Life Role Salience: A Study of Dual-Career Couples in the Indian Context

Abstract

To explain career development of professional men and women, the developmental approach is becoming increasingly popular as it allows for a broad perspective encompassing both work and family roles. It recognizes the fact that developmentally men and women are different. The present study explored whether, for dual-career couples working in the Indian context, the salience attached to different life roles by male and female partners does indeed vary differentially across the life cycle in keeping with the propositions of the adult developmental theories of men and women. Data were collected from 92 dual-career couples. Results provided only partial support for the propositions of adult development theories, examined in terms of the differences between the life role salience of male and female partners. In particular, the expected reversal of salience attached to work and family roles at mid-life, between men and women, was not evident. Our results seem to challenge the universality of the existing developmental frameworks and suggest the need to broaden the theoretical base to incorporate diverse socio-cultural realities that have a bearing on life role salience.

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