Attitude alignment in marriage and cohabitation: The case of sex-role attitudes

Abstract

Alignment of attitudes in personal relationships has not often been examined with survey data. This paper examines changes in sex-role attitudes using a longitudinal and dyadic survey among 374 recently married and cohabiting persons. The paper tests 2 general hypotheses: (a) respondents will become more egalitarian (traditional) when the partner is initially more egalitarian (traditional) and (b) attitude alignment will be stronger when the relational relevance of the attitude is greater, which is defined as the degree to which the attitude topic has consequences for the internal functioning of the relationship. Both hypotheses are partly supported. The analyses show positive effects of the partner's attitudes on later attitudes of the respondent while controlling for prior respondent attitudes, confirming the notion of attitude alignment. In addition, alignment in sex-role attitudes appears stronger when conditions in the household are such that a traditional division of labor becomes more problematic. Differences by gender suggest that husbands change more often in the direction of the wife than vice versa.