Has the future of marriage arrived? a contemporary examination of gender, marriage, and psychological well-being
Williams, K.
Journal of Health and Social Behavior 44(4): 470-487
2003
ISSN/ISBN: 0022-1465 PMID: 15038144 DOI: 10.2307/1519794Document Number: 301449
A long tradition of research and theory on gender, marriage, and mental health suggests that marital status is more important to men's psychological well-being than women's while marital quality is more important to women's well-being than men's. These beliefs rest largely on a theoretical and empirical foundation established in the 1970s, but, despite changes in gender and family roles, they have rarely been questioned. The present analysis of three waves of a nationally representative survey indicates that, with few exceptions, the effects of marital status, marital transitions, and marital quality on psychological well-being are similar for men and women. Further, for men and women, occupying an unsatisfying marriage undermines psychological well-being to a similar extent--and, in some cases, to a greater extent--than exiting marriage or being continually unmarried.