The myth of equal partnership and its effect on women’s relationship quality The effect of traditionalization on relationship quality among traditional and egalitarian women

Abstract

The current study examines the consequences of making the transition to parenthood for several aspects of relationship quality, i.e. intimacy, passion, and relationship satisfaction of 83 Dutch women. We expected that women who reduced their work hours would experience a decrease in relationship quality during the transition to parenthood and that this decrease would be bigger for egalitarian women compared to traditional women. Measurements took place at the second or third trimester of pregnancy and eight months after childbirth. Results show a negative effect of becoming a mother on relationship quality in general. Contradictory to our expectations, women who did not reduce their work hours experienced a bigger reduction in passion during the transition to parenthood than women who did go back in work hours. This means that women who go back more in work hours, experience more passion in their relationship eight months after childbirth, than women who go back less hours or do not go back at all. This effect was not found for intimacy and relationship satisfaction. Finally, it seemed that task division before childbirth did not have a moderating effect on the association between traditionalization and relationship quality. It seems to not matter whether women in this sample were more traditional or more egalitarian before childbirth for how much their relationship quality decreased.