Creating Intimate Equity and Creating Gender Discord: The Early Years of Covenant and Standard Marriages

Steven Nock, University of Virginia
Laura Sanchez, Bowling Green State University
James D. Wright, Central Florida University

We present original results from an ongoing panel study of a marriage cohort of Louisiana couples married in 1999(husbands and wives both interviewed in two waves, at 4-6 months after marriage, and at 2 years after marriage). The results for this paper rely on individuals and spouses who completed both waves of interviews. Approximately half are in Covenant Marriages (225 couples, n=450) and half are in Standard Marriages (201 couples, n=402). The goal of the paper is to examine the trajectories of early marriages and compare the two types of couples. The results reveal clearly that individuals in Covenant Marriages are moving to a resolution of most typical gender-related problems in American marriages. Those in Standard marriages are much less likely to be moving in the same direction. More generally, Covenant couples appear to be creating more equitable marriages than those in Standard marriages.