Laura Rodriguez, Socio 111 WMF 3:30

Laura Rodriguez

600 Word count

 

The article, "Trends in Marital Happiness by Gender and Race, 1973 to 2006," relates to the impact that race and gender have on the overall happiness of a marriage. The question, "How happy are you in your marriage," is a general question asked in surveys.  It measured a global marital happiness by collecting data that captures specific aspects of a marriage and how it's affected by stress and lack of marital interaction.

This research was conducted with data from the General Social Survey with 33 years of research from 1973-2006.  It was conducted randomly using English speaking adults of 18 years of age. Data was gathered from National Opinion Research Center through an annual GSS reporting between 1972 – 1994.  The dependent variable used in the surveys was the GSS questionnaire, using the question, "Taken things all together, how would you describe your marriage?" An observation conducted by Jessie Bernard, concludes that married women have more frustrations combined with mental and emotional stress. When he compared single men to married men he found that married men lived with better mental and physical lives.

According to the results of this research, there were independent and significant effects for the variables, Whites and husbands which reported a greater happiness in their marriage than Blacks and wives.  Although, these ratings have been consistent the numbers have been slowly dropping.  There wasn't a significant difference between Black and White husband's happiness.  As mentioned in the article, families in the U.S. have experienced drastic social and economic changes.  The effects are increased number of divorces and single parenthood.  Overall, researchers found that husbands report greater marital happiness than wives.

The article, "A Path Toward Interracial Marriage: Women's First Partners and Husbands Across Racial Lines," analyzed interracial marriages by asking questions related to intimacy using a national survey.  As well as, analyzing the characteristics that played a role when women chose their first sexual partner and their first husband. Based on gathered data, the significance of the survey resulted from the parent's background, their family values, race and ethnicity.

            The analysis conducted, gathered data from the 1995 National Survey of Family Growth. The representative tool used began with 10,847 American women between the ages of 15-44.  Then it was determined that over 1,600 interviewee's information was not applicable and brought the number of reputable interviewees to 9,216. There was a portion of the survey conducted by National Center for Health Statistics.  One focus was a cross-sectional approach that used the women's reproductive health.  The variables used in this study were equally characterized by age, race/ethnicity, marital status.  The questionnaire portion of the survey was gathered from minority groups through the 1997 National Center for Health Statistics that included personal and intimate questions relating the interviews first sexual partner, number of husband, and cohabiting relationships.

            The demographic variable was measured with a detailed racial/ethnic categorization that was used to label each respondent with only one race. This measure lost biracial respondents that were against choosing only one race. Some measures weren't used when conducting this variable due to language barriers.

            One of the dependent variables was analyzed globally looking at interracial interactions. A women's choice was accessed by looking at characteristics for choosing her first partner and first husband.  Also, the race of her choice and the respondent's race were compared in a table. The marital outcome of this table measured the following variables; interracially and interracially marriage, never married, and married their first sex partner. The highest percentage was interracially marriage with 44%, those marrying their first partner was 8%, and the lowest percentage was 6% from women who married within their race.

The survey conducted concludes there is a connection between social integration and the practices throughout their life course. Women with a biracial background or mixed were more likely to have a relationship with an interracial first partner. The results demonstrate there's a significant variation between race/ethnicity and the likeliness of an interracial relationship.