Dominance in Decisions in the Family Race and Class Differences

In the making of minor family decisions among forty married couples in four groups-white professors, white skilled workers, Negro professors, and Negro skilled workers-no significant differences were found in the relative dominance of husband and wife. Neither were there significant differences in dominance between groups on specific problems. Contrary to expectation, the equalitarian pattern appeared to predominate in all four groups. A comparison of families with working wives and families with non-working wives revealed surprisingly that the non-working wives were more dominant in decision-making than the working wives in all areas studied except purchases and living standards, where there was no significant difference.