Suchergebnisse

We present a model with pre-marital schooling investment, endogenous marital matching and spousal specialization in homework and market production. Investment in schooling raises ages and generates two kinds of returns in our framework: a labor-market return and a marriage-market return because education can affect the intra-marital share of the surplus one can extract from marriage. When the returns to education and household roles are gender neutral, men and women educate in equal proportions and there is pure positive assortative matching in the marriage market. But if men and women have different market returns or household roles, then there may be mixing in equilibrium where some educated individuals marry uneducated spouses and those who educate less extract a relatively larger share of the marital surplus. The existence of large and frictionless marriage markets creates competition among potential spouses, precludes bargaining and generates premarital investments that are efficient. Given that the gender wage gap narrows with the level of education, women's labor-market return from schooling is higher than that of men. Moreover, women's household time obligations have declined over time, raising their marriage-market return from schooling. Combining these two effects, we explain why women now attain higher schooling levels than men.

Premarital cohabitation could influence the transition to marriage by cultivating the belief that getting married will have little effect on a relationship that has already taken root through cohabitation. Yet uncertainty about a relationship could influence cohabiting couples to hold back some investment in their relationship until marriage. This qualitative study of 36 individuals (18 newlywed couples) investigated the transition from cohabitation to marriage by focusing on perceived differences between premarital cohabitation and marriage while adjusting to being married. Newlyweds typically identified changes and they were often unexpected. Several themes emerged pertaining to the deepening and solidifying of the relationship and changes in approaching conflict. Marital permanence was an overarching metatheme that was reflected throughout the findings. Results are discussed in the context of relationship certainty, investment, and delayed dedication. Implications for the potential of cohabitation to mirror marriage are discussed.

Based on interdependence theory, this study explores how the features of geographic separation are associated with the nature of dating partners' talk throughout courtship. It is hypothesized that the communication of long-distance dating relationship (LDDR) partners, relative to that of geographically close dating relationship (GCDR) partners, reflects greater intimacy, greater conflict avoidance, greater topic avoidance, greater selective positive self-presentation, and less discussion of important premarital topics. Results supported these predictions. Findings suggest LDDR partners communicate in a manner to accentuate positive affect and minimize differences. Although these forms of communication can be effective for LDDR partners' maintenance of satisfying relationships, it is speculated that there might be negative ramifications of such communication patterns for partners' informed decisions on relational investment.