I examine the trajectory of marital quality as a function of relationship equity with data from a six-wave panel study of 704 married respondents between 1980 and 2000. Reporting that one “gives more” to the marriage (subjective underbenefit) is more likely for women than men at any given marital duration. Respondents’ relative contribution to income, paid labor, housework, and health (objective underbenefit) raises this probability for women of average religiosity. For the more religious, objective underbenefit has no effect on women’s sense of underbenefit, but reduces men’s sense of underbenefit. Objective underbenefit lowers women’s, but raises men’s, marital quality, at any marital duration. The relevance of equity was not diluted by the passage of time in marriage.
Adams, J.S. ( 1965). Inequity in social exchange. In L. Berkowitz (Ed.), Advances in experimental social psychology (pp. 267-299). New York: Academic Press.
2.
Amato, P.R. ( 2004). Tension between institutional and individual views of marriage. Journal of Marriage and Family, 66, 959-965.
3.
Amato, P.R., & Rogers, S.J. ( 1997). A longitudinal study of marital problems and subsequent divorce. Journal of Marriage and Family, 59, 612-624.
4.
Amato, P.R., & Previti, D. ( 2003). People’s reasons for divorcing: Gender, social class, the life course, and adjustment. Journal of Family Issues, 24, 602-626.
5.
Amato, P.R., Johnson, D.R., Booth, A., & Rogers, S.J. ( 2003). Continuity and change in marital quality between 1980 and 2000. Journal of Marriage and Family, 65, 1-22.
6.
Baxter, L.A. ( 1986). Gender differences in heterosexual relationship rules embedded in breakup accounts. Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, 3, 289-306.
7.
Booth, A., & Johnson, D. ( 1988). Premarital cohabitation and marital success. Journal of Family Issues, 9, 255-272.
8.
Booth, A., Johnson, D. R., Amato, P. R., & Rogers, S. J. (2003). Marital instability over the life course [United States]: A six-wave panel study, 1980, 1983, 1988, 1992-1994, 1997, 2000 [Computer file]. 1st ICPSR version. University Park, PA: A. Booth et al., Pennsylvania State University [producers], 1998. Ann Arbor, MI: Inter-University Consortium for Political and Social Research [distributor].
9.
Burleson, B.R. ( 1997). A different voice on different cultures: Illusion and reality in the study of sex differences in personal relationships. Personal Relationships, 4, 229-241.
10.
Buunk, B.P., & Mutsaers, W. ( 1999). Equity perceptions and marital satisfaction in former and current marriage: A study among the remarried. Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, 16, 123-132.
11.
Buunk, B.P., & Van Yperen, N.W. (1991). Referential comparisons, relational comparisons, and exchange orientation: Their relation to marital satisfaction. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 17, 709-717.
12.
Canary, D.J., & Stafford, L. ( 1992). Relational maintenance strategies and equity in marriage . Communication Monographs, 59, 243-267.
13.
Cherlin, A.J. ( 2004). The deinstitutionalization ofAmerican marriage. Journal of Marriage and Family, 66, 848-861.
14.
Cook, K.S., & Hegvedt, K.A. ( 1983). Distributive justice, equity, and equality. Annual Review of Sociology, 9, 217-241.
15.
Coontz, S. ( 2004). The world historical transformation of marriage. Journal of Marriage and Family, 66, 974-979.
16.
Coontz, S. ( 2005). Marriage, a history: From obedience to intimacy or how love conquered marriage. New York: Penguin.
17.
Davidson, B. ( 1984). A test of equity theory for marital adjustment. Social Psychology Quarterly, 47, 36-42.
18.
DeMaris, A. ( 2007). The role of relationship inequity in marital disruption . Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, 24, 177-195.
19.
DeMaris, A., & Longmore, M.A. (1996). Ideology, power, and equity: Testing competing explanations for the perception of fairness in household labor. Social Forces, 74, 1043- 1071.
20.
DeMaris, A., & MacDonald, W. ( 1993). Premarital cohabitation and marital instability: A test of the unconventionality hypothesis. Journal of Marriage and Family, 55, 399-407.
21.
Felmlee, D., Sprecher, S., & Bassin, E. ( 1990). The dissolution of intimate relationships: A hazard model . Social Psychology Quarterly, 53, 13-30.
Floyd, F.J., & Wasner, G.H. ( 1994). Social exchange, equity, and commitment: Structural equation modeling of dating relationships. Journal of Family Psychology , 8, 55-73.
24.
Frisco, M.L., & Williams, K. ( 2003). Perceived housework equity, marital happiness, and divorce in dual-earner households. Journal of Family Issues, 24, 51-73.
25.
Gager, C.T., & Sanchez, L. ( 2003). Two as one? Couples’ perceptions of time spent together, marital quality, and the risk of divorce. Journal of Family Issues, 24, 21-50.
26.
Gillis, J.R. ( 2004). Marriages of the mind. Journal of Marriage and Family, 66, 988-991.
27.
Glass, J., & Fujimoto, T. ( 1994). Housework, paid work, and depression among husbands and wives. Journal of Health and Social Behavior, 35, 179-191.
28.
Grote, N.K., & Clark, M.S. ( 2001). Perceiving unfairness in the family: Cause or consequence of marital distress? Journal of Personality and Social Psychology , 80, 281-293.
29.
Hansen, G.L. ( 1987). The effect of religiosity on factors predicting marital adjustment. Social Psychology Quarterly, 50, 264-269.
30.
Hatfield, E., Rapson, R.L., & Aumer-Ryan, K. (2008). Social justice in love relationships: Recent developments. Social Justice Research , 21, 413-431.
31.
Hatfield, E., Walster, G.W., & Berscheid, E. ( 1978). Equity: theory and research. Boston : Allyn and Bacon.
32.
Holmes, J.G., & Levinger, G. ( 1994). Paradoxical effects of closeness in relationships on perceptions of justice: An interdependence-theory perspective. In J. J. Lerner & G. Mikula (Eds.), Entitlement and the affectional bond (pp. 149-173). New York: Plenum Press.
33.
Joyner, K. ( 2009). Justice and the fate of married and cohabiting couples . Social Psychology Quarterly, 72, 61-76.
34.
Kiernan, K. ( 2004). Redrawing the boundaries of marriage. Journal of Marriage and Family, 66, 980-987.
35.
Longmore, M.A., & DeMaris, A. ( 1997). Perceived inequity and depression in intimate relationships: The moderating effect of self-esteem. Social Psychology Quarterly , 60, 172 -184.
36.
Lujansky, H., & Mikula, G. ( 1983). Can equity theory explain the quality and the stability of romantic relationships? British Journal of Social Psychology , 22, 101-112.
37.
Minnotte, K.L., Stevens, D.P., Minnotte, M.C., & Kiger, G. ( 2007). Emotion-work performance among dual-earner couples: Testing four theoretical perspectives. Journal of Family Issues, 28, 773-793.
38.
Mirowsky, J. ( 1985). Depression and marital power: An equity model. American Journal of Sociology, 91, 557-592.
39.
Previti, D., & Amato, P.R. ( 2004). Is infidelity a cause or a consequence of poor marital quality? Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, 21, 217-230.
40.
Prins, K.S., Buunk, B.P., & Van Yperen, N.W. (1993). Equity, normative disapproval and extramarital relationships. Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, 10, 39-53.
41.
Sanchez, L., Manning, W.D., & Smock, P.J. ( 1998). Sex-specialized or collaborative mate selection? Union transitions among cohabitors. Social Science Research, 27, 280-304.
42.
Scanzoni, J., & Arnett, C. ( 1987). Enlarging the understanding of marital commitment via religious devoutness, gender role preferences, and locus of marital control . Journal of Family Issues, 8, 136-156.
43.
Sprecher, S. ( 2001). Equity and social exchange in dating couples: Associations with satisfaction, commitment, and stability. Journal of Marriage and Family, 63, 599-613.
44.
Van Yperen, N.W., & Buunk, B.P. ( 1990). A longitudinal study of equity and satisfaction in intimate relationships. European Journal of Social Psychology, 20, 287-309.
45.
Vangelisti, A.L., & Daly, J.A. ( 1997). Gender differences in standards for romantic relationships . Personal Relationships, 4, 203-219.
46.
Wilcox, W.B., & Nock, S.L. ( 2006). What’s love got to do with it? Equality, equity, commitment and women’s marital quality. Social Forces , 84, 1321-1345.
