Marital Status and Personal Happiness: An Analysis of Trend Data

Author(s): Gary R. Lee, Karen Seccombe and Constance L. Shehan

Source: Journal of Marriage and Family , Nov., 1991, Vol. 53, No. 4 (Nov., 1991), pp.
839-844
Published by: National Council on Family Relations

Stable URL: http://www.jstor.com/stable/352991

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 GARY R. LEE, KAREN SECCOMBE, AND CONSTANCE L. SHEHAN
University of Florida

Marital Status and Personal Happiness:

An Analysis of Trend Data

This report analyzes General Social Survey data
from 1972 through 1989 on the personal happi-
ness of married and never-married individuals.
Earlier studies (Glenn and Weaver, 1988) had re-
ported a significant decrease in the difference be-
tween these two categories, with the "advantage"
of the married progressively declining from 1972
through 1986. This article shows that the process
reversed somewhat during the latter part of the
1980s, with the effect of marriage on happiness re-
turning to fairly typical levels in 1987 and 1988
after several years of relatively minimal differ-
ences in the early part of the decade. However,
the difference diminished once again in 1989. The
and Johnson, 1977; Thoits, 1986; Verbrugge,
1979; Williams, 1988). Some of the advantage of
the married is undoubtedly due to the selection of
happier, healthier persons into marriage and the
greater propensity of these persons to remain mar-
ried. However, the current consensus among
scholars is that the effects of the marital rela-
tionship itself are stronger and more important
than selection effects (Glenn and Weaver, 1988;
Gove et al., 1990). While formerly married per-
sons are generally found to have the lowest levels
of well-being of all types, differences between the
married and the never-married are also signifi-
cant.

analysis shows that never-married males and A recent analysis by Glenn and Weaver (1988),
younger never-married females were happier in however, indicates that differences in personal
the late 1980s than in the 1970s, and that younger happiness between the married and the never-
married women were somewhat less happy in the married have decreased in recent years. Using
late 1980s than in the 1970s. These trends, how- General Social Survey data from 1972 to 1986,
ever, are generally weaker than earlier evidence they report a significant narrowing of the differ-
suggested. ence in happiness between married and never-
married persons from the early 1970s to the
mid-1980s. This was manifest in several ways, in-
Evidence has accumulated for some time that cluding a decline with time in the coefficient of re-
marriage entails marked advantages in terms of of personal happiness on marital status
gression
mortality, morbidity, mental health, and more
(Glenn and Weaver, 1988: Table 4). This decrease
general measures of psychological well-being
was significant for adults of all ages but was some-
(Glenn, 1975; Glenn and Weaver, 1979, 1988;what stronger for young adults between the ages
Gove, Hughes, and Style, 1983; Gove, Style,ofand
25 and 39.
Hughes, 1990; Kessler and Essex, 1982; PearlinThe narrowing of the "happiness gap" be-
tween the married and the never-married has two

Department of Sociology, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL

components. One is the increasing happiness of
32611. the never-married. Glenn and Weaver (1988: Ta-

Journal of Marriage and the Family 53 (November 1991): 839-844 839

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 840 Journal of Marriage and the Family

bles 1 and 2) show that never-married and 1981, by the Nationalmen Opinionfrom
Research Cen-
the 1982-86 surveys (inclusive) were
ter. Each year's surveyhappier than in-
consists of face-to-face
their counterparts from the terviews with approximately
1972-76 surveys,1,500 noninstitution-
and
that this increase was greater alized, English-speaking
for those persons aged aged 18 and over
25-39
than for the entire sample from ofthemales.
48 contiguous
Therestates.was
Samplesno for all
comparable change among years are standard multistagewomen.
never-married cluster designs.
The second component Since of the 1977 they have beeninvolves
change full-probability sam-
decreasing happiness among ples; for
the 1972 through 1974 This
married. a modified-probabil-
de-
crease was significant only ity design
for waswomen
employed, andand for 1975
was and 1976
also stronger for the 25-39 the samples were half full-probability
age category than for and half
the entire sample (Glenn and Weaver, 1988). modified-probability. There is no evidence that
Greeley (1989), in a further analysis of General the change in sampling procedures altered the
Social Survey data, also reported a decline in the characteristics of the samples (Glenn and Weaver,
happiness of married women, especially among 1988; Stephenson, 1979).
the employed. He also found this decrease to be The pooled 1972-1989 General Social Surveys
most pronounced in later birth cohorts. contain 9,404 males who meet eligibility criteria
The consequence of these trends is that, while for this analysis (either never-married or currently
married persons are still happier than never-mar- married, and who answered the happiness ques-
ried persons, the advantage of the married was tion); of these, 7,212 (76.7%) are married. There
less in the 1980s than it had been in the early 1970s are 9,732 females, of whom 7,850 (80.7%) are
because single persons (especially men) were hap- married. The subsample of respondents between
pier and married persons (especially women) were the ages of 25 and 39 in each survey year contains
less happy. Glenn and Weaver suggest that these 3,279 males (2,460 or 75.0% married) and 3,747
changes may reflect a decline in the strength and females (3,051 or 81.4% married).2
viability of the institution of marriage in Ameri- The analyses reported below were conducted
can society. on aggregate yearly data. That is, each year from
The purpose of this report is to replicate and 1972 through 1989 is treated as a case (N = 16,
extend Glenn and Weaver's (1988) analysis by since the survey was not conducted in 1979 or
adding data from the 1987 through 1989 General 1981). Parallel analyses are conducted for the en-
Social Surveys, to ascertain whether the trends tire sample of married and never-married persons
they identified in the happiness of married and (divided by gender) and for the subsample of
never-married persons have continued into the re- respondents between the ages of 25 and 39 (also
cent years for which data are available. A princi- divided by gender). The latter analysis allows
ple objective of Glenn and Weaver's study was to comparability with Glenn and Weaver (1988).
address the question of whether the marriage-hap- This age range is also relevant because approx-
piness relation represents a selection effect-a re- imately half of all persons have married by age 25,
sult of happier persons marrying-or a relation- while over 90% of all persons (and over 95% of
ship effect-an increase in happiness as a conse- those who ever marry) have married by age 39
quence of marriage. We will not attempt a replica- (Norton and Moorman, 1987). By the end of this
tion of this component of their analysis here. age range, selection into marriage is virtually com-
However, a continuation of the trend they iden- plete. Differences between the married and the
tify would be consistent with either a selection or a never-married may be particularly pronounced
relationship effect. A reversal of the trend would during this stage of the life course, as the unmar-
be difficult to explain as a selection effect, since ried perceive themselves to be a decreasing minori-
trends in relevant selection parameters (e.g., mar- ty of their respective cohorts.
riage rates, average ages at marriage) have been Personal happiness is measured by a single
quite consistent over the past two decades.' item, asked in each year of the survey: "Taken all
together, how would you say things are these
METHODS days-would you say that you are very happy,
pretty happy, or not too happy?" The problems
The General Social Survey has been conductedinherent in single-item indicators are well known.
each year since 1972, with the exceptions ofThis
1979item, however, has been employed innumer-

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Marital Status and Personal Happiness 841

able times in similar analyses and

between year and thus who
the percentage offers the
report being
advantage of comparability very happy is r = .557;
with the simple regression
previous coef-
studies.
Its behavior in relation to marital status is also ficient is b = .399. In the third and sixth columns,
similar to that of more elaborate and refined the column variable is itself a regression coeffi-
cient. The data show that the relation between
measures of psychological well-being (Williams,
marital
1988). Our dependent variable is the percentage of status and happiness has decreased over
respondents who report themselves to be "verytime for both genders, although the decrease is
happy" in each year. significant only among men (r = -.486; b =
-.007). The third row at the bottom of the table is
RESULTS
the probability level of a term for year-squared
when added to the equation containing only year;
Table 1 reports the relation of marital status to
regression coefficients are not meaningful here
personal happiness, by year and gender, for the of extreme collinearity between year and
because
entire sample. Within gender, the first two col-
year-squared. This term is included as a check for
umns report the percentage of (a) never-married
nonlinearity.
and (b) currently married persons who indicate The decreases over time in the effect of marital
that they are very happy. The third column is the on happiness are considerably weaker than
status
unstandardized simple regression coefficient of reported by Glenn and Weaver (1988), par-
those
happiness on marital status (never-marriedticularly
vs. for women. Glenn and Weaver (1988:
married) for that year. This table is similar to 4) found a correlation of -.550 (b = -.008)
Table
Table 4 in Glenn and Weaver (1988), exceptbetween
that year and the coefficient representing the
the coefficients reported by Glenn and Weaver
regression of marital status on happiness for
compared the married to all nonmarried statuses
women. Here the correlation is -.262 (b = -.004),
combined. which is not significant. Part of the difference is
The first two rows at the bottom of the table due to the fact that Table 1 excludes the widowed
report the correlation between year and the col- and divorced from the unmarried category, which
umn variable, and the unstandardized regression Glenn and Weaver did not do in this particular
coefficient of the column variable on year. For ex-
analysis. A further cause of the divergent findings
ample, for never-married men, the correlationis that differences in happiness between the mar-

TABLE 1. MARITAL STATUS DIFFERENCES IN PERSONAL HAPPINESS BY YEAR:

RESPONDENTS AGED 18 AND OVER IN SURVEY YEAR

Males Females

%o Very Happy /o Very Happy

Year Never Married Married b Never Married Married b
1972 11.2 32.4 .252 26.2 37.6 .163
1973 16.5 39.9 .255 25.0 45.0 .259
1974 13.3 40.2 .409 25.6 49.1 .298
1975 17.4 37.0 .263 20.2 40.7 .327
1976 22.6 39.3 .322 27.7 42.8 .257
1977 16.4 39.7 .254 27.8 43.1 .161
1978 23.6 39.9 .256 23.8 42.2 .250
1980 24.0 35.5 .161 31.5 43.5 .133
1982 18.9 35.4 .273 25.0 40.5 .267
1983 23.6 35.4 .183 32.3 36.0 .089a
1984 19.2 39.2 .266 22.7 45.2 .297
1985 26.2 33.4 .131 22.9 34.2 .105
1986 26.1 34.9 .118 21.8 42.4 .299
1987 19.0 36.3 .273 20.7 39.1 .268
1988 21.0 46.8 .301 23.0 44.7 .302
1989 23.2 38.4 .176 35.2 39.2 .091a
r .557** -.071 -.486* .064 -.291 -.262
b .399 -.044 -.007 .053 -.195 -.004
Year2 (p) .140 .553 .286 .974 .960 .477
ap > .05; all others significant.
*p < .05. **p < .01.

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 842 Journal of Marriage and the Family

there was an
ried and the never-married increase of 12.2% in
increased the proportion
substantially
of never-married
in the last three years of the survey, females who reported
especially in
1987 and 1988. There is themselves to be very happy nonlineari-
no significant between 1988 and
ty in the regression of 1989, accompanied by
happiness ona 5.5% decrease in the
marital hap-
status
for either sex. However,pinessthe
of married women. However,
addition since thisfor
of data
change follows two
1987-89 substantially reduces the years of relatively
linear large dif-
associa-
tion between year andferences
the between
maritalthe marriedstatus-hap-
and the single, it is
possible that it represents sampling variability.
piness relation for women.
Table 1 does show an increase Table 2 reportsin an identical
the analysis
happinessfor the
of never-married males subset(rof respondents
= .557,between b = the ages of 25
.399, pand
<
.01), which was also observed by Glenn and 39 in each survey year. For these young adults, the
Weaver (1988). However, the decrease in the hap-linear increase in the reported happiness of the
piness of married women (r = -.291, b = -.195) never-married is significant for both males and
is not significant. There is no relation whatsoever females. The term for year-squared, indicating
between year and the happiness of either married nonlinearlity, is also significant for both genders
males or never-married females. Introduction of (p = .025 for males, .032 for females). The
the year-squared term into each equation showed reported happiness of single persons of both
no significant nonlinearity in any case. These data genders was higher in the middle years of the
thus suggest a declining positive effect of marriagesurveys than at either extreme, although, as in
on happiness for males only, due exclusively to Table 1, the highest levels of reported happiness
the increasing happiness of the never-married. for single females occurred in 1989.
Decreases in the happiness of married women, For males, the linear decrease in the difference
and consequently in the regression of happiness between the married and the single (represented
on marriage, are not significant. by the regression coefficients in column 3) is not
Interestingly, the highest level of happiness significant, but the coefficient for nonlinearity ap-
among never-married females occurred in 1989, proaches significance (p = .08). The latter in-
resulting in a reduction of the relationship be- dicates that the happiness gap was smallest in the
tween marital status and happiness to a non- middle years of the survey.
significant level for that year. Compared to 1988, Unlike the case for women of all ages, there is

TABLE 2. MARITAL STATUS DIFFERENCES IN PERSONAL HAPPINESS BY YEAR:

RESPONDENTS AGED 25-39 IN SURVEY YEAR

Males Females

% Very Happy % Very Happy

Year Never Married Married b Never Married Married b

1972 8.6 28.6 .221 11.1 43.6 .528

1973 13.8 33.9 .242 0.0 44.1 .442
1974 7.7 34.9 .341 12.5 48.2 .452
1975 13.5 33.1 .341 18.2 35.1 .279
1976 21.9 39.2 .392 21.7 42.2 .324
1977 16.3 34.2 .200 20.7 42.7 .210
1978 17.1 35.7 .309 29.3 41.1 .149a
1980 25.5 28.3 .034a 26.3 42.1 .190
1982 20.0 29.2 .179 25.7 38.3 .226
1983 22.8 29.8 .115a 24.5 34.9 .227
1984 24.0 32.2 .160a 18.4 40.7 .284
1985 29.0 29.1 .091a 28.6 31.0 .045a
1986 25.4 30.2 .077a 24.5 37.9 .284
1987 15.6 34.0 .358 18.1 38.6 .270
1988 23.4 45.9 .342 21.0 38.7 .294
1989 19.1 35.3 .184 31.4 40.8 .192
r .596** .140 -.329 .563** -.533* -.468*
b .631 .113 -.007 .814 -.390 -.009
Year2 (p) .025 .234 .080 .032 .237 .022
ap > .05; all others significant.
*p < .05. **p < .01.

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Marital Status and Personal Happiness 843

CONCLUSIONS
a significant decrease in the happiness of younger
married females (b = -.390). In combination with
Glenn and Weaver (1988) conclude, from their
the increase in the happiness of never-married
analysis showing the declining difference in hap-
females, this produces piness a significant
between the married downward
and the never-
trend in the relation of marital status to hap-
married, that "it is time to question the belief,
piness; the average yearly decrease in the regres-
widely held by family social scientists, that the in-
sion coefficient is -.009. However, there is also
stitution of marriage in this society remains as
significant nonlinearity in the relation of year to
strong and viable as ever" (p. 323). They relate
the regression coefficient for younger females (p
the apparently diminishing effect of marriage to a
= .022); the coefficient is larger in both the earlier documented rise in individualistic values and a
and later years of the survey than in the middle concomitant decline in commitment to collective
years.
and family welfare (Bellah, Madsen, Sullivan,
These analyses suggest a modest reversal of the
Swidler, and Tipton, 1985; Glenn, 1987;
trend toward decreasing differences in the hap-
Schwartz, 1987). They suggest (p. 323) that "We
piness of the married and the never-married in the
should entertain the possibility that, in an increas-
last few years of the 1980s. However, the hap-
ingly individualistic and hedonistic society, an in-
piness levels of never-married men and younger
creasingly hedonistic form of marriage is having
never-married women were markedly greater in
diminished hedonistic consequences for those
the 1980s than they had been in the early 1970s,
who participate in it."
although there is evidence of some slight decline in
Having the benefits of three additional years of
the most recent years. The decrease in the "hap-
data unavailable to Glenn and Weaver, we are in a
piness gap" between the married and the never- position to suggest some refinements in their in-
married is still visible for males, but it is at-
terpretation. For two of those three years (1987
tributable solely to the higher happiness levels of
and 1988), differences in happiness between the
the never-married and is not statistically signifi-
married and the never-married were relatively
cant for the young adult (aged 25-39) cohorts. robust, and even in 1986 the differences between
The situation among women is more complex.married and never-married women were substan-
When women of all ages are included, there aretial. Whether this represents a true reversal of the
no significant trends in happiness over time for
long-term trend is uncertain, particularly in light
either marital status, nor is the decrease in the
of the smaller apparent effect of marriage in 1989.
relation between marital status and happiness
However, the newer data do suggest that the trend
significant. Among the young adult subsample, identified by Glenn and Weaver is neither as
however, three things clearly happened during the
strong nor as consistent as their earlier evidence
period covered by these surveys: the never- indicated. They also add to the accumulated
married became happier; the married became less
evidence (see Gove et al., 1990, for a summary)
happy; and, in consequence, the gap between the
that suggests that the "happiness gap" reflects
married and the never-married diminished. But
primarily an effect of marriage rather than a selec-
even among these young adult women there is tion effect, since it is difficult to envision a
some indication that these changes are either slow-
mechanism by means of which a selection effect
ing or leveling. The decreasing relation of mar-
could account for the widening of the gap in the
riage and happiness is clearly due to the fact that
late 1980s.
the four strongest coefficients occurred in the first Although the "happiness gap" between the
five years of the study; the strongest (b = .528)married and the never-married appeared to in-
appeared in 1972. If we consider only the yearscrease again in the late 1980s, it is still clear that
since 1977, the trend in the regression of hap- the early 1970s were different from subsequent
piness on marital status is small (b = .005), non-
years. This is particularly true among young adult
significant, and actually positive in sign. Thecohorts. For the younger men (Table 2 above), the
diminution in the relation of marriage and hap- four lowest levels of happiness among the never-
piness among young adult women apparently oc- married occurred in the first four years of the
curred in the late 1970s, with no substantial
General Social Survey. For the young women,
change since that time.
four of the five lowest happiness levels among the
never-married and four of the five highest happi-

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 844 Journal of Marriage and the Family

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ness levels among the married occurred in the first
Bellah,
five years of the survey. In Robert N., Richard
spite ofMadsen,
theWilliam
changesN. Sulli- in
van, Ann Swidler,young
the late 1980s, never-married and Steven N. Tipton.
adults 1985. are
Habits of the Heart: Individualism and Commit-
happier, and young married women less happy,
ment in American Life. Berkeley: University of Cali-
than was the case in the fornia
early Press. 1970s. But the addi-
tion of last three yearsGlenn,
of Norval
data makes
D. 1975. it clear
"The contribution of marriage that
these changes have not tocontinued
the psychological well-being
since of males and fe- late
the
1970s; any comparisons males."
that Journal of Marriage andthe
exclude the Family 37:
early
594-600.
1970s would not show these trends.
Glenn, Norval D. 1987. "Social trends in the United
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documentation of trends; it has not dealt with Opinion Quarterly 51: S109-S126.
possible causes. We clearly have two separate Glenn, Norval D., and Charles N. Weaver. 1979. "A
note on family situation and global happiness." So-
analytic issues that need to be addressed: (a) why cial Forces 57: 960-967.
are never-married men and younger never- Glenn, Norval D., and Charles N. Weaver. 1988. "The
married women happier in recent years than they changing relationship of marital status to reported
were in the early 1970s? and (b) why are younger happiness." Journal of Marriage and the Family 50:
317-324.
married women less happy in recent years than
Gove, Walter R., Michael Hughes, and Carolyn Briggs
they were in the early 1970s?
Style. 1983. "Does marriage have positive effects on
Greeley (1989) has provided some suggestions the well-being of the individual?" Journal of Health
regarding the latter question by showing that the and Social Behavior 24: 122-131.

decline in the happiness of younger married Gove, Walter R., Carolyn Briggs Style, and Michael
Hughes. 1990. "The effect of marriage on the well-
women occurred primarily among employed
being of adults: A theoretical analysis." Journal of
mothers. This, however, simply locates the decline Family Issues 11: 4-35.
more precisely; it does not explain it. Lueptow, Greeley, Andrew. 1989. "The declining morale of
Guss, and Hyden (1989) have shown that women." Sociology and Social Research 73: 53-58.
egalitarian sex role ideologies are negatively Kessler, Ronald C., and Marilyn Essex. 1982. "Marital
status and depression: The importance of coping re-
related to both global and marital happiness for sources." Social Forces 61: 484-507.
women, and many studies (e.g., Shelton, 1990) in- Lueptow, Lloyd B., Margaret B. Guss, and Colleen
dicate that wives' employment is essentially Hyden. 1989. "Sex role ideology, marital status, and
unrelated to husbands' domestic labor. One happiness." Journal of Family Issues 10: 383-400.
Norton, Arthur J., and Jeanne E. Moorman. 1987.
possibility is that young adult women are entering
"Current trends in marriage and divorce among
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tations but finding that these expectations are not49: 3-14.
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Pearlin,
fulfilled. Further analyses exploring these andLeonard I., and Joyce S. Johnson. 1977.
related possibilities are in progress. "Marital status, life strains, and depression."
American Sociological Review 42: 704-715.
Schwartz, Pepper. 1987. "The family as a changed
NOTEs institution." Journal of Family Issues 8: 455-459.
Shelton, Beth Anne. 1990. "The distribution of house-
This is a revised version of a paper presented at the
hold tasks: Does wife's employment status make a
annual meeting of the National Council on Family
difference?" Journal of Family Issues 11: 115-135.
Relations, Seattle, November 1990. The authors
Stephenson, C. Bruce. 1979. "Probability sampling
thank Norval Glenn, Louis N. Gray, and John
with quotas: An experiment." Public Opinion Quar-
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Thoits, Peggy A. 1986. "Multiple identities: Explain-
1. We are indebted to Norval Glenn for this sugges-ing gender and marital status differences in
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272.
2. Approximately 16% of the sample of married per-
Verbrugge, Lois. 1979. "Marital status and health."
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having been divorced is not highly correlated with
happiness (r = -.016 for men, -.050 for women),
and it is thus unlikely to affect trends in the hap-
piness of married persons over time.

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