Marital Attitudes: A Qualitative Study on Never Married African American Women’s Self-determination and Influence

Kendra P. DeLoach McCutcheon; Karen Y. Watkins; Eboni V. Burton; Arlaina Harris

Marital Attitudes: A Qualitative Study on Never Married African American Women’s Self-determination and Influence

Kendra P. DeLoach McCutcheon, Karen Y. Watkins, Eboni V. Burton, Arlaina Harris

School of Social Work

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

Abstract

Despite that within the US the rates of marriage continue to steadily decline, African American women express desire to be married. This study explored marital attitudes among never married African American women. We used semi-structured interviews (N = 23) and a grounded theory method of analysis. Participants identified exposure to marriage during childhood and messaging from family and faith communities as major sources influencing their desire to marry. Additionally, other themes, such as respectability and child behavioral benefits emerged that influenced women’s attitudes towards marriage. We present a discussion of the findings, limitations of this study, and next steps in the research.

Original language	English (US)
Number of pages	29
Journal	Journal of Family Issues
State	Submitted - Dec 31 2019

Keywords

Marriage
African American women
Marital attitudes
Grounded theory
Qualitative study

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title = "Marital Attitudes: A Qualitative Study on Never Married African American Women{\textquoteright}s Self-determination and Influence",

abstract = "Despite that within the US the rates of marriage continue to steadily decline, African American women express desire to be married. This study explored marital attitudes among never married African American women. We used semi-structured interviews (N = 23) and a grounded theory method of analysis. Participants identified exposure to marriage during childhood and messaging from family and faith communities as major sources influencing their desire to marry. Additionally, other themes, such as respectability and child behavioral benefits emerged that influenced women{\textquoteright}s attitudes towards marriage. We present a discussion of the findings, limitations of this study, and next steps in the research. ",

keywords = "Marriage, African American women, Marital attitudes, Grounded theory, Qualitative study",

author = "{DeLoach McCutcheon}, {Kendra P.} and Watkins, {Karen Y.} and Burton, {Eboni V.} and Arlaina Harris",

year = "2019",

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AU - Harris, Arlaina

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N2 - Despite that within the US the rates of marriage continue to steadily decline, African American women express desire to be married. This study explored marital attitudes among never married African American women. We used semi-structured interviews (N = 23) and a grounded theory method of analysis. Participants identified exposure to marriage during childhood and messaging from family and faith communities as major sources influencing their desire to marry. Additionally, other themes, such as respectability and child behavioral benefits emerged that influenced women’s attitudes towards marriage. We present a discussion of the findings, limitations of this study, and next steps in the research.

AB - Despite that within the US the rates of marriage continue to steadily decline, African American women express desire to be married. This study explored marital attitudes among never married African American women. We used semi-structured interviews (N = 23) and a grounded theory method of analysis. Participants identified exposure to marriage during childhood and messaging from family and faith communities as major sources influencing their desire to marry. Additionally, other themes, such as respectability and child behavioral benefits emerged that influenced women’s attitudes towards marriage. We present a discussion of the findings, limitations of this study, and next steps in the research.

KW - Marriage

KW - African American women

KW - Marital attitudes

KW - Grounded theory

KW - Qualitative study

M3 - Article

JO - Journal of Family Issues

JF - Journal of Family Issues

SN - 0192-513X

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