Has the future of marriage arrived? A contemporary examination of gender, marriage, and psychological well-being

A long tradition of research and theory on gender marriage, and mental health suggests that marital status is more important to men psychological wellbeing than women while marital quality is more important to women wellbeing than men. These beliefs rest largely on a theoretical and empirical foundation established in the 1970s, but, despite changes in gender and family roles, they have rarely been questioned. The present analysis of three waves of a nationally representative survey indicates that, with few exceptions, the effects of marital status, marital transitions, and marital quality on psychological wellbeing are similar for men and women. Further for men and women, occupying an unsatisfying marriage undermines psychological well-being to a similar extent-and, in some cases, to a greater extent-than exiting marriage or being continually unmarried.