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Does Conjugal Disparity Affect Marital Relations?

A Comparative Study of Taiwan, Shanghai and Hong Kong

Academia Sinica, Taiwan and National Taiwan University, chinyi{at}gate.sinica.edu.tw

Wen-yin Chien

Academia Sinica, Taiwan and National Taiwan University, wy.chien{at}udngroup.com

Using corresponding couple data from Taiwan, Shanghai and Hong Kong, the main goal of this article is (1) to explore the conjugal consistency or disparity in marital values and in perceptions of marital relations among three Chinese societies; (2) to compare the relative importance of conjugal disparity vs personal factors in the explanation of marital relations reported; (3) to delineate the effect of demographic pairing in contrast with the effect of value discrepancy of couples in the perceptions of marital relations. Findings indicate that despite the high consistency percentage of perceptions of marital relations on the aggregate level, there exists a substantial amount of inconsistency among Chinese conjugal pairs. Taiwan couples are relatively more consistent than their counterparts, and Shanghai couples have the lowest estimated consistency value. Marital value is examined by conjugal priority and gender-role values. The cross-society comparison shows that Shanghai couples have more westernized values in both indices, Taiwan couples reveal the most traditional pattern of conjugal priority, while Hong Kong couples have more traditional gender-role values, particularly relating to the mother’s role. Taiwan couples also enjoy higher consistency measures. To answer whether conjugal disparity affects perceptions of marital relations - especially whether disparity in the background or in values makes a significant difference, the results generally support the expected negative relation, but vary depending on the context examined. Both personal and pairing factors are important in the account of subjective perceptions of marital relations. With regard to conjugal disparity, it is found that discrepancy in demographic background seems to be more significant than value disparity. In fact, the expected relation between value disparity and unsatisfying marital relations only receives support among Taiwanese wives. The article concludes the importance of the conjugal unit in the study of marital relations. Future studies are suggested to include both objective and subjective indicators of conjugal disparity. Specification of different patterns in each Chinese society is encouraged.

Key Words: Chinese families • conjugal consistency • conjugal disparity • dyadic unit marital relations • marital values

Current Sociology, Vol. 54, No. 2, 229-255 (2006)
DOI: 10.1177/0011392106056744


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