Egalitarian or traditional: Correlates of the perception of an ideal marriage

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Abstract
One hundred and eight married couples were administered an omnibus questionnaire concerning various aspects of their marriages. In the present report, interest is focussed on the correlates of the couples' perceptions of an ideal marriage as being either egalitarian (where decisions, tasks and power, etc. are shared) or traditional (husbands make decisions and activities are divided along sex‐role lines). Both males and females were found to be more egalitarian if they were younger, had been married for a shorter time, had fewer children, lower male occupational status, less male income but more female in‐come, were more educated, presently continuing their education and voted for the Australian Labor Party. Male egalitarianism was associated with femininity, while female egalitarianism was associated with masculinity. Egalitarian males shared more household tasks, did more feminine tasks and more tasks overall than their traditional counterparts. Egalitarian females performed more masculine tasks and fewer feminine tasks. Husbands' egalitarianism was associated with marital happiness for their wives. However, when husbands held traditional views, wives' egalitarianism was associated with less marital happiness for their husbands.