Discursive representations of family and household commitment in working mothers and fathers

Journal title RICERCHE DI PSICOLOGIA
Author/s Francesca Alby, Marilena Fatigante, Cristina Zucchermaglio
Publishing Year 2014 Issue 2014/1 Language Italian
Pages 26 P. 9-34 File size 268 KB
DOI 10.3280/RIP2014-001001
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In recent decades we have witnessed a massive entry of women into the labor market. This phenomenon has resulted in substantial reorganization in family life and in the ways in which people spend their time dividing it between paid work, leisure and family activities. The temporal pressure caused by coordinating these various activities is particularly heavy in the case of families with children in which both parents work. The article is part of a line of research that explores the division of household labor in the couple within the tradition of ethnographic studies of everyday life of households. The findings, based on analysis of diaries, interviews and videotaped family interactions, focus on: 1) the representations on the part of mothers and fathers of their management practices and coordination of family activities 2) the nature of the cognitive work that such activity of management and coordination implies, 3) the identity representations of mothers and fathers.

Keywords: Mothers, fathers, housework, family interactions, cognitive work, family management

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Francesca Alby, Marilena Fatigante, Cristina Zucchermaglio, Rappresentazioni discorsive dell’impegno domestico e familiare in madri e padri che lavorano in "RICERCHE DI PSICOLOGIA " 1/2014, pp 9-34, DOI: 10.3280/RIP2014-001001