Daminger - Cognitive Dimension of Household Labor Flashcards
What are the two key questions she is asking in her research?
What are the components
of cognitive labor?
How is cognitive labor distributed between men and women in different-sex relationships?
What does she conclude about the definition of cognitive labor?
(1) anticipating needs;
(2) identifying options
for meeting those needs;
(3) deciding among the options;
and
(4) monitoring the results.
What does “physical work” or “physical labor” overlook?
“hidden” or “invisible” forms of labor
- “emotion work” asserts that managing feelings and affect is a form of labor distinct from the physical work of completing a task
- Cognitive labor may occur in the same time or space as its physical and emotional counterparts, but it differs in form
- Ex. the work of anticipating the family’s need for a meal and generating a plan for fulfilling that need
How can women be taking care of long-term cognitive labour?
In the context of long-term planning and
decision-making, women devote more mental energy to anticipating the demands of parenthood and reconciling partners’ competing career needs
How can some cognitive labour (ex. decision making) be more male centric?
—making decisions for the family—may be more male-typed.
Prior research on different-sex couples suggests men often wield decision-making
power: they are more likely than their female partner to overtly exercise their preferences
What else do women spend much more time doing?
Multitasking (different types of labour at once. ex, physical and cognitive)
What side effects can a high cognitive burden have?
anxiety, stress, and other obstacles to wellbeing
Who did they study?
70 married ppl in Boston (had a degree and at least 1 child)
What are highly educated women associated with? (ex. why did they pick ppl with bachelors degrees)
“intensive mothering”, a set of practices requiring high levels of cognitively-demanding activities like planning and decision-making.
How was the study information collected?
First asked couples to keep logs about when some tasks were completed by them
Then interview each person from the couple individually
What are some of the general characteristics of cognitive labour?
- cognitive labor is often invisible to people
other than the laborer, (who see the physical outcome but not the mental work that enabled it) - even the laborer may overlook it, because it does not seem like work, is deeply engrained in habits and modes of thought.
- it may be difficult to give oneself full credit for contributing, to pinpoint the source of stress or time pressure, or to advocate for a more equitable division of labor.
- cognitive labor is often diffuse or abstract.
- many others—monitoring and anticipation work in particular— defy such neat delineation
How can the Invisibility of cognitive labour generate conflict within a couple?
Laborer may believe their
efforts are unappreciated, while their partners wonder why they complain about being busy or stressed
What is a consequence of cognitive labor’s
abstract nature?
it prevents the laborer from experiencing the satisfaction of accomplishment that follows the completion of many physical tasks.
(no real beginning or end)
Of the four steps in cognitive load, which ones are dominated by women?
Anticipation and monitoring
(Decision-making, by contrast, was a more collaborative activity, and identification work was typically split between partners.)
How are cognitive domains gendered?
mirrors findings on the gendering of
physical housework:
women led childcare related cognitive labor in 23 of 32 couples and cleaning-related cognitive labor in 19.
logistics and scheduling
(female-led in 24 couples) and social relationships (female-led in 17 couples).
What things were women likely to track?
Calendars, birthdays, gifts for friends, social organizing
Which things were men involved in?
Finance (in several couples finance
was the only domain the male partner dominated cognitively)
In maintenance, what roles did men and women undertake?
men more often handled car-related cognitive labor, while women played a larger role in home interior issues.
Who carries a higher cognitive load?
women carried a heavier cognitive load in 26 of 32 couples.
They led an average of 4.6 out of nine domains, whereas men averaged 1.6, and 2.2 were split or shared in some fashion
Among the men who carried a heavier cognitive load (four couples), what is unique about them?
- Half the men in the nontraditional group were stay-at-home dads. (more time available?)
- half the men were born outside the United States (in Europe or Asia)
- three of the six women were
physicians—and, notably, the only female
physicians in the sample (maybe that contributes?)
Was identification dominated by a sex, or split?
Identification work was primarily split by
domain (e.g., one partner did shopping-related identification, the other handled travel-related identification) or assigned to the partner with “research” skills deemed superior.
Was decision-making dominated by a sex, or split?
collaborative: 28 couples primarily shared
decision-making work. Both men and women insisted that they consulted their partner all the time
What was a pattern shown in many couples (with the four step process?)
Multiple couples exhibited a pattern of
gender imbalance in anticipation and (less
frequently) identification work followed by
collaboration at the decision-making stage
pattern of female anticipation and
identification followed by joint decision making was particularly apparent in the realm of formal childcare
Women also monitor after
What important implications does this study have on household labour?
need to include the cognitive dimension in future research on the allocation of domestic work.
Failure to do so could systematically bias results: if, as I find here, women routinely complete more cognitive labor than do their male partners, current research may underestimate the gap between men’s and women’s household labor burden.
What might this study explain about women’s health?
Compared to men, women report higher rates of stress, anxiety, and feelings of time scarcity
What can inequality in the household be associated with?
relationship conflict, diminished individual wellbeing, and even workplace outcomes
