March 2006, Volume 84, Number 3

What's Love Got To Do With It? Equality, Equity,Commitment and Women's Marital Quality

W. Bradford Wilcox, University of Virginia
Steven L. Nock, University of Virginia

The companionate theory of marriage suggests that egalitarianism in practice and belief leads to higher marital quality for wives and higher levels of positive emotion work on the part of husbands. Our analysis of women's marital quality and men's marital emotion work provides little evidence in support of this theory. Rather, in examining women's marital quality and men's emotional investments in marriage, we find that dyadic commitment to institutional ideals about marriage and women's contentment with the division of household tasks are more critical. We also show that men's marital emotion work is a very important determinant of women's marital quality. We conclude by noting that "her" marriage is happiest when it combines elements of the new and old: that is, gender equity and normative commitment to the institution of marriage.

The Family Factor in Jewish-Gentile Intermarriage: A Sibling Analysis of The Netherlands

Matthijs Kalmijn, Tilburg University
Aart C. Liefbroer, Netherlands Interdisciplinary Demographic Institute
Frans van Poppel, Netherlands Interdisciplinary Demographic Institute
Hanna van Solinge, Netherlands Interdisciplinary Demographic Institute

The tendency of members of many ethno-religious groups to marry within their group has been considered evidence for the persistent role of ascription in modern society. What is the role of the family of origin in this process? To answer this question, we study the marriage choices of Jews in the Netherlands, using a unique dataset and a novel analytical approach (i.e., multilevel analyses of sibling-data). Our models show that almost a third of the variation in Jewish endogamy can be attributed to a common family factor. Measured indicators of family background point to two underlying mechanisms: the intergenerational transmission of ethnic identities and the intergenerational provision of endogamous meeting and mating opportunities. Together, these mechanisms explain 75 percent of the total family influence.

Advancing Age, Advantaged Youth: Parental Age and the Transmission of Resources to Children

Brian Powell, Indiana University
Lala Carr Steelman, Indiana University
Robert M. Carini, University of Louisville

Using data from the National Education Longitudinal Study of 1988, we identify parental age as influential in the parental provision of economic resources, social capital and cultural capital to adolescents, as well as in parental educational expectations for their children. At the bivariate level, the relationship is curvilinear, suggesting that having comparatively young or old parents is disadvantageous to teenagers, at least with regard to resource allocation. With controls for socioeconomic background and family structure, however, the pattern typically becomes positive and linear: as the age of the parent rises, so too does the transmission of resources to adolescent offspring. These patterns hold for most economic, social and cultural resources, although the pattern is strongest for economic ones and weakest – albeit still significant – for more interactional ones. Although maternal age is the primary focus of this article, supplementary analyses also confirm a generally positive relationship between paternal age and parental resources. These results suggest that parental age may warrant attention similar to that given to family structure, race and gender.

 
Educational Engagement and Early Family Formation: Differences by Ethnicity and Generation

Jennifer E. Glick and Stacey D. Ruf, Arizona State University, Michael J. White and Frances Goldscheider, Brown University

This paper examines how school engagement influences the timing of family formation for youth. We pay particular attention to variation across four racial/ethnic groups and by generation status, variation that reflects the diversification of U.S. society through immigration. Using data from the National Education Longitudinal Study (NELS), we employ discrete-time multinomial logistic regression models examining the likelihood of childbearing or marriage in late adolescence. We find that the delaying effects of school enrollment and engagement vary by race/ethnicity, suggesting that strategies for socioeconomic success that focus on delaying family roles are more important among some groups than others. The results also indicate that controlling for school enrollment and school engagement reduces differences in early marriage and non-marital childbearing by generation status.

Spanish Maintenance among English-Speaking Latino Youth: The Role of Individual and Social Characteristics

Amy Lutz, Syracuse University

This paper investigates the effects of individual, family, social and demographic characteristics on the maintenance of Spanish among English-speaking Latino youth. This research finds effects of generation, gender, race, parent's English proficiency, single-parent status, parental income, and neighborhood concentration of co-ethnics as well as combined effects of race and gender on Spanish oral proficiency. The findings presented here suggest support for elements of the assimilation and the segmented assimilation theoretical perspectives as well as the race-gender experience theory. The author suggests that Spanish-speaking proficiency may be associated with opportunities to speak Spanish that are structured differently, not only by family and neighborhood contexts that allow for greater or lesser contact with Spanish, but also by gender and race.

Social Capital and Adolescent Violent Behavior: Correlates of Fighting and Weapon Use among Secondary School Students

Darlene R. Wright, Birmingham-Southern College
Kevin M. Fitzpatrick, University of Alabama at Birmingham

This study explores the relationship between social capital and adolescent violent behaviors for a national sample of secondary school students (N = 4,834). Cross-sectional data from The National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health were used to evaluate multivariate models examining the family, school and neighborhood correlates of violent behaviors. Results demonstrate the importance of social capital factors across domains as significant resources moderating violence outcomes, especially parent-child relationships and school affiliation. Although we hypothesized that greater sports and club participation would decrease tendencies toward violence, results indicate otherwise.

Power and Dependence in Intimate Exchange

Arnout van de Rijt, Cornell University
Michael W. Macy, Cornell University

A division of labor is mediated by exchange of valued goods and services. We use social exchange theory to extend this principal to "labors of love." Sexual activity in a close personal relationship seems outside the domain of bargaining and exchange. Nevertheless, we explore the possibility that this most intimate of human relations is influenced by exchange mechanisms. We derive exchange-theoretic predictions about the level of sexual effort and test these using U.S. survey data on sexual behavior. Results provide modest support for the predictions. Sexual favors are reciprocated, and individuals offer greater sexual gratification to partners who are themselves more sexually generous and less emotionally attached. Evidence is inconclusive for the effects of relative income, physical attractiveness and household chores.

From Status to Power: New Models at the Intersection of Two Theories

Shane R. Thye, David Willer, Barry Markovsky, University of South Carolina

The study of group processes has benefited from longstanding programs of theory-driven research on status and power. The present work constructs a bridge between two formal theories of status and power: Status Characteristics Theory and Network Exchange Theory. Two theoretical models, one for "status value" and one for "status influence," illuminate the underlying mechanisms whereby status differences between individuals lead to power differences in negotiated exchange. The two models generate precise hypotheses that are tested against new and previously published data. The results generally support both models, indicating that status characteristics create power in negotiated exchange relations in contrasting ways. We conclude with a discussion of the broader theoretical and empirical implications.

Lake Wobegon Upside Down: The Paradox of Status-Devaluation

Stoyan V. Sgourev, Massachusetts Institute of Technology

This paper examines a cognitive bias whereby respondents in postcommunist Bulgaria systematically decrease their self estimates on material welfare in contrast to the well-established status-enhancement bias. The analysis shows that the main reason for the occurrence of status-devaluation is the experience of relative deprivation in postcommunism, reflected in unfulfilled expectations and the perception of status loss relative to socialism. The bias is reinforced by a process of network closure under conditions of high uncertainty and accelerated social change. More homogeneous personal networks provide reference points, which make high-status actors more likely to see themselves as low-status.

Changing Locus of Control: Steelworkers Adjusting to Forced Unemployment

Elizabeth Miklya Legerski, University of Kansas
Marie Cornwall, Brock O’Neil, Brigham Young University

Using an abbreviated version of Levenson's (1981) locus of control scale, we examine change over time in the locus of control of displaced steelworkers. The first data collection occurred approximately six months after plant shutdown, the second occurred a year later. Utilizing a multidimensional measurement model, we test the major assumption that locus of control is a stable personality characteristic. The results of our analysis suggest that the measurement model is stable over time. However, we find evidence that locus of control changes over time. We argue that heightened perceptions of both internal and external control among men forced into unemployment may in part be a function of the reference group to which workers compare their perceived success or failure. Moreover, locus of control may be a function of the reality of institutional constraints in the face of unemployment.

A Common Explanation for the Changing Age Distributions of Suicide and Homicide in the United States, 1930 to 2000

Robert M. O’Brien, University of Oregon
Jean Stockard, University of Oregon

A longstanding debate focuses on whether suicide and homicide rates walk hand in hand or whether they are reciprocally related. Much of the research on this issue investigates whether suicide or homicide predominates in certain geographic areas or whether they trend together over time. We theorize that the degree of social integration and social regulation associated with birth cohorts is negatively related to both of these forms of lethal violence. We develop a common explanation for shifts in the age distributions of homicide and suicide in the United States from 1930 to 2000. In this context, suicide rates and homicide rates walk hand in hand and their parallel movements are associated with two variables linked to social integration and regulation.

 
Deindustrialization, Disadvantage and Suicide among Young Black Males

Charis E. Kubrin, George Washington University
Tim Wadsworth, University of New Mexico
Stephanie DiPietro, University of Maryland

Wilson's deindustrialization thesis has been the focus of much recent research. This study is the first to empirically test his thesis as it relates to suicide among young black males, which has increased dramatically over the past two decades. Using 1998-2001 Mortality Multiple Cause-of-Death Records and 2000 census data, we examine the influence of concentrated disadvantage on suicide among young black males across U.S. cities. After establishing its role in shaping suicide rates, we explore the extent to which industrial composition (the outcome of deindustrialization) affects concentrated disadvantage in urban communities. We perform similar analyses for whites to compare and contrast explanatory processes. Our findings show that while disadvantage is related to suicide for young black and white males, industrial composition only influences the structural covariates of suicide among blacks. These findings demonstrate the ability of Wilson's thesis to help explain a pressing social problem – rising rates of young black male suicide.

Racial Differences in Congregation-based Political Activism

R. Khari Brown, Wayne State University

This study employs a resource mobilization model to explain racial differences in congregation-based political activism. The fewer resources (i.e., members, income, clergy leadership, civic ties) that black congregations possess relative to white congregations largely accounts for racial differences in congregation-based lobbying and protest politics – forms of political activism that exact relatively high resource costs upon political activists. That is, black congregations become more heavily involved than white congregations in lobbying and protest politics when they have a resource capacity similar to that of white congregations. Despite their relatively few resources, black congregations are, on average, more likely than are white congregations to involve themselves in voter registration efforts. This finding has much to do with the heightened social-political expectations of African American congregants concomitant with the relatively low resource cost of voter registration programs.

Christian Religiosity, Self-Control and Social Conformity

Michael R. Welch, University of Notre Dame
Charles R. Tittle, North Carolina State University
Harold G. Grasmick, University of Oklahoma

Survey data from a southwestern metropolitan area are used to analyze whether the ability of personal Christian religiosity to predict social conformity is spuriously due to self-control. Results indicate that both personal religiosity and self-control display statistically significant, independent negative net relationships with many forms of projected misbehavior. And interaction between self-control and religiosity in predicting deviance appears to be limited. Thus, self-control does not seem to account for the effects of religiosity, leaving the issue of how and why religiosity leads to conformity unresolved.

The Poverty of Trust in the Southern United States

Brent Simpson, University of South Carolina

This paper bridges two lines of research. One line shows that social relations in the southern United States are more "collectivist" than social relations in non-southern regions. The second line of work argues that collectivist social relations generate lower levels of general trust than individualist social relations. At the intersection of these two arguments is the prediction that Southerners are, on average, less trusting than non-Southerners. I test this prediction using trust measures taken from the General Social Survey. As expected, results from whites, but not blacks, show the predicted regional differences. Importantly, regional differences in trust occur after controlling for regional variation in other factors related to trust. I conclude by outlining various implications of the findings and questions for future research.

Southerners in the West: The Relative Well-being of Direct and Onward Migrants

Steward E. Tolnay, University of Washington
Suzanne Eichenlaub, University of Washington

The Great Migration of southerners away from their region of birth stands as one of the most significant demographic events in U.S. history. The first waves of migrants headed primarily to the Northeast and Midwest. During and after World War II, a larger proportion moved to the West. We use information from the 1970 through 2000 public use samples to compare the economic status of "onward migrants" from the Northeast and Midwest with that of "direct migrants" from the South. Our findings show that onward migrants had greater incomes and higher occupational statuses, but were not more likely to be employed than direct migrants with the same socio-demographic profiles. The economic advantages enjoyed by onward migrants were shared by blacks and whites and prevailed across three of the four decades considered in our analysis.

Building Community: The Neighborhood Context of Social Organization

Sapna Swaroop, University of Chicago
Jeffrey D. Morenoff, University of Michigan

This study explores how neighborhood context influences participation in local social organization through a multilevel-spatial analysis of residents in Chicago neighborhoods. We construct a typology of community participation based on two dimensions: instrumental vs. expressive motivations for participation and formal vs. informal modes of participation. Both instrumental and expressive participation are generally higher in more disadvantaged neighborhoods. However, the association is nonlinear for instrumental organization, such that beyond a certain threshold, additional increases in disadvantage are associated with diminishing rates of participation. Rates of instrumental participation are also higher in neighborhoods where residents perceive more disorder. Rates of expressive participation are higher in more stable neighborhoods. These findings suggest that theories of urban poverty and social need are more applicable to instrumental forms of social organization, whereas the systemic perspective is more applicable to expressive forms. Finally, most forms of participation are related to the characteristics of both the immediate neighborhood and surrounding geographic areas.

The Presence of Organizational Resources in Poor Urban Neighborhoods:An Analysis of Average and Contextual Effects

Mario Luis Small, Princeton University
Monica McDermott, Stanford University

Wilson (1987) and others argue that poor neighborhoods lack important organizational resources the middle class takes for granted, such as childcare centers, grocery stores and pharmacies. However, this approach does not distinguish poor neighborhoods from segregated neighborhoods, ignores immigration and neglects city differences. Using Department of Commerce and 2000 Census data for zip codes in 331 MSA/PMSAs, we estimate HGLM models predicting the number of each of 10 organizational resources. We find that, (1) on average, as the poverty rate of a neighborhood increases, the number of establishments increases slightly; (2) as the proportion of blacks increases, the number of establishments decreases; (3) as the proportion of foreign-born increases, so does the number of establishments. Finally (4), metropolitan context matters: poor neighborhoods have more establishments in cities with low poverty rates, and in cities in the South and West, than in other parts of the country. Findings suggest reevaluating the de-institutionalized ghetto perspective as a theory of the effects of black segregation and depopulation, rather than poverty concentration, and approaching neighborhood poverty from a conditional perspective.

Social Cohesion, Criminal Victimization and Perceived Risk of Crime in Brazilian Neighborhoods

Andrés Villarreal, University of Texas at Austin
Bráulio F. A. Silva, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais

Ecological theories linking community characteristics to the level of crime have rarely been tested outside the context of the United States and Western Europe. In this study we examine the effects of social cohesion and neighborhood disorder on crime using data from a survey of neighborhoods in Brazil. We find that lower-income neighborhoods, including irregular settlements known as favelas, have higher levels of social cohesion. Contrary to the results of research in U.S. urban areas, we find that greater cohesion among neighborhood residents is not significantly associated with lower levels of crime, and is in fact associated with a higher perceived risk of victimization. By contrast, neighborhood social and physical disorder increases violent victimization, but does not affect residents' perceived risk of being victimized. We argue that the effect of social cohesion on risk perception is explained by the greater spread of information regarding crimes occurring in more cohesive neighborhoods where residents interact more frequently with each other.

Differential Participation and the Nature of a Movement: A Study of the 1999 Anti-U.S. Beijing Student Demonstrations

Zhiyuan Yu, Dingxin Zhao, University of Chicago

In this article, we develop a quadripartite classification of social movement participants based on the participants' levels of interest in a movement goal and the amount of resources that the participants contribute to the movement. We use the latent class model to determine the percentage of participants in each of the four categories in our classification system for the case of the 1999 anti-U.S. student demonstrations in Beijing in the aftermath of the Belgrade Embassy bombing. Finally, we apply the multinomial logit regression to investigate the mechanisms behind the mobilization of different types of participants during the anti-U.S. demonstrations. Our analysis and empirical findings not only show the importance of studying movement mobilization based on a classification of movement participants, but also reveal much about the nature of the 1999 anti-U.S. demonstrations.

Global Warming and the Neglected Greenhouse Gas: A Cross-National Study of the Social Causes of Methane Emissions Intensity, 1995

Andrew K Jorgenson, Washington State University

The human dimensions of greenhouse gas emissions and global warming attract considerable attention in macrosociology. However, cross-national analyses generally neglect greenhouse gases other than carbon dioxide. The current study addresses this paucity through the testing of theoretically derived models for the social structural causes of the second largest anthropogenic contributor to global warming: methane emissions intensity. The cross-national analyses consider the effects of particular economic activities and their social organization as well as other domestic conditions and the environmental commitment of nation states. Results suggest that both the intensity and social organization of production in different sectors contribute to methane emissions per capita. In particular, the production of beef and veal, oil and natural gas, and biomass energy all positively affect methane emissions intensity. Evidence indicates that while the level of economic development and foreign direct investment in the manufacturing and petroleum sectors increases emissions, the level of state environmentalism has the opposite effect. These findings illustrate the necessity for social scientists to take more nuanced approaches when studying human-caused environmental degradation.

Statistical Inference and Patterns of Inequality in the Global North

Timothy Patrick Moran, State University of New York, Stony Brook

Cross-national inequality trends have historically been a crucial field of inquiry across the social sciences, and new methodological techniques of statistical inference have recently improved the ability to analyze these trends over time. This paper applies Monte Carlo, bootstrap inference methods to the income surveys of the Luxembourg Income Study database to identify patterns of distributional change in the global North from 1980 to 2000. While it is now generally accepted that inequality has increased in the United States and United Kingdom during this period, the extent to which other wealthy nations have been able to avoid this trend (or not) has generated some debate. This paper presents new evidence to address this discussion, demonstrating along the way how the ability to conduct formal statistical inference with statistics such as the Gini index provides an effective and important new evaluative tool for comparative research.

 
Cross-National Differences in the Skills-Earnings Relationship: The Role of Labor Market Institutions

William Carbonaro, University of Notre Dame

This study examines cross-national differences in returns to literacy skills and explores possible explanations for such differences. Data from the International Adult Literacy Survey (IALS) are analyzed using multilevel models. Returns to literacy skills are higher in liberal market economies (LMEs) than in social market economies (SMEs). Collective bargaining coverage emerges as the most potent predictor of cross-national variation in returns to skill. Cross-national differences in workers' skill demands, skill profiles and welfare state regimes do not explain the observed differences in returns to skill.