Economic identity: A measure of the salience of the economic self on marital happiness.

Abstract

This study proposes a new construct: economic identity, to examine the ways in which (1) social structural forces and socialization processes shape individual's views of themselves as economic actors, and (2) economic identity influences individual marital happiness. The study used responses from 61 African-American wives and husbands and 106 White wives and husbands who were participants in the longitudinal survey, The Early Years of Marriage Project conducted by Veroff, Douvan and Hatchett at the University of Michigan. Data used for this dissertation are from the seventh year (fifth wave of the study) of marriage. Economic identity was measured using responses about levels of worry about income and bills, and descriptions of a competent and/or motivated self. Correlational and multiple regression analyses were used to: (1) examine the influence of selected social locations on the development of economic identity; (2) test a hypothesis of the moderating influence of economic identity on the relationship between economic status and marital happiness, and (3) test a hypothesis of the positive relationship between wives' and husbands' economic identity congruence on individual levels of marital happiness. Major findings included a difference in the nature of the social structural forces which influence the development of economic identities. African-American husbands and White wives showed fewer associations between social location variables and dimensions of economic identity than African-American wives and White husbands. White husbands were the only group for whom some support for the moderating hypothesis was found: The interaction of their worry and their personal income was associated with their marital happiness. Congruence of economic identity was not significant for either racial group. The study concluded that the predictors of economic identity appeared to be most clear for African-American wives and White husbands and objective economic status salient primarily for White wives and White husbands. White wives and White husbands evidenced a greater degree of sharing of economic information and congruence in economic worry than African-American wives and husbands.