The Psychology of Gender 4th Edition

410 Chapter 11

health is to examine the health consequences

of specific behaviors that occur during mari-

tal interactions. Because communication is

central to the quality of a relationship, nu-

merous studies have couples come into the

laboratory and observe how they communi-

cate. Topics of relationship conflict are usu-

ally the subject matter. Health is measured

in terms of physiological responses to the in-

teractions, such as blood pressure, heart rate,

hormone production, and immune function.

These studies tend to show that women

are more physiologically reactive to con-

flict discussions than men are. In a study of

90 newlywed couples, negative and hos-

tile behavior during a 30-minute conflict

studies showed that marital quality was as-

sociated with better subjective health per-

ceptions among both women and men

(Umberson & Williams, 2005; Umberson

et al., 2006), and one study showed that un-

happily married people had higher blood

pressure during the day than either happily

married people or single people, with similar

effects for women and men (Holt-Lunstad,

Birmingham, & Jones, 2008).

Laboratory Studies. The studies I re-

viewed on marital quality and health rely on

people’s self-reports of marital satisfaction or

distress. Another way to examine the link be-

tween features of the marital relationship and

Male

Depressive Symptoms

5

10

25

30

35

40

45

0

20

15

Never Married

Separated or Divorced

Widowed

Married (satisfied)

Married (dissatisfied)

Female

Depressive Symptoms

5

10

25

30

35

40

45

0

20

15

Never Married

Separated or Divorced

Widowed

Mar

ried (satisfied)

Married (dissatisfied)

FIGURE 11.7 Happily married men are less depressed than unmarried men, whereas there is no

difference in depression between happily married women and unmarried women. However, unhappily

married men and women are more depressed than their unmarried counterparts. In addition, separated

and divorced men and women were more depressed than married men and women.

Source: Adapted from St. John and Montgomery (2009).

M11_HELG0185_04_SE_C11.indd 410 6/21/11 12:43 PM