A Theoretical Look at the Gender Balance of Power in the American Couple

Abstract

Despite the very rich theoretical literature on marital power, recent empirical investigations on this subject have, in general, relied on disappointing measures of power. The empirically testable model developed in this article is an application of Blumberg's general theory of gender stratification to the contemporary American heterosexual couple. In the model, we concur with prior studies that identify economic power as the key variable in the power balance within a marital relationship. Our conceptualization of economic power, however, attempts to reflect the extremely complex nature of marital power. Thus we offer the notion of “overall economic power” and then suggest that there are a number of “discount factors” operating at both the macro and micro levels that affect the power balance, resulting in what we term “net economic power.” The fully elaborated model is dynamic, taking into account birth cohort differences, stable versus transitional relationships, and cross-class differences.