GENDER AND MARITAL SATISFACTION - DATA FROM THE NATIONAL SURVEY OF FAMILIES AND HOUSEHOLDS

In 1972, Bernard argued that marriage was good for men and bad for wom en. Subsequent research noted that wives, on average, reported lower m arital satisfaction than husbands. Furthermore, when differences withi n couples existed on marital satisfaction, the wife was usually the le ss satisfied spouse; however, most previous studies of the gender/mari tal satisfaction relationship had not been based on nationally represe ntative samples. A nationally representative sample from the 1988 Surv ey of Families and Households was used to assess the relationship of g ender with marital satisfaction. Within-couple analyses indicated that wives were less satisfied with their marriages than husbands and that , when substantial within-couple differences occurred with respect to marital satisfaction, the wife was usually the less satisfied spouse. Results provide at least small support for feminist assertions about t he relatively adverse nature of marriage for women in the United State s.