Gender Role Ideologies, Marital Satisfaction, and Eudaimonic Well-Being in Evangelical Women

Abstract

Recent research has demonstrated that egalitarian gender role ideologies are associated with higher marital satisfaction and higher psychological well-being. However, there has been little research investigating whether gender role ideologies in Evangelical populations follow these same trends. The current study examined how gender role ideologies in an Evangelical population are related to marital satisfaction and eudaimonic well-being, as well as the role of locus of control in these relationships. Three hundred sixty-three Evangelical Christian women were administered a survey containing measures of gender role ideology, marital satisfaction, eudaimonic well-being, and locus of control. No bivariate relationship was found between marital satisfaction and gender role ideologies. However, locus of control significantly moderated this relationship, such that the relationship was only significant for women with a more external locus of control. Specifically, externalizing women evidenced a significant positive relationship between egalitarian gender role ideologies and marital satisfaction, whereas the relationship was not significant for internalizing women. Moreover, egalitarian gender role ideologies were found to be positively related to eudaimonic well-being. The results of this research expand the current body of literature surrounding gender role ideologies within religious populations, specifically regarding outcomes that are associated with holding specific gender role ideologies.