, we devel-
oped a more focused test for Study 1. Out of a concern that
extreme exemplars would be subtyped and treated as
“exceptions to the rule,” rather than seen as indicative of
broader norms (Weber & Crocker, 1983), we developed a
new manipulation. Specifically, in all further studies women
viewed graphs suggesting that men are either rapidly or
slowly taking on more caregiving roles before completing
the same dependent measures from the Preliminary Study.
We hypothesized that when women were led to believe that
men’s roles are changing rapidly (vs. slowly), they would be
more likely to imagine becoming the primary economic pro-
vider in their future family. We again tested for parallel
effects on becoming the primary caregiver and other con-
crete task estimates.

Method
Participants. A sample of 37 heterosexual undergraduate
women below age 25 (Mage = 19.44, SD = 1.27) participated
for course credit (44% East Asian/25% White). Because the
complementarity hypothesis should only apply to women
who expect to have a male partner and children, four partici-
pants were excluded for not meeting these criteria.3 Data
were collected in 2013, and we had aimed to collect 20 par-
ticipants randomly assigned to each condition (Simmons
et al., 2011), but stopped data collection when the term
ended. We recognize that this is a small sample by today’s
conventions, a limitation we address with the later meta-
analysis and discussion of the sensitivity analyses.
Procedure. The procedure was similar to the Preliminary
Study, except that normative trend primes replaced the exem-
plar primes in Part 1 of the session. As part of a study of how
changing trends affect people’s own life narratives, partici-
pants spent 5 min studying graphs on food consumption,
weather changes, smoking rates, and stay-at-home fathers,
before completing the same primary measures used in the
Preliminary Study.4 This fourth graph varied by condition to
manipulate changing norms.
Materials and measures
Graph primes. The focal graph depicted data on stay-at-
home fathers in Canada between 1986 and 2010 (Statistics
Canada, 2010). However, the graph and figure caption were
manipulated to show rapid or slow change (see SOM). In
the slow change condition, the y-axis ranged from 0% to
100% and the figure caption described that the percentage of
stay-at-home fathers is projected to remain relatively low in

the coming years. In the rapid change condition, the y-axis
was condensed to create a steep positive slope, and the fig-
ure caption emphasized projected increases in stay-at-home
fathers in the coming years.
Manipulation checks. Following this manipulation, par-
ticipants rated the speed at which the graph depicted men’s
gender roles as changing (1 = very slowly, 7 = very rapidly)
and their personal beliefs that men’s roles are changing rap-
idly (1 = strongly disagree, 7 = strongly agree).
Table 4. Descriptive Statistics and Estimates of Effect Size for
Concrete Task Measures in All Studies.
Study Conditions n
M (SD)
Time working
Cohen’s d
Time working
M (SD)
Time caregiving
Cohen’s d
Time caregiving
Prelim Family 24 −.21 (0.98) −.39 −.01 (0.94) −.12
Career 25 .16 (0.90) .10 (0.89)
Balanced 24 −.07 (1.04) −.05 (0.65)
1 Rapid change 17 .02 (0.81) .12 −.20 (0.79) −.64
Slow change 16 −.08 (0.85) .33 (0.86)
2 Rapid change 36 .20 (0.71) .64** −.04 (0.80) −.20

Slow change 40 −.35 (0.98) .12 (0.76)
Control 45 .15 (0.75) −.09 (0.73)
3 Rapid change 59 .002 (1.06) .01 −.12 (0.91) −.27
Slow change 55 −.003 (0.94) .14 (1.08)
Note. All mean values are standardized; higher numbers
indicate above average anticipated time spent working or
caregiving. Text in bold denotes
comparison groups for Cohen’s d calculations. All Cohen’s d
calculated using http://www.uccs.edu/~lbecker/. Study 2 to 5
excluded participants who are
not heterosexual or do not anticipate having a partner and/or
children.
Dependent measures. The same measures of future gender
roles and concrete task estimates used in Study 1 were again
assessed in Study 2. We again combined measures of esti-
mated time doing work (same as Study 1), r(31) = .30, p =
.10, and childcare, r(29) = .37, p = .05. Other measures and
descriptive statistics are provided in SOM.
Manipulation checks. Independent samples t tests revealed that
women in the rapid (vs. slow) change condition recalled the
graph showing more rapid change of men’s roles, t(31) = 6.48,
p < .001, d = 2.25 (see Table 2), and were also more likely
to agree that men’s roles are changing rapidly, t(31) = 2.45,
p = .02, d = .85.

Future roles. Independent samples t tests yielded significant
condition differences on women’s provider expectancies,
t(31) = 2.60, p = .01, d = .90, but their caregiver expectan-
cies did not reach statistical significance despite a small-to-
moderate effect size between conditions, t < 1, d = –.24 (see
Table 3; Figure 2). Again, women’s ratings of these two roles
were uncorrelated, r = –.01, p = .98.
Concrete tasks. Parallel t tests on concrete tasks revealed no
significant differences and a weak effect of condition on
women’s work time estimates, t(31) = .36, p = .72, d = .12,
whereas women’s childcare estimates showed a nonsignifi-
cant trend of being reduced in the rapid compared with the
slow change condition, t(31) = −1.84, p = .08, d = –.64 (see
Table 4).
Study 1 provided further evidence that women’s expecta-
tion of becoming primary providers in the future might be
complementary to their perceptions about men’s changing
roles. Again, the suggestion of rapidly changing roles did not
significantly affect women’s anticipated role as the primary
caregiver, although it did produce a meaningful effect size
estimate on this measure, and somewhat diminished their
estimates of time spent on childcare. Though these findings
are intriguing and provide a conceptual replication of the
Preliminary Study, Study 2 was carried out as a direct repli-
cation of Study 1 with the inclusion of a control condition
and a larger sample size.
Study 2
Method
Participants and procedure. Participants were 136 heterosexual
undergraduate women under age 25 (Mage = 20.16, SD = 1.89)

who completed the study for either course credit or payment
(47% East Asian, 23% white). Women who planned to be sin-
gle (n = 3) or childless (n = 12) were excluded, leaving a final
sample of 121 women.5 This study was run in Spring 2014, and
the sample size was planned to double the number of partici-
pants in each condition compared with Study 1.
Procedures and measures were the same as in Study 1,
except that a third of participants were randomly assigned to
a third, no information, control condition that included only
the three filler graphs. The manipulation check was modified
so that participants indicated the degree to which the graphs
showed that men are 1 (becoming more family-oriented), 4
(staying the same), to 7 (becoming more career-oriented).
We again assessed women’s future providing and caregiving
roles. As in the prior studies, concrete time estimates were
aggregated across the percentage and day reconstruction task
measures for time spent on work, r(119) = .47, p < .001, and
childcare, r(117) = .15, p = .12.
Figure 2. Study 1: Women’s expected likelihood of becoming
the primary economic provider and primary caregiver for their
families,
15 years in the future.
Croft et al. 815
Manipulation checks. An independent samples t test con-
firmed that women were more likely to recall the graph as
depicting men becoming more family-oriented in the rapid
as compared with the slow change condition (the control

condition was excluded given the absence of the fourth
graph), t(73) = −4.19, p < .001, d = –.97 (see Table 2). One
sample t tests also confirmed that men were seen as becom-
ing significantly more family-oriented compared with the
scale midpoint in the rapid change condition, t(35) = −7.79,
p < .001, but statistically similar to the midpoint in the slow
change condition, t(38) = −1.21, p = .23.
A one-way ANOVA on participants’ personal beliefs
yielded the expected effect of condition, F(2, 118) = .12,
p < .001, ηp
2 = .04 (see Table 2). Women in the rapid
change condition displayed a nonsignificant trend toward
being more likely than women in either the slow change or
control conditions to believe that men are becoming more
family-oriented, both ps = .07, the planned comparison of
rapid to slow change was significant, t(74) = −1.99, p =
.05, d = –.46. Thus, women accurately perceived the
manipulation, and internalized it to some extent, though
perhaps not as strongly as in the prior study, an issue we
return to in Study 3.
Future roles. A one-way ANOVA on anticipation of becom-
ing an economic provider replicated earlier studies, now with
a larger sample, F(2, 118) = 3.05, p = .05, ηp
2 = .05 (see
Table 3; see Figure 3). Women anticipated becoming the pri-
mary economic provider more when primed with rapid as
compared with slow change in men’s roles (d = .58). Ratings
of women in the control condition fell between the two treat-
ment conditions but did not differ significantly from either
(control vs. rapid, p = .09, d = .43; control vs. slow, p = .43,
d = –.16).

In contrast to previous studies with lower power, there
was also a significant effect of condition on anticipation of
being the primary caregiver, F(2, 118) = 3.16, p = .05 ηp
2 =
.05. Women were more likely to expect becoming the pri-
mary caregiver in the slow change condition as compared
with both the control, p = .02, d = .48, and rapid change
conditions, p = .08, d = –.44. The control and rapid change
conditions did not differ from one another, p = .61, d = .11.
The rated likelihoods of these two roles were negatively cor-
related in this sample, r = –.25, p < .01.
Concrete Task Estimates. In this larger sample, there was a
significant effect of condition on women’s work time esti-
mates, F(2, 118) = 5.38, p = .01, ηp
2 = .08 (see Table 4),
consistent with the complementarity hypothesis. Women
anticipated working less in the slow change as compared
with the rapid change (d = .64, p = .004) or control condi-
tion (d = .57, p = .01). There were no significant condition
effects on estimated childcare time, F(2, 118) = .84, p = .44,
ηp
2 = .01 (drapid vs. slow change = –.20, dcontrol vs. rapid
change = –.07,
dcontrol vs. slow change = –.28).
These findings provide further evidence for the comple-
mentarity hypothesis and also suggest that effects might be
driven more by the effect of perceived slow or stagnant
change constraining women’s future likelihood of becoming
an economic provider compared with a no-information con-
trol. Interestingly, across these first three studies, we did not
observe a clear inverse relationship between an increase in

envisioning oneself as the primary provider and a decrease in
envisioning oneself as the primary caregiver, an issue we
return to in the meta-analysis of all five studies. In this study,
the effect sizes on women’s providing expectations (d = .58)
and anticipated work time (d = .64) were consistently larger
than effects on primary caregiver expectations (d = –.44)
and anticipated caregiving time (d = – .20), though all effects
are interpretable as significant in this larger sample.
Figure 3. Study 2: Women’s expected likelihood of becoming
the primary economic provider and primary caregiver for their
families,
15 years in the future.
Study 3
Our prior three studies suggested that when women perceive
men’s roles as becoming less traditional (vs. remaining sta-
ble), women are, complementarily, more likely to envision
themselves enacting less traditional roles. The goal of Study
3 was to again replicate the previous studies and potentially
strengthen the effects by requiring participants to actively
reflect upon the graphical information about men’s changing
roles during a brief writing exercise.6
Method
Participants. Participants in this study were 116 heterosexual
undergraduate women below age 25 (Mage = 20.06, SD =
1.63; 42% White, 36% East Asian) who were only eligible if
they indicated during prescreening that they expected to have

a male partner and children (thus no data were excluded
based on these criteria). Data from two participants were
excluded due to technical problems (final N = 114). Data
collection occurred in Fall 2014 and we had planned to col-
lect a minimum of 50 participants in each condition but con-
tinued data collection through the end of the term.
Procedure. Study 3 followed the same procedure as Studies 1
and 2, with one modification intended to foster internaliza-
tion of the normative information. Participants studied the
graphs for 2 min and then were given 3 min to answer the
following question about an ostensibly randomly selected
graph (which always depicted men’s changing roles): “In
your own words, what is this graph saying about current
trends and their predicted patterns for the future?” and then
immediately answered a manipulation check question (“I
personally believe that men are: 1 = increasing their focus
on family; 4 = staying the same; 7 = increasing their focus
on career”). After this writing period, participants completed
the same life narrative survey from the prior studies, although
the day reconstruction task was omitted to save time (mean-
ing that concrete task estimates for this study are based only
on the percentage of time participants expected to spend
working and taking care of children). New to this study, mea-
sures of career ambition and traditional gender role beliefs
(counterbalanced in order)7 were included as potential mod-
erators after this survey to mask our explicit interest in gen-
der roles when primary outcomes were assessed. Finally,
participants were asked the attention check questions from
Study 1 (did the graph show rapid vs. slow change in men’s
roles?) and Study 2 (did the graph portray men as becoming
family- vs. career-oriented?).
Results
Manipulation checks. Independent samples t tests confirmed

that women were more likely to recall the graph depicting
rapidly changing male roles in the rapid as compared with
slow change condition, t(107) = 12.85, p < .001, d = 2.52.
They also recalled the graph depicting men becoming more
family-oriented in the rapid change compared with the slow
change condition, t(108) = −4.74, p < .001, d = –.90 (see
Table 2). Finally, women seemed to internalize this informa-
tion immediately after reading and writing about it, as they
reported a stronger belief that men are becoming more fam-
ily-oriented in the rapid compared with the slow change con-
dition, t(112) = −2.19, p = .03, d = –.41.
Future roles. Despite the above evidence that the manipula-
tion was accurately perceived and internalized, independent
samples t tests revealed no significant condition differences
between the rapid and slow change groups in this sample on
either the provider, d = .13, or caregiver variables, d = –.13,
both ts < 1 (see Table 3), though both effects were still in the
predicted direction.
Concrete tasks. Similar to the results for future roles, inde-
pendent samples t tests comparing participants’ concrete task
estimates revealed no significant condition differences on
either the time spent working, t < 1, d = .01, or enacting
childcare responsibilities, t(112) = 1.47, p = .15, d = –.27
(see Table 4).
Discussion
In sum, Study 3 yielded no support for the complementarity
hypothesis and yielded smaller observed effect sizes com-
pared with the previous three studies. One possibility is that,
although women initially reported a condition difference in
beliefs about the change in men’s roles after writing about this
trend (the manipulation check question), putting them in this

more deliberative mind-set during the manipulation might
have undermined the effectiveness of this kind of priming on
future roles, and perhaps even caused reactance among some
participants (e.g., Brehm, 1966; Molden, 2014). Therefore, in
Study 4 we returned to the same manipulation used in Study
1 and carried out a final preregistered replication of the pre-
dicted complementarity effects on primary provider and care-
giver ratings in a larger American sample (preregistration
link: https://osf.io/qdg6w/register/564d31db8c5e4a7c9694b2
c2). Because we were also interested in assessing not only
beliefs about taking on the primary role of provider or care-
giver, but also in whether women imagine sharing these roles
equally, we also included new measures that allowed partici-
pants to rate the relative contribution in their future relation-
ships to both breadwinning and caregiving.
Study 4
Method
Participants. We preregistered a target sample size of 302
needed not only to detect the main effects of our manipulation
https://osf.io/qdg6w/register/564d31db8c5e4a7c9694b2c2
https://osf.io/qdg6w/register/564d31db8c5e4a7c9694b2c2
Croft et al. 817
on key outcomes but also to test whether a measure of career
ambition significantly moderated these effects (see Note 7
and preregistration), estimated using G*power with f 2 = .03,
three predictors, α = .05, and 1 – β = .80. Anticipating exclu-
sions, we recruited 364 undergraduates from a large univer-
sity in the Southwestern United States to participate in this lab
study for either course credit or payment. As preregistered,

we excluded those who did not self-identify as female (n = 4)
or heterosexual (n = 32), who were older than 25 (n = 1), and
who did not anticipate having a spouse/partner (n = 12) or
children (n = 12) in the future. The final, usable sample was
303 heterosexual women (Mage = 18.76, SD = 1.17; 57%
Caucasian). Analyses without these exclusions can be found
in the SOM.
Procedure and measures. The procedure was adapted from
Study 1, wherein women saw graphs that depicted either
rapid or slow change in men’s roles before reporting their
expected future roles. Measures were the same with the fol-
lowing exceptions. First, we included two additional items to
assess expected caregiver and breadwinner roles relative to
participants’ expected partners: (a) “When it comes to earn-
ing money and contributing financially to my future house-
hold, I expect that”: 1 = My partner will definitely be the
primary economic provider for our family; 4 = My partner
and I will make equal economic contributions for our family;
7 = I will definitely be the primary economic provider for
our family; (b) “When it comes caring for our future children
(e.g., feeding, cleaning, coordinating schedules, activities,
transportation, etc.), I expect that: 1 = My partner will defi-
nitely be the primary caregiver for our children; 4 = My
partner and I will make equal contributions to childcare; 7 =
I will definitely be the primary caregiver for our children.
These measures of relative economic provider and caregiver
were significantly correlated with the original primary pro-
vider, r = .40, p < .001, and caregiver items, r = .57, p <
.001, respectively. In addition to this key change, we also
included exploratory measures of mechanism at the end of
the study (see SOM), but excluded measures of gender role
beliefs and concrete daily activities. Manipulation and atten-
tion check questions, as well as current demographics, were
asked at the very end of the survey.

Manipulation checks. Independent samples t tests confirmed
that participants accurately recalled the graphs as depicting
men’s roles as changing faster in the rapid than the slow
change condition, t(301) = −15.84, p < .001, d = 1.84. They
also reported personally believing that men’s roles are chang-
ing faster in the rapid than in the slow change condition,
t(301) = −4.86, p < .001, d = .78.
Women also correctly recalled that the graph showed men
becoming more family-oriented (i.e., scores closer to 1) in
the rapid than in the slow change condition, t(301) = 10.84,
p < .001, d = −1.27. However, unlike in previous studies,
their personal belief about men’s family orientation was
not significantly different between condition, t(301) =1.47,
p = .14, d = –.17.
Future roles. Independent samples t tests on the future roles
measures yielded some support for the complementarity
hypothesis. See Table 3 for means and standard deviations.
Although there was no significant main effect of condition
predicting women’s anticipated likelihood of being the pri-
mary economic provider, t(301) = −1.15, p = .25, d = .13,
this effect was significant on the newly added relative eco-
nomic provider measure, t(301) = −2.39, p = .02, d = .28.
Women in the rapid change condition were significantly
more likely to envision making equal economic contribu-
tions with their partners (scores close to 4), compared with
women in the slow change condition.
In addition, consistent with our complementarity hypothe-
sis, women in the rapid change condition were less likely than
women in the slow change condition to expect that they will be
the primary caregivers for their future children, t(301) = 2.15,

p = .04, d = –.25. Similarly, women in the rapid change condi-
tion envisioned sharing more equal caregiving contributions
with their future partners, relative to the women in the slow
change condition, t(301) = 2.72, p = .01, d = –.32.
Meta-Analysis Across Studies
One limitation of these studies is that several were run before
recent discussions surrounding the need for larger samples. It
has also been noted that in multistudy papers of true effects,
it is highly likely to observe some nonsignificant effects
(Lakens & Etz, 2017). Thus, to gain a more precise estimate
of the complementarity effect, we meta-analyzed effects on
future roles and concrete task estimates using Cumming’s
(2013) meta-analysis module in the Exploratory Software for
Confidence Intervals and recommendations by Goh, Hall,
and Rosenthal (2016), using a random effects model (as sug-
gested by Lakens, 2015). The total number of participants
across the five samples in the slow change/career and rapid
change/family conditions was N = 575 (nrapid = 274 and
nslow = 301; see Table 2). As can be seen in Table 3, sensitiv-
ity analyses using G*Power with α = .05 and 1 – β = .80
suggested that our earlier studies were underpowered to
detect small or moderate effects, but the combined sample
provides sufficient power to detect effects of at least d = .21.
These meta-analyses yielded a significant average esti-
mated effect of d = .27, 95% confidence interval (CI) [.11,
.44] for the likelihood of becoming the primary economic pro-
vider (see Figure 4). The estimated effect size for the likeli-
hood of becoming the primary caregiver was quite similar and
significant, d = –.26, 95% CI [–.42, –.09] (see Figure 5).
These are considered small- to medium-sized effects and are
meaningful both in conceptual guidelines (Cohen, 1988) and
in past quantitative summaries of effects in social psychology

(Richard, Bond, & Stokes-Zoota, 2003). Of note, both of these
effects are reduced but remain statistically significant when
including participants who were excluded for not wanting a
male partner and/or children, dprovider= .26, 95% CI [.10, .42],
dcaregiver = –.24, 95% CI [–.40, –.08]. We suspect these are
important criteria for the hypothesized effect, but the effects
observed are not contingent upon their exclusion.
Meta-analyses of the concrete task measures from the ear-
lier studies (not assessed in Study 4) yielded a nonsignificant
average estimated effect for women’s estimated time spent at
work, d = .11, 95% CI [–.31, .52] (see Figure 6), but a sig-
nificant effect for estimated time on childcare-related tasks,
d = –.26, 95% CI [–.50, –.03] (see Figure 7). Taken together,
these findings suggest that, across five samples using differ-
ent methods varying in strength of manipulation, providing
women with information about the degree to which men’s
roles are changing rapidly versus slowly leads to a small to
moderate difference in women’s own imagined economic
providing (and to a lesser extent, caregiving) roles for the
future. In addition, women primed to believe that men’s roles
are changing rapidly might feel some relief on the time spent
caregiving, though this did not seem to translate into expect-
ing to work more hours.
General Discussion
These five studies tested the hypothesis that young hetero-
sexual women’s expectations of their future roles are com-
plementarily tied to their expectations of men’s changing (or
unchanging) roles. Findings suggested that women primed

Figure 4. Meta-analysis: Average estimated effect size of
anticipated likelihood of becoming the primary economic
provider as a
function of men’s roles.
anticipated likelihood of becoming the primary caregiver as a
function of men’s
roles.
Croft et al. 819
(either through exemplars or normative data) to expect that
men will increasingly take on more childcare, more readily
envision becoming breadwinners and, in parallel, are less
likely to envision becoming the primary caregivers of their
future families. Conversely, and still consistent with a com-
plementarity explanation, if primed to believe that men are
slow to take on childcare, women themselves were more
likely to anticipate being the primary caregiver and less
likely to be the primary economic provider of their future
family. It is worth noting that these effects were found with
samples of women in which the majority expected to earn
graduate degrees and work full-time. Taken together, these
studies provide the first causal evidence that women’s
expected future roles, and especially their involvement in
economic providing, are complementary to what they believe
men’s roles will be. Such findings are novel given that prior
research on the barriers to women’s adoption of nontradi-
tional gender roles has emphasized stereotypes about wom-
en’s own traits or abilities, rather than considering the
complementary barrier represented by women’s expectations

about a hypothetical division of domestic labor with their
future partner.
Another novel contribution of the present research was to
establish the reliability and effect size estimates of these
complementarity effects on women’s possible selves. Future
research will need to disentangle the explanation for these
effects. One possibility is that if women see more men want-
ing to become primary caregivers, that women then imagine
anticipated time spent doing childcare tasks as a function of
men’s roles.
anticipated time spent working as a function of men’s roles.
feeling more constrained to make larger economic contribu-
tion to their families. A second possibility is that men’s
increased contributions to childcare allow women to feel
enabled to take on more demanding careers that would earn
a larger paycheck then their partner. A third possibility is that
evidence of men’s changing gender roles might generally
signal less restrictive gender norms that cue women to imag-
ine less stereotypical future selves. In Study 4, we made
efforts to measure these three mechanisms but found no evi-
dence that the manipulation influenced women’s self-
reported beliefs on any of these three variables (see SOM for
details). Perhaps complementarity is a process that is cued
much more automatically, rather than through any of these
more conscious and rational considerations. It is worth not-
ing that the manipulation used in these studies was quite

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