Research Centre for Public Health, Equity and Human Flourishing, Torrens University Australia, Adelaide, Australia.
Stretton Health Equity, Stretton Institute, University of Adelaide, Adelaide, Australia.
PLoS One. 2023 Jul 13;18(7):e0287585. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0287585. eCollection 2023.
This study explored how cognitive labour as a form of unpaid, household labour is performed by people in same-gender couples.
Excessive performance of unpaid labour has been associated with several health impacts. Cognitive labour (anticipating needs, identifying options for meeting needs, making decisions and monitoring progress) is an underexamined dimension of unpaid labour which has centered on the experiences of heterosexual couples.
Dyadic and individual interviews were carried out to explore how cognitive labour was performed in same-gender couples between March and October 2021 using an inductive methodology. Adults who were in a same-gender couple, had lived with their partner for at least six months, were not living with children were recruited largely via social media.
Examining cognitive labour performance amongst same-gender couples revealed four key themes: 1) habitually fostered patterns of trust; 2) agency in redefining family; 3) barriers to cognitive harmony; and 4) facilitators to cognitive harmony. Findings regarding the relationships between themes are presented in a narrative model. Dyadic interviews allowed for deep, narratives relating to cognitive labour performance.
The narrative model provides new conceptual understanding of how cognitive labour is performed outside of the heteronormative sphere. Couple's adoption of a strengths-based frame to cognitive labour performance removed the opposition inherent in gender dichotomies. These findings support calls for research to incorporate social change to build and refine theory, including how queer and feminist movements have challenged gendered and heteronormative family and household roles.
本研究探讨了作为一种无偿家庭劳动形式的认知劳动是如何由同性伴侣中的人来完成的。
过多地从事无偿劳动与多种健康影响有关。认知劳动（预测需求、确定满足需求的方案、做出决策和监测进展）是无偿劳动的一个未被充分研究的维度，其研究主要集中在异性伴侣的经历上。
采用归纳法，于 2021 年 3 月至 10 月间通过社交媒体，对至少共同生活了 6 个月且没有孩子的同性伴侣进行了二人组和个人访谈，以探讨认知劳动是如何在同性伴侣中完成的。
检查同性伴侣中认知劳动的表现揭示了四个关键主题：1）习惯性培养的信任模式；2）重新定义家庭的能动性；3）认知和谐的障碍；和 4）认知和谐的促进因素。主题之间关系的研究结果以叙述模型呈现。二人组访谈允许深入探讨与认知劳动表现相关的叙述。
叙述模型为如何在异性恋规范领域之外进行认知劳动提供了新的概念理解。夫妻采用以优势为基础的框架来进行认知劳动表现，消除了性别二分法固有的对立。这些发现支持了将社会变革纳入研究以构建和完善理论的呼吁，包括酷儿和女权运动如何挑战性别化和异性恋规范的家庭和家庭角色。
