being natural and inherent. This study's findings demonstrate that mothers' primary

responsibility for child care does not feel natural and inherent to couples, as evidenced by

the couples' reported higher role dissatisfaction the more their parenting roles diverged

along this gender line.

 Another assertion of the interactionist view of gender is that gender roles are

negotiated within relationships. The present study's findings fit with this contention as a

significant difference was found between couples' style of negotiation (the couple

conflict types) and the amount of task differentiation concerning child care present in

their relationship. Only the validating couple conflict type score was significantly

associated with lower levels of task differentiation regarding child-related tasks. The

other three couple conflict type scores (volatile, conflict-avoiding, and hostile) were not

significantly related, positively or negatively, to task differentiation. This finding implies

how conflicts are negotiated may be an important factor in how couples' arrange their

parenting roles.

 Gottman's typology of marital conflict provided a final theoretical perspective

guiding the present study. Much of the study's findings are in line with Gottman's theory

and research, while some of the results are contradictory. Like Holman and Jarvis's

(2003) study, this investigation further validates Gottman's (1994) conceptualization of

four distinct couple conflict types. As with their research and Gottman's own, this study

found the hostile couple conflict type score to be correlated with negative outcomes (e.g.,

higher role dissatisfaction and marital disaffection, and lower individual well-being)

while these negative outcomes were not significantly associated with any of the three

regulated couple conflict types. However, the results of this study, like Holman and