Romantic Relationships, Parenthood, and the Personal Sense of Mastery: The Consequences of Gender among Young Adults

ABSTRACT

Solidifying a strong personal sense of mastery or control over life is a key developmental task in young adulthood. We investigate the extent to which intimate relationship status (i.e., marriage, cohabitation, monogamous dating, and singlehood) and parenthood simultaneously shape mastery for a longitudinal sample of 18- to 34-year-olds. We further investigate whether age qualifies the effects of relationship-parenthood status on the sense of mastery similarly for men and women. Regardless of parenthood and gender, marriage and cohabitation are related to higher mastery than monogamous dating and singlehood. On average, single fathers and mothers have the lowest mastery. As individuals age from their late twenties into their early thirties, married and monogamously dating men without children have the highest levels of mastery, while cohabiting men without children and monogamously dating mothers have the lowest levels of mastery.

Disclosure Statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

This research was, in part, supported by grant #64300-1-4 to the first author from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Health Policy Research Center at Meharry Medical College; RWJF Health Policy Research Center at Meharry Medical College.

Notes on contributors

C. André Christie-Mizell

C. André Christie-Mizell is the Centennial Professor of Sociology at Vanderbilt University and serves as the vice provost of graduate education and dean of the graduate school. His research focuses on how family functioning, roles, and identity shape the psychological well-being and health of both parents and children across the life course. His research has been published in Journal of Health and Social Behavior, Journal of the National Medical Association, Race and Social Problems, Social Psychology Quarterly, and Social Science Research. Email: [email protected].

Brittany N. Hearne

Brittany N. Hearne is a research scientist at Amazon. Her research includes a focus on health across race/ethnicity, gender, educational attainment, and family arrangements. Her research has been published in Ethnicity & Health, Social Science & Medicine – Population Health, Socius: Sociological Research for a Dynamic World, and Journal of Racial and Ethnic Health Disparities. Email: [email protected].

Ryan D. Talbert

Ryan D. Talbert is an assistant professor of sociology and faculty affiliate of the Africana Studies Institute and the Institute for Collaboration on Health, Intervention, and Policy at the University of Connecticut. His research focuses on health disparities, race and racism, and punishment and inequality and has been published in Journal of Marriage and Family, Race and Social Problems, Journal of the National Medical Association, and Sociology Compass. His work has been covered by many outlets, including NBCBLK, ASA News, and The Sentencing Project. Email: [email protected].

Cleothia G. Frazier

Cleothia G. Frazier is a postdoctoral scholar at the Duke Center for the Study of Aging and Human Development. Guided by biopsychosocial theories of aging, her research investigates how differences in status locations in society affect health and well-being over the life course. Her primary areas of interests include aging and life course, stress, social integration and sleep, and neighborhood effects on health. Her research has been published in Journal of Health and Social Behavior, Journal of Aging and Health, Journal of the National Medical Association, and Journal of Historical Sociology. Email: [email protected].