The Effects of Wife's Employment
on Marital Relations and
Psychological Well-Being Among
Mexican-American Males

 

by Cruz C. Torres

Univ. of Texas-Pan American

 

Research Report No. 25
December 1997

 

Abstract

Data from the 1979 National Chicano Survey were analyzed using a path analysis model to examine the effects of wife's employment on the psychological well-being of Mexican-American men. Three hypotheses were examined. First, Mexican-American husbands whose wives are employed will not provide more help with household chores than their counterparts whose wives are not employed. Second, Mexican-American males who provide more help with household chores will report lower levels of marital satisfaction. Third, Mexican-American husbands whose wives are employed, who help more with household chores, and who report lower levels of marital satisfaction will experience higher levels of depression. The results show limited support for the model. While Mexican-American husbands do contribute more to household chores when their wives are employed, this participation is not significantly related to the level of marital satisfaction or the levels of depression.

 

About the Author: Cruz Coronado Torres

Dr. Cruz Coronado Torres is an associate professor at the University of Texas, Pan-American. She earned her Ph.D. in Philosophy at Texas A&M University, College Station in 1987. She earned both her Masters (in Interdisciplinary Studies) and her Bachelor's (summa cum laude) from Loredo State University. Her areas of specialization are psychology, sociology, and history.

In addition to her current assignment, Dr. Torres has been an assistant professor at the University of Colorado, Denver, and a visiting assistant professor at Texas A&M.

 

SUGGESTED CITATION

Torres, Cruz C., The Effects of Wife's Employment on Marital Relations and Psychological Well-Being Among Mexican-American Males, JSRI Research Report #25 The Julian Samora Research Institute, Michigan State University, East Lansing, Michigan, 1997.

The Julian Samora Research Institute is committed to the generation, transmission, and application of knowledge to serve the needs of Latino communities in the Midwest. To this end, it has organized a number of publication initiatives to facilitate the timely dissemination of current research and information relevant to Latinos. The Julian Samora Research Institute Research Report Series (RR) publishes monograph length reports of original empirical research on Latinos in the nation conducted by the Institute's faculty affiliates and research associates, and/or projects funded by grants to the Institute.


Table of Contents

Introduction
Working Chicanas, Mexican-American Families and Social Science Theory
Methods
Exogenous Variables
Endogenous Variables
Statistical Techniques
Findings
Reduced Model
Discussion
References
Endnotes


The Effects of Wife's Employment on Marital Relations and Psychological Well-Being Among Mexican-American Males

 

Introduction

The participation of married women in the labor force has increased dramatically and contemporary social changes (e.g., increased education and economic conditions) promise this trend will continue. As a result, numerous studies have focused on two-job families and the stress experienced by working women and their dependent children. Despite the fact that having a working wife will invariably alter the life-style of most husbands, research on the effects of wife's employment on men has been neglected (Perrucci et al., 1978). Some notable exceptions include Booth (1979), Burke and Weir (1976), and Keith et al., (1981), who focused on the strain of two-job families on men. These studies however do not include Mexican-American men. Research specific to the effect of wife's employment status on Mexican-American males is negligible. Thus the focus of this study.

Increased education and industrialization along with the reality that in today's economy a second income is not an option but a necessity, has resulted in an increase in Chicana participation in the labor force. The 1980 census indicates 53% of Mexican-American women with children between the ages of 6 and 17 are in the labor force (U.S. Bureau of the Census 1983). Research on two-job Mexican-American families and the effects labor force participation has on their families, though limited, has recently enjoyed some attention (Cooney, 1984; Shannon and McKim, 1974; Snipp and Tienda, 1984; Williams, 1990; Melville, 1988). These studies focus on the effect paid employment has on the family (Ybarra, 1982) and on working women (Roberts and Roberts, 1982; Ross et al., 1983b; Saenz et al., 1989). Yet, the principle focus has been women, relatively little attention has been given to the effect wife's labor force participation has on traditional male/female family roles and the effect working wives have on Mexican-American males.

Even though women appear to benefit when they participate in a "man's" world of paid employment, men should not be expected to experience the same level of comfort in cross-sex tasks. Therefore, it cannot be assumed that the effects of wife's labor force participation have the same psychological effect on both spouses. On the contrary, the logical expectation is that men will experience higher levels of psychological discomfort because of the low prestige accorded feminine. The effects may be especially salient for Mexican-American males. Baca Zinn (1980a) suggests being "hombre" (with all its implications) may have greater meaning to Chicanos, because they have fewer sources of social identity.

Obviously many basic questions remain unexplored. For example, do Mexican-American males, whose wives work outside the home, share a greater division of non-traditional household tasks? What effect, if any, does this participation have on marital satisfaction? On the psychological well-being of Mexican-American males? Do Mexican-American males with "traditional" housewives report lower levels of depression than those with working wives?

Lack of empirical research focused on male/female roles within the Chicano community serves to promulgate the myths and misconceptions relative to machismo and female submissiveness in the Chicano community. By examining married Mexican-American males throughout the five Southwestern states and the Chicago metropolitan area, this study explores the implications Chicana participation in the labor force has on 1) spouses level of participation in nontraditional household tasks, 2) marital satisfaction, and 3) mental well-being. The following analysis of Mexican-American males is intended to ascertain whether the relationship between certain variables and mental well-being observed in previous non-Mexican-American population studies are confirmed or reversed for male members of a purportedly "traditional" ethnic group.

Introduction | Working Chicanas, Mexican-American Families and Social Science Theory | Methods | Exogenous Variables | Endogenous Variables | Statistical Techniques | Findings | Reduced Model | Discussion | References | Endnotes


Working Chicanas, Mexican-American Families and Social Science Theory

Even though, Chicanas have worked outside the home since pre-Colonial times (Pescatello, 1976:126), the idealist view claims it is not "culturally correct" for Mexicanas to work outside the home; that men of "class" are the family's sole supporter. Mexican-American women working outside the home is still considered normatively optional, not universal. The Chicana "housewife" stereotype persists. This version of traditional Mexican-American culture depicts a value system with traditional sex role orientations which has positive psychological well-being for men under "normal" circumstances and precludes male endorsement of spouses entry into the labor market (Melville, 1988).

The socialization-ideology hypothesis (Stafford et al., 1977) would suggest Chicanos' familism and patriarchal orientation ideally prefers complementary marriages that stringently hinder women's mobility into the paid labor force. If however, they have moved into the pattern of paid employment for the wife, socialization theory predicts Mexican-American males are not likely to participate in nontraditional household tasks. Furthermore, the wife's participation in the labor force will have more negative effects on marital satisfaction and mental well-being of the husband. According to this perspective, wife's employment will reflect negatively on the Mexican-American male. It will reflect his inability to provide and this will engender self-doubt and low self-esteem (Ross, 1983b).

For women, increased labor force participation increases expectations for a more egalitarian division of household tasks with spouse. Indeed research indicates women's employment provides a more equitable division of labor (Blood and Wolfe, 1960; Pleck, 1979). These findings hold for Mexican-American working women (Hawkes and Taylor, 1975; Baca Zinn, 1980b). Ybarra (1988) found Chicanas employed outside the home expect and usually get greater participation from their husbands relative to household chores. However, Amaro et al. (1987) reports that Chicanas married to Hispanic males receive less help from their partners than Chicanas married to non-Hispanic males.

This supports other research findings which indicate Mexican-American males hold more traditional views on values and norms relative to sex roles. Norms and values which are in conflict with career orientations for women (Hartzler and Franco, 1985). In contrast to the egalitarian expectations of working Mexican-American women, Mexican-American males lag behind female counterparts in their views about the appropriateness of egalitarian male/female roles and are more likely to retain traditional sex role behaviors (Hawley and Even, 1982). Problems of normative issues arise, e.g. expectations that Mexican-American males behave in socially approved ways (Heckman et al., 1977). But whose socially approved behavior? Irrespective of this basic argument, Ortiz and Cooney (1984) suggest traditional beliefs do not necessarily translate into behavior patterns. Thus the need for empirical verification.

Whether assistance with household tasks is forthcoming from their spouse or not, working wives do report concern that their working has negative effects on family life. For the husband, negative consequences cited in the literature include: loss of power, loss of the endogenous support system, and role overload. Given the previous discussion, the literature would indicate that for Mexican-American males, conflict between traditional sex role behavior and egalitarian sex role expectations should be a further consideration. Changes in traditional sex roles (e.g. working wives), according to Rosenfield (1980), imply a relative loss of power for males. Loss of power in turn can result in a loss of self-esteem. Furthermore, powerlessness and low self-esteem have been associated with higher levels of psychological stress (Wheaton, 1980; Ross, Mirowsky, and Crockerham, 1983).

On the other hand, Keith et al. (1981) report male self-esteem is independent of involvement of household tasks and wife's occupational status. However, this study focuses on older married men. Effects may differ in younger males. Markides and Vernon (1984) also found the effects of traditional sex role attitudes to be age specific. Specifically, traditional sex role attitudes had negative psychological effects on middle-aged and older men, but had no effect on the younger males. Gonzalez (1988) found that Chicano males, like the males in Keith et al.'s (1981) study, were not threatened by their wives' accomplishments.

Role overload theory (Rapaport and Rapaport, 1978) indicates stress occurs when individuals are required to fulfill multiple (e.g., work and family) roles. Empirical research provides inconclusive evidence. On the one hand, research indicates women accrue the positive effects (e.g. the privileges) of paid employment, which decrease or neutralize the negative effects of role overload. On the other hand, for males role overload occurs in the opposite direction. Males accrue extra responsibilities, not the privileges, of the extra roles. As a matter of fact, most studies on working women and division of household tasks indicate a small increase in husbands' participation in household tasks (Blood and Wolfe, 1960; Oakley, 1974; Ericksen, et al. 1979; Scanzoni and Fox, 1980). Men are asked to increase their performance responsibilities (Sieber, 1974) while participating in low prestige non-paid "feminine" household chores (Oakley, 1974). Consequently, rather than neutralize the negative "overload" effects, this type of activities are likely to increase stress, marital dissatisfaction, and produce higher levels of psychological anxiety.

Indeed studies by Burke and Weir (1976) and Bean, Curtis, and Marcum (1977) report lower marital satisfaction for men when wives' participate in the labor force. This may be due to the loss of the support system or increased participation in household tasks. However, the findings in these studies appear to be class-based rather than ethnic-based. Furthermore, the research findings are inclusive. Welch and Booth (1977) and Booth (1979) found little difference in the level of marital satisfaction and stress experienced by husbands of working and non-working wives. In another study, Gove and Geerken (1977) found the relationship between wife's employment and marital satisfaction was affected by children at home.

Research linking on the employment status of the wife and the psychological well-being of men also provide inconclusive findings (Booth, 1979; Gove and Geerken, 1977; Rosenfield, 1980; Keith and Schafer, 1982). Rosenfield (1980) and Kessler and McRae (1982) found when the wife is employed men manifest more symptoms of psychological distress. However, the authors suggest future research should include measures of division of labor in household tasks in order to better understand the dynamics at work. Burke and Weir (1976) speculate that men who participate in "feminine" household tasks will experience decreased psychological well-being because these tasks are of low status compared to their normal work tasks. Keith and Schafer (1980, 1982) found married men, whose wives worked outside the home, had greater involvement in "feminine" tasks, which in turn was related to greater depression. The effects, however, were found to be benign. Looking at dual career marriages, Stanfield (1985) concludes dual careers are stressful on both partners. Yet studies by Ross et al. (1983b) and Roberts and O'Keefe (1981) have found no relationship between working wives and level of psychological distress in men. Of these studies only Kessler and McRae (1982) used a national sample and none focused on the Mexican-American population.

In view of the literature review several hypotheses will be examined. First, Mexican-American males will provide working wives more help with household chores. Second, men who provide more help with household chores will report lower levels of marital satisfaction. Finally, those males who report working wives, helping their wives with household chores and lower levels of marital satisfaction will experience higher levels of depression.

Introduction | Working Chicanas, Mexican-American Families and Social Science Theory | Methods | Exogenous Variables | Endogenous Variables | Statistical Techniques | Findings | Reduced Model | Discussion | References | Endnotes


Methods

The 1979 Chicano Survey provided the data to examine the proposed research questions. This survey was conducted by Carlos Arce under the auspices of the Institute for Social Research of the University of Michigan. To date it is the most comprehensive social, economic, and psychological data set about Mexican-Americans. The statistically representative probability sample of Mexican ancestry households was drawn from five southwestern states: Arizona, California, Colorado, New Mexico, and Texas. Also included was the Chicago metropolitan area. An estimated 90% of the Mexican-ancestry population living in the United States in 1979 is included in these regions (Arce, 1985).

Nearly 11,000 households were screened, of these 1,300 were of Mexican-ancestry (e.g., primary provider or spouse had at least two of the four grandparents who were of Mexican ancestry). Interviews (991) were conducted in either English or Spanish, depending on respondent's choice by bilingual interviewers. For this study I use the completed data of 322 men who were living with their spouses at the time of the survey.

Introduction | Working Chicanas, Mexican-American Families and Social Science Theory | Methods | Exogenous Variables | Endogenous Variables | Statistical Techniques | Findings | Reduced Model | Discussion | References | Endnotes


Exogenous Variables

The path model has seven exogenous variables, six serve as control variables. These are predictor variables for three endogenous variables: 1) nontraditional division of labor, 2) marital satisfaction, and 3) depression. Table 1 presents summary statistics for all the variables used in this analysis. Wife's employment status (working/non-working at time of interview) was the exogenous variable of primary interest. A dummy variable measured employment status, employed wives received a value of 1 and others were assigned a value of 0 (43.5% of the wives were working in 1979).

The other six control variables were included based on previous research which shows a relationship between these variables and the endogenous variables.1 First, age is the respondent's age on last birthday, average age for men being almost 40 years old. Second, education is the number of years of school completed; men averaged slightly more than 8 years of schooling. Third, relative years of education is the man's years of education divided by his wife's years of education. The men averaged about 1.6 years of education for every 1 year completed by their wives. Fourth, number of children in the household is the number of children under 18 living at home (average 1.9). Fifth, family income is the total 1978 family income (average approximately $10,100). Finally, health status is a summative index composed of six items often associated with ill health. Respondents were asked how often they have experienced shortness of breath, dizzy spells, heart beating hard, hand trembling enough to bother you, taken medicines or drugs when tense or worried or nervous, ill health affected amount of work. A four-point scale allowed respondents to select from a range of "never" to "many times." Factor analysis provided the items for this scale (standardized item alpha reliabilities of 0.76). Higher scores on the health status scale indicate better health (possible range: 6 to 24). See Table 2 for items used to create the different summative scales and their standardized item alpha reliabilities.

Introduction | Working Chicanas, Mexican-American Families and Social Science Theory | Methods | Exogenous Variables | Endogenous Variables | Statistical Techniques | Findings | Reduced Model | Discussion | References | Endnotes


Endogenous Variables

There are three endogenous variables in the model. Two (nontraditional division of labor and marital satisfaction) are considered intervening variables in the relationship between the exogenous variables and depression. Both variables are summative scales. Marital satisfaction includes five items in which husbands are asked to evaluate their satisfaction with wife's level of communication and the degree of conflicts experienced by the couple. On a 4-point scale ranging from "many times" to "never" men were asked to indicate how often they felt irritated with their wife's behavior, the frequency of arguments, and how often they wished their wives were more responsive (talked more about their feelings; understood them better; wished wife was more aware of his feelings). The standardized item alpha reliability is 0.76 (see Table 2). Higher scores indicate higher levels of marital satisfaction (possible range: 5 to 20).

Nontraditional division of labor consists of a three item scale which ask the respondents who generally does certain household tasks (cooking, laundry, and dish washing) and who does them when the person indicated is unable to. Possible responses from a 9-point scale ranged from "wife performed the activity all of the time" to "husband performed the activity all of the time". The standardized item alpha reliability is 0.78. Higher scores (possible range: 3-27) are indicative of a nontraditional division of labor.

Finally, depression is a summative scale which includes six items asking people the frequency with which they experienced different symptoms frequently associated with depression (felt very alone; felt down; low in spirits; personal worries affected you physically; felt sad; felt lonely even among friends; felt bored). Several of these items are the same as those used in the Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression (CES-D) Scale, however the items included in this study do not ask individuals to report the number of days in the last week that they experienced the different symptoms. The standardized item alpha reliability is 0.81 (see Table 2). Higher scores (possible range: 4 to 24) indicate higher levels of depression.

Introduction | Working Chicanas, Mexican-American Families and Social Science Theory | Methods | Exogenous Variables | Endogenous Variables | Statistical Techniques | Findings | Reduced Model | Discussion | References | Endnotes


Statistical Techniques

The proposed model will be examined by path analysis; an ordinary-least-squares technique used on causal models which are derived from previous research and theoretical considerations (Pedhazur, 1982). Even though longitudinal data is the ideal for better understanding of dynamic relationships, the literature review provides theoretical justifications for using the 1979 Chicano Survey data, which is cross-sectional data. Appendix A provides the correlation matrix showing the relationship between the variables in the model.

Introduction | Working Chicanas, Mexican-American Families and Social Science Theory | Methods | Exogenous Variables | Endogenous Variables | Statistical Techniques | Findings | Reduced Model | Discussion | References | Endnotes


Findings

The first question is do Mexican-American males, whose wives are employed outside the home, provide their wives more help with household tasks? As hypothesized, they do. A wife's employment status has a significant positive effect (b = .187) on the nontraditional division of household chores. This is consistent with Ybarra's (1988) and Saenz's (1989) finding that working Chicanas expect and get more help with their domestic responsibilities from their spouses. Whether women can bargain for help, because of paid employment, or whether men will feel compelled to relieve their working wives of some of the household tasks, can only be concluded by the impact this activity has on their psychological well-being. Only two control variables, age (b = -.142) and education (b = -.220) are significantly and negatively associated with nontraditional division of household chores. Older and more educated males are less likely to engage in an egalitarian division of household tasks. The education results are not consistent with the previous findings (Farkas, 1976; Perrucci, et al. 1978) that a greater education makes for more egalitarian unions. Perhaps higher educational attainment for Mexican-American men translates into more demanding jobs that allow less time for participation in home activities or perhaps higher education accords a higher prestige that is inconsistent with participation in domestic chores. However, the effect of age is in accord with previous research. Older people have been found to be more traditional in sex role division of labor orientation. Also, older men may feel less inclined to help either because older children are available to share the burden or because children are no longer in the household and the household burden is not considered undue.

The second question focuses on the effect, if any, that nontraditional division of household chores has on marital satisfaction. The analysis does not support the predicted relationship. Nontraditional division of household chores is not significantly related to marital satisfaction. The relationship between the two variables, though in the predicted direction (b = -.035), is not statistically significant. Two control variables have a significant positive effect on marital satisfaction. First, age (b = .256) indicates that as men age they become more satisfied with their marriage. This is consistent with previous findings for the general population. Second, as expected health status (b = .176) is a significant factor in marital satisfaction. A healthy individual is more likely to be satisfied with life in general and more willing to work at a relationship. A third control variable, education (b = -.167) has significant negative relationship to marital satisfaction. Perhaps the more educated males have higher expectations for marital relationships and tend to be less satisfied with their relationships. Or as indicated earlier, higher levels of education may translate into occupations that require more time and commitment to the occupations which take away from family involvement and add to marital dissatisfaction.

Finally, the third question was whether men whose wives worked and were involved in nontraditional division of household tasks would experience higher levels of depression. Apparently not. The analysis indicates that though the relationships are in the predicted direction (negative), neither variable is statistically significant in predicting to male depression. Perhaps, as Ross et al. (1983c) suggest, Mexican-American males are embedded in larger family networks which buffer them from the negative effects of working wives. Others, in the network, proxy for the working wife. On the other hand, marital satisfaction, the other exogenous variable, has a negative (b = -.208) statistically significant effect on depression. Apparently a working wife who expects and gets extra help with household tasks has no significant effect on male depression, but marital satisfaction does. Satisfaction with one's marital situation has a very positive effect in lowering the levels of reported depression.

Three control variables are also related to depression. First, age (b = -.157) has a significant negative impact on depression. This finding is consistent with previous studies on the relationship between age and depression. Older men reporting lower levels of depression than their younger counterparts (Ross, et al. 1983b). Older Mexican-American men are more likely to be imbedded in the traditional culture with its inherent social support systems than younger Chicanos. The social support system provides assistance when problems arise and may thus counter depression. Or perhaps age provides individuals with a wider repertoire of solutions to problems that plunge younger men into higher levels of depression.

Second, health status has a significant negative effect (b = -.307) on depression. As expected, a healthy profile may serve as a deterrent to depression. Individuals who enjoy good health are less likely to report higher levels of depression. Third, husband's education relative to the wife's education (b = .140) has a significant and positive association with depression. It may be that the disparity in levels of education between partners fosters conflict and friction which lead to depression.

The model explained a very low degree (R2 = 7.0% of the variance) of nontraditional division of household tasks and marital satisfaction (R2 = 14.3%). Perhaps variables not included in the model have greater explanatory power. The variables in the model explained 21.9% of the variance in depression.

Introduction | Working Chicanas, Mexican-American Families and Social Science Theory | Methods | Exogenous Variables | Endogenous Variables | Statistical Techniques | Findings | Reduced Model | Discussion | References | Endnotes


Reduced Model

Because some of the control variables did not prove to be statistically significant, a more parsimonious model may be equally adequate to predict depression. This was the case. A reduced model using only the three exogenous variables (age, relative education and health status) significantly related to depression and the endogenous variable (marital satisfaction) were used to predict depression. The more parsimonious model was not significantly different from the more complex one. The first model with nine variables explained 21.9% of the variance in depression while the more compact model with only four variables explained 20.9% of the variance in depression.

Introduction | Working Chicanas, Mexican-American Families and Social Science Theory | Methods | Exogenous Variables | Endogenous Variables | Statistical Techniques | Findings | Reduced Model | Discussion | References | Endnotes


Discussion

The analyses show mixed results for the model. Mexican-American men do help their working wives with household tasks. The egalitarian orientation first reported, but misinterpreted, by Tharp et al. (1968) in migrant families and restated by others (Cromwell and Ruiz, 1979; Baca Zinn, 1980; Staples and Mirandé, 1980) is confirmed. In contrast to previous findings (Ross, et al. 1983b; Rosenfield, 1980) participation in nontraditional household tasks does not have a negative effect on marital satisfaction. Neither does it contribute to higher levels of depression.

The contention that tradition-bound Mexican-American men would be adversely affected by labor force participation of their wives was not supported. There are several possible explanations. First, as an economically disadvantaged minority, Mexican-American males have long recognized and valued the economic contribution women bring to the family's economic well-being. The relief from economic hardship that the added wages bring may neutralize any negative psychological consequences of a working wife. Second, perhaps as Keith et al. (1981) report, man's self-esteem is independent of household tasks involvement and wife's employment status. Finally, Segura (1988) offers another plausible explanation: it is the man who determines the appropriate "economic threshold" that in turns determines whether the wife will seek outside employment. Thus, wife's employment is still at the discretion of the man. The patriarchal tradition has not been compromised; it has only been extended.

In conclusion, the study examined the impact of changing sex roles within the Mexican-American population in the Southwest and Chicago. The results indicate that to some extent Mexican-American men react to changing social conditions much the same as dominant population males. They adapt. Some cultural differences in family structures do exist. More empirical research is needed before we indiscriminately superimpose findings from Anglo populations to ethnic populations or generalizing from specific Mexican-American communities to the whole Mexican-American population.

Introduction | Working Chicanas, Mexican-American Families and Social Science Theory | Methods | Exogenous Variables | Endogenous Variables | Statistical Techniques | Findings | Reduced Model | Discussion | References | Endnotes


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Introduction | Working Chicanas, Mexican-American Families and Social Science Theory | Methods | Exogenous Variables | Endogenous Variables | Statistical Techniques | Findings | Reduced Model | Discussion | References | Endnotes


Endnotes

1. Previous research has shown these control variables are related to the exogenous variables in the model.

a. Age: Research has shown that older people tend to have more traditional sex role orientations (Tickamyer 1979), with the result that women may do more housework. Furthermore, older individuals tend to experience more positive marital relationships (Bean et al. 1977). Age also tends to be related to psychological well-being, but the direction of the relationship is unclear (Ross et al. 1983c; Vega et al. 1984).

b. Education: better educated husbands tend to have more egalitarian relationships with their spouses ( ); lower levels of marital satisfaction ( ); and lower levels of depression ( ).

c. Children: number of children seems to have a negative impact on amount of help husbands render (Perrucci et al. 1978); in addition number of children at home also has a negative impact on marital satisfaction (Bean et al. 1977).

d. Husband's Education Relative to his Wife's: women who are better educated than their husbands may obtain more help from them with household chores; in addition, a husband's lower level of education may create marital problems and psychological discomfort (Hornung and McCullough 1981).

e. Family Income: higher incomes allow couples to hire outside help (Safilious-Rothschild 1970) reducing the amount of chores the couple need to do. Higher incomes is likely to have positive effects on marital harmony because economic security may reduce marital conflict. In addition, research has shown income to be negatively related to depression (Gore and Mangione 1983).

f. Ill-Health Status: Ill health has negative effect on marital satisfaction (Farrell and Markides 1985); it also has positive effects on depression (Aneshensel et al. 1984). In addition, ill health status is needed as control variable because psychological distress scales frequently have a physiogenic bias (Wells and Strickland 1982).

Introduction | Working Chicanas, Mexican-American Families and Social Science Theory | Methods | Exogenous Variables | Endogenous Variables | Statistical Techniques | Findings | Reduced Model | Discussion | References | Endnotes


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