Naslov
I walk around with a list in my head – Conceptual overview and preliminary results of qualitative research on mental load in Croatian households

Autori
Klasnić, Ksenija ; Degač, Đurđica ; Rukavina, Izvor

Vrsta, podvrsta i kategorija rada
Sažeci sa skupova, sažetak, znanstveni

Izvornik
Program for the MILIEU international conference “Gender, disability, violence” / - , 2022, 14-14

Skup
“Gender, Disability and Violence” International Conference

Mjesto i datum
Sofija, Bugarska, 06.10.2022. - 07.10.2022

Vrsta sudjelovanja
Predavanje

Vrsta recenzije
Međunarodna recenzija

Ključne riječi
mental load, gender inequality in private sphere, gender relations, household management

Sažetak
Mental load has only recently been recognized as a relevant social phenomenon and is gaining importance and research interest mostly in sociological research conducted outside Europe. The term is known also as mental or cognitive labour/housework or household management and it describes the invisible work involved in running a household and family. Daminger (2019) describes it as the responsibility of "anticipating needs, identifying options for meeting them, making decisions and monitoring progress". This type of invisible housework is performed mostly by women, and is in particular prevalent among working mothers on whose well-being has negative consequences, especially in the circumstances of the Covid-19 pandemic. Guided by the premise that the neglection of mental load leads to an underestimation of the gender gap in the private sphere, we aim to make the scientific community aware of this poorly recognized aspect of gender inequality. In this paper we present a brief conceptual overview of mental load in the household based on existing scientific knowledge and the preliminary results of the qualitative research, whose main objective was to determine the broadest possible content range of mental load in the household and its potentially gender-specific forms. Considering that previous research portrays this phenomenon as predominantly female work, we also paid special attention to the unexplored aspects of men's mental work. We conducted thematic analysis using data gathered in three focus groups (two with women, one with men) during 2022 in Croatia. Three main themes were constructed related to the consequences of the division of work on women, declarative reasons of female involvement and the perception of reasons for male non-involvement in mental load. In addition, results are also presented using a constructed matrix for the established gender division between physical and mental work in household which implies gender inequality in mental load.

Izvorni jezik
Engleski

Znanstvena područja
Sociologija

POVEZANOST RADA