Gender Equality and Maternal Burnout: A 40-Country Study

Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology • Vol/Iss. 53(2) • Sage Publications • • Published In • Pages: 157-178 •
By Roskam, Isabelle, Gallée, Laura, Aguiar, Joyce, Akgun, Ege, Arena, Andrew, Arikan, Gizem, Aunola, Kaisa, Bader, Michel, Barham, Elizabeth J., Besson, Eliane, Beyers, Wim, Boujut, Emilie, Brianda, Maria Elena, Brytek-Matera, Anna, Carbonneau, Noémie, César, Filipa, Chen, Bin-Bin, Dorard, Géraldine, Dos Santos Elias, Luciana Carla, Dunsmuir, Sandra, Egorova, Natalia, Favez, Nicolas, Fontaine, Anne-Marie, Foran, Heather, Fricke, Julia, Furutani, Kaichiro, Gannagé, Myrna, Gaspar, Maria, Godbout, Lucie, Goldenberg, Amit, Gross, James J., Ancuta Gurza, Maria, Hashmi, Muhammad Aamir, Helmy, Mai, Huynh, Mai Trang, Kaneza, Emérence, Kawamoto, Taishi, Kellou, Nassima, Medjahdi, Oussama, Knezevic, Goran, Lazarevic, Ljiljana B., Le Vigouroux, Sarah, Lebert-Charron, Astrid, Leme, Vanessa, Lin, Gao-Xian, MacCann, Carolyn, Manrique-Millones, Denisse, Matias, Marisa, Miranda-Orrego, María Isabel, Miscioscia, Marina, Morgades-Bamba, Clara, Mousavi, Seyyedeh Fatemeh, Moutassem-Mimouni, Badra, Muntean, Ana, Murphy, Hugh, Ndayizigiye, Alexis, Ngnombouowo, Tenkue Josué, Olderbak, Sally

Abstract

Using a sample of 11,538 mothers from 40 countries, this study explores the instances when maternal burnout increases. The authors suggest two hypotheses: 1) maternal burnout will increase when experiencing inequality in parenting while one holds egalitarian values, and 2) maternal burnout will increase when raising a child in a country with high levels of equality in areas besides parenting. The results support both hypotheses, showing the importance of tackling inequality at the micro and macro levels to decrease maternal burnout. In addition, the analyses show that the cross-level bivariate correlation between countries with high levels of gender equality and holding egalitarian values is positive.
Documents and Hypotheses Filed By: stefania.becerralavado