This article contributes to recent work investigating the role of religious sanctification, that is, the process via which one's spouse or marital relationship is perceived as having divine character or sacred significance. We outline a series of theoretical arguments linking marital sanctification with specific aspects of marital quality. A…

This study explores the relationship between multiple aspects of religious involvement--affiliation, church attendance, subjective religiosity--and marital expectations among college women. In addition, the authors investigate whether religious involvement mediates the link between family background and marital expectations. These issues are…

Discusses theoretical, conceptual, and methodological issues in research on marital quality and then selectively reviews research findings. Concludes that, although quantitative research on marital quality in the 1980s produced only a modest increment in understanding the causes and consequences of marital success, it laid foundation for greater…

Examined United States national survey data from 1972 through 1986 General Social Surveys conducted by the National Opinion Research Center. Found rather steady decline from 1972 through 1986 in positive relationship between being married and reported happiness. Change occurred primarily through increase in reported happiness of never-married…

Data from three recent U.S. national surveys corroborate earlier evidence indicating that married persons, as an aggregate, report substantially greater global happiness than any category of unmarried persons; and the difference, according to the data reported here, is greater for females than for males. Includes comments by Jessie Bernard at end.…

Data from seven recent American national surveys found that persons remarried after divorce had rather high levels of reported well-being, but never-remarried women reported lower aggregate marital happiness than never-divorced married women or never-remarried men; the difference was not explained by race, age, or socioeconomic variables.…

Reports on measures of marital success based both on rates of divorce and separation and on the quality of intact marriages constructed from U.S. national survey data gathered over the 15-year period from 1973 to 1988. Concludes that the probability of ever-married persons attaining and maintaining marital success dropped in the past few years.…

Classified the social scientific literature on family decay and decline, finding change emphasized more than continuity, and the authors more concerned than sanguine, with a particular stress on concern for children. Reported happiness has declined among married women and men, and increased among never-married men. Cites potential difficulties for…

A comparison of the reported marital happiness of ever-divorced and never-divorced white respondents to three recent U. S. national surveys reveals significantly greater marital happiness for never-divorced females but not for never-divorced males. Even among females, the difference in the percentage of "very happy" responses was less…

A study of a U.S. national sample of females ages 25 through 40 reveals a moderate association of education, and a weaker association of physical attractiveness, with husbands' occupational prestige. The contribution of education to females status attainment through marriage seems to vary positively with level of origins and the contribution of…

Total family income is attributed either to marriage and to personal achievement (earnings) for both spouses, also taking account of the educational attainment of each. Data were taken from the 1973-1977 General Social Surveys conducted by the National Opinion Research Center. The research consisted of yearly interviews with approximately 1500…

Multiple regression analysis with data from each of three recent U.S. national surveys is used to estimate the direct effects of each of 10 independent variables on the reported marital happiness of white males and females ages 18 through 59. All of the estimated direct effects are weak or nil. (Author)

Effects of children on their parents' marital happiness were estimated, with data from six U.S. national surveys conducted from 1973-1978 using various subpopulations. No evidence for distinctly positive mean effects was found for any subpopulation. Supports findings that, on the average, children adversely affect marital quality. (Author/RC)

Data from six U.S. national surveys compared the estimated contributions to global happiness and marital happiness and satisfaction with each of seven aspects of life, ranging from work to friendships. Findings indicated that Americans depend very heavily on their marriages for their psychological well-being. (Author)

This report is a summary opinion of current undergraduate marriage and family textbooks. The report suggests some textbooks are deficient, erroneous, and distorted in information given about marriage. Subheadings include: (1)"Why Textbooks Matter"; (2) "The Textbook Story of Marriage"; (3) "The Dangerous Institution"; (4) "People Who Love Too…