The lack of gender difference in appraisals of one's own treatment toward the spouse, by contrast, may reflect the widely documented finding that men tend to offer excessively positive evaluations of themselves relative to those offered by their partner on dimensions ranging from sexual attractiveness to
household labor contributions (Perilloux, Easton, & Buss, 2012; Press & Townsley, 1998).
As is true of other areas of work in romantic relationships that generally require
contributions by both members (e.g., division of
household labor, childcare), the work of relationship initiation and maintenance may sometimes be done more by one partner than the other.