Abstract

Today, the sumptuous life, high level of expectations, the change in gender roles, etc. have collectively led to more manifestation of dual working couples in today’s societies, more than ever. Undoubtedly, it has advantages and disadvantages whose features require to be better recognized for having a healthy family. The current study has aimed at comparison between the differentiation and the patterns of coping skills among the single and dual working couples in Kalat City. In the current study, the four components of differentiation and eight components of coping skills patterns have been investigated. 146 couples who were teachers, were chosen (60 dual working couples and 86 single working couples) through simple random sampling method. The data collection instruments were a 46-item questionnaire of DSI (Differentiation of Self Index), and the questionnaire of Lazarus and Folkman (CSQ). The multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) was used for data analysis. The results indicated that working status (single and dual working couples) has no significant effects on the differentiation variables (the significance level is 0.14 which is >0.05); however, it has a significant effect on the coping skills patterns (with a significance level of 0.004 which is <0.05). The investigations indicated that there is no difference between the single and dual working couples in terms of differentiation level. Also, there is a significant difference in coping skills patterns between the dual and single working couples, in escape-avoidance component between the men and women married to a working spouse, and the men and women married to a housewife. The dual working couples use problem-focused coping skills patterns in the stressful situations, which can be due to the skills acquired through working in the society. Also, in specific components of differentiation, the training and skill learning are required.