Stability and Change in Family-of-Origin Recollections Over the First Four Years of Parenthood

This article, one of several from a longitudinal family study, examines stability and change in family-of-origin recollections. Family-of-origin data were collected by means of a questionnaire from both husbands and wives prior to the birth of their first child and 4½ years later. The questionnaire probed the subjects’ recollections of their relationships with their mothers and fathers and of their parents’ marital relationships. With median correlations for the women and men of .70 and .72, family-of-origin recollections appear relatively stable over this 4½-year period. One exception to the relative stability was that women recalled their fathers and the closeness of their parent's marriage less positively after 4 years of parenthood. These changes in women's recollections were related to contemporaneous experiences with husbands’ depression and qualities of the husband's parenting.     

The First Year of Family- and Couple-initiated Marriages of a Turkish Sample: A Longitudinal Investigation

One hundred and thirty Turkish couples were interviewed twice during the first year of marriage. One fifth of the couples were involved in traditional family-initiated marriages and the rest were involved in Western-style couple-initiated marriages. The interviews included questions related to demographic measures, marital functioning, and relationships with social network. Analyses revealed earlier parenthood, greater decision power of women for housework-related decisions, and less frequent interaction with wife's than husband's family during the first months of marriage for family- than for couple-initiated marriages. Similarities such as gender stereotypic division of labour and marital decision making, high degrees of reported emotional involvement with spouse, reports of close feelings for and almost weekly contacts with the families of origin were also found. It was seen that, with time, husbands contributed more to traditional male duties and that the reported frequency of interaction with families and friends decreased. There was some evidence, with respect to interaction with social network, of convergence between the two types of marriage within the first year. The results were discussed in relation to interplay of marital typologies with time and culture.     

“I WANTED ONE THING AND GOD WANTED ANOTHER . . . ”: The Dilemma of the Prophetic Example and the Qur'anic Injunction on Wife‐Beating

Chapter 4, verse 34 of the Qur'an permits husbands to physically discipline recalcitrant wives. Modern Muslims who find this husbandly privilege discomfiting often rely on Muhammad's prophetic practice to mitigate the meaning of this verse. In light of Muhammad's example of never hitting his own wives, as found in one prophetic report, they reinterpret the verse as restricting and/or voiding a husband's right to physically discipline his wife. This essay provides a critical and expository survey of prophetic reports related to the husbandly privilege to physically discipline wives. The essay argues that the modernists are correct in positing that Muhammad's prophetic practice was to morally censure husbands who hit their wives. However, taken as a whole, it is impossible to ignore that Muhammad's example also unilaterally upheld physical discipline as a husband's marital right.     

Emotional arousal and negative affect in marital conflict: the influence of gender,conflict structure,and demand‐withdrawal

This report covers two studies that examined how spouses' emotional arousal and negative affect in response to marital conflict are shaped by gender, conflict structure, and demand‐withdraw communication. In Study 1, 86 couples participated in a video analogue presentation procedure, and in Study 2, 32 couples participated in an observational methodology. In both studies, spouses' evaluative reports of their emotional arousal and negative affect were collected within two experimental conditions in which either the husband's or the wife's issue was discussed. In both studies, husbands—but not wives—reported lower levels of post‐interaction arousal and negative affect in the wife's issue condition than in the husband's issue condition. In both studies, husbands' as well as wives' level of emotional arousal was positively associated with their level of negative affect. In Study 2, husbands who were less demanding and more withdrawing during marital conflict were less aroused after the discussion. In contrast, wives reported more emotional arousal and negative affect as they were more withdrawing and less demanding, respectively. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Emotional Involvement in Marriage During the Last Trimester of the First Pregnancy: A Comparison of Husbands and Wives

This study examined the emotional involvement of 27 husbands and wives in their marriage relationships during the stressful period of the last trimester of the first pregnancy. Four behavioral dispositions indicated a state of high emotional involvement in the marriage: (a) striving to gratify interpersonal needs primarily through the marital relationship; (b) needing to receive affection and desiring to provide support; (c) desiring to satisfy these needs in a mutually satisfying way; and (d) becoming irritated and hostile when maritally dissatisfied. The results show, according to all indicators except the desire to support one's spouse, that husbands were less emotionally involved in the marital relationship than wives. The finding that husbands showed a low level of emotional involvement in marriage supports Laws's (1971) suggestion that husbands' mode of being-in-the-marriage is basically unresponsive to changes and stresses in the family.     

Perceptions of Parents' Marriage Predicting Marital Satisfaction: The Moderating Role of Attachment Behaviors

This study sought to examine the relationship between perception of parents' marriage, marital satisfaction, and attachment behaviors. Participants included 521 married couples taken from the RELATE project. Gender differences were found between husbands and wives perception of parents' marriage and marital satisfaction. Results also indicated that attachment behaviors were positively and significantly related to increased martial satisfaction for both husbands and wives. Additionally, attachment behaviors moderated the relationship between perception of parents' marriage and marital satisfaction. When perception of parents' marriage was negative but attachment behaviors were high, marital satisfaction increased. These findings underscore the importance attachment behaviors play in married relationships. Clinical implications and future research are discussed.     

Intrinsic vs. Extrinsic Religious Motivation and the Marital Relationship

Research suggests a strong positive relationship between religiosity and marital satisfaction. Neglected, however, are differences in satisfaction based on nominal religious motivation. The influence of religiosity on marital satisfaction was examined for 74 couples. Results indicate the higher the husband's intrinsic religiosity, the higher the satisfaction for both partners. Wives' satisfaction increased as they became more extrinsically motivated. Differences in religiosity significantly decreased satisfaction for husbands. Findings are discussed from the perspective of gender-based interaction patterns, gender demographics of religious devotion and activity, and power dynamics. We recommend therapists understand these findings and integrate them into the clinical dialogue.     

LINKAGES BETWEEN WOMEN'S PROVIDER-ROLE ATTITUDES, PSYCHOLOGICAL WELL-BEING, AND FAMILY RELATIONSHIPS

The primary aim of this investigation was to examine the extent to which the meanings women attach to their provider-role responsibilities are differentially related to their psychological well-being and family relationships and to the division of labor in the home. The sample included 43 dualearner and 50 single-earner families. In home interviews, wives reported on role overload, depression, satisfaction with the marriage, and attitudes regarding women's and men's roles. Their children completed two measures assessing daily hassles and their relationship with their mother. Reports of daily involvement in household work were obtained from wives and husbands during four telephone interviews. Discriminant function analyses indicated that aspects of women's psychological well-being and marital and parent-child relationships and of the division of labor discriminated women in four different provider groups: maidsecondary providers, ambivalent coproviders, coproviders, and homemakers. Wives who were ambivalent about their provider responsibilities tended to report higher levels of depression and overload and significantly lower marital satisfaction. Wives who saw their employment as secondary to that of their husbands reported relatively higher levels of depression and overload but also the highest levels of marital satisfaction.     

The nature and predictors of the trajectory of change in marital quality for husbands and wives over the first 10 years of marriage.

Four parameters of the trajectory of change in marital quality (initial status as well as linear, quadratic, and cubic patterns of change) were estimated for husbands and wives over the first 10 years of marriage (n = 522 couples at Year 1 and 93 couples at Year 10). Both husbands and wives started their trajectories of change at fairly high levels of marital quality and showed a cubic pattern of change such that marital quality declined fairly rapidly in the early years of marriage, stabilized, and then declined again. Whereas individual-differences variables predicted the initial status of the trajectory, husbands and wives living with only their biological children showed a steeper decline in marital quality than husbands and wives living without children or stepchildren.     

Intimate partner abuse of educated,employed black South African women: sociocultural factors

This study aimed to explore the influence of African culture and tradition on the abuse experiences of Black South African women who are educated and employed. Interviews were conducted with seven Black South African women (age range 38 to 47) who are college educated and employed. All participants were married for seven or more years and self-reporting to be in an abusive relationship. Interviews were transcribed verbatim and analysed using thematic content analysis. The results indicate sociocultural factors such as patriarchal values within their culture as an underlying reason for their husbands’ abusive behaviour. Abuse seemed likely when the women perceived gender roles that were in conflict with their husband's gender role expectations of them. The cultural expectation that women should not leave a marriage appeared to play an implicit role in their staying in an abusive relationship.     

Women's human rights violations: Cameroonian students' perceptions

Cameroonian university students (N = 666) assessed whether certain different societal positions that the law grants to women and men (the husband chooses the marital home, the husband wields parental power, a married woman cannot freely engage in trade, the husband administers his wife's personal property) and certain cultural practices (female genital mutilation, parents arranging their children's marriage) were seen as violations of women's human rights. Justifications for the choices were also analysed. Female genital mutilation was most often seen as a violation of women's human rights, and the husband selecting the marital home was least often seen as a violation. These differences were explained by cultural specificities. Women more often than men saw the cases as violations of rights. Respondents coming from the North saw the cases less often as violations of rights than respondents from other geocultural areas, which was in accordance with their previously observed higher collectivism. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Wives' higher neuroticism scores: Some more relevant factors

Findings from two studies suggest two factors that may contribute to statictics showing wives as having higher levels of neuroticism than husbands: firstly, brides have higher scores than grooms at the point of marriage and thereafter their scores appear to fall in these cross-sectional samples; the problem of wives' higher scores may therefore be partly determined by a factor opearting prior to marriage. The second factor appears to be marital divergence on E, which is positively correlated with N scores in wives but not in husbands. Additionally, marital divergence is associated with poor communication, and divergence appears to be better predictor of wives' neuroticism than whether or not wives are employed outside the home.     

Perceptions of Abusive and Violent Husbands by Engaged Arab Men in Israel

Abstract

The predictability of engaged Arab men's perceptions of abusive husbands was tested. The analysis was based on variables reflecting three theoretical perspectives: male dominance, intergenerational social learning, and interpersonal skills deficit. The data were derived from a standardized measurement package completed by 434 Arab men in Israel. The results revealed that a combination of predictors from disparate frameworks best explained the variance in the different criterion variables of the study. Lack of skills for establishing positive communication with one's fiancée, traditional and nonegalitarian expectations of marriage, and experience with or witnessing violence in the family of origin best explained the variance in the belief that abusive husbands should not be held responsible for their behavior. The combination of the first two predictors and negative attitudes toward women best explained the variance in the view of the respondents that abusive husbands should not be punished for their violent behavior.     

Who's Got the Power? Gender Differences in Partners’ Perceptions of Influence During Marital Problem-Solving Discussions

Previous research on marital communication indicates that women have more influence in marital problem solving because they raise the issues and shape the discussion. Other studies suggest that men have the power in marital problem solving. This study re-examines power and influence from the partners’ point of view. Twenty-seven couples — 18 with a first child under 2, and 9 undecided about having children — were videotaped while working on a self-selected problem concerning their division of family labor. Data sources included: (a) transcribed audiotaped accounts given by each partner while viewing a videotape of their problem-solving discussion; (b) self-report questionnaires; and (c) ratings by a research team of the concordance between spouses’ accounts. Husbands and wives were perceived as having a primary influence on different aspects of the discussion. Women tended to raise the issues and draw men out in the early phase of the discussion, while men controlled the content and emotional depth of the later discussion phases, and largely determined the outcome. The women's accounts emphasized that their influence in the early phase was often illusory: their behavior was shaped primarily by the effort to choose strategies that would avoid upsetting their husbands. In terms of overall satisfaction with marriage, wives had greater tolerance than their husbands for conflict in the area of division of domestic labor, but less tolerance for their husbands’ domination of the discussion process. Women's marital satisfaction was higher when there was concordance between spouses in their accounts of their problem-solving discussion. This research highlights the importance of eliciting spouses’ own perceptions and definitions in understanding the impact of gender-linked power differences in marital communication.     

Marital satisfaction in covenant versus standard marriages: Is there a difference?

After the rapid increase of the American divorce rate in the late 20th century, one of the most conspicuous efforts of the marriage movement in the 1990s that was used to increase marital stability was the legislation of the covenant marriage license, a more restricted marriage license issued in three different states of the U.S. To investigate the marital life of newlywed covenant versus standard couples, a large-scale 5-year couple study was conducted between 1998 and 2003 in Louisiana. The present study uses this large-sample, multiple-wave, multiple-group dyadic dataset to examine differences in co-development and divorce rates in 297 covenant and 380 standard mixed-sex couples using a multiple group growth curve modeling and survival analysis. We examined differences in marital trajectories between covenant and standard couples as well as between husbands and wives in each marital group. The results show (1) that the couples in both groups experienced, on average, declines in marital satisfaction, and such a decline was slower in covenant husbands than their wives as well as those in standard marriages, and (2) that co-development in marital satisfaction was more prominent in standard marriages than in covenant marriages, meaning standard couple's marital satisfaction declined at a more similar rate than that of covenant couples. We provide possible explanations and discuss practical implications.     

A Dyadic View of Support in Marriage: The Critical Role of Men’s Support Provision

This study examined how sensitive support provision and receipt were related to marital outcomes in a sample of 57 happily married, middle-class couples from the Midwestern U.S. To assess how observed supportive behaviors may be differentially associated with self-reported support satisfaction, marital love, and marital conflict for men and women, we utilized a series of Actor Partner Interdependence Models (APIM). This dyadic approach revealed significant gender differences regarding how the supportive role enacted (i.e., provider versus recipient) contributed considerably to marital outcomes. Specifically, husbands’ sensitive support provision significantly predicted both spouses’ support satisfaction. Additionally, husbands’ sensitive support provision was significantly associated with wives’ marital love. Wives’ reported conflict was predicted by the combination of both providing and receiving sensitive support. For husbands’ outcomes, husbands’ own sensitive support provision was most critically associated with their reporting greater love and less conflict. These findings reveal notable gender differences as men’s ability to provide sensitive support was critical not only to their wives’ marital outcomes, but to their own as well. Our results build upon and extend the literature implicating the importance of examining gender differences in supportive interactions in marriage. Moreover, our findings suggest that simultaneous consideration of spousal support receipt and provision is critical when seeking to understand how support is related to marital outcomes for men and women.     

Does covenant marriage predict latent trajectory groups of newlywed couples?

Covenant marriage is a legally distinct marriage license available in Arizona, Louisiana, and Arkansas in the United States. This study revisited one of the largest longitudinal dyadic studies on covenant versus standard newlywed couples. Using this dataset of 677 different-sex couples, we explored whether being in a covenant marriage could predict how marital satisfaction developed over the first five marital years. We applied the Growth Mixture Modeling (GMM) method to identify groups that differed in their initial marital satisfaction and trajectory. The results revealed three different trajectory groups—one group showing high and stable marital satisfaction, which we named High Stable, and two groups showing declines in marital satisfaction, one being medium and the other one being low in satisfaction at the beginning of the marriage, and we named them Medium Declining and Low Declining respectively. Spouses with lower initial marital satisfaction experienced a faster decline and suffered the highest divorce rate. Actor-Partner Interdependence Model (APIM) analysis revealed that one's group membership was predicted by their partner's membership, suggesting a mutual influence on marital development. Being in a covenant marriage was able to predict husbands' membership as covenant husbands were found to be more likely in the high stable group.     

Sex role stereotyping in women with agoraphobia and their husbands

Thirty-two married women with Diagnostic Statistical Manual (3rd edition, revised) diagnosis of agoraphobia and their husbands were compared with 32 matched control women and their husbands on self-report measures of sex role stereotyping, psychological symptoms, personality, and marital adjustment. The experimental women scored significantly lower than the control women on the sex role measure of Autonomy and significantly higher on Intropunitiveness. Significant inverse correlations occurred between women's self-ratings of Masculinity and Autonomy and their agoraphobic symptoms. In the experimental couples, but not the control couples, significant and substantial disagreements occurred on ratings of each other's Masculinity and Autonomy, and husbands' marital satisfaction correlated strongly with wives' self-rating of Femininity. The findings justify further study of sex role stereotyping in agoraphobia, especially where the syndrome coexists with marital dissatisfaction and/or personality disorder.     

Contributions of the care-giving role to women's development

It was hypothesized that older widows (N=309) who had been care givers to their husbands would have undertaken a greater number of household responsibilities than had women who had not been care givers. Findings indicated that, prior to the husband's death, more traditionally male and more traditionally female tasks were performed by the care-giving wives (n=158). This was particularly true in the case of Alzheimer's care givers (n=21). More importantly, widows' present feelings of competence were related to undertaking household responsibilities, with those who had been care givers expressing significantly higher levels of competence.     

POWER AND INFLUENCE STRATEGIES IN VIOLENT AND NONVIOLENT MARRIAGES

How important is the use of physical violence in determining the balance of power within marriage? Do women in violent marriages make more use of indirect strategies in attempting to persuade their husbands than do women in nonviolent marriages? Is marital satisfaction related to influence styles? These questions are investigated by looking at decision making in couples and how this is related to the forms of influence strategies used by wives and husbands in violent and nonviolent marriages. Data from in-depth structured interviews with 137 self-identified battered wives and 137 comparison wives, some of whom were also found to have experienced violence from their husbands, are used to answer these questions. Results indicated that women with violent husbands used more influence strategies overall, although these women had less overall power in terms of decision making than did women with nonviolent husbands. The relationship of influence strategies to decision making was different for women with violent husbands than for those whose husbands were not violent. As expected, the use of coercive strategies related negatively to marital happiness, whereas positive strategies were positively predictive. Violence and other negative strategies should be included in future research on influence strategies in close relationships, and a positive-negative dimension should be included as a way of categorizing influence strategies.