Lower SES (socioeconomic status) couples tend to face particular challenges in their relationships. Relative to higher SES couples, they are less likely to marry and more likely to divorce-but they do not value their romantic relationships any less. Drawing on risk regulation theory and theories of social class as culture, we suggest that lower SES individuals adapt to their more chronically precarious environments by prioritizing self-protection more than higher SES individuals do, but that the need to self-protect may undermine relationship satisfaction. We investigate these ideas across 3 studies, using cross-sectional, longitudinal, and daily-diary methods. Lower SES individuals were more self-protective, both in their thoughts about their relationship (Studies 2-3), and in the judgments they made about their partner's commitment level over 2 years (Study 1) and 2 weeks (Study 3). Self-protection, in turn, was associated with lower relationship satisfaction (Studies 2-3). However, lower SES individuals were only self-protective when feeling vulnerable in their relationships (Study 3). Taken together, these studies identify psychological mechanisms to explain why the structural challenges that lower SES individuals experience can make it more difficult to achieve satisfying relationships. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved).

中文翻译：

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连接还是保护？浪漫关系中的社会阶层和自我保护。

较低的 SES（社会经济地位）夫妇往往在他们的关系中面临特殊的挑战。相对于 SES 较高的夫妇，他们结婚的可能性更低，离婚的可能性更大——但他们并不那么重视他们的浪漫关系。借鉴风险调节理论和社会阶层作为文化的理论，我们建议低社会经济地位的人比高社会经济地位的人更优先考虑自我保护来适应他们更长期不稳定的环境，但自我保护的需要可能会破坏关系满意度. 我们使用横断面、纵向和每日日记方法在 3 项研究中调查这些想法。社会经济地位较低的人更具有自我保护意识，无论是在他们对自己关系的看法（研究 2-3），还是在他们对伴侣的判断方面。2 年（研究 1）和 2 周（研究 3）的承诺水平。反过来，自我保护与较低的关系满意度相关（研究 2-3）。然而，较低 SES 的个体只有在他们的关系中感到脆弱时才会进行自我保护（研究 3）。总而言之，这些研究确定了心理机制，以解释为什么较低 SES 个体所经历的结构性挑战会使实现令人满意的关系变得更加困难。（PsycInfo 数据库记录 (c) 2022 APA，保留所有权利）。这些研究确定了心理机制，以解释为什么较低 SES 个体所经历的结构性挑战会使实现令人满意的关系变得更加困难。（PsycInfo 数据库记录 (c) 2022 APA，保留所有权利）。这些研究确定了心理机制，以解释为什么较低 SES 个体所经历的结构性挑战会使实现令人满意的关系变得更加困难。（PsycInfo 数据库记录 (c) 2022 APA，保留所有权利）。