Chapter 6: Men Without Work: Social Roles and Marital Relations Under Stress

We are interested in the special moment when an unexpected event occurs in human lives—such as losing a job by the man who is the household head. This situation requires further consideration of the roles and attitudes of men whose lives are guided by the cultural models of gender. Martínez, Carrasco, and Aza (2007) point to changes and emergence of modern trends in gender roles which undoubtedly have a social and psychological impact on individuals. For this reason the authors suggest that researchers should focus on the difficulties involved for couples who take on multiple roles, in their work as well as in marriage