Satisfaction with performance of housework: The roles of time spent, quality assessment, and stress

Where previous research on satisfaction with housework has examined satisfaction with relative allocations, this study examined spouses' satisfaction with their own performance. The authors found that satisfaction was a function of time spent, quality of outcomes, stress originating both at home and away, and approval by spouses for performance. Time spent and quality of outcomes were related in a complex fashion to satisfaction with own performance. The relation between time contributions and satisfaction was partially mediated by quality of outcomes, but the relation between quality of outcomes and satisfaction was also moderated by time spent. Several significant moderating effects suggested that the time contributions and perceived quality of outcomes had different meanings under varying circumstances. Patterns of findings for husbands and wives suggested that both used personal standards to evaluate performance and both valued their contributions to housework, but the greater responsibility for housework among wives was supported.