John N. Edwards

Dimensions of Marital Quality Toward Methodological and Conceptual Refinement

The dimensionality of five conceptually distinct components of marital quality was evaluated in a representative national sample of 1845 married people. Confirmatory factor analysis found two dimensions, one consisting of scales of marital happiness and interaction; the other, of marital disagreements, problems, and instability. Further examination of the two dimensions showed that they operate in distinctly different ways over forms of marital structure including wifes employment, marital duration, sex, and presence of children. It was concluded that scales of marital quality that combine measures from these two dimensions are likely to yield ambiguous findings and contribute little to an understanding of marital process.

Age at Marriage and Marital Instability.

Numerous studies show that early marriage increases marital instability; more recent studies show that late marriages also appear to be less stable. This paper examines 3 alternatives: 1) how the effect of marital timing may be mediated by the adequacy of role performance 2) the availability of alternatives to the marital relationship and 3) external pressures on the married pair. Using a 1980 national sample of 1715 married people under age 55 the study compared the relationship of the dependent variable marital instability with the independent variable age at marriage and intervening variables--aspects of spouses performance troublesome behaviors of self and spouse perceived ability to manage in case of divorce barriers to divorce parent-spouse relations and sharing friends. Multiple classification analysis shows that marital instability is highest for those who marry early with those who marry late scoring somewhat lower. While role performance is the only explanation of the 3 considered that reaches significance it does not totally account for the association between marital timing and instability. The authors suggest that age at marriage influences early and late marriages in very different ways. In teenage marriages the role performance variable that best accounts for instability is lack of sexual exclusiveness. This perceived problem coincides with the peak in sexual interest especially among men hinting that this may have a biosocial origin. Perhaps individuals who limit their sexual partners to 1 when their interest in variety is high develop a pattern of acting out their impulses thoughout their lives. Interpreting the instability of late marriages is more difficult. Late marriers may be marrying people quite different from themselves because they have fewer choices. Late-marrying males also tended to marry women considerably younger and better educated than themselves. These background differences could be an important reason for marital instability.

Physical Wife Abuse in a Non-Western society: An Integrated Theoretical Approach

The current study uses survey data from a representative sample of 619 husbands residing in Bangkok, Thailand, to assess their use of physical force against their wives. Multivariate analyses are performed and a series of logistic regressions are estimated for an integrated theoretical model derived from resource, structural, and social psychological theories. The results provide strong support for the importance of socioeconomic status, marital instability, and verbal marital conflict as predictors of Thai wife abuse.

Starting Over Why Remarriages Are More Unstable

Using interview data from a national sample of married persons, the extent to which people in remarriages have attributes that adversely influence marital quality and stability is examined. Five models linking remarriage-induced attributes to an increased probability of a decline in marital quality and divorce are evaluated. Persons in remarriages are more likely to be poorly integrated with parents and in-laws, willing to leave the marriage, be poor marriage material, and to have lower socioeconomic status and age-heterogeneous marriages. All but socioeconomic status are found to explain declines in marital quality and higher levels of marital instability. Together the remaining four models explain major portions of the remarriage/marital-quality and remarriage/divorce relationships.

Familial Behavior as Social Exchange.

Current interest in developing conceptual frameworks applicable to the study of the family has produced several identifiable schemata. Some potentially fruitful approaches have been ignored, however. One notable omission is that approach which views familial behavior as social exchange. Assaying the relevance of this framework, we show that many of its basic assumptions and concepts are presently utilized implicitly in analyses of familial behavior. It is contended that for this reason the exchange framework should be accorded explicit recognition. Moreover, it is shown that, when employed in a consistent manner, testable hypotheses as well as deductive explanatory theory can be generated. To illustrate, several testable relationships are suggested and a theory of homogamous mating is presented.

Children and Marital Happiness Why the Negative Correlation

This study examines the causal processes that lead to the widely observed negative association between presence of children and marital happiness. Using a nationwide panel of 1535 married individuals, we find support for two primary causal mechanisms. First, the presence of children is associated with differences in marital structure (lower interaction, more dissatisfaction with finances and the division of labor, and more traditionalism of the division of labor) that are, in turn, associated with lower marital happiness. We also find, however, that the relationship between marital happiness and children is partially spurious. The presence of preschoolers and especially the birth of a first child serve to reduce the likelihood that unhappily married people will divorce within a three-year period. As a result, a larger proportion of unhappily married people is retained temporarily in the parent population and thus contributes to the observed negative relation between presence of children and marital happiness.

Predicting Divorce and Permanent Separation

Using longitudinal interview data, we examine the predictive ability of a scale designed to predict divorce and permanent separation. We find that high scorers are nine times more likely to divorce than low scorers. Divorce rates for components of the scale indicate that dissolution is a process, becoming more likely as overt actions succeed attitudinal factors. Finally, discriminant analysis is used to test a model predicting the likelihood of individuals moving from instability to divorce. The results indicate that individuals are more apt to move on to divorce or permanent separation if alternative attractions are present, there are few barriers to divorce, or when the marriage retains fewer attractions. The results indicate that the marital instability index in conjunction with information on barriers and attractions provides the basis for a comprehensive model predicting divorce.

Satisfaction in intimate relationships as a function of inequality, inequity, and outcomes

The present study extends previous research examining the effects of inequities on satisfaction in intimate relationships. Using self-report data from college students dating one person exclusively, we examined the relative strength of the effects of inequality, inequity, outcome level, and outcomes relative to comparison level on satisfaction. Although significant effects were found for all variables, proportions of variance accounted for by inequality and inequity were small compared to that accounted for by outcomes, thus providing stronger support for the simpler reinforcement hypothesis. Our analyses also provide an alternative interpretation for the threshold effect reported for those who are advantaged by inequitable relationships. Gender differences were also detected for several of the independent variables, but not for satisfaction or in the relationships between the independent variables and satisfaction. We also discuss several issues associated with using self-report data when applying equity and exchange theories to intimate relationships.

Divorce and Marital Instability over the Life Course

This study uses a national sample of married persons under age 55, interviewed in 1980 and again in 1983, to estimate why divorce and marital instability vary by age and duration of marriage. Results indicate that the accumulation of assets substantially reduces the propensity to divorce. We also find that several important correlates of divorce and instability (age at marriage, health, social integration, and income) interact with age and duration. In general, these factors seem to operate almost exclusively among young people and young marriages.

Housing, stress, and physical well-being: Evidence from Thailand

The proposition that poor housing and congested living conditions have a detrimental impact on health has been promulgated for at least 150 years. At a minimum, two major causal mechanisms are thought to be involved in the relationship between crowding and physical health. First, high levels of household crowding can produce stress that leads to illness. Second, through shared physical proximity, household congestion contributes to the spread of communicable disease. The outcomes can be exacerbated by poor quality housing. A significant body of research, conducted primarily in affluent countries, has documented the detrimental effects of housing conditions on a variety of illnesses, including various contagious diseases. Poor housing has even been linked to high infant and adult mortality rates. The view that poor housing conditions and household crowding inevitably leads to poor health is challenged, however, by several observers, who question the role played by both crowding and housing quality. Most existing research has been conducted in affluent countries. Little is known, however, about the nature of these relationships within the context of less developed countries, where health status and housing quality are generally much poorer and where levels of household crowding are generally higher. Determination of the effects, if any, of housing quality--including household crowding--on physical health in developing countries is particularly important given the rapid growth of their urban populations and the difficulty of increasing the physical infrastructure fast enough to keep pace with this growth. This paper reports on an investigation of the impact of housing conditions and household crowding in the context of one developing country, Thailand. Using data from a representative sample of households in Bangkok (N = 2017), our results provide reason for some skepticism regarding the influence on housing on health, at least in its objective dimensions. While the skepticism of some is based on a reading of the evidence in Western countries, we likewise find that, in Bangkok, objective indicators of housing quality and household crowding are little related to health. We do find, however, that subjective aspects of housing and of crowding, especially housing satisfaction and a felt lack of privacy, have detrimental effects on health. Furthermore, psychological distress is shown to have a potent influence on the physical health of Bangkokians. Our analyses suggest that all three factors have independent effects on health outcomes bearing on both men and women.