ABSTRACT

Increasing political polarization and growing animus toward political outgroup members may strain marriages in which spouses express political differences. For heterosexual married couples, interrelationships among gender, power, and political conflict may be of particular importance. The purpose of this study was to examine heterosexual spouses’ conflicts over political differences as a function of wives’ endorsement of gender-linked fate. Married, heterosexual women completed an online survey. Results demonstrate that in large part, the effect of wives’ gender-linked fate on reported conflict behaviors during political disagreements varies on the basis of husbands’ political party affiliation. Among women married to men who more strongly identify as Republican, greater endorsement of gender-linked fate associates with more pursuit of conflict, more competitive conflict tactics, and greater volatility and asymmetry in couple conflict patterns. When married to Democratic-leaning husbands, wives’ greater endorsement of gender-linked fate associates with more submissiveness during political conflicts.

摘要

越来越多的政治两极分化和越来越多的对政治外群体成员的敌意可能会使配偶表达政治分歧的婚姻变得紧张。对于异性恋已婚夫妇，性别、权力和政治冲突之间的相互关系可能特别重要。本研究的目的是检查异性恋配偶在政治差异上的冲突，作为妻子对性别相关命运的认可的函数。已婚异性恋女性完成了一项在线调查。结果表明，在很大程度上，在政治分歧期间，妻子的性别相关命运对报告的冲突行为的影响因丈夫的政党隶属关系而异。在与更强烈地认同共和党的男性结婚的女性中，对与性别相关的命运的更多认可与更多地追求冲突相关联，更具竞争力的冲突策略，以及夫妻冲突模式中更大的波动性和不对称性。当与倾向于民主党的丈夫结婚时，妻子对与性别相关的命运的更多认可与在政治冲突中更加顺从相关联。