Normative Patterns of Marital Decision Making Power and Influence in Mexico and the United States: A Partial Test of Resource and Ideology Theory

A series of hypotheses regarding the effect selected resource and ideological variables will have on normative patterns of decision making and influence are tested with data from 266 conjugal pairs from five cities in Mexico and 119 conjugal pairs from Minneapolis-St. Paul. The partial tests of resource theory and ideological theory within and across culture support Rodman’s (1967, 1972) “cultural context hypothesis”. Normative cultural definitions act as contingent variables influencing the degree to which variation in resource level or ideology can effect decision making and influence across culture. Mexican husbands and wives are more patriarchal than American husbands and wives but the differences are not great. The impact of resources and ideology on normative patterns of marital decision making power and influence is in the direction of egalitarianism both in Mexico and the United States. Comparison with similar data, collected six years prior to this study, indicate a general shift from paternalism to egalitarianism in Mexico. The data reflect a transition stage where marital roles are undergoing change. This change appears more rapid in Mexico than the United States.