Research on parenting evaluations often focuses on single-earner households and highlights women’s disadvantage in parenting evaluations when they fail at caregiving or are employed. Few studies have examined parenting evaluations in dual-earner households, which is necessary to understand gendered conceptualizations of employed parenthood. Moreover, little is known about the mechanisms that explain gender differences in parenting evaluations. Using a 3 (relative earning level) x 2 (gender) vignette experiment, the present study investigates the gendered effects of relative earning levels on parenting evaluations and introduces perceived conflict and perceived devotion as two mechanisms explaining how employed mothers and fathers are conceptualized differently. Results reveal that perceived conflict and devotion are positively associated with parenting evaluations, but no gender difference is observed. This study proposes a theoretical framework that investigates gender differences in parenting evaluations and underlying mechanisms, which could be tested using refined vignettes and enhanced manipulation techniques in future research.
