Differences in the determinants of husbands' and working wives' class and political party identifications

Abstract

Recent research has suggested that the occupational prestige of working wives influences their perceptions of personal social status beyond the effects of husbands' occupation. The present study uses data from the National Opinion Research Center General Social Surveys for 1973–1977 and incorporates stratification characteristics ignored in previous work. The results are consistent with past findings in that wives' occupational achievements had no impact on either the subjective class or political party identifications of husbands. Contrary to previous results, working wives' occupational prestige, while affecting their political party choice, had no independent effect on their perception of personal social status. The educational attainments of working wives, however, did affect their social class identification. Attempts at resolution of the apparent discrepancy between past and present findings are presented and implications are discussed.