Wife Occupational Superiority and Marital Troubles: An Examination of the Hypothesis

Abstract

Implicit in much theoretical literature on marital relations in dual-career families is the hypothesis that marital stress and dissatisfaction would be attendant if working wives were to be higher in occupational prestige than their husbands. Two sources qf the hypothesis are reviewed: sociological functionalism and recent economic analyses of marital status. The empirical merit of the hypothesis is examined with NORC General Social Survey data. No support is found for the hypothesis. Reasons for the persistence of this theoretical assumption, in the absence of empirical support, are discussed.