American Heterosexual Young Adults’ Reasoning about their Expectations for Future Household Labor Participation

Despite being egalitarian, heterosexual young adults, especially women, predict a gendered division in their future household. The present study investigated 178 American heterosexual young adults’ (M = 20.56, 88.20% European American, 51% ciswomen) ideal and expected future household labor participation, their social attitudes and their justifications for their expectations. Participants were on average egalitarian in their attitudes and reasoning. Across the sample, gender norm reasoning was positively associated with expecting an unequal division, while equality reasoning was associated with expecting an equal division. A final model in which reasoning and attitudes were both included found that only being male and employing equality justifications was positively predictive of expecting an egalitarian division. The present study highlights the value of going beyond social attitudes and turning to investigating young adults’ underlying reasoning for understanding why gender (in)equality is expected and potentially perpetuated despite egalitarian ideals.