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Has the Future of Marriage Arrived? A Contemporary Examination of Gender, Marriage, and Psychological Well-Being
Open accessAbstract
A long tradition of research and theory on gender, marriage, and mental health suggests that marital status is more important to men's psychological well-being than women's while marital quality is more important to women's well-being than men's. These beliefs rest largely on a theoretical and empirical foundation established in the 1970s, but, despite changes in gender and family roles, they have rarely been questioned. The present analysis of three waves of a nationally representative survey indicates that, with few exceptions, the effects of marital status, marital transitions, and marital quality on psychological well-being are similar for men and women. Further, for men and women, occupying an unsatisfying marriage undermines psychological well-being to a similar extent--and, in some cases, to a greater extent--than exiting marriage or being continually unmarried.
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“The relationship quality, the satisfaction of the needs of autonomy, competence and relatedness and a secure attachment with the partner have been indicated as strong indicators of well-being [7,164].”
From Well-Being and Romantic Relationships: A Systematic Review in Adolescence and Emerging Adulthood (2019) · cites this paper as [164]
Experimental — accuracy not yet measuredIn the citing paper
“Our mixed findings might reflect the variable quality of marital relationships, as being in an unsatisfying marriage might undermine mental health to a greater extent than being single or divorced (Thomas, Liu, & Umberson, 2017; K. Williams, 2003).”
From The relationship between acceptance of cancer and distress: A meta-analytic review (2019) · cites this paper as K. Williams, 2003
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Metadata
- Authors
- Williams, K.
- Affiliations
- The Ohio State University (US)
- Corresponding author
- Williams, Kristi
- ORCID
- Williams, Kristi
- Venue
- Journal of Health and Social Behavior
- Publisher
- SAGE Publications
- Published
- 2003-12
- Volume
- 44
- Issue
- 4
- Pages
- 470
- ISSN
- 0022-1465 (ISSN-L)
- PMC
- PMC4018193
- OpenAlex
- W1992317667
- Cited by
- 557
- References
- 37
- Citations by year
- 2026: 9 · 2025: 12 · 2024: 17 · 2023: 21 · 2022: 29 · 2021: 35 · 2020: 22 · 2019: 26 · 2018: 30 · 2017: 61 · 2016: 27 · 2015: 31 · 2014: 33 · 2013: 23 · 2012: 45
- FWCI
- 22.46
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- green
- europepmc.org
- Locations
- Journal of Health and Social Behavior (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (acceptedVersion)
- PubMed Central (acceptedVersion)
- Funders
- National Institute on Aging (2T32AG00243, T32AG000243)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Demography › Family Dynamics and Relationships
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Attachment and Relationship Dynamics
- Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Marriage and Family Dynamics
- Keywords
- marriage, gender differences, psychological well-being, marital status, marital quality, marital transitions, marital satisfaction, divorce, unmarried status, gender roles
- MeSH terms
- Adult, Aged, Data Collection, Family Relations, Female, Gender Identity, Humans, Male, Marriage, Mental Health, Middle Aged, Quality of Life
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