Continuity and Change in Marital Quality Between 1980 and 2000

Abstract

We use data from two national surveys of married individuals—one from 1980 and the other from 2000—to understand how three dimensions of marital quality changed during this period. Marital happiness and divorce proneness changed little between 1980 and 2000, but marital interaction declined significantly. A decomposition analysis suggested that offsetting trends affected marital quality. Increases in marital heterogamy, premarital cohabitation, wives' extended hours of employment, and wives' job demands were associated with declines in multiple dimensions of marital quality. In contrast, increases in economic resources, decision‐making equality, nontraditional attitudes toward gender, and support for the norm of lifelong marriage were associated with improvements in multiple dimensions of marital quality. Increases in husbands' share of housework appeared to depress marital quality among husbands but to improve marital quality among wives.

American Muslim Marital Quality: A Preliminary Investigation

“…This finding suggests that women experienced somewhat lower marital quality than men, a pattern that mirrors previous research on American Muslims (Alshugairi, 2010;Asamarai et al, 2008) and prevails in research on the general American public (e.g., Amato et al, 2003;Corra et al, 2009;Kamp Dush et al, 2008). The pat-tern is typically attributed to women's lower level of influence in the relationship and their greater burden of housework and childcare (Amato et al, 2003;Steil, 2000). It is essential to explore the role that these factors (collectively known as marital power) play in American Muslim marriages, particularly because American cultural norms espousing gender equality may conflict with traditional/conservative interpretations of Islam that favor husband-dominant marital relationships.…”

“…Women were also more likely than men to report that relationship issues were moderate or major problems as opposed to minor problems. This finding suggests that women experienced somewhat lower marital quality than men, a pattern that mirrors previous research on American Muslims (Alshugairi, 2010;Asamarai et al, 2008) and prevails in research on the general American public (e.g., Amato et al, 2003;Corra et al, 2009;Kamp Dush et al, 2008). The pat-tern is typically attributed to women's lower level of influence in the relationship and their greater burden of housework and childcare (Amato et al, 2003;Steil, 2000).…”

“…However, women in the larger of these studies reported significantly lower marital satisfaction than men (Alshugairi, 2010;Asamarai et al, 2008). This pattern is also found in the mainstream literature on marital quality, in which the gender difference in marital satisfaction is present across age, generation, and length of marriage (Amato, Johnson, Booth, & Rogers, 2003;Bulanda, 2011;Corra, Carter, Carter, & Knox, 2009;Kamp Dush et al, 2008). Researchers often attribute this gender difference to women's lower influence or "say" in the marriage (Steil, 2000).…”

The Influence of Partner Relationship Quality on Fertility

“…Following this multidimensional approach, we consider relationship quality as a concept that includes both evaluative aspects (satisfaction or happiness, perceived stability) and behavioural aspects (what partners actually do together) (Amato et al 2003). An important issue is which aspects of relationship quality might be related to fertility timing.…”

"Az ágy közös, a párna nem"

“…A párkapcsolati instabilitás családforma (házastárs vagy élettárs) szerinti vizsgálatai egybecsengően arról számolnak be, hogy a házasságban élők kapcsolatai stabilabbnak bizonyulnak, mint az élettársi kapcsolatban élő pároké (Amato et al 2003, Dush et al 2004, Pongrácz 2009). …”