Skip to main content Accessibility help
×
Hostname: page-component-76fb5796d-25wd4 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-27T23:42:22.764Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

5 - Social Class, Neighborhoods, and Romantic Relationships

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  19 October 2023

Brian G. Ogolsky
Affiliation:
University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign
Get access

Summary

Falling in love is free…or is it? Although our “heart” and emotions may be unconnected to how much money or education we have or where we live, the process of initiating and maintaining a romantic relationship is most definitely connected to socioeconomic status (SES) and place. This chapter reviews the literature from the past fifteen years on the role of social class in four stages of romantic relationships: dating, cohabitation, marriage, and divorce. The existing research reveals several patterns. First, social class impacts all stages of a relationship, which contributes to perpetuating social class inequities throughout generations. Second, heteronormative assumptions dominate the existing literature with little focus on LGBTQ+ relationships. Moreover, gender appears to overshadow any impact of social class – in other words, women and men are bound by gender role expectations in relationships regardless of SES. Finally, and most importantly, research shows that most individuals, regardless of social class, hope to find a life partner and start a family. What social class “buys” an individual in terms of romance is ease…ease to date, marry, and divorce.

Type
Chapter
Information
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2023

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Allison, R., & Risman, B. J. (2014). “It goes hand in hand with the parties”: Race, class and residence in college student negotiations of hooking up. Sociological Perspectives, 57(1), 102123. https://doi.org/10.1177/0731121413516608CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Anderson, L. R. (2016). High school seniors’ attitudes on cohabitation as a testing ground for marriage. Bowling Green State University, National Center for Family & Marriage Research. Retrieved from www.bgsu.edu/ncfmr/resources/data/family-profiles/anderson-hs-seniors-attitudes-cohab-test-marriage-fp-16-13.htmlGoogle Scholar
Anderson, L. R., & Scherer, Z. (2020). See how marriage and divorce rates in your state stack up. Census.gov. Retrieved from www.census.gov/library/stories/2020/12/united-states-marriage-and-divorce-rates-declined-last-10-years.htmlGoogle Scholar
Asgharianji, A., Vardanyan, K., & Navabinejad, S. (2015). The interrelationship among locus of control, sexual satisfaction and marital satisfaction. Journal of Asian Scientific Research, 5(2), 6072. https://doi.org/10.18488/journal.2/2015.5.2/2.2.60.72CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bartoli, A. M., & Clark, M. D. (2006). The dating game: Similarities and differences in dating scripts among college students. Sex Cult, 10(4), 5480. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12119-006-1026-0CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Berger, P. L., & Kellner, H. (1970). Marriage and the construction of reality. In Dreitzel, H. (Eds.), Recent sociology: Patterns of communicative behavior (No. 2) (pp. 4973). Macmillan.Google Scholar
Bittman, M., England, P., Sayer, L., Folbre, N., & Matheson, G. (2003). When does gender trump money? Bargaining and time in household work. American Journal of Sociology, 109(1), 186214. https://doi.org/10.1086/378341CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Brimeyer, T. M., & Smith, W. L. (2012). Religion, race, social class, and gender differences in dating and hooking up among college students. Sociological Spectrum, 32(5), 462473. https://doi.org/10.1080/02732173.2012.694799CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Buss, D. M., & Barnes, M. (1986). Preferences in human mate selection. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 50(3), 559570. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.50.3.559CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Civettini, N. (2015). Gender display, time availability, and relative resources: Applicability to housework contributions of members of same-sex couples. International Social Science Review, 91(1), 134.Google Scholar
Civettini, N. (2016). Housework as non-normative gender display among lesbians and gay men. Sex Roles, 74(5), 206219. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11199-015-0559-9CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Couch, L. L., & Koeninger, A. L. (2016). Attraction: The many factors that draw us to like, lust, and love. In Summers, R. W. (Ed.), Social psychology: How other people influence our thoughts and actions (vol. 2, pp. 299314). ABC-CLIO.Google Scholar
Cunningham, M. (2007). Influences of women’s employment on the gendered division of household labor over the life course: Evidence from a 31-year panel study. Journal of Family Issues, 28(3), 422444. https://doi.org/10.1177/0192513X06295198CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Downing, J. B., & Goldberg, A. E. (2011). Lesbian mothers’ constructions of the division of paid and unpaid labor. Feminism & Psychology, 21(1), 100120. https://doi.org/10.1177/0959353510375869CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Edin, K., Kefalas, M. J., & Reed, J. M. (2004). A peek inside the black box: What marriage means for poor unmarried parents. Journal of Marriage and Family, 66(4), 10071014. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.0022-2445.2004.00072.xCrossRefGoogle Scholar
Eeckhaut, M. C. W., Putte, B. V., Gerris, J. R. M., & Vermulst, A. A. (2014). Educational heterogamy: Does it lead to cultural differences in child-rearing? Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, 31(6), 729750. https://doi.org/10.1177/0265407513503594CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Farr, R. H., & Goldberg, A. E. (2019). Same-sex relationship dissolution and divorce: How will children be affected? In Goldberg, A. E. & Romero, A. P. (Eds.), LGBTQ divorce and relationship dissolution: Psychological and legal perspectives and implications for practice (pp. 151172). Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Greenwood, J., Guner, N., Kocharkov, G., & Santos, C. (2014). Marry your like: Assortative mating and income inequality. American Economic Review, 104(5), 348353. https://doi.org/10.1257/aer.104.5.348CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Grieger, L., Kusunoki, Y., & Harding, D. J. (2014). The social contexts of adolescent romantic relationships. Focus, 31(1), 1517.Google Scholar
Gupta, S. (2006). Her money, her time: Women’s earnings and their housework hours. Social Science Research, 35(4), 975999. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ssresearch.2005.07.003CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Guzzo, K. B. (2020). A research brief on prospective marital expectations among cohabitors with initial marital intentions. Journal of Family Issues, 41(11), 19792001. https://doi.org/10.1177/0192513X20909145CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Hamilton, L., & Armstrong, E. A. (2009). Gendered sexuality in young adulthood: Double binds and flawed options. Gender & Society, 23(5), 589616. https://doi.org/10.1177/0891243209345829CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hanel, P. H. P., Maio, G. R., Soares, A. K. S., Vione, K. C., de Holanda Coelho, G. L., Gouveia, V. V., Patil, A. C., Kamble, S. V., & Manstead, A. S. R. (2018). Cross-cultural differences and similarities in human value instantiation. Frontiers in Psychology, 9, Article 849. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2018.00849CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Harding, D. J. (2007). Cultural context, sexual behavior, and romantic relationships in disadvantaged neighborhoods. American Sociological Review, 72(3), 341364. https://doi.org/10.1177/000312240707200302CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Harding, D. J., & Hepburn, P. (2014). Cultural mechanisms in neighborhood effects research in the United States. Sociol Urbana Rurale (Testo Stamp), 103, 3773. https://doi.org/10.3280/SUR2014-103004Google ScholarPubMed
Hitsch, G. J., Hortaçsu, A., & Ariely, D. (2010). What makes you click? Mate preferences in online dating. Quantitative Marketing and Economics, 8(4), 393427. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11129-010-9088-6CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hogendoorn, B., Leopold, T., & Bol, T. (2020). Divorce and diverging poverty rates: A risk-and-vulnerability approach. Journal of Marriage and Family, 82(3), 10891109. https://doi.org/10.1111/jomf.12629CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hohmann-Marriott, B. E., & Amato, P. (2008). Relationship quality in interethnic marriages and cohabitations. Social Forces, 87(2), 825855. https://doi.org/10.1353/sof.0.0151CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Horowitz, J. M., Graf, N., & Livingston, G. (2019). Why people get married or move in with a partner. Pew Research Center. Retrieved from www.pewresearch.org/social-trends/2019/11/06/why-people-get-married-or-move-in-with-a-partner/Google Scholar
Huijts, T., Monden, C., & Kraaykamp, G. (2010). Education, educational heterogamy, and self-assessed health in Europe: A multilevel study of spousal effects in 29 European countries. European Sociological Review, 26(3), 261276. https://doi.org/10.1093/esr/jcp019CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Iseyemi, A., Zhao, Q., McNicholas, C., & Peipert, J. F. (2017). Socioeconomic status as a risk factor for unintended pregnancy in the contraceptive CHOICE project. Obstetrics & Gynecology, 130(3), 609615. https://doi.org/10.1097/AOG.0000000000002189CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Jay, M. (2012). The downside of cohabiting before marriage. The New York Times. www.nytimes.com/2012/04/15/opinion/sunday/the-downside-of-cohabiting-before-marriage.htmlGoogle Scholar
Karney, B. R. (2021). Socioeconomic status and intimate relationships. Annual Review of Psychology, 72(1), 391414. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-psych-051920-013658CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Kennedy, S., & Ruggles, S. (2014). Breaking up is hard to count: The rise of divorce in the United States, 1980–2010. Demography, 51(2), 587598. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13524-013-0270-9CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Kulu, H., & Boyle, P. J. (2010). Premarital cohabitation and divorce: Support for the “trial marriage” theory? Demographic Research, 23(31), 879904. https://doi.org/10.4054/DemRes.2010.23.31Google Scholar
Kuperberg, A. (2019). From countercultural trend to strategy for the financially insecure: Premarital cohabitation and premarital cohabitors, 1956–2015 – Council on contemporary families. Council on Contemporary Families. Retrieved from https://thesocietypages.org/ccf/2019/07/16/from-countercultural-trend-to-strategy-for-the-financially-insecure-premarital-cohabitation-and-premarital-cohabitors-1956-2015/Google Scholar
Lavoie, F., Hebert, M., Tremblay, R., Vitaro, F., Vezina, L., & McDuff, P. (2002). History of family dysfunction and perpetration of dating violence by adolescent boys: A longitudinal study. Journal of Adolescent Health, 30(5), 375383. https://doi.org/10.1016/S1054-139X(02)00347-6CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Lee, W., & McKinnish, T. (2019). Locus of control and marital satisfaction: Couple perspectives using Australian data. IZA Discussion Paper, No. 12599. https://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3457643CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Leopold, T. (2018). Gender differences in the consequences of divorce: A study of multiple outcomes. Demography, 55(3), 769797. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13524-018-0667-6CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Lever, J., Frederick, D. A., & Hertz, R. (2015). Who pays for dates? Following versus challenging gender norms. SAGE Open, 5(4), 215824401561310. https://doi.org/10.1177/2158244015613107CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mäenpää, E., & Jalovaara, M. (2014). Homogamy in socio-economic background and education, and the dissolution of cohabiting unions. Demographic Research, 30, 17691792. https://doi.org/10.4054/DemRes.2014.30.65CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Manning, W. D., & Payne, K. K. (2021). Measuring marriage and cohabitation: Assessing same-sex relationship status in the current population survey. Demography, 58(3), 811820. https://doi.org/10.1215/00703370-9162213CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Manning, W. D., Brown, S. L., & Stykes, J. B. (2016). Same-sex and different-sex cohabiting couple relationship stability. Demography, 53(4), 937953. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13524-016-0490-xCrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Manning, W. D., Longmore, M. A., & Giordano, P. C. (2005). Adolescents’ involvement in non-romantic sexual activity. Social Science Research, 34(2), 384407. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ssresearch.2004.03.001CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Manning, W. D., Smock, P. J., Darius, C., & Cooksey, E. (2014). Cohabitation expectations among young adults in the United States: Do they match behavior? Population Research and Policy Review, 33(2), 287305. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11113-013-9316-3CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
McClendon, D. (2016). Religion, marriage markets, and assortative mating in the United States. Journal of Marriage and Family, 78(5), 13991421. https://doi.org/10.1111/jomf.12353CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Meier, A., & Allen, G. (2008). Intimate relationship development during the transition to adulthood: Differences by social class. New Directions for Child and Adolescent Development, 2008(119), 2539. https://doi:10.1002/cd.207CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Meier, A., & Allen, G. (2009). Romantic relationships from adolescence to young adulthood: Evidence from the national longitudinal study of adolescent health. The Sociological Quarterly, 50(2), 308335. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1533-8525.2009.01142.xCrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Miller, B. C., Benson, B., & Galbraith, K. A. (2001). Family relationships and adolescent pregnancy risk: A research synthesis. Developmental Review, 21(1), 138. https://doi.org/10.1006/drev.2000.0513CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Morgan, P. (2000). Marriage-lite: The rise of cohabitation and its consequences. Institute for the Study of Civil Society.Google Scholar
Morse, J.R., (2001). The problem with living together. Focus on the Family. www.focusonthefamily.com/marriage/the-problem-with-living-together/Google Scholar
Nock, S. L. (2001). The marriages of equally dependent spouses. Journal of Family Issues, 22(6), 755775. https://doi.org/10.1177/019251301022006005CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ong, D. (2016). Education and income attraction: An online dating field experiment. Applied Economics, 48(19), 18161830. https://doi.org/10.1080/00036846.2015.1109039CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ong, D., & Wang, J. (2015). Income attraction: An online dating field experiment. Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, 111, 1322. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jebo.2014.12.011CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Owen, J. J., Rhoades, G. K., Stanley, S. M., & Fincham, F. D. (2010). “Hooking up” among college students: Demographic and psychosocial correlates. Archives of Sexual Behavior, 39(3), 653663. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10508-008-9414-1CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Payscale. (2022). 2022 state of the gender pay gap report. www.payscale.com/research-and-insights/gender-pay-gap/Google Scholar
Perelli-Harris, B., Berrington, A., Sánchez Gassen, N., Galezewska, P., & Holland, J. A. (2017). The rise in divorce and cohabitation: Is there a link? Population and Development Review, 43(2), 303329. https://doi.org/10.1111/padr.12063CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Pflieger, J. C., & Vazsonyi, A. T. (2006). Parenting processes and dating violence: The mediating role of self-esteem in low- and high-SES adolescents. Journal of Adolescence, 29(4), 495512. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.adolescence.2005.10.002CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Pyke, K., & Adams, M. (2010). What’s age got to do with it? A case study analysis of power and gender in husband-older marriages. Journal of Family Issues, 31(6), 748777. https://doi.org/10.1177/0192513X09357897CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rennison, C. M., & Welchans, S. (2000). Intimate partner violence. Bureau of Justice Statistics. https://bjs.ojp.gov/press-release/intimate-partner-violence-0Google Scholar
Rosenfeld, M. J., Thomas, R. J., & Hausen, S. (2019). Disintermediating your friends: How online dating in the United States displaces other ways of meeting. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 116(36), 1775317758. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1908630116CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Sassler, S., & Miller, A. J. (2011). Waiting to be asked: Gender, power, and relationship progression among cohabiting couples. Journal of Family Issues, 32(4), 482506. https://doi.org/10.1177/0192513X10391045CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Sassler, S., & Miller, A. (2017). Cohabitation nation: Gender, class, and the remaking of relationships. University of California Press. https://doi.org/10.1525/9780520962101CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sassler, S., Cunningham, A., & Lichter, D. T. (2009). Intergenerational patterns of union formation and relationship quality. Journal of Family Issues, 30(6), 757786. https://doi.org/10.1177/0192513X09331580CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sassler, S., Michelmore, K., & Holland, J. (2016). The progression of sexual relationships. Wiley Online Library, 78(3), 587597. https://doi.org/10.1111/jomf.12289Google Scholar
Sassler, S., Michelmore, K., & Qian, Z. (2018). Transitions from sexual relationships into cohabitation and beyond. Demography, 55(2), 511534. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13524-018-0649-8CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Sautter, J. M., Tippett, R. M., & Morgan, S. P. (2010). The social demography of internet dating in the United States. Social Science Quarterly, 91(2), 554575. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1540-6237.2010.00707.xCrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sayer, L. C., & Bianchi, S. M. (2000). Women’s economic independence and the probability of divorce: A review and reexamination. Journal of Family Issues, 21(7), 906943. https://doi.org/10.1177/019251300021007005CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Schneider, D. (2011). Market earnings and household work: New tests of gender performance theory. Journal of Marriage and Family, 73(4), 845860. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1741-3737.2011.00851.xCrossRefGoogle Scholar
Schwartz, C. R., (2010). Earnings inequality and the changing association between spouses’ earnings. American Journal of Sociology, 115(5), 15241557. https://doi.org/10.1086/651373CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Schwartz, C. R., & Graf, N. L. (2009). Assortative matching among same-sex and different-sex couples in the United States, 1990–2000. Demographic Research, 21, 843878. https://doi.org/10.4054/demres.2009.21.28CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Schwartz, C. R., & Mare, R. D. (2005). Trends in educational assortative marriage from 1940 to 2003. Demography, 42(4), 621646. https://doi.org/10.1353/dem.2005.0036CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Shifrer, D., & Sutton, A. (2014). Region-urbanicity differences in locus of control: Social disadvantage, structure, or cultural exceptionalism? Sociological Inquiry, 84(4), 570600. https://doi.org/10.1111/soin.12046CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Small, M. L., Harding, D. J., & Lamont, M. (2010). Reconsidering culture and poverty. The Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, 629(1), 627. https://doi.org/10.1177/0002716210362077CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Solomon, S. E., Rothblum, E. D., & Balsam, K. F. (2005). Money, housework, sex, and conflict: Same-sex couples in civil unions, those not in civil unions, and heterosexual married siblings. Sex Roles, 52(9), 561575. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11199-005-3725-7CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Spanier, G. B. (1983). Married and unmarried cohabitation in the United States: 1980. Journal of Marriage and Family, 45(2), 277288. https://doi.org/10.2307/351507CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sprecher, S. (1998). Insiders’ perspectives on reasons for attraction to a close other. Social Psychology Quarterly, 61(4), 287300. https://doi.org/10.2307/2787031CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sprecher, S., & Regan, P. C. (2002). Liking some things (in some people) more than others: Partner preferences in romantic relationships and friendships. Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, 19(4), 463481. https://doi.org/10.1177/0265407502019004048CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Syrda, J. (2022). Gendered housework: Spousal relative income, parenthood and traditional gender identity norms. Work, Employment and Society, 37(3). https://doi.org/10.1177/09500170211069780Google Scholar
Trail, T. E., & Karney, B. R. (2012). What’s (not) wrong with low-income marriages. Journal of Marriage and Family, 74(3), 413427. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1741-3737.2012.00977.xCrossRefGoogle Scholar
U.S. Census Bureau. (2019). Cohabitation over the last 20 years: Measuring and understanding the changing demographics of unmarried partners, 1996–2017. Census.gov. www.census.gov/library/working-papers/2019/demo/SEHSD-WP2019-10.htmlGoogle Scholar
U.S. Census Bureau. (2021). America’s families and living arrangements. Census.gov. www.census.gov/data/tables/2021/demo/families/cps-2021.htmlGoogle Scholar
Valkenburg, P. M., & Peter, J. (2007). Who visits online dating sites? Exploring some characteristics of online daters. CyberPsychology & Behavior, 10(6), 849852. https://doi.org/10.1089/cpb.2007.9941CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Van de Vliert, E. (2007). Climatoeconomic roots of survival versus self-expression cultures. Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology, 38(2), 156172. https://doi.org/10.1177/0022022106297298CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wagner, M., & Weiss, B. (2006). On the variation of divorce risks in Europe: Findings from a meta-analysis of European longitudinal studies. European Sociological Review, 22(5), 483500. https://doi.org/10.1093/esr/jcl014CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Watson, S. (2019). The price of love: What does a typical date night cost? Elite Singles. Retrieved from www.elitesingles.com/mag/relationship-advice/date-night-costGoogle Scholar
Winslow, J. (2019). America’s digital divide. The Pew Charitable Trusts. www.pewtrusts.org/en/trust/archive/summer-2019/americas-digital-divideGoogle Scholar
Woloszyn, M. R., Clyde, K., & Corno, D. (2020). The relative impact of looks, income, warmth, and intelligence on female online dating preferences. Social Sciences & Humanities Open, 2(1), 100089. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ssaho.2020.100089CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Yau, N. (2021). Divorce rates and income. FlowingData. https://flowingdata.com/2021/05/04/divorce-rates-and-income/Google Scholar

Save book to Kindle

To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure coreplatform@cambridge.org is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.

Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.

Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.

Available formats
×

Save book to Dropbox

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.

Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

Available formats
×