Gender, Control, and Interaction

This research examines gender as status, and gender and control (which share the meaning of dominance) as identities by analyzing negative and positive behavior of married couples whose task is to resolve disagreements in their marriage. On the basis of recent extensions of expectation states theory dealing with emotion-based behavior, we hypothesize that husbands will be more likely than wives to use negative behavior in conversation. On the basis of identity theory and the meanings of emotion-based behavior, we also hypothesize that those with a more masculine and more dominant control identity will be more likely to use negative behavior in interaction, and that those with a more feminine and less dominant control identity will be more likely to use positive behavior. We test these predictions on a representative sample of newly married couples, using videotaped conversations. Although the results are consistent with predictions from identity theory, they are inconsistent with predictions following from the extension of expectation states theory. Specifically, wives rather than husbands employ more negative behavior in conversation.