For decades, feminism has been accused by misogynistic men of making relationships more difficult. Depending on the corner of the internet you frequent, some media often paints feminist women as demanding, feminist men as less attractive, and egalitarian relationships as somehow less romantic or happy than “traditional” ones. According to this false narrative, rejecting traditional gender roles comes at the cost of relationship satisfaction.

I’m happy whenever I see this claim written down in black and white, because it’s one that can actually be tested. Let’s see what the research says. (Buckle up, this is a rather long social data review). :)

Relationship scientists have spent decades studying the factors that predict happy, stable partnerships. While researchers rarely ask participants whether they identify as “feminists,” they frequently measure something closely related: egalitarian gender attitudes. (And anyway, men who openly identify as feminists are not necessarily better partners, since many do so just for their own social positioning; we need to look at their actions, not to their words.)

When we look at this body of research as a whole, a remarkably consistent pattern emerges: men who reject rigid gender roles and embrace more egalitarian partnerships tend to report healthier relationships, greater relationship satisfaction, better communication, better sex and more fulfilling family lives than men who endorse traditional patriarchal norms.

This does not mean that every egalitarian man has a happy marriage, but I would argue that almost every traditional couple is unhappy. Human relationships are complex, but the evidence overwhelmingly suggests that egalitarian attitudes are associated with many of the characteristics that relationship psychologists consider the hallmarks of successful long-term partnerships, plus self-reported happiness in both men and women.

Most importantly, this patterns holds true especially when men are the ones who have egalitarian attitudes at least as pronounced as their partners, or more. As women are becoming increasingly progressive, the men who are happiest in life are the ones who can keep up and exceed this values shift.

What Counts as an Egalitarian Relationship?

Before looking at the evidence, it is worth clarifying what researchers usually mean by egalitarian. Contrary to some stereotypes, egalitarian relationships are not defined by whether men identify as feminists, or by splitting every household chore exactly fifty-fifty or eliminating every difference or labor preference between partners.

Sexist men and women often ridicule discussions about a fair split of labor in marriage by falsely claiming that feminism doesn’t allow women to cook or men to change lightbulbs because that’s a traditional split of labor.

This is just a bad faith argument. No one is stopping a woman from cooking in her family if that’s what she prefers. The issue is just ensuring that her choice to cook doesn’t come from prescribed gender roles or pressure, but from a genuine preference and that the overall domestic work is spread fairly.

Egalitarian relationships are generally characterized by shared decision-making, mutual respect, flexible gender roles, fair divisions of labor, and the belief that neither partner should possess greater authority simply because of their gender.

So, do the beliefs commonly associated with gender equality translate into healthier relationships? Across multiple disciplines, including psychology, sociology, family studies, and public health, the answer is yes.

The Strongest Finding: Egalitarian Couples Report Greater Relationship Satisfaction

The most direct evidence comes from studies examining the relationship between gender attitudes and overall relationship satisfaction.

One of the largest studies to date was published in 2025 by Haeyoung Gideon Park and colleagues. Using data from more than 7,000 heterosexual couples in both the United States and Germany, the researchers examined how each partner’s gender-role attitudes related to relationship satisfaction.

Their findings were very telling. Couples in which partners held more egalitarian gender attitudes generally reported higher relationship satisfaction than couples with more traditional attitudes.

The study also challenged another common previous assumption, that couples simply need similar beliefs to be happy. While similarity certainly mattered, the direction of those beliefs mattered too. Couples were not equally satisfied simply because both partners held traditional views. Rather, egalitarian attitudes themselves contribute positively to relationship quality.

Meta-Analyses Tell the Same Story

One of the most relevant examples is Van P. Ta’s 2017 meta-analysis on gender-role dimensions and relationship satisfaction. Reviewing findings from dozens of independent studies, Ta examined whether traditionally masculine and traditionally feminine personality characteristics predicted relationship satisfaction.