Marital relationships and self-esteem: How Jewish families are different

American Jewish distinctiveness with respect to the family is seen as a valuing of family stability and nurturance. The technique suggested here for assessing this distinctiveness is to analyze the social-psychological consequences of this valuing for self-esteem. On the basis of an analysis of a NIMH sample of Chicago residents, we find that the self-esteem of Jews, when compared with Protestants and Catholics, is more greatly affected by a variety of marital relationship variables. The investigation of this valuing, which occurs despite general societal trends stressing a diminution of individual investment in family and marital bonds, can lead to further advances in family theory. The relationship between self-esteem and marital relations also suggests a mechanism by which group values are actualized in individual behavior.