Marital Types and Quality of Life: A Reexamination of a Typology

ABSTRACT This research examined three marital types proposed by Scanzoni. Data from 112 couples were analyzed to develop profiles of equal-partner, junior-partner, and head-complement marriages using demographic characteristics, equity in earning and housekeeping. Those in equal and junior-partner marriages were most advantaged. Equal financial responsibility was less important in sustaining well-being for women than work itself. When husbands held more constricted views of work roles of women, but felt inequity in earning, wives had the lowest self-esteem. The typology differentiated quality of life. In contrast to some earlier research, both spouses and a range of ages were studied in a multivariate analysis.