and the complainants are likely to be separated good sense.It seems reasonable that a woman rather than divorced. who marries a man after a brief acquaintance These patterns among the most "popular" would be more likely to make a mistake and to causes show some relationship to the factors ob- find herself in a high-conflict and perhaps abusive tained in the factor analysis,but the fact that the or violent situation.Having done so,one also factor analysis included far fewer variables would expect her to recognize her mistake quick- naturally precludes the emergence of any close ly.A dramatic example was a well-educated associations.A further factor analysis including young woman,a computer programmer,who causes and structural variables gave a very large married a Pacific Islander she had met on a holi- number (22)of mainly one-or two-item factors; day.The courtship was swift and romantic;but therefore,this line of analysis was not pursued. once the two were married,cultural conflicts DISCUSSION quickly emerged,and the husband resorted to violence to try to make his recalcitrant new wife What interpretations can be made of these conform to his expectations of husbandly authori- manifold associations?A subset of the findings ty.In other,less exotic instances,wives describe perhaps can be best regarded as supporting and husbands as behaving attractively before marriage refining established knowledge.The sex dif- but"changing overnight'following the wedding. ferences in marital complaints parallel those It also seems reasonable that parental disap- reported by Levinger (1966)and Fulton (1979), proval should be particularly associated with the and the earlier dating of the breakdown by more obvious deficiencies of a prospective spouse, women is also in line with Fulton's findings.The like lack of money and an incompatible or dis- relationship between heavy drinking,violence, agreeable personality.In addition,since parents and lower SES is well known (Goode,1956),so are generally more tolerant of the marital choices that it comes as no surprise that wives of lower of their sons,in those cases in which parents SES men complain more of their drinking and strongly disapprove of their daughters-in-law one cruelty. might expect that they would become involved in Generally,early marriage is associated with less issues related to their grandchildren.This is education and lower incomes,and frequently with assuming,of course,that respondents'percep- early childbearing (Kitson and Raschke,1981),so tions of their parents'attitudes were accurate. that housing and financial problems are likely se- Some seemed to have clear evidence of these atti- quelae,as is the young husband's lack of time at tudes(My dad couldn't stand him;he wouldn't home and avoidance of family responsibilities. let him in the house"),but in other cases subse- The further link to conflict with relatives is a quent events may have colored these retrospec- logical one,since the housing problems described tions. by sample members included arrangements like The finding that wives who complained of moving in with in-laws,living in a caravan(trailer) housing and financial problems during marriage in the parents'backyard,and borrowing money were now enjoying higher standards of living also from relatives for rental bonds and payments. makes sense but needs a little more explanation. A major reason for seeking divorce is desire to These wives,although generally on low incomes, remarry,so that complaints of an "other were now exerting control over their own finances woman''naturally would be expected to be asso- and were likely to find this a great advantage.As ciated with divorce rather than separation.It is one woman remarked: worth noting,however,that there is no such link with an"other man"';in fact,the interview proto- Has my standard of living improved?My bloody cols show that women often preferred to avoid oath it has!I now own my own home which is legal ties in a second relationship: not flash but improving.I have my own vegeta- ble garden and chickens.The S2,200 debts he left I don't need the financial or religious security and two small children made it very difficult at that marriage offers;I prefer the loving,sharing, first,but I now have my own home.When we yet independent commitment I have with the were together we always lived in rented flats,and man I now share my life with money was always short. Irishmen have a reputation for frequenting The fact that the two-child family is least beset pubs,and most Australian-born Roman Catholics by housing and in-law problems is interesting in are of Irish origin:so that the association between the light of the further finding (Burns,1981)that religion and complaints of husband's drinking it is among families of this size that good relations and lack of time at home also fit into an estab- with the noncustodial parents are most likely to be lished picture (Calahan and Cisin,1976). maintained.Since the two-child family is current- Some other findings are more novel but make ly the norm,perhaps adherence to this norm be- 560 JOURNAL OF MARRIAGE AND THE FAMILY August 1984 This content downloaded from 211.80.94.134 on Mon,19 Dec 2016 05:27:55 UTC All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/termsand the complainants are likely to be separated rather than divorced. These patterns among the most "popular" causes show some relationship to the factors ob- tained in the factor analysis, but the fact that the factor analysis included far fewer variables naturally precludes the emergence of any close associations. A further factor analysis including causes and structural variables gave a very large number (22) of mainly one- or two-item factors; therefore, this line of analysis was not pursued. DISCUSSION What interpretations can be made of these manifold associations? A subset of the findings perhaps can be best regarded as supporting and refining established knowledge. The sex dif- ferences in marital complaints parallel those reported by Levinger (1966) and Fulton (1979), and the earlier dating of the breakdown by women is also in line with Fulton's findings. The relationship between heavy drinking, violence, and lower SES is well known (Goode, 1956), so that it comes as no surprise that wives of lower SES men complain more of their drinking and cruelty. Generally, early marriage is associated with less education and lower incomes, and frequently with early childbearing (Kitson and Raschke, 1981), so that housing and financial problems are likely se- quelae, as is the young husband's lack of time at home and avoidance of family responsibilities. The further link to conflict with relatives is a logical one, since the housing problems described by sample members included arrangements like moving in with in-laws, living in a caravan (trailer) in the parents' backyard, and borrowing money from relatives for rental bonds and payments. A major reason for seeking divorce is desire to remarry, so that complaints of an "other woman" naturally would be expected to be asso- ciated with divorce rather than separation. It is worth noting, however, that there is no such link with an "other man"; in fact, the interview proto- cols show that women often preferred to avoid legal ties in a second relationship: I don't need the financial or religious security that marriage offers; I prefer the loving, sharing, yet independent commitment I have with the man I now share my life with. Irishmen have a reputation for frequenting pubs, and most Australian-born Roman Catholics are of Irish origin; so that the association between religion and complaints of husband's drinking and lack of time at home also fit into an estab- lished picture (Calahan and Cisin, 1976). Some other findings are more novel but make good sense. It seems reasonable that a woman who marries a man after a brief acquaintance would be more likely to make a mistake and to find herself in a high-conflict and perhaps abusive or violent situation. Having done so, one also would expect her to recognize her mistake quick- ly. A dramatic example was a well-educated young woman, a computer programmer, who married a Pacific Islander she had met on a holi- day. The courtship was swift and romantic; but once the two were married, cultural conflicts quickly emerged, and the husband resorted to violence to try to make his recalcitrant new wife conform to his expectations of husbandly authori- ty. In other, less exotic instances, wives describe husbands as behaving attractively before marriage but "changing overnight" following the wedding. It also seems reasonable that parental disap- proval should be particularly associated with the more obvious deficiencies of a prospective spouse, like lack of money and an incompatible or dis- agreeable personality. In addition, since parents are generally more tolerant of the marital choices of their sons, in those cases in which parents strongly disapprove of their daughters-in-law one might expect that they would become involved in issues related to their grandchildren. This is assuming, of course, that respondents' percep- tions of their parents' attitudes were accurate. Some seemed to have clear evidence of these atti- tudes ("My dad couldn't stand him; he wouldn't let him in the house"), but in other cases subse- quent events may have colored these retrospec- tions. The finding that wives who complained of housing and financial problems during marriage were now enjoying higher standards of living also makes sense but needs a little more explanation. These wives, although generally on low incomes, were now exerting control over their own finances and were likely to find this a great advantage. As one woman remarked: Has my standard of living improved? My bloody oath it has! I now own my own home which is not flash but improving. I have my own vegeta- ble garden and chickens. The $2,200 debts he left and two small children made it very difficult at first, but I now have my own home. When we were together we always lived in rented flats, and money was always short. The fact that the two-child family is least beset by housing and in-law problems is interesting in the light of the further finding (Burns, 1981) that it is among families of this size that good relations with the noncustodial parents are most likely to be maintained. Since the two-child family is current- ly the norm, perhaps adherence to this norm be- 560 JOURNAL OF MARRIAGE AND THE FAMILY August 1984 This content downloaded from 211.80.94.134 on Mon, 19 Dec 2016 05:27:55 UTC All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms