This essay reviews the background of the relatively recent phenomenon of black Catholicism in America and the empirical studies which have explored possible connections between Catholic affiliation among blacks and their changing patterns of secular status. The problem addressed is whether the tendency for Catholicism to be associated with high socioeconomic status among black Americans can be interpreted as the operation of a religious factor in a classic Weberian sense. By comparing black Catholicism to the historical case of Protestantism, it is shown that Catholicism may well have some implications for character structure, social disengagement, and mobility which warrant its designation as a religious factor in the black American experience.
Evidence from a large national survey indicates that dual-earner men are satisfied with their work, marriages, and personal lives than single-earner men (conventional breadwinners). Dual-earner men report higher perceived well-being and marital satisfaction but lower work and personal satisfaction than dual-earner women. The differences between dual-earner and single-earner men are observed primarily among the young, highly educated, and occupationally successful, and they do not appear for men without children in the home. Reference group theory is used to interpret these apparent effects. Dual-earner men appear to compare themselves to single-earner men and experience relative deprivation with respect to conventional gender expectations regarding the provider role and the services of a nonemployed wife.
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