Also, commonality of age reinforces common social concepts of what a marriage should be like, thus creating further reinforcing social bonds between husband and wife. The reinforcement of reflective social identities such as the female self as yielding and the male as more dominant, as well as variables of age of this couple means it is the most likely to remain together for the next 3-4 years. Furthermore, the longer such a couple stays together, the more likely the pattern is to continue. A male individual with a high need for control coupled with a female dependant individual are likely to create a change-adverse marriage that reinforces both individual's constructed identities and creates a socially validated norm of a happy marriage.
Contrast this sense of stability and happiness, however socially constructed upon stereotyped identities, of the partners of cell 8, the couple most likely to separate. The partners of this group are made up of a controlling man with a woman who is not-marriage oriented, even though she may seem dependant. Thus even though the woman of this couple may be dependant upon a more controlling husband than some of...
Her need for positive reinforcement for her sexual identity might make her less willing, in comparison with the wife cell 2, to solidify the union with children, for fear of losing her youthful attractiveness, and her need for social approbation from others rather than her husband creates a continual conflict of values, even if the ages of the participants do not differ substantially, one of Gottman's key criteria. Clearly, the generational differences of values ascribed to sexuality are quite distinct, even if the actual ages of the participants are not that large.
Works Cited
Gottman, J.M., & Krokoff, L.J. (1989). "Marital interaction and satisfaction: A longitudinal view. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 57, 47-52.
Ryder, Robert. (1970) "A Topography of Early Marriage." Family Process. 9:4,…
