Dual Career Couples: Anxiety of MBA Couples Compared with Traditional Couples

The anxiety of members of dual career couples was compared with that of more traditional couples where only the husband worked outside the home. MBA husbands with children whose MBA wives were also employed outside the home showed more anxiety. Least anxiety was shown by traditional wives who stayed home with the children while their husbands worked in business outside the home. Anxiety was measured by the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory consisting of 40 multiple choice questions. The sample consisted of 53 married couples, 24 of whom where both wife and husband had MBA degrees and both worked full-time out of the home. Twenty-nine couples made a control group in which the MBA husband worked outside, but the wife stayed home with children.