Acculturation and conflict in Mexican immigrants' intimate partnerships: the role of women's labor force participation.

This study explores women's workforce participation as a potential agent for acculturation, and how it shapes conflict dynamics within intimate partnerships among Mexican immigrants. Analysis of in-depth interview data from 20 immigrant Mexican women and men believed to be in violent relationships indicated that women's employment following migration created several sources of intracouple conflict by challenging gender-based norms and behaviors surrounding the division of household labor, financial decision making, and how women and men interact within intimate relationships. Immigrant Latino women tended to embrace an assimilation strategy for acculturation, whereas immigrant Latino men embrace a separation strategy.