Family Quiz

Priscilla Gabriel, 487 words

            In the article, Trend in Martial Happiness by Gender and Race, they looked at marital happiness and what the rates were for White husbands, Black husbands, White wives and Black wives. They conducted a study that lasted from 1973 to 2006 and tried to find whether or not the rates had decreased or increased. At the beginning of their research, they found that of all categories, White husbands were always reported to have the highest level of marital happiness, while Black wives had the lowest report of marital happiness. They looked at many dependent and independent variable to see if they effected the results of the level of marital happiness. In their study, they found that when looking at the independent variable, having a child under the age of 18 in the household, it made an impact to the level of marital happiness. Those who have children under the age of 18 in the house, showed lower levels of marital happiness. They also looked at whether the White or Black wives were working. If they were working, their level of marital happiness usually was lower. Towards the end of their study in 2006, they were able to gather more findings. Throughout the years, White husbands level of marital happiness had remained the same, while Black husbands level of marital happiness had slightly increased. White wives level of happiness had slightly decreased, while Black wives had a drastic change throughout the years. They found that Black wives level of marital happiness had increased greatly. Their findings show that between White and Black husbands, White husbands are usually happier in their marriage. Between White and Black wives, White wives still had a higher level of marital happiness compared to Black wives.

            In the second article, Social Boundaries and Marital Assimilation: Interpreting Trends in Racial and Ethnic Intermarriage, they looked at the rates for intermarriage. They were looking to see what the percentages were of those who were intermarried. They noticed that the rates had increased greatly in the United States. In their study, they found that intermarriage was the lowest among Whites. American Indians had the highest rates of intermarriage. Also, Hispanics had higher rates of intermarriage then African Americans. They found that in the 1990s, the rates of Whites and African Americans who were intermarried had increased. They believed there was 4 things that had been affecting the intermarriage rates. The factors were changes in racial classification, changes in immigration, changes in cohabitation, and changes in educational attainment. After looking at these factors, they noticed that the change in racial classification had affected the rates of intermarriage. Those who are American Indian-white and Asian American-white, usually identified themselves as white, which effected the rates of intermarriage. However, African American and white intermarriage wasn't affected by the change in racial classification. They found that the changes in educational attainment had no effect of their rates as well.