Husband's and Wife's Culture Participation and their Levels of Education: A Case of Male Dominance?

Abstract

In this study we seek to broaden the debate on women and class analysis to married women's and men's educational attainment, and its impact on cultural behaviour. Analogous to the earlier discussion, the question is raised whether the husband's education dominates his wife's behaviour. First, to examine spouses' interdependent cultural behaviour, we apply a simultaneous equation model. Our analysis, based on longitudinal data from Dutch household surveys, shows some evidence of a declining male dominance across cohorts. The findings also suggest that the total effect of the wife's education on her husband's cultural behaviour has increased over time. Second, we apply diagonal reference models to study educationally mixed couples more elab orately by testing several interaction effects. Although both women's and men's relative positions are associated with a differential sahence of the spouse's education, there is no evidence indicating that the lower educated spouse is primarily 'borrowing' from his or her higher educated partner. Instead of such a 'status maximimization' effect the higher educated spouse adapts more strongly to the lower educated spouse. In particular, women in the oldest cohort seem to be characterized by this 'status minimization'. The theoretical implications of these findings are discussed.