Twosome
The Impact of Divorce Laws on the Equilibrium in the Marriage Market
Ana Reynoso
Journal of Political Economy, forthcoming
Abstract:
Does easier divorce affect who marries whom? I exploit time variation in the adoption of unilateral divorce across the United States and show that it increases assortative matching among newlyweds. To unravel the underlying mechanisms, I estimate a novel life-cycle equilibrium model of marriage, labor supply, consumption, and divorce under the baseline mutual consent divorce regime. By solving the model under unilateral divorce, I find that, consistent with the data, assortative matching increases. Effects are largely due to changes in choices when risk sharing and cooperation within marriage decrease, which highlights the importance of considering equilibrium effects when evaluating family policies.
Eight Decades of Educational Assortative Mating: A Research Note
Noah Hirschl, Christine Schwartz & Elia Boschetti
Demography, October 2024, Pages 1293-1307
Abstract:
Recent social and economic trends in the United States, including increasing economic inequality, women's growing educational advantage, and the rise of online dating, have ambiguous implications for patterns of educational homogamy. In this research note, we examine changes in educational assortative mating in the United States over the last eight decades (1940 to 2020) using the U.S. decennial censuses and the American Community Survey, extending and expanding earlier work by Schwartz and Mare. We find that the rise in educational homogamy noted by Schwartz and Mare has not continued. Increases in educational homogamy stalled around 1990 and began reversing in the 2000s. We find a growing tendency for marriages to cross educational boundaries, but a college degree remains the strongest dividing line to intermarriage. A key trend explaining this new pattern is women's increasing tendency to marry men with less education than themselves. If not for this trend, homogamy would have continued increasing until the early 2010s. We also show substantial heterogeneity by race, ethnicity, and nativity and among same- versus different-sex couples.
Does the importance of sex to marital satisfaction decrease or increase with time? A close replication
Yoav Ganzach & Asya Pazy
Social Psychology, forthcoming
Abstract:
Based on a representative sample derived from the MIDUS study (1,472 females and 1,415 males), we investigate temporal patterns of the relationship between sexual satisfaction and marital satisfaction and find that this relationship increases (rather than decreases) with time, and that it is primarily due to age (rather than marital duration). Theoretical and methodological implications of this finding are discussed, and in particular the importance of relying on large samples when examining moderation effects, of examining alternative explanations for observed interactions, and of conducting replications in samples drawn from different populations.
Testosterone Rapidly Increases Men's Emotion-Based Dehumanization of a Conservatively Dressed Woman
Francesca Luberti et al.
Psychoneuroendocrinology, December 2024
Abstract:
Past research has found that sexualized women are often dehumanized (i.e., attributed reduced human qualities). However, the mechanisms contributing to such dehumanization remain poorly understood. In this pre-registered experiment involving a within-subject, placebo-controlled, cross-over design, we tested whether testosterone contributes to men's (N = 120, age range: 18-38 years) dehumanization of women. After administration of intranasal testosterone or placebo gel, men watched a video of a woman wearing either modest (i.e., conservative) or revealing (i.e., sexualized) clothing (between-subjects factor) and then completed three subtle dehumanization tasks, measuring emotion-based, personality-based, and perceptual dehumanization. We hypothesized that testosterone would increase dehumanization, especially for men who watched the "sexualized-clothing" video. Instead, we found that, while men engaged in emotion-based dehumanization toward the sexualized woman both when they had testosterone and placebo, testosterone increased emotion-based dehumanization toward the conservatively dressed woman. Other forms of dehumanization were not affected by testosterone. We also explored whether personality (e.g., dominance) and biological (e.g., CAG repeat polymorphism) traits that have been found to moderate the effects of testosterone on some social behaviors also moderated the effects examined here, but we did not find any significant moderations. Overall, this experiment revealed a novel physiological mechanism affecting emotion-based dehumanization.
When Your Partner is Being Flirted With: The Impact of Unsolicited Attention on Perceived Partner Desirability and Mate Retention Efforts
Gurit Birnbaum et al.
Journal of Sex Research, forthcoming
Abstract:
When searching for a partner, people often rely on social cues to determine partners' suitability, finding those who attract attention from others particularly appealing. While people continue to evaluate their partners beyond relationship initiation, existing research has predominantly concentrated on the effects of observing others' choices during the stage of partner selection, neglecting to consider whether viewing others' attention toward current partners yields similar effects or instead elicits defensive devaluation. In three experiments, we exposed Israeli participants to situations where their partners received unsolicited flirtatious advances, utilizing visualization, virtual reality, and recall techniques. Participants then rated their desire for their partner and mate retention efforts. Results indicated that attention to partners led to decreased desire for them, subsequently predicting reduced relationship investment. These findings suggest that witnessing current partners receiving attention holds a different meaning than observing potential partners in a similar situation, making salient the risk of losing the partner.
Gift giving in inpair and extrapair relationships
Olivia James et al.
Evolutionary Behavioral Sciences, forthcoming
Abstract:
A common trope in popular media is that men who are having romantic affairs tend to spend more lavishly on their extrapair partner than their inpair partner. However, empirical literature supporting this gift-giving phenomenon is limited. From an evolutionary perspective, willingness and ability to provide resources are highly desirable traits in male partners. In addition, the reputational and physical risks of engaging in extrapair relationships are greater for women than men. This suggests that female extrapair partners may place an even greater value on partners who provide robust resources, and men's behavior may be attuned to this reality. Across three studies (N = 523), the current research explored men's and women's hypothetical, actual, and stereotyped gift-giving preferences for extrapair and inpair partners. Contrary to predictions -- and participants' own reported stereotypes -- results revealed no significant differences between men's and women's hypothetical gift expenditures, as well as significantly lower hypothetical spending on extrapair as compared to inpair relationships overall. The present research suggests that gift giving may help signal a long-term commitment to existing inpair partners more so than serving as an enticement for prospective, or existing, extrapair partners.