Marital Status, Distress, and Well-Being: An International Comparison

Arne Mastekaasa

193 citations0/0 files storedJournal of Comparative Family Studies

No readable copy stored yet — this record is metadata only.

No open-access location is known for this record yet.

Literature note Cite in a project Citation map

Family Dynamics and Relationships Attachment and Relationship Dynamics Psychological Well-being and Life Satisfaction

Abstract

A relationship between marital status on the one hand and various indicators of wellbeing and mental health on the other has been found in a large number of studies. Typically, that the currently married have been shown to enjoy the most favorable position, the divorced and widowed are generally worst off, and the never married in an intermediate position. This paper provides an analysis of the consistency and generality of this relationship: To what extent are there national differences? Is the relationship stronger for men than for women, as has been suggested by several authors? And is there evidence for such a relationship whatever measure of psychological well-being we use? Comparable interview data from 19 countries, including a few non-western ones, are used. The data are analyzed by ordinary linear regression methods, representing marital status by means of dummy variables and controlling for age and parenthood. Atleast some evidence of differences in psychological well-being between the currently married on the one hand and the previously married and the never married on the other are found in practically all countries. On average the relationship between marital status and well-being is quite similar for men and women. More striking differences are found between well-being measures. The relationship with marital status is weakest for positive affect and strongest for self-reported happiness, with the results for negative affect and overall life satisfaction falling in between.

Paper brief

Loading…

Cite this work

Citation unavailable for this work.

BibTeX RIS CSL-JSON

No public copy is stored for this record, so only the metadata is cited.

Citations in this library

Citation map →

Stored only when both papers are in the corpus — 193 citations exist upstream.

References

1970The Structure of Psychological Well-Being.1977The Making and Breaking of Affectional Bonds 1987Family Status and Health Behaviors: Social Control as a Dimension of Social Integration 1965Mental Health in the Metropolis: The Midtown Manhattan Study.1981Living Alone, Social Integration, and Mental Health 1975The Contribution of Marriage to the Psychological Well-Being of Males and Females

Cited by

2005What are the Differences between Happiness and Self-Esteem 1998The Second Approximation to an International Standard for Life Satisfaction 2003Normative Life Satisfaction: Measurement Issues and a Homeostatic Model 2012Labeling and Stigma 1999Influences and Consequences of Well-being Among Australian Young People: 1980–1995 2008Every time you go away: Changes in affect, behavior, and physiology associated with travel-related separations from romantic partners.2004Lost and Found Possible Selves, Subjective Well‐Being, and Ego Development in Divorced Women

Explore the map →

Papers that cite the same references — the relational fallback while embeddings are still backfilling.

Imported from OpenAlex (CC0) — nothing here is generated.