Abstract
The main aim of the present study was to examine whether sexual satisfaction moderates the negative impact of daily hassles in the family-work system on life satisfaction from a comparative perspective: men versus women. The examined daily hassles included the experience of work-family role conflict and the assessment of relative economic deprivation. Data were collected from a representative sample of 276 heterosexual Israeli participants (136 men and 140 women), via structured questionnaires. Sexual satisfaction was positively related to life satisfaction and negatively to the work-family role conflict among both genders. Work-family role conflict was negatively related to life satisfaction. No relationship was found between the assessment of relative economic deprivation and life satisfaction among women with high levels of sexual satisfaction, whereas the assessment of relative economic deprivation among women with low levels of sexual satisfaction was associated with lower levels of life satisfaction. These relationships were not found among men. The findings highlight sexual satisfaction as a resource for coping with daily hassles resulting from economic deprivation, especially among women. Theoretical and practical implications of the research are discussed in light of the findings.
Acknowledgements
We wish to express our gratitude towards Prof. Aleksandar Štulhofer from University of Zagreb, for his help and advice during the first stages of the research.
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.
Notes on contributors
Liat Kulik is a Full Professor at Bar Ilan University School of Social Work. She has a BA degree in Psychology, an MA degree in Behavioral Sciences and Management, and a Ph.D. degree in Sociology. Over the past 20 years, Prof. Kulik has engaged in practical work, research, and teaching in different areas relating to workers in organizations and the influence of work on individuals and their families. She has also published numerous articles in scientific journals on topics such as spousal power relations, gender roles at work and at home, work-family conflict, and intergenerational transmission of gender role attitudes. She is co-editor of a book Working Families – Parents in the Labor Market in Israel: Social, Legal and Economic Perspectives, which recently appeared in Hebrew.
Gabriel Liberman, Data-Graph Research & Statistical Consulting Liberman was first trained as a computer scientist and moved into psychology and education to pursue his PhD in which he examined the effect of alternative educational programs on child performance. Since the early 1980s, as a statistical consultant and support specialist, he is involved in many interdisciplinary projects, such as linguistics, education, psychology, social work, and marketing, which he presented and published. He is an associate editor for statistical analyses for the Journal of Culture and Education (Routledge) and the chief editor for its special edition on advanced statistical modeling (Oct. 2017). His professional interests can be seen at: www.data-graph.com.