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Angelika Gulbis Dissertation.pdf (722.35 KB)

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Keeping All the Balls in the Air: Social Class and Stress, Relationship Commitment, and Marital Expectations among Cohabiting Young Adults

Gulbis, Angelika Ruta
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=bgsu1363482581

Abstract Details

2013, Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.), Bowling Green State University, Sociology.
There exists a marriage divide between moderately educated young adults with less than a four year degree and those who have a college degree or higher. Working class cohabitors desire to form romantic unions, but often lack the resources to transition to marriage. While cohabiting, they occupy social roles such as parent, worker, and student, which may produce stress; this may make it difficult for young adults to juggle multiple roles and “keep all the balls in the air” while thinking about relationship commitment and plans to marry. Using data from the fourth wave of the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (Add Health), this dissertation examines how social class and social roles and stress, relationship commitment, and marital expectations are interrelated among a sample of young adult cohabitors aged 24-32. This study draws upon the life course perspective and the Stress Process Model to examine 1) social class differences in social roles and perceived stress among cohabiting young adults 2) whether and how social class and social roles are related to relationship commitment, and 3) marital expectations. Findings indicate that advantaged cohabitors score significantly lower on stress than moderately and the least educated cohabitors. Although disadvantaged and working class cohabitors experience stress similarly, stress impedes commitment and marital expectations to a greater extent for working class cohabitors. In addition, moderately educated cohabitors have more social roles than their least and most educated counterparts, working to “keep all the balls in the air”. Contrary to expectations, the juggling act does not produce stress. Rather, social roles are tied to lower stress. However, social roles also reduce commitment to one’s partner, but social roles are not related to marital expectations. Meanwhile, advantaged cohabitors have higher odds of expectations to marry compared to moderately educated cohabitors, but commitment to one’s partner is similar across social class. These findings support the notion that the working class use cohabitation as an alternative to singlehood, which suggests a retreat from marriage among the moderately educated.
Wendy Manning, PhD (Committee Chair)
Susan Brown , PhD (Committee Member)
Kara Joyner, PhD (Committee Member)
Gary Lee, PhD (Committee Member)
Shannon Pelini, PhD (Committee Member)
148 p.
Sociology
cohabit; social class; working class; social roles; stress; relationship commitment; marital expectations; young adult

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • Gulbis, A. R. (2013). Keeping All the Balls in the Air: Social Class and Stress, Relationship Commitment, and Marital Expectations among Cohabiting Young Adults [Doctoral dissertation, Bowling Green State University]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=bgsu1363482581

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Gulbis, Angelika. Keeping All the Balls in the Air: Social Class and Stress, Relationship Commitment, and Marital Expectations among Cohabiting Young Adults . 2013. Bowling Green State University, Doctoral dissertation. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=bgsu1363482581.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Gulbis, Angelika. "Keeping All the Balls in the Air: Social Class and Stress, Relationship Commitment, and Marital Expectations among Cohabiting Young Adults ." Doctoral dissertation, Bowling Green State University, 2013. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=bgsu1363482581

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)

bgsu1363482581
582
© 2013, all rights reserved.
This open access ETD is published by Bowling Green State University and OhioLINK.