Analyzed relational control behaviors and interaction patterns of 51 couples representing marital life span. Identified three distinct phases of development: short-term couples relied heavily on "equivalence" acts; intermediate couples were more likely to "structure the conversation" but avoided competing for control; and long-term couples relied…

Based on a study of 120 United States households, two methodological issues underlying research concerning family role and authority are examined: incongruency in husband-wife responses and coherence of authority patterns across a range of family decisions and tasks. Question ambiguity is a major source of incongruity in husband-wife response.…

The opinion among Swedes is that there is a higher commitment and a higher responsibility among those having been married for a long time than among those having been married for a short time. These data point toward existence of a renewed or perhaps a new courtship and marriage pattern. (Author)

Analyzed data of marriages in England and Wales in 1976 to determine patterns of variation with age of age differences for males and females in marriage. Data indicated both sexes are more likely to marry an older person at the age of 50 than at the age of 30. (Author/RC)

The proposition that age at first marriage is inversely related to the risk of divorce was examined by means of detailed age-duration-specific divorce rates for California 1969. A strong inverse relationship was found for male ages at marriage 18 through 25 and female ages at marriage 16 through 24. (Author)

Middle-aged middle-class women (N=200) in suburban cities in the United States and Japan are compared with regard to their attitudes toward and behavior in extramarital sexual relations. The primary difference seems to lie in their attitudes rather than in their experiences. (Author)

This paper examines the relationship of some social factors with extramarital sexual permissiveness. Findings indicate that the best variable to explain extramarital sexual permissiveness is premarital sexual permissiveness. (Author)

The impact sex and marital status have upon circumscribing the social relationships of the elderly is explored. Data reveal that the widowed, as a group, are no more isolated from their kin and friends or from associations in religious organizations than married individuals. (Author)

Data on marital careers of 176 lower-class individuals from Trinidad are analyzed in terms of the frequency and sequencing of three types of marital unions--friending, living, and marriage. Sequencing of marital unions shows movement toward more stable relationships within partnerships and throughout the individual's marital career. (Author)

This paper reports the satisfaction between several independent variables and marital satisfaction. Adequacy of role performance of both self and spouse and spouse's conformity to expectations emerged as the strongest predictors of satisfaction derived from playing family roles. (Author)

Data were collected primarily through participant observation, open-ended interviews and discussions with selected informants. A description is given of the village, occupants, and traditional patterns of mate selection and marriage rituals. The second section deals with changing patterns, those of young village women with postsecondary education…

Within regional samples of households, a subsample of couples only ever married to each other (wife aged 18-24) are given particular focus. Measures of gender role norms and fertility control are developed for the household or couple as a unit. A model of fertility control is developed as a continuing process. (Author)

Focuses on the early years of marriage, including the sexual relationship. Interviews, with 80 persons married five years or less, showed considerable variation in first-year frequencies with few normative guidelines. Despite the relatively low frequencies reported, respondents consider sex important or very important in marriage. (Author/JAC)

Examined effects of household structure on labor force status of female heads of families with minor children using the March 1985 Current Population Survey. Results suggest that models of labor force behavior are misspecified if female heads of families are not analyzed separately by race and marital status. (Author/ABL)

Traditional Icelandic patterns of domestic organization have not changed significantly with industrialization and economic growth. Information derived primarily from ethnographic interviews indicates the Icelandic system does not closely adhere to the domestic-cycles model frequently employed by anthropologists. (Author)