Skip to main content Accessibility help

We use cookies to distinguish you from other users and to provide you with a better experience on our websites. Close this message to accept cookies or find out how to manage your cookie settings.

Close cookie message
×
Hostname: page-component-848d4c4894-m9kch Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-06-07T11:00:04.161Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

8 - History and Cohort Effects in Romantic Relationships

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  19 October 2023

By
TeKisha M. Rice  and
Aran Garnett-Deakin
Edited by
Brian G. Ogolsky
Brian G. Ogolsky
Affiliation:
University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign
Get access

Summary

Romantic relationships occur within a larger social, political, and historic context. Although family historians have attended to the changing social meaning and role of romantic partnering across historical time, few scholars have considered that the psychosocial meanings individuals attribute to historic events may shape romantic relationships dynamics. In this chapter, we consider how linkages between historic events and shifts in the socio-political environment of the United States may influence romantic relationships. We begin by reviewing the work of family historians before discussing theories and concepts relevant to examining romantic partnering within a historical context. We provide illustrative examples to highlight the overlap between cohort and historic effects across relationship initiation, maintenance, and dissolution. We conclude by reflecting on the conceptual and empirical challenges and possibilities associated with examining relationships from a historical perspective.

Keywords

historycohorttimeslaverygeneration
Type
Chapter
Information
The Sociocultural Context of Romantic Relationships , pp. 135 - 150
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2023

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Afifi, T. D., Davis, S., Merrill, A. F., Coveleski, S., Denes, A., & Shahnazi, A. F. (2018). Couples’ communication about financial uncertainty following the great recession and its association with stress, mental health and divorce proneness. Journal of Family and Economic Issues, 39(2), 205–219. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10834-017-9560-5CrossRefGoogle Scholar
American Psychiatric Association. (1980). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (3rd ed.). APA.Google Scholar
Anderson, M., Vogels, E., & Turner, E. (2020). The virtues and downsides of online dating. Pew Research Center: Internet, Science & Tech. https://policycommons.net/artifacts/616387/the-virtues-and-downsides-of-online-dating/1597009/Google Scholar
Awosan, C. I., & Hardy, K. V. (2017). Coupling processes and experiences of never married heterosexual Black men and women: A phenomenological study. Journal of Marital and Family Therapy, 43(3), 463–481. https://doi.org/10.1111/jmft.12215CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Bayne, H. B., Impellizzeri, J., Michel, R. E., Dietlin, O., & van Doorn, K. A. (2020). Impact of the 2016 US presidential election on politically divided relationships. Counseling and Values, 65(2), 137–154. https://doi.org/10.1002/cvj.12134CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bengston, V. L., & Allen, K. R. (1993). The life course perspective applied to families over time. In Boss, P., Doherty, W., LaRossa, R., Schumm, W., & Steinmetz, S. (Ed.), Sourcebook of family theories and methods: A contextual approach (pp. 469–504). Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-0-387-85764-0_19Google Scholar
Berry, J. W., & Kalin, R. (1995). Multicultural and ethnic attitudes in Canada: An overview of the 1991 National Survey. Canadian Journal of Behavioural Science, 27(3), 301–320. https://doi.org/10.1037/0008-400X.27.3.30CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Berscheid, E. (1999). The greening of relationship science. American Psychologist, 54(4), 260. https://doi/10.1037/0003-066X.54.4.260CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Billedo, C. J., Kerkhof, P., & Finkenauer, C. (2015). The use of social networking sites for relationship maintenance in long-distance and geographically close romantic relationships. Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking, 18(3), 152–157. https://doi.org/10.1089/cyber.2014.0469CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Blair, K. L., Mckenna, O., & Holmberg, D. (2022). On guard: Public versus private affection-sharing experiences in same-sex, gender-diverse, and mixed-sex relationships. Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, 39(9), 2914–2938. https://doi.org/10.1177/02654075221090678CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Bronfenbrenner, U. (1986). Ecology of the family as a context for human development: Research perspectives. Developmental Psychology, 22(6), 723–742. https://doi.org/10.1037/0012-1649.22.6.723CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Brooks, J. E., & Lynch, J. (2019). Partnering across race. In Roy, R. N. & Rollins, A. (Eds.), Biracial families: Crossing boundaries, blending cultures, and challenging racial ideologies (pp. 61–79). Springer.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Brooks, J. E., Bass, J. E., & Boakye, S. (2021a). Maybe, maybe not: Racial discourse and worldview in interracial relationships. Couple and Family Psychology: Research and Practice. Advance online publication. http://doi.org/10.1037/cfp0000200Google Scholar
Brooks, J. E., Ly, L. M., & Brady, S. E. (2021b). Race talk: How racial worldview impacts discussions in interracial relationships. Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, 38(7), 2249–2267. https://doi.org/10.1177/02654075211011530CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bühler, J. L., & Nikitin, J. (2020). Sociohistorical context and adult social development: New directions for 21st century research. American Psychologist, 75(4), 457–469. https://psycnet.apa.org/doi/10.1037/amp0000611CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Byrd, M. M., & Garwick, A. W. (2006). Family identity: Black-white interracial family health experience. Journal of Family Nursing, 12(1), 22–37. https://doi.org/10.1177/1074840705285213CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Chan, L. S. (2021). Looking for politically like-minded partners: Self-presentation and partner-vetting strategies on dating apps. Personal Relationships, 28(3), 703–720. https://doi.org/10.1111/pere.12375CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cherlin, A. J. (2004). The deinstitutionalization of American marriage. Journal of Marriage and Family, 66(4), 848–861. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.0022-2445.2004.00058.xCrossRefGoogle Scholar
Coontz, S. (2004). The world historical transformation of marriage. Journal of Marriage and Family, 66(4), 974–979. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.0022-2445.2004.00067.xCrossRefGoogle Scholar
Coontz, S. (2015). Revolution in intimate life and relationships. Journal of Family Theory & Review, 7(1), 5–12. https://doi.org/10.1111/jftr.12061CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Coontz, S. (2016). The way we never were: American families and the nostalgia trap. Basic Books.Google Scholar
Cowdery, R. S., Scarborough, N., Knudson-Martin, C., Seshadri, G., Lewis, M. E., & Mahoney, A. R. (2009). Gendered power in cultural contexts: Part II. Middle class African American heterosexual couples with young children. Family Process, 48(1), 25–39. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1545-5300.2009.01265.xCrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Crenshaw, K. (1991). Race, gender, and sexual harassment. Southern California Law Review, 65, 1467–1476.Google Scholar
Defense of Marriage Act. (1996, September 21). H.R.3396 – 104th Congress. www.congress.gov/bill/104th-congress/house-bill/3396Google Scholar
de Guzman, N. S., & Nishina, A. (2017). 50 years of loving: Interracial romantic relationships and recommendations for future research. Journal of Family Theory & Review, 9(4), 557–571. https://doi.org/10.1111/jftr.12215CrossRefGoogle Scholar
eHarmony.com. (n.d.). The eHarmony compatibility score: Make your matches count. Retrieved from www.eharmony.com/tour/what-is-compatibility-system/Google Scholar
ElderJr, G. H. (1994). Time, human agency, and social change: Perspectives on the life course. Social Psychology Quarterly, 57(1), 4–15. https://doi.org/10.2307/2786971Google Scholar
Elder, G. H., & George, L. K. (2016). Age, cohorts, and the life course. In Shanahan, M., Mortimer, J., Kirkpatrick Johnson, M. (Eds.), Handbook of the life course. Handbooks of sociology and social research (pp. 59–86). Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-20880-0_3CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Evans-Campbell, T. (2008). Historical trauma in American Indian/Native Alaska communities: A multilevel framework for exploring impacts on individuals, families, and communities. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 23(3), 316–338. https://doi.org/10.1177/0886260507312290CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Few-Demo, A. L. (2014). Intersectionality as the “new” critical approach in feminist family studies: Evolving racial/ethnic feminisms and critical race theories. Journal of Family Theory & Review, 6(2), 169–183. https://doi.org/10.1111/jftr.12039CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Finkel, E. J., Eastwick, P. W., Karney, B. R., Reis, H. T., & Sprecher, S. (2012). Online dating: A critical analysis from the perspective of psychological science. Psychological Science in the Public Interest, 13(1), 3–66. https://doi.org/10.1177/1529100612436522CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Finkel, E. J., Hui, C. M., Carswell, K. L., & Larson, G. M. (2014). The suffocation of marriage: Climbing Mount Maslow without enough oxygen. Psychological Inquiry, 25(1), 1–41. https://doi.org/10.1080/1047840X.2014.863723CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gallup (2021, February 24). LGBT identification rises to 5.6% in latest US estimate. https://news.gallup.com/poll/329708/lgbt-identification-rises-latest-estimate.aspxGoogle Scholar
Gee, G. C., Walsemann, K. M., & Brondolo, E. (2012). A life course perspective on how racism may be related to health inequities. American Journal of Public Health, 102(5), 967–974. https://doi.org/10.2105/AJPH.2012.300666CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Gone, J. P. (2013). Redressing First Nations historical trauma: Theorizing mechanisms for indigenous culture as mental health treatment. Transcultural Psychiatry, 50(5), 683–706. https://doi.org/10.1177/1363461513487669CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Harris, T. M., & Kalbfleisch, P. J. (2000). Interracial dating: The implications of race for initiating a romantic relationship. Howard Journal of Communication, 11(1), 49–64. https://doi.org/10.1080/106461700246715Google Scholar
Hibbler, D. K., & Shinew, K. J. (2002). Interracial couples’ experience of leisure: A social network approach. Journal of Leisure Research, 34(2), 135–156. https://doi.org/10.1080/00222216.2002.11949966CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hocker, L., Kline, K., Totenhagen, C. J., & Randall, A. K. (2021). Hold my hand: Associations between minority stress, commitment, and PDA for same-gender couples. Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, 38(9), 2742–2750. https://doi.org/10.1177/02654075211020501CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Jenkins, A. I. C., Fredman, S. J., Le, Y., Sun, X., Brick, T. R., Skinner, O. D., & McHale, S. M. (2020). Prospective associations between depressive symptoms and marital satisfaction in Black couples. Journal of Family Psychology, 34(1), 12–23. https://doi.org/10.1037/fam0000573CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Kelley, R. D. G. (1992). Notes on deconstructing “the folk.” The American Historical Review, 97(5), 1400–1408. https://doi.org/10.2307/2165942CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Killian, K. D. (2002). Dominant and marginalized discourses in interracial couples’ narratives: Implications for family therapists. Family Process, 41(4), 603–618. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1545-5300.2002.00603.xCrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
LaRossa, R., & Reitzes, D. C. (2009). Symbolic interactionism and family studies. In Boss, P., Doherty, W. J., LaRossa, R., Schumm, W. R., & Steinmetz, S. K. (Eds.), Sourcebook of family theories and methods (pp. 135–166). Springer. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/978-0-387-85764-0_6Google Scholar
Lauer, S., & Yodanis, C. (2010). The deinstitutionalization of marriage revisited: A new institutional approach to marriage. Journal of Family Theory & Review, 2(1), 58–72. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1756-2589.2010.00039.xCrossRefGoogle Scholar
LeFebvre, L. E. (2018). Swiping me off my feet: Explicating relationship initiation on Tinder. Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, 35(9), 1205–1229. https://doi.org/10.1177/0265407517706419CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Martin, P. A. (1979). Marriage and marital therapy: Psychoanalytic, behavioral and systems theory perspectives. American Journal of Psychiatry, 136(5), 745–745. https://doi.org/10.1176/ajp.136.5.745CrossRefGoogle Scholar
McNeil Smith, S., Williamson, L. D., Branch, H., & Fincham, F. D. (2020). Racial discrimination, racism-specific support, and self-reported health among African American couples. Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, 37(3), 779–799. https://doi.org/10.1177/0265407519878519CrossRefGoogle Scholar
McNulty, J. K. (2016). Highlighting the contextual nature of interpersonal relationships. In Olson, J. M. & Zanna, M. P. (Eds.), Advances in experimental social psychology (Vol. 54, pp. 247–315). Academic Press.Google Scholar
Monk, J. K., & Ogolsky, B. G. (2019). Contextual relational uncertainty model: Understanding ambiguity in a changing sociopolitical context of marriage. Journal of Family Theory & Review, 11(2), 243–261. https://doi.org/10.1111/jftr.12325CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Monto, M. A., & Carey, A. G. (2014). A new standard of sexual behavior? Are claims associated with the “hookup culture” supported by General Social Survey data? The Journal of Sex Research, 51(6), 605–615. https://doi.org/10.1080/00224499.2014.906031CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Murty, K. S., & Roebuck, J. B. (2015). African American HBCU students’ attitudes and actions toward interracial dating & marriage: A survey analysis. Race, Gender & Class, 22(3–4), 136–153. www.jstor.org/stable/26505353Google Scholar
Ogolsky, B. G., Monk, J. K., Rice, T. M., & Oswald, R. F. (2019). Personal well-being across the transition to marriage equality: A longitudinal analysis. Journal of Family Psychology, 33(4), 422. https://doi.org/10.1037/fam0000504CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Oswald, R. F., & Kuvalanka, K. A. (2008). Same-sex couples: Legal complexities. Journal of Family Issues, 29(8), 1051–1066. https://doi.org/10.1177/0192513X08316274CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pew Research Center. (2016, December 15). Americans name the 10 most significant historic events of their lifetimes. www.pewresearch.org/politics/2016/12/15/americans-name-the-10-most-significant-historic-events-of-their-lifetimes/Google Scholar
Pietromonaco, P. R., & Perry-Jenkins, M. (2014). Marriage in whose America? What the suffocation model misses. Psychological Inquiry, 25(1), 108–113. https://doi.org/10.1080/1047840X.2014.876909CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Regan, P. C. (2015). Attraction in close relationships. Oxford Bibliographies Online: Psychology. https://doi.org/10.1093/obo/9780199828340-0158Google Scholar
Redina, H. J., Jimenez, R. H., Grov, C., Ventuneac, A., & Parsons, J. T. (2014). Patterns of lifetime and recent HIV testing among men who have sex with men in New York City who use Grindr. AIDS and Behavior, 18(1), 41–49. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10461-013-0573-2CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rice, T. M. (in press). Echoes of slavery: Reflections on contemporary racial discrimination in Black Americans’ romantic relationships. Journal of Social and Personal Relationships.Google Scholar
Riggle, E. D. B., Drabble, L. A., Bochicchio, L. A., Wootton, A. R., Veldhuis, C. B., Munroe, C., & Hughes, T. L. (2021). Experiences of the COVID-19 pandemic among African American, Latinx, and White sexual minority women: A descriptive phenomenological study. Psychology of Sexual Orientation and Gender Diversity, 8(2), 145–158. https://doi.org/10.1037/sgd0000510CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Riggle, E. D. B., Rostosky, S. S., & Horne, S. G. (2010). Psychological distress, well-being, and legal recognition in same-sex couple relationships. Journal of Family Psychology, 24(1), 82–86. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0017942CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Rosenfeld, M. J., Thomas, R. J., & Hausen, S. (2019). Disintermediating your friends: How online dating in the United States displaces other ways of meeting. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 116(36), 17753–17758. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1908630116CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Rostosky, S. S., Riggle, E. D., Rothblum, E. D., & Balsam, K. F. (2016). Same-sex couples’ decisions and experiences of marriage in the context of minority stress: Interviews from a population-based longitudinal study. Journal of Homosexuality, 63(8), 1019–1040. https://doi.org/10.1080/00918369.2016.1191232CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Simmons, M., & Lee, J.S. (2020). Catfishing: A look into online dating and impersonation. In Meiselwitz, G. (Ed.), Social computing and social media. Design, ethics, user behavior, and social network analysis (pp. 335–348). Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-49570-1_24Google Scholar
Smith, A., & Duggan, M. (2013). Online dating and relationships. Pew Research Center: Internet, Science & Tech. www.pewresearch.org/internet/2013/10/21/online-dating-relationships/Google Scholar
Stamps, D. L., Mandell, L., & Lucas, R. (2021). Relational maintenance, collectivism, and coping strategies among Black populations during COVID-19. Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, 38(8), 2376–2396. https://doi.org/10.1177/02654075211025093CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Stryker, S. (2008). From Mead to a structural symbolic interactionism and beyond. Annual Review of Sociology, 34(1), 15–31. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev.soc.34.040507.134649CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Todosijevic, J., Rothblum, E. D., & Solomon, S. E. (2005). Relationship satisfaction, affectivity, and gay-specific stressors in same-sex couples joined in civil unions. Psychology of Women Quarterly, 29(2), 158–166. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1471-6402.2005.00178.xCrossRefGoogle Scholar
United States Census Bureau. (2021, August 12). 2020 Census illuminates racial and ethnic composition of the country. www.census.gov/library/stories/2021/08/improved-race-ethnicity-measures-reveal-united-states-population-much-more-multiracial.htmlGoogle Scholar
Zink, T., Regan, S., JacobsonJr, C. J., & Pabst, S. (2003). Cohort, period, and aging effects: A qualitative study of older women’s reasons for remaining in abusive relationships. Violence Against Women, 9(12), 1429–1441. https://doi.org/10.1177/1077801203259231CrossRefGoogle Scholar

Save book to Kindle

To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure coreplatform@cambridge.org is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.

Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.

Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.

Available formats
×

Save book to Dropbox

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.

Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

Available formats
×