This article provides a structural explanation for the paradox of the contented female worker. Although they are generally aware that they earn less than men, women usually perceive their wages as more just. This article argues that men and women do not differ in how they perceive their wages, yet the gendered segregation of the labor market will constrain the availability of preferred same-gender referent standards in some occupations. Random- and fixed-effects analyses of longitudinal data of the German Socio-Economic Panel covering the years 2009 to 2015 (N = 26,362) reveal that the paradox is only detectable in occupations with a considerable number of female referents. However, as soon as women move into a male-dominated occupation, the paradox vanishes. These results contradict the view that men and women generally differ in how they perceive their wages and indicate that gender differences in justice perceptions can be explained by the structural embeddedness of employees in certain occupations.

中文翻译：

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社会结构和知足女工的悖论：职业性别隔离如何影响对工资的公正看法

本文对知足女工的悖论进行了结构性解释。尽管她们普遍意识到她们的收入低于男性，但女性通常认为她们的工资更公平。本文认为，男性和女性对工资的看法没有差异，但劳动力市场的性别隔离将限制某些职业中首选的同性参照标准的可用性。对德国社会经济小组 2009 年至 2015 年（N = 26,362）的纵向数据进行的随机和固定效应分析表明，只有在具有大量女性参照物的职业中才能发现这一悖论。然而，一旦女性进入男性主导的职业，悖论就消失了。