Household Labor, Gender Beliefs, and Women’s Sexual Desire: New Study Findings

Researchers surveyed mixed-gender couples to assess how chore division relates to women’s sexual desire. Study 1 included 163 cohabiting couples (326 participants) during early COVID-19; Study 2 surveyed 617 individuals, 409 parents, using a 59-item chore questionnaire.

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Low sexual desire in women is often linked to stress, relationship dissatisfaction, or hormonal changes. Theory suggests societal gender norms—viewing women as primary caregivers—shape intimacy, and benevolent sexism, which idealizes traditional roles, may moderate this effect.

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Overall chore volume did not predict lower desire for women as a whole. Women endorsing egalitarian partnership ideals who performed a larger share of cleaning, parenting, and financial tasks reported reduced desire. In contrast, women with higher benevolent-sexism scores showed no desire decline when doing more chores. Among mothers, greater household labor correlated with lower desire regardless of sexism attitudes.

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Lead author Alexandra Liepmann, a clinical-psychology PhD student at the University of Colorado Boulder, said the study in *The Journal of Sex Research* shows unequal chore division persists despite egalitarian pushes and can lower women’s sexual desire. She urged research on how couples negotiate labor division and perceive gendered expectations, and the team will examine communication strategies couples use around household tasks.

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Both studies rely on self-reported, observational data, limiting causal inference. Samples comprised satisfied mixed-gender couples from Western nations, restricting generalizability to same-gender partnerships or cultures with different norms. While total chore load showed no universal effect on desire, specific chore categories and gender-role attitudes produced divergent outcomes, and partner communication was unmeasured.

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• “One way that broader gender inequities are expressed in romantic relationships are through unequal division of household labor, where women often do more of the household chores compared to their man partner,” — Alexandra Liepmann, PhD student

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• “When women endorsed less benevolent sexism (in line with wanting an equitable partnership) and were evenly splitting household chores with their man partner, they reported the highest sexual desire for their partner,” — Alexandra Liepmann

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• “But, when women who want an equitable partnership were doing more household chores than their man partner, they reported the lowest sexual desire for their partner.” — Alexandra Liepmann

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• “Although women who endorse more traditional gender roles may not experience these costs in their sexual desire for their partner when doing more household labor, they may still experience costs in their personal and professional lives.” — Alexandra Liepmann

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The researchers will survey couples about their perceptions of gendered labor and the communication strategies they use to negotiate chores, aiming to identify interventions that promote more equitable divisions and assess their impact on relational satisfaction.

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