Abstract
The paper examines gendered experiences of established adulthood with reference to role-related responsibilities in urban Indian families. In-depth interviews were conducted with 30 married adults aged between 35 and 45 years, from educated, high socioeconomic class families of Vadodara, India. The aim was to examine participants’ reasoning about similarities and differences in potentials of men and women; and gender differences in responsibilities. Qualitative analyses revealed that both men and women attributed equal potentials for both genders, in fulfilling a range of adult roles within and outside the family. All participants also agreed that even if responsibilities were ‘shared’, women’s involvement in different roles was much more intense than men’s. Women were critical of patriarchal norms that hindered participation in the workforce and led to role overload. However, they navigated diverse roles with increased efficiency and multitasking. Men, on the other hand, showed passive acceptance and reinforced traditional gender norms in spite of complete awareness of demands generated from a rapidly changing socioeconomic milieu. However, in what may seem like a push and pull between the two genders, decisions of balancing work and family were always contextualized and embedded in an ethos of maintaining strong social and familial networks, indicating a clear preference for doing what was in everyone’s best interest. Overall, results suggested that navigating traditional gender role expectations in marriage and parenthood, without compromising social and familial harmony, was a significant cultural marker of maturity in established adulthood in India.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Aasaavari, A (2019) Marital practices amongst the young in India Continuities and transformation. In S. Kumar Ed Youth in India Routledge, India pp. 74-92 https://doi.org/10.4324/9780367142049-6
Anantanarayanan, R. & Iyer, G. (2020) Dukh, depression and journeys of life part VI- Duhkha, depression and the axe effect. https://www.indictoday.com/long-reads/duhkha-depression-axe-effect/
Arnett, J. J. (2000). Emerging adulthood: A theory of development from the late teens through the twenties. American Psychologist, 55(5), 469–480. https://doi.org/10.1037/0003-066x.55.5.469
Arnett, J. J. (2002). The psychology of globalization. American Psychologist, 57(10), 774. https://doi.org/10.1037/0003-066x.57.10.774
Arnett, J. J. (Ed.). (2004). Emerging adulthood: The winding road from the late teens through the twenties. Oxford University Press. https://doi.org/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199929382.001.0001
Arnett, J. J. (2015). The Oxford handbook of emerging adulthood. Oxford University Press. https://doi.org/10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199795574.001.0001
Arnett, J. J., & Eisenberg, N. (2007). Introduction to the special section: Emerging adulthood around the world. Child Development Perspectives, 1(2), 66–67. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1750-8606.2007.00015.x
Bedford, O., & Yeh, K. H. (2020). The contribution of Chinese process thought to psychology as a global science: Filial piety as an example. Review of General Psychology, 24(2), 99–109. https://doi.org/10.1177/1089268019889337
Bhangaokar, R., & Kapadia, S. (2009). At the interface of ‘dharma’ and ‘karma’: Interpreting moral discourse in India. Psychological Studies, 54(2), 96–108. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12646-009-0018-1
Bhattacharyya, I. (2020) How gendered labour was hard-wired into upper-middle-class households. The Wire. https://thewire.in/women/domestic-labour-lockdown
Bhawuk, D. P. (2010). Methodology for building psychological models from scriptures: Contributions of Indian psychology to indigenous and universal psychologies. Psychology and Developing Societies, 22(1), 49–93. https://doi.org/10.1177/097133360902200103
Bhawuk, D. (2011). Spirituality and Indian psychology: Lessons from the Bhagavad- Gita. Springer Science & Business Media. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4419-8110-3
Braun, V., & Clarke, V. (2006). Using thematic analysis in psychology. Qualitative Research in Psychology, 3(2), 77–101. https://doi.org/10.1191/1478088706qp063oa
Brim, O. G., Ryff, C. D., & Kessler, R. C. (Eds) (2019) How healthy are we?: A national study of well-being at midlife. University of Chicago Press
Buchtel, E. E. (2020). The joy of obligation: Human cultural worldviews can enhance the rewards of meeting obligations. Behavioral and Brain Sciences. https://doi.org/10.1017/s0140525x19002607
Buchtel, E. E., Ng, L. C., Norenzayan, A., Heine, S. J., Biesanz, J. C., Chen, S. X., & Su, Y. (2018). A sense of obligation: Cultural differences in the experience of obligation. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 44(11), 1545–1566. https://doi.org/10.1177/0146167218769610
Chakraborty, A. (2015). Theory of Purusharthas and crisis of values in our society. Spectrum: Humanities. Social Sciences and Management, 2, 105–118.
Desai, S., & Andrist, L. (2010). Gender scripts and age at marriage in India. Demography, 47(3), 667–687. https://doi.org/10.1353/dem.0.0118
Devagupta, R. (2017). The way of the householder, retold by Rama Devagupta. https://parabola.org/2017/11/01/the-way-of-the-householder-retold-by-rama-devagupta/
Douglass, C. B. (2007). From duty to desire: Emerging adulthood in Europe and its consequences. Child Development Perspectives, 1(2), 101–108. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1750-8606.2007.00023.x
Eckensberger, L., Kapadia, S. and Wagels, K. (2000) Social-cognitive domains of thinking in marriage partners selection: the Indian context. Paper presented at the symposium on The Development of Moral Reasoning and Diversity in the Concepts of Being at the 16th Biennial Congress of the International Society for the Study of Behavioral Development, Beijing, 11–14
Evans, J., Sahgal, N., Salazar, A.M., Starr, K.J., and Corichi, M. (2022) How Indians view gender roles in families and society. PEW Research Center. https://www.pewresearch.org/religion/2022/03/02/how-indians-view-gender-roles-in-families-and-society/
Gala, J., & Kapadia, S. (2014). Romantic love, commitment and marriage in Emerging Adulthood in an Indian context: Views of emerging adults and middle adults. Psychology and Developing Societies, 26(1), 115–141. https://doi.org/10.1177/0971333613516233
Ghadially, R. (Ed.). (2007) Urban women in contemporary India: A reader Sage
Henrich, J., Heine, S. J., & Norenzayan, A. (2010). The weirdest people in the world? Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 33(2–3), 61–83. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0140525X0999152X
Infurna, F. J., Gerstorf, D., & Lachman, M. E. (2020). Midlife in the 2020s: Opportunities and challenges. American Psychologist, 75(4), 470. https://doi.org/10.1037/amp0000591
Ingber, H. (2011) In India, divorce among the elderly is on the rise. https://www.pri.org/stories/2011-06-02/india-divorce-among-elderly-rise
Jensen, L. A. (Ed.). (2015) Cultural-developmental scholarship for a global world: An introduction. The Oxford handbook of human development and culture: An interdisciplinary perspective (pp. 3–13). New York, NY: Oxford University Press. https://doi.org/10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199948550.001.0001
Kakar, S. (1980). The inner world: A psycho-analytic study of childhood and society in India. Oxford University Press. https://doi.org/10.2307/1972747
Kakar, S. (2007). Family Matters. India International Centre Quarterly, 33(3/4), 214–221.
Khaitan, S. (2021) Will payment for housework discourage women from paid work? https://www.indiaspend.com/women/paying-women-for-housework-pragmatic-or-retrogressive-740368
Kitayama, S., Berg, M. K., & Chopik, W. J. (2020). Culture and well-being in late adulthood: Theory and evidence. American Psychologist, 75(4), 567. https://doi.org/10.1037/amp0000614
Knecht, M., & Freund, A. M. (2016). Boundary management: A time-sampling study on managing work and private life in middle adulthood. Research in Human Development, 13(4), 297–311. https://doi.org/10.1080/15427609.2016.1234307
Martin, P. (2020). The effect of a virus on adult development. Journal of Adult Development, 27(2), 81–82. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10804-020-09353-1
Mehta, C. M., Arnett, J. J., Palmer, C. G., & Nelson, L. J. (2020). Established adulthood: A new conception of ages 30 to 45. American Psychologist, 75(4), 431. https://doi.org/10.1037/amp0000600
Menon, U. (2011). The three selves of adulthood: Cultural conceptions of self among Oriya Hindu women. Psychological Studies, 56(1), 23–35. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12646-011-0058-1
Menon, U. (2015) Midlife narratives across cultures: Decline or pinnacle? https://doi.org/10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199948550.013.39
Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, International Institute of Population Sciences. (2017). National Family Health Survey (NFHS-4). http://rchiips.org/nfhs/nfhs4Reports/India.pdf
Mitra, D. (2021). Emerging Adulthood in India (Doctoral Dissertation). Clark University.
Mothilal, M. D. (2007) Integral development of the child: Perspectives from Hindi literature (Doctoral Dissertation). University of KwaZulu-Natal
Nair, G., & Hofman, N. G. (2022). Middle-class Women and Domestic Work in India and the United States: Caste Race and Patriarchy. Sociological Bulletin. https://doi.org/10.1177/00380229211063157
Nelson, L. J., & Chen, X. (2007). Emerging adulthood in China: The role of social and cultural factors. Child Development Perspectives, 1(2), 86–91. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1750-8606.2007.00020.x
OECD (2014) Education at a Glance 2014: OECD Indicators https://doi.org/10.1787/eag-2014-en
Philip, S. (2015) The invisible masculinities of Indian men. The Voice. https://voicemalemagazine.org/the-invisible-masculinities-of-indian-men/
Raina, M., Ollier-Malaterre, A., & Singh, K. (2020). Happily exhausted: Work family dynamics in India. Occupational Health Science, 4, 191–211. https://doi.org/10.1007/s41542-020-00059-0
Rosenberger, N. (2007). Rethinking emerging adulthood in Japan: Perspectives from long-term single women. Child Development Perspectives, 1(2), 92–95. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1750-8606.2007.00021.x
Roy, A. (2018). The middle class in India. Association for Asian Studies, 23(1), 1.
Saleem, S. M. (2019). Modified Kuppuswamy socioeconomic scale updated for the year 2019. Indian Journal of Forensic Community Medicine, 6(1), 1–3. https://doi.org/10.18231/2394-6776.2019.0001
Santos, H. C., Varnum, M. E., & Grossmann, I. (2017). Global increases in individualism. Psychological Science, 28(9), 1228–1239. https://doi.org/10.1177/0956797617700622
Seiter, L. N., & Nelson, L. J. (2011). An examination of Emerging Adulthood in college students and non-students in India. Journal of Adolescent Research, 26(4), 506–536. https://doi.org/10.1177/0743558410391262
Tumhari Sulu (Film). (2017) T-Series and Ellipsis Entertainment
United Nations. (2020). The world’s women 2020: Trends and statistics. https://www.un.org/en/desa/world%E2%80%99s-women-2020
Van Wessel, M. (2004). Talking about consumption: How an Indian middle class dissociates from middle-class life. Cultural Dynamics, 16(1), 93–116. https://doi.org/10.1177/0921374004042752
Verma, S., & Saraswathi, T. S. (2002) Adolescents in India: Street urchins or Silicon Valley millionaires? In R. Larson, & T. S. Saraswathi (Eds.), The world’s youth Adolescence in eight regions of the globe. New York, NY: Cambridge University Press https://doi.org/10.1017/cbo9780511613814.005
Žukauskienė, R. (Ed.). (2015) Emerging adulthood in a European context. Psychology Press. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315750620
Funding
This study was not funded by any agency.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
Conflict of interest
The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.
Additional information
Publisher's Note
Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Pandya, N., Bhangaokar, R. Equal But Different: Views on Gender Roles and Responsibilities Among Upper-Class Hindu Indians in Established Adulthood. J Adult Dev 30, 145–155 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10804-022-09417-4
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10804-022-09417-4