The Contribution of Marriage to the Psychological Well-Being of Males and Females

Abstract

reported here, is greater for females than for males. Data .from two of the surveys show similar levels of reported marital happiness for husbands and wives, and they show a stronger relationship of marital happiness to global happiness for the wives. On the basis of this evidence, Bernard's thesis that marriage is more beneficial to husbands than to wives is rejected. The data presented here can be reconciled with Bernard's data showing an unusual prevalence of symptoms of psychological stress among married women by the hypothesis that women, as a whole, exceed men in both the stress and the satisfaction they derive from marriage.