Correlates of Dissatisfaction in Marriage

A probability sample of 4452 households in Alameda County, California yielded 5163 adult respondents who were currently married and living with spouse. Their responses to six survey questions about their marriages were analyzed with race, sex, and age controlled. Black people were more likely than white to be dissatisfied with their marriages, as were people with low income or little education. People reporting physical illness or disability, low morale, isolation, depression or heavy drinking and people with few intimate associates were also more likely than others to be dissatisfied with their marriages. These findings suggest that unhappy marriage is a disability, analogous to minority race, economic deprivation or physical illness.