Marriage-like Relationships Research Articles

Personal freedom, family compositions and well-being.

Personal freedom has known to be positively associated with well-being. As socioeconomic conditions advanced in modern societies, the pursuit of personal freedom has also gradually increased. This trend further coincides with the decline in marriage and fertility rates. This implies that the pursuit of personal freedom could be related to lower involvement with the family. The current study examined how personal freedom would be related to family compositions and well-being across different socioeconomic conditions using a large-scale data set. The results indicated that personal freedom was the most consistent predictor of well-being. Marriage-like relationships were also positively related to well-being. However, the relationship between the number of children and well-being was mostly insignificant except for the most recent data showing a positive relationship. Results also indicated that personal freedom did not lead to singlehood but was negatively related to the number of children. Socioeconomic conditions of countries and different time periods moderated these relationships. The influences of different socioeconomic conditions and the time period were discussed further in the paper.

Wrongs to Us

A huge number of tort suits in the United States are captioned Plaintiff & Spouse v. Defendant. Why? The answer is at once completely obvious and deeply puzzling. The plaintiff’s spouse is part of the case because, in almost every U.S. state, she has a claim against the defendant too—not for battery or negligence, as her spouse might, but for the loss of her spouse’s “consortium.” And yet, it’s not at all clear why a spouse should have a tort claim of this kind. A plaintiff who sues in tort, Judge Cardozo once explained, must always identify “ ‘a wrong’ to herself; i.e., a violation of her own right.” By this standard, however, a spouse’s consortium claim seems strange. The defendant violated her injured spouse’s rights, perhaps, but is it right to say the defendant violated hers too? At one point, tort law took the view that a husband had property rights in his wife, so that a wrong to his wife was a wrong to him too. That can’t be the right answer today, however, and it’s not clear whether there’s a more egalitarian rights-based answer to give. For that reason, rights-based theories of tort law tend to say that consortium claims have no proper place in a law of private wrongs, and critics of those theories can cite consortium claims as evidence that tort isn’t (all) about rights in the first place. In this Article, I suggest that both conclusions miss the mark. Consortium claims may have a natural place in a rights-based picture of tort law, so long as we have the right picture of rights (and rightsholders) in view. Partners in marriage-like relationships act together to construct a shared life, and that puts them in a position to hold joint claims against certain interferences with that life. Consortium suits make more sense, I propose, if we see them as a response to the violation of these joint claims—as a means to redress what partners in marriage-like relationships would rightly regard as “wrongs to us.”

Impure Migration: Jews and Sex Work in Golden Age Argentina

Mir Yarfitz takes on the notoriously challenging topic of Jewish prostitution in early twentieth-century Argentina and ably shows the international links and consistent tropes connecting the “white slave trade” to other migratory flows and concerns about race and purity. By tackling the issue with a consciously international focus, the author is able to show the ways that the patterns and concerns in Argentina were echoed worldwide. For Yarfitz, the fight against the “impure” irrevocably shaped the Jewish community in Buenos Aires.One overarching issue facing any scholar writing about this topic is the lack of documentation. Yarfitz's use of League of Nations sources is an important new avenue for scholars, as investigators went undercover around the world to illuminate the migration and working conditions of prostitutes. The author also makes great use of contemporary newspaper sources in Argentina as well as the institutional records of both the organized underworld figures overseeing prostitution and the groups fighting against the “impure.” While we gain a greater understanding of the worldwide perceptions and forces surrounding prostitution in Argentina, the book does not offer enough specifics about the lives and conditions of those actually working in the sex trade.The book moves from the broad and general to the specifics, laying out the tropes around the prostitution networks as well as Jewish patterns and strategies before finally focusing on only Buenos Aires. While the strategy does help the reader apprehend Argentina's place as a node in this larger trade, Yarfitz's strongest and most specific work appears toward the end of the book. When Yarfitz writes about Buenos Aires and the ways that prostitution worked on the ground, readers gain a much greater understanding of the lives of those involved and how the trade worked. He paints the most comprehensive picture yet of the Varsovia Israelite Mutual Aid and Burial Society, the organization of those running the Jewish prostitution trade. There were some points in Yarfitz's argument, however, that seemed to need more exploration. At one point he discusses “the importance of shared nationality and language between pimps and prostitutes,” explaining the reasons that Jewish men chose Jewish women (p. 73). I wished that the author had expanded on this for readers and had given what he believed were the implications for Jewish identity, as well as whether the importance of such commonalities between pimps and prostitutes might have held true for other national and linguistic groups. Yarfitz also noted the “commitment to marriage or marriage-like relationships between pimps and prostitutes” among Jews, another point that could have used more expansion and analysis (p. 75).Sometimes Yarfitz raises central arguments too late in the work. He points out that Jews who achieved financial success in the prostitution trade were able to invest in property and to accumulate wealth in other ways, “blurring . . . the lines” within the Jewish community between those who made their money in respectable trades and those who were “impure” (p. 103). This point, elaborated in chapter 5, dismantles the clear narratives that played out in the antitrafficking literature and demonstrates the fluidity of those who played roles in the prostitution trade. He brings up a few examples of women who began as prostitutes but were able to save enough money to move into other work and be successful—a section that I wished had been more central to the book as a whole. Women were not simply victims and did not necessarily spend their entire lives as prostitutes. As he writes, “Absolute victimization occurred far less than constrained choice” (p. 77). Yarfitz uses two women to illustrate his points—Raquel Liberman and “Esther the Millionaire.” Both have fascinating stories that subvert the narrative that the women involved in prostitution were powerless victims. Liberman successfully used both the Varsovia Society and the police and justice system for her own ends, while Esther was a savvy businesswoman at the apex of the Varsovia Society's hierarchy who gained enormous wealth and status before her fall and prosecution. It is stories like these that complicate and illuminate the narrative of prostitution in Argentina, and I wish there had been more of these throughout the book.Yarfitz's book is a strong contribution to the growing historiography of ethnicity, gender, and prostitution in Latin America. Because of its international focus, this work, more than others, engages with the ongoing debates about the nature of sex work, victimization, and women exercising agency in their own lives. The book will be of great interest to scholars and graduate students working on topics related to Jewish Latin America and early twentieth-century Argentina, as well as to anyone interested in the worldwide prostitution networks of the era.

The Role of Pateman’s Sexual Contract in Beneficial Interests in Property

While the common law may result in justice between heterosexual intimate partners in particular claims for a beneficial interest in the family home, it does so on its own terms—terms drawn up according to contractarian principles reflecting male sex-right, that subsist even as the world and the institution of marriage (and marriage-like relationships) have changed. This paper uses examples from the case law across four common law jurisdictions to expose the terms on which the contractarian nature of intimate partner trusts permits claims for a distribution of intimate partners’ property, and how it excludes. In particular, it identifies the pervasiveness of the sexual contract in subsuming women’s expression of individualism to those of her intimate partner, and the implications of this for the derivation of a property interest in the family home.

Partner criticism during acute-phase cognitive therapy for recurrent major depressive disorder

Many patients with major depressive disorder (MDD) are married or in marriage-like relationships that could influence treatment process and outcomes. We clarified relations of patient-reported criticism from partners (perceived criticism) and criticism of partners with psychosocial functioning and changes in cognitive therapy (CT) for depression. Partnered outpatients (N = 219) received a 12-week CT protocol and completed measures repeatedly. As hypothesized, perceived criticism and criticism of partners correlated with personality (e.g., perceived criticism: trait mistrust, self-harm; criticism of partners: negative temperament, aggression), social-interpersonal problems (perceived criticism: cold and overly nurturant behavior; criticism of partners: vindictive and domineering behavior; both measures: poor adjustment in partnered and family relationships), cognitive content (both measures: negative failure attributions, dysfunctional attitudes), and depressive symptom intensity (both measures), although effect sizes were small-moderate. Both criticism measures decreased little during CT and remained elevated compared to community norms, despite the fact that relations between the criticism measures and depressive symptoms included both stable trait and more transient state components. From these findings, we speculate that some patients with MDD elicit or amplify criticism in ways that harm their relationships and psychosocial functioning and may benefit from additional or strategic treatment.

Is relationship quality linked to diabetes risk and management?: It depends on what you look at.

Using nationally representative data (Midlife in the United States, N = 800), the present study therefore examines how aspects of marriage (e.g., strain, support, marital risk, and constructive communication) are linked to diabetes outcomes and whether these links vary as a function of sociodemographic characteristics related to health (e.g., gender, race, and income). Strain and marital risk were linked to an increased risk of developing diabetes and strain and poor communication were linked to an increased risk of poor diabetes management. Finally, marital support was linked to a lower risk of diabetes but only for those with lower income. These findings inform prevention and intervention programs focusing on social support mechanisms to potentially reduce the risk of developing diabetes (e.g., reduced marital strain and marital instability) and improving diabetes control (e.g., improved communication and reduced marital strain). (PsycINFO Database Record

Youth reports of parents' romantic relationship quality: Links to physical health.

Prior work has shown that negative aspects (e.g., conflict) of marriage or marriage-like relationships are associated with poor health of offspring, but much less is known about the effects of positive aspects (e.g., affection) of parental romantic relationships. This study investigated links between conflict and affection within parents' romantic relationships and the health of youth with asthma. Eighty youths with asthma aged 10-17 answered daily questions over a 4-day period about conflict and affection within their parents' romantic relationship, as well as their own daily mood, asthma symptoms, and expiratory peak flow. Multiple regression analyses revealed that romantic affection-but not conflict-was directly associated with higher expiratory peak flow. Further, there was a significant indirect effect of romantic affection via youth positive affect on lower asthma symptoms. These results are the first to our knowledge to demonstrate that youth-reported positive characteristics of parents' romantic relationships are associated with better health among youth with asthma. (PsycINFO Database Record

Stepfamilies in Later Life

The proliferation of divorce and remarriage over the last few decades has produced a sharp increase in the prevalence of stepfamilies, a family form famously labeled by Cherlin (1978) as an incomplete institution for its ambiguous set of role expectations. Although the large majority of investigations into stepfamilies and step-relations has understandably focused on the consequences of family disruption and reformation for the well-being of parents and children at early stages of the family life cycle (Sweeney, 2010), the potential implications for mature families are equally profound. This is particularly relevant to those individuals who experienced the divorce revolution of the late 20th century and who are now entering their later years in complex families with various configurations of step- and biological relationships (Cherlin, 2010). Consequently, it behooves scholars to examine how mature adults and their adult children negotiate relationships in stepfamilies, particularly as older parents confront the challenges and vulnerabilities of midlife and beyond. This special section brings together eight articles from the Netherlands, Germany, and the United States to address issues relevant to the functioning of mature step-relationships and their implications for the well-being of older stepparents.The empirical literature generally reveals adverse effects of parental divorce and stepfamily formation on intergenerational relationships in adulthood, raising concerns about the adequacy of informal support and care available to repartnered elderly parents (Pezzin, Poliak, & Schone, 2008; Ryan, Smith, Antonucci, & Jackson, 2012; Silverstein & Giarrusso, 2010). Evidence is accumulating that the legacy of divorce and remarriage has a long reach, straining intergenerational relationships and suppressing the support that divorced parents, stepparents, and remarried biological parents might expect from their children in later life (Aquilino, 2005; Shapiro, 2003). Indeed, an emerging consensus is that mid- to late life stepfamilies are developing in new and uncharted ways that require further investigation (Ganong & Coleman, 2012).The articles in this section investigate a variety of intergenerational outcomes in mature stepfamilies (emotional closeness, relationship strength, living arrangements, geographic propinquity, in-person contact, and inclusion in personal networks) and the impact of stepfamily membership on the well-being of older parents (mortality and institutionalization; depression and caregiving burden). Three overlapping conceptual themes are represented by the articles, each with key implications for aging stepfamilies: (a) negotiation of boundary ambiguity, (b) intergenerational resource exchange, and (c) filial norms and expectations.The dilemma of boundary ambiguity is based on uncertainties in the role expectations of partners in step-relationships. Clear guidelines for behavior are often absent, leading to attenuation in the strength of step-relationships and an increase in their fragility. Suanet, van der Pas, and van Tilburg (2013) provided evidence that the boundary dividing biological and steprelationships has blurred over 17 years. A cohort comparison reveals that mature stepparents are more inclusive in considering stepchildren as members of their close personal networks than they were in the past. This suggests that role uncertainties may be waning, because steprelationships in more contemporary cohorts of parents are less likely to be relegated to the periphery of family life.Boundary ambiguity is extended to new family forms in the article by de Jong Gierveld and Merz (2013), who studied intergenerational relations of repartnered parents in livingapart-together (LAT) relationships (defined as marriagelike relationships whereby partners maintain separate residences). The authors found that adult children who resist accepting their parent's new partner tend to prefer an LAT arrangement because it preserves geographic boundaries, without which active conflict might emerge with the new partner. …

The State of the Union: Toward a Biopolitics of Marriage

The State of the Union: Toward a Biopolitics of Marriage

Like a Horse and Carriage: (Non)Normativity in Hollywood Romance

Like a Horse and Carriage: (Non)Normativity in Hollywood Romance

Some Gays and the Queers

Some Gays and the Queers

Psychosocial adversities at work are associated with poorer quality marriage-like relationships

The characteristics of work have an impact on individuals’ personal lives, including on health and close personal relationships. Previous research into the negative spillover effects from work to marital quality has predominantly examined structural job characteristics, such as job hours and shift work. This study used data from a large representative community sample of midlife (aged 40–44 at baseline) employed persons in marriage-like relationships (n = 2,054) to investigate the relationship between psychosocial job characteristics and relationship quality. Data from three waves of the Personality and Total Health (PATH) Through Life Survey were analysed. The results show that all psychosocial job adversities (high job demands, low job control, and job insecurity) were independently associated with lower levels of positive support from partners for both men and women. In addition, there was a linear relationship between the number of psychosocial adversities reported and lower levels of positive support from partners. These findings are relevant to policy makers in the areas of employment and family services. They identify the potential broader social costs of adverse psychosocial characteristics at work. This study sets the scene for further longitudinal research to examine the causal links between psychosocial job quality and relationship quality.

Domestic Violence and Marriage-Like Relationships

In this article, we look at developments in the nexus between social security law and domestic violence. We postulate that since the publication of 'Domestic Violence and Marriage-Like Relationships: Social Security Law at the Crossroads' Alternative Law Journal (2009) 34(3), tribunals and decision-makers have finally begun to emerge from what was described in the article as 'the Dark Ages.' Several decisions have been made in which women subject to domestic violence were found to qualify for discretionary rulings under section 24 of the Social Security Act 1991 (Cth) ('the SSA') - that is, 'for a special reason in the particular case' they were not to be treated as being a member of a couple. We will look at some of these cases, and try to predict whether a trend has been established or whether there has merely been a swing of a pendulum that is destined to swing back to a more cautionary approach. We think, cautiously, that a trend has begun.

Impacting on Intimacy: Negotiating the Marriage Equality Debate

Impacting on Intimacy: Negotiating the Marriage Equality Debate

Post Migration Changes in Iranian Immigrants’ Couple Relationships in Canada

Immigration presents a major life challenge, especially when the move is both geographical and across wide cultural divides. One of the areas of greatest challenge is in adjustments in gender and marital roles, perhaps because both of these are so close to the core of identity, self esteem, and sense of place in the world. This paper reports on research conducted with immigrants from Iran to Canada that examined how their experiences post-immigration affected their marital roles and relationship. Fifteen men and fifteen women who were born in Iran, immigrated to Canada, and were currently in heterosexual marriage or marriagelike relationships participated in in-depth interviews. Participants were well-educated, with none having less than 12 years of schooling and most having post-secondary training. Three highly imbricated areas of influence on their couple relationships emerged in the interviews: gender role adjustments, labour force difficulties, and changes in family structure. Consistent with the literature on immigrant adjustments, both men and women found each of these 3 posed challenges to their couple relationships. Men had difficulty accepting the freedom their wives had to dress, socialize and make decisions for themselves. Women also identified shortcomings to the “freedoms” they were afforded in Canada. The greatest challenge to men’s identities as “good husbands” was their loss of the breadwinner role. Women and men both faced difficulties integrating into the Canadian labour force, with these difficulties leading some to express a desire to return to Iran. The loss of extended family support and social networking were linked to loneliness and absence of wise mediators to help with couple-conflicts, but were also described as contributing to greater mutuality and closeness in couples. Couples spoke of creating a new, bicultural, identity and lifestyle to counter the stresses and tensions of acculturation.

Mating by proxy: a novel perspective to donor conception

How single, partnered lesbian, and partnered heterosexual women undertaking donor insemination rate the importance of donor characteristics is explored in the context of Trivers's parental investment theory. Consistent with this theory, single women placed higher value on biographical traits reflective of the donor's level of potential resources (occupation, hobbies, age) and good character compared with either partnered lesbian or heterosexual women.

Family-of-Origin, Differentiation of Self and Partner, and Adult Romantic Relationship Quality

Bowen's family systems theory posits the importance of differentiation of self for functioning in adult romantic/marital relationships. His theory suggests that adults enter into marriages and marriage-like relationships with a basic level of differentiation of self developed largely in the parental home and this level of differentiation affects relationship quality. However, there has been limited research on these propositions. Therefore, we examine these ideas by hypothesizing that (a) a complex relationship exists between family-of-origin variables as they influence adult romantic relationship quality, (b) differentiation from negative family-of-origin processes is one means whereby the past carries forward into the present, (c) there is a actor-partner effect of differentiation of self on each partner's relationship quality, and (d) that gender differences are expected. We tested an SEM model with data from the RELATionship Evaluation (RELATE) (N = 1,839 couples). Results support the hypotheses and suggest the usefulness of Bowen's theory for understanding how family-of-origin processes from both partners carry forward via differentiation of self into adult relationship quality. Therapeutic implications and research needs are articulated.

Hostility, relationship quality, and health among African American couples.

This study investigated the association between hostility and health and whether it is moderated by the quality of an individual's primary romantic relationship. Longitudinal data were provided by 184 African Americans, including 166 women. Participants averaged 38 years old and were married or in long-term marriagelike relationships. Hostility and relationship quality were measured at the first assessment. Hostility was based on participants' responses to items tapping cynical attitudes about relationships. Relationship quality was based on trained observer ratings of videotaped couple interactions on behavioral scales reflecting warmth, support, and communication skills. At 2 assessments approximately 5 and 7 years later, participants provided health data. Health index scores were formed from responses to five scales of the SF-12 (Ware, Kosinski, & Keller, 1998) as well as to responses to questions about the number of chronic health conditions and the number of prescribed medications. Stepwise regression analyses controlling for demographic variables and the earlier health score tested the main and interactive effects of hostility and relationship quality on longitudinal changes in health. Whereas no main effects were supported, the interaction of hostility and relationship quality was significant (p < .05). The form of the interaction was such that high-hostile individuals had better health outcomes if they were in a high-quality relationship. Hostile persons in high-quality relationships may be at less risk for negative health outcomes because they do not regularly experience the physiologic reactivity and adverse psychosocial outcomes that they would otherwise experience as a result of recurring interpersonal conflict.

Domestic Violence and Marriage-Like Relationships: Social Security Law at the Crossroads

The effects of living in domestic violence upon its victims’ ability to make choices have been documented in various legal areas. For instance ‘learned helplessness’ and the other disempowering effects of domestic violence are now well recognized in the criminal law relating to murder and provocation. Evidence showing how victims’ choice-making may become constrained thus affecting their capacity to leave the violent relationship has been deemed as relevant in a number of cases. But battered woman’s syndrome, or what is perhaps better described as ‘battered woman’s reality,’ has had only patchy acceptance in case law outside of homicide. A recent Administrative Appeals Tribunal decision suggests though that it may now be achieving acceptance in social security law.

Domestic Violence and Marriage-Like Relationships

The effects of living in domestic violence upon its victims’ ability to make choices have been documented in various legal areas. For instance ‘learned helplessness’ and the other disempowering effects of domestic violence are now well recognized in the criminal law relating to murder and provocation. Evidence showing how victims’ choice-making may become constrained thus affecting their capacity to leave the violent relationship has been deemed as relevant in a number of cases. But battered woman’s syndrome, or what is perhaps better described as ‘battered woman’s reality,’ has had only patchy acceptance in case law outside of homicide. A recent Administrative Appeals Tribunal decision suggests though that it may now be achieving acceptance in social security law.