Love actually
Continued Pursuit of Happily Ever After: Low Barriers to Divorce and Happiness
Elizabeth Mokyr Horner
Journal of Family and Economic Issues, June 2014, Pages 228-240
Abstract:
Throughout the 1970s, a “no-fault revolution” swept through the United States, reducing the legal and economic barriers to divorce. Previous studies have found that these legal changes did at least temporarily increase divorces, and may have been, on average, detrimental to women’s economic well-being. It has also been suggested that reducing the barriers to divorce redistributed power to spouses with better predicted outcomes on the remarriage market. In keeping with this theory, the current study examined men and women ages 25–50 as they transitioned to low-barriers to divorce regimes. My data show that reductions in the barriers to divorce were associated with reductions in women’s happiness, particularly among older women and women with children. Conversely, older men and men with children (these women’s potential partners) reported on average higher happiness after low barriers to divorce. These relationships were found even for individuals who remained married, suggesting that this redistribution of happiness was in part the result of a change in bargaining power within marriages.
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Partner Choice, Relationship Satisfaction, and Oral Contraception: The Congruency Hypothesis
Craig Roberts et al.
Psychological Science, forthcoming
Abstract:
Hormonal fluctuation across the menstrual cycle explains temporal variation in women’s judgment of the attractiveness of members of the opposite sex. Use of hormonal contraceptives could therefore influence both initial partner choice and, if contraceptive use subsequently changes, intrapair dynamics. Associations between hormonal contraceptive use and relationship satisfaction may thus be best understood by considering whether current use is congruent with use when relationships formed, rather than by considering current use alone. In the study reported here, we tested this congruency hypothesis in a survey of 365 couples. Controlling for potential confounds (including relationship duration, age, parenthood, and income), we found that congruency in current and previous hormonal contraceptive use, but not current use alone, predicted women’s sexual satisfaction with their partners. Congruency was not associated with women’s nonsexual satisfaction or with the satisfaction of their male partners. Our results provide empirical support for the congruency hypothesis and suggest that women’s sexual satisfaction is influenced by changes in partner preference associated with change in hormonal contraceptive use.
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April Masarik et al.
Journal of Family Psychology, June 2014, Pages 357-367
Abstract:
We tested the differential susceptibility hypothesis with respect to connections between interactions in the family of origin and subsequent behaviors with romantic partners. Focal or target participants (G2) in an ongoing longitudinal study (N = 352) were observed interacting with their parents (G1) during adolescence and again with their romantic partners in adulthood. Independent observers rated positive engagement and hostility by G1 and G2 during structured interaction tasks. We created an index for hypothesized genetic plasticity by summing G2′s allelic variation for polymorphisms in 5 genes (serotonin transporter gene [linked polymorphism], 5-HTT; ankyrin repeat and kinase domain containing 1 gene/dopamine receptor D2 gene, ANKK1/DRD2; dopamine receptor D4 gene, DRD4; dopamine active transporter gene, DAT; and catechol-O-methyltransferase gene, COMT). Consistent with the differential susceptibility hypothesis, G2s exposed to more hostile and positively engaged parenting behaviors during adolescence were more hostile or positively engaged toward a romantic partner if they had higher scores on the genetic plasticity index. In short, genetic factors moderated the connection between earlier experiences in the family of origin and future romantic relationship behaviors, for better and for worse.
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Man enough? Masculine discrepancy stress and intimate partner violence
Dennis Reidy et al.
Personality and Individual Differences, October 2014, Pages 160–164
Abstract:
Research on gender roles suggests that men who strongly adhere to traditional masculine gender norms are at increased risk for the perpetration of violent and abusive acts toward their female intimate partners. Yet, gender norms alone fail to provide a comprehensive explanation of the multifaceted construct of intimate partner violence (IPV) and there is theoretical reason to suspect that men who fail to conform to masculine roles may equally be at risk for IPV. In the present study, we assessed effect of masculine discrepancy stress, a form of distress arising from perceived failure to conform to socially-prescribed masculine gender role norms, on IPV. Six-hundred men completed online surveys assessing their experience of discrepancy stress, masculine gender role norms, and history of IPV. Results indicated that masculine discrepancy stress significantly predicted men’s historical perpetration of IPV independent of other masculinity related variables. Findings are discussed in terms of potential distress engendered by masculine socialization as well as putative implications of gender role discrepancy stress for understanding and intervening in partner violence perpetrated by men.
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Romantic relationship status biases the processing of an attractive alternative's behavior
Mariko Visserman & Johan Karremans
Personal Relationships, June 2014, Pages 324–334
Abstract:
The present research examines whether romantically involved individuals process behavioral information of attractive alternatives in a biased manner. When presented with behavioral information of an attractive mate, in Study 1 involved (vs. uninvolved) participants tended to recall fewer positive behaviors of an attractive alternative. Study 2 demonstrated that involved participants recalled more negative behaviors, and also evaluated these behaviors more negatively, compared to uninvolved participants. Study 3 demonstrated that romantically involved participants recalled more negative (but also neutral) behaviors when it concerned behaviors displayed by an attractive alternative as compared to a same-sex other. These findings provide initial evidence for biased processing of behavioral information of an alternative mate, which may serve an important relationship protection function.
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Hans IJzerman et al.
Social Psychology, Summer 2014, Pages 202-208
Abstract:
Shackelford and colleagues (2004) found that men, compared to women, are more distressed by sexual than emotional infidelity, and this sex difference continued into older age. We conducted four high-powered replications (total N = 1,952) of this effect and found different results. A meta-analysis of original and replication studies finds the sex difference in younger samples (though with a smaller effect size), and no effect among older samples. Furthermore, we found attitude toward uncommitted sex to be a mediator (although not consistently in the same direction) between participant sex and relative distress between sexual and emotional infidelity. We hypothesize that the discrepancies between the original and replication studies may be due to changing cultural attitudes about sex across time. Confirming this speculative interpretation requires further investigation.
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Maria Cancian & Daniel Meyer
Demography, June 2014, Pages 857-880
Abstract:
We examine the effects of an increase in income on the cohabitation and marriage of single mothers. Using data from an experiment that resulted in randomly assigned differences in child support receipt for welfare-receiving single mothers, we find that exogenous income increases (as a result of receiving all child support that was paid) are associated with significantly lower cohabitation rates between mothers and men who are not the fathers of their child(ren). Overall, these results support the hypothesis that additional income increases disadvantaged women’s economic independence by reducing the need to be in the least stable type of partnerships. Our results also show the potential importance of distinguishing between biological and social fathers.
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Women's Income and Marriage Markets in the United States: Evidence from the Civil War Pension
Laura Salisbury
NBER Working Paper, June 2014
Abstract:
Under the Civil War pension act of 1862, the widow of a Union Army soldier was entitled to a pension if her husband died as a direct result of his military service; however, she lost her right to the pension if she remarried. I analyze the effect this had on the rate of remarriage among these widows. This study fits into a modern literature on the behavioral effects of marriage penalties. In addition, it offers a unique perspective on 19th century marriage markets, which are little understood. Using a new database compiled from widows' pension files, I estimate the effect of the pension on the hazard rate of remarriage using variation in pension processing times. Taking steps to account for the potential endogeneity of processing times to marital outcomes, I find that receiving a pension lowered the hazard rate of remarriage by 25 percent, which implies an increase in the median time to remarriage of 3.5 years. Among older women and women with children, this effect is substantially greater. This indicates that women were willing to substitute away from marriage if the alternatives were favorable enough, suggesting that changes in the desirability of marriage to women may account for some of the aggregate patterns of first marriage documented for this period.
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Stated Reasons for Relationship Dissolution in Britain: Marriage and Cohabitation Compared
Richard Lampard
European Sociological Review, June 2014, Pages 315-328
Abstract:
Data from the second National Survey of Sexual Attitudes and Lifestyles are used to examine stated reasons for the dissolution of co-residential relationships in Britain at the end of the 20th century. The findings exhibit a degree of continuity with earlier British studies, and resonate with themes identified within a broader international literature. While the ‘serious’ issues of violence and infidelity still feature prominently, a substantial minority of stated reasons appear indicative of relationships based on relatively ‘weak bonds’. Differences between marital and cohabiting relationships persist within multivariate analyses, suggesting that neither attitudes to relationships nor socio-economic or demographic factors provide satisfactory explanations for their existence. It is speculated that an adequate explanation of these differences would need to take account of an individual’s personal commitment to a specific partner and their level of investment in that specific relationship.
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What difference does a day make? Examining temporal variations in partner maltreatment
Randy McCarthy et al.
Journal of Family Psychology, June 2014, Pages 421-428
Abstract:
Routine activities (RA) theory posits that changes in people’s typical daily activities covary with increases or decreases in criminal behaviors, including, but not limited to, partner maltreatment. Using a large clinical database, we examined temporal variations among 24,460 incidents of confirmed partner maltreatment across an 11-year period within the U.S. Air Force (USAF). Specifically, we created regression models that predicted the number of partner maltreatment incidents per day. In addition to several control variables, we coded temporal variables for days of the week, month, year, and several significant days (e.g., holidays, Super Bowl Sunday), which allowed us to examine the independent influence of these variables on partner maltreatment prevalence. While accounting for the influence of all other study variables, we observed significant increases in partner maltreatment for weekend days, New Year’s Day, Independence Day, and Super Bowl Sunday. Similar results were found for partner maltreatment incidents involving offender alcohol/drug use. Furthermore, the proportion of incidents involving offender alcohol/drug use increased on New Year’s Day and Independence Day. Consistent with RA theory and data from civilian samples, the current results indicate that certain days are associated with increased incidents of partner maltreatment within the USAF. These findings should be used to inform future preventive efforts.
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Colleen Sinclair, Kristina Hood & Brittany Wright
Social Psychology, Summer 2014, Pages 170-178
Abstract:
We conducted a replication and extension of Driscoll, Davis, and Lipetz’s (1972) classic longitudinal survey of the Romeo and Juliet effect, wherein they found that increases in parental interference were linked to increases in love and commitment. Using the original measures, 396 participants were followed over a 3–4 month period wherein they reported love, commitment, trust, and criticism for their partners as well as levels of perceived interference from friends and family. Participants also completed contemporary, validated measures of the same constructs similar to those often implemented in studies of social network opinion. Repeating the analyses employed by Driscoll and colleagues, we could not find evidence for the Romeo and Juliet effect. Rather, consistent with the social network effect (Felmlee, 2001), participants reporting higher levels of interference or lower levels of approval reported poorer relationship quality regardless of outcome measured. This effect was likewise evident in a meta-analysis.
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Matthew Hammond & Nickola Overall
Personal Relationships, June 2014, Pages 272–287
Abstract:
Benevolent sexism (BS) contains prescriptive partner expectations that should foster an intolerance of discrepancies between partners and warmth/trustworthiness ideal standards. This longitudinal study tested whether endorsing BS magnifies the degree to which warmth/trustworthiness partner-ideal discrepancies are associated with willingness to dissolve relationships. Heterosexual couples (N = 88) reported their partner-ideal discrepancies, willingness to dissolve the relationship, and their partner's willingness to dissolve the relationship every 3 months for 1 year. Greater partner-ideal discrepancies were associated with subsequent increases in willingness to dissolve the relationship, but this was stronger for people who endorsed BS. Partners of women who endorsed BS also perceived this greater willingness to dissolve the relationship. These results demonstrate that the prescriptions within BS undermine the stability of ongoing relationships.
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Hayley Fivecoat et al.
Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, forthcoming
Abstract:
Previous research indicates that partner responsiveness and self-expansion play key roles in the creation, maintenance, and improvement of close relationships. This experiment examined the hypothesis that active (vs. passive) partner support for an individual’s opportunity for self-expansion would increase relationship satisfaction. In an experimental task manipulated to be either self-expanding or stressful, dating couple members (N = 116; 58 couples) received active or passive support messages, ostensibly from their partners. Among those in longer term (14–60 months), but not in shorter term relationships, relationship satisfaction increased significantly more for those who received active (vs. passive) support for self-expansion. This same pattern was not found when partners’ messages responded to a stressful task or for couples in short-term relationships. This study provides the first experimental evidence for effects on relationship satisfaction of partner support for individual self-expansion. In addition, the findings suggest the potential substantial importance of relationship length for moderating self-expansion processes.
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Relationship Quality Among Young Couples from an Economic and Gender Perspective
Sonya Britt & Roudi Nazarinia Roy
Journal of Family and Economic Issues, June 2014, Pages 241-250
Abstract:
Less than a third of married couple households in the United States are composed of families with one breadwinner. This is a stark contrast to a mere 40 years ago when men were the primary breadwinner for the majority of households. The goal of this study was to determine how the perception of household chores is related to relationship quality. Specifically we wanted to determine how perception of household chores is related to relationship quality reported by partners from a traditional economic and a gender role theory perspective. Using data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth, 1986 cohort, results indicate that perceived unfairness in household division of chores was predictive of women’s relationship quality, but not men’s. Arguments about affection and money were predictive of relationship quality for both genders.
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Equality Is Bliss? Relationship Quality and the Gender Division of Household Labor
Anders Barstad
Journal of Family Issues, June 2014, Pages 972-992
Abstract:
How does gender equality in the division of household labor correlate with relationship quality? Earlier research has pointed to the division of routine housework as a “zero-sum game”: Women gain in terms of relationship quality when housework is shared equally, while men lose. I find weak support for a “zero-sum game” logic in the case of Norway, possibly related to the strong influence of gender egalitarian norms in Norwegian society. For men, equality in the sharing of routine housework is associated with less dissatisfaction with the division of household labor than all other sharing arrangements. Compared with taking no or little part in such housework, men who do as much routine housework as their partner score equally well on an index for relationship quality. While women’s relationship quality deteriorates the larger their share of intermittent work (doing small repairs) is, there is no clear pattern among men.
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Relationship quality and oxytocin: Influence of stable and modifiable aspects of relationships
Julianne Holt-Lunstad, Wendy Birmingham & Kathleen Light
Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, forthcoming
Abstract:
Prior studies report that couples with higher relationship quality show higher oxytocin (OT) levels, yet other studies report those with higher distress have increased OT. This study investigated these competing predictions in the context of a support enhancement intervention among 34 young married couples (N = 68). Preintervention marital quality (Dyadic Adjustment Scale) was examined for associations with plasma and salivary OT levels 4 weeks apart and for changes between these time points within the intervention group. High relationship quality, not distress, was associated with higher OT in both saliva and plasma at both time points. No significant interaction was found between marital quality and intervention condition; relationship quality and support intervention were both independently associated with higher postintervention OT levels.
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The Role of Marriage in the Causal Pathway From Economic Conditions Early in Life to Mortality
Gerard Van Den Berg & Sumedha Gupta
Journal of Health Economics, forthcoming
Abstract:
This paper analyzes the interplay between early-life conditions and marital status, as determinants of adult mortality. We use individual data from Dutch registers (years 1815-2000), combined with business cycle conditions in childhood as indicators of early-life conditions. The empirical analysis estimates bivariate duration models of marriage and mortality, allowing for unobserved heterogeneity. Results show that conditions around birth and schoolgoing ages are important for marriage and mortality. Men typically enjoy a protective effect of marriage, whereas women suffer during childbearing ages. However, having been born under favorable economic conditions reduces female mortality during childbearing ages.
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Kenneth Tan et al.
Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, forthcoming
Abstract:
There is little research on the nature of relationships between individuals following the termination of a nonmarital romantic relationship. It is largely unknown to what extent former romantic partners remain close following breakup. The present research used the Investment Model of Commitment Processes, assessed prior to romantic breakup, to examine the closeness of post-breakup relationships. Results obtained from two waves of data collected from 143 young adults involved in romantic relationships at Time 1 and experiencing a romantic breakup by Time 2 indicated that pre-breakup romantic commitment mediated the effects of pre-breakup romantic satisfaction, investments, and alternatives on post-breakup closeness, with higher pre-breakup commitment predicting greater post-breakup closeness. Implications of these findings for understanding the underlying dynamics of ongoing interpersonal relationships and directions for future research are discussed.