The present research tests how socioeconomic inequality (within romantic relationships) predicts relationship quality and observable expressions of emotion—examining longitudinal self-report and behavioral data from both partners of romantic couples. In Part 1, we examined the romantic partners’ self-reports of relationship quality at baseline and after three and a half months. In keeping with prior research on how power inequality undermines relationship satisfaction, couples defined by greater socioeconomic inequality showed a decline in relationship quality over time. In Part 2, we examined observer ratings of emotional expressions in the romantic partners’ conversations in the laboratory. Here, we found greater expression of negative emotion in the conversations of couples defined by greater inequality. Importantly, it was inequality itself—rather than whether one has higher or lower socioeconomic status than the partner—that significantly predicted changes in relationship quality and observable expressions of negative emotion. These findings have implications for how deepening economic inequality may manifest in the weakening of intimate bonds—the quality of which is central to the well-being of individuals and broader society.
AcitelliL. K.KennyD. A.WeinerD. (2001). The importance of similarity and understanding of partners’ marital ideals to relationship satisfaction. Personal Relationships, 8(2), 167–185.
2.
AdlerN. E.BoyceT.ChesneyM. A.CohenS.FolkmanS.KahnR. L.SymeS. L. (1994). Socioeconomic status and health: The challenge of the gradient. American Psychologist, 49(1), 15–24.
3.
AdlerN. E.EpelE. S.CastellazzoG.IckovicsJ. R. (2000). Relationship of subjective and objective social status with psychological and physiological functioning: Preliminary data in healthy, White women. Health Psychology, 19(6), 586–592.
4.
AgnewC. R.HarmanJ. J. (2019). Advances in personal relationships: Power in close relationships. Cambridge University Press.
5.
AndersonC.KeltnerD.JohnO. P. (2003). Emotional convergence between people over time. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 84(5), 1054–1068.
6.
AronA.AronE. N.SmollanD. (1992). Inclusion of other in the self-scale and the structure of interpersonal closeness. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 63(4), 596–612.
7.
BarrantiM.CarlsonE. N.CôtéS. (2017). How to test questions about similarity in personality and social psychology research: Description and empirical demonstration of response surface analysis. Social Psychological and Personality Science, 8(4), 465–475.
8.
BellaniD.Esping AndersenG.PessinL. (2018). When equity matters for marital stability: Comparing German and US couples. Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, 35(9), 1273–1298.
9.
BentleyC. G.GalliherR. V.FergusonT. J. (2007). Associations among aspects of interpersonal power and relationship functioning in adolescent romantic couples. Sex Roles, 57(7-8), 483–495.
BjornsdottirR. T.RuleN. O. (2017). The visibility of social class from facial cues. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 113(4), 530–546.
12.
Bleske-RechekA.RemikerM. W.BakerJ. P. (2009). Similar from the start: Assortment in young adult dating couples and its link to relationship stability over time. Individual Differences Research, 7, 142–158.
13.
BlumJ. S.MehrabianA. (1999). Personality and temperament correlates of marital satisfaction. Journal of Personality, 67(1), 93–125.
14.
BoothA.JohnsonD.EdwardsJ. N. (1983). Measuring marital instability. Journal of Marriage and the Family, 45, 387–394.
15.
BourdieuP. (1984). Distinction: A social critique of the judgment of taste. Harvard University Press.
16.
BurlesonB. R.DentonW. H. (1992). A new look at similarity and attraction in marriage: Similarities in social-cognitive and communication skills as predictors of attraction and satisfaction. Communications Monographs, 59(3), 268–287.
17.
BussD. M. (1984). Toward a psychology of person–environment (PE) correlation: The role of spouse selection. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 47(2), 361–377.
18.
ByrneD. (1971). The attraction paradigm. Academic Press.
19.
CaldwellM. A.PeplauL. A. (1984). The balance of power in lesbian relationships. Sex Roles, 10, 587–599.
20.
CaspiA.HerbenerE. S. (1990). Continuity and change: Assortative marriage and the consistency of personality in adulthood. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 58(2), 250–258.
21.
ChoM.ChenS.KeltnerD. (2020). Structural income inequality and marital happiness[Unpublished manuscript]. University of California.
22.
ChoM.KeltnerD. (2020). Power, approach, and inhibition: Empirical advances of a theory. Current Opinion in Psychology, 33, 196–200.
23.
ClarkM. S.LemayE. P. (2010). Close relationships. In FiskeS. T.GilbertD. T.LindzeyG. (Eds.), Handbook of social psychology (5th ed., Vol. 2, pp. 898–940). Wiley.
24.
ClarkM. S.TarabanC. (1991). Reactions to and willingness to express emotion in communal and exchange relationships. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 27(4), 324–336.
25.
CongerR. D.CongerK. J.MartinM. J. (2010). Socioeconomic status, family processes, and individual development. Journal of Marriage and Family, 72(3), 685–704.
26.
ConnorP.SarafidisV.ZyphurM. J.KeltnerD.ChenS. (2019). Income inequality and White-on-Black racial bias in the United States: Evidence from project implicit and Google trends. Psychological Science, 30(2), 205–222.
27.
CôtéS.GyurakA.LevensonR. W. (2010). The ability to regulate emotion is associated with greater well-being, income, and socioeconomic status. Emotion, 10(6), 923–933.
28.
CôtéS.KrausM. W.CarpenterN. C.PiffP. K.BeermannU.KeltnerD. (2017). Social affiliation in same-class and cross-class interactions. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 146(2), 269–285.
29.
DakinJ.WamplerR. (2008). Money doesn’t buy happiness, but it helps: Marital satisfaction, psychological distress, and demographic differences between low-and middle-income clinic couples. The American Journal of Family Therapy, 36(4), 300–311.
30.
DalyM.WilsonM.VasdevS. (2001). Income inequality and homicide rates in Canada and the United States. Canadian Journal of Criminology, 43, 219–236.
31.
DavisM. H.OathoutH. A. (1987). Maintenance of satisfaction in romantic relationships: Empathy and relational competence. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 53(2), 397.
32.
de VriesR.GoslingS.PotterJ. (2011). Income inequality and personality: Are less equal US states less agreeable?Social Science and Medicine, 72(12), 1978–1985.
33.
DomhoffG. W. (1998). Who rules America. Mayfield Publishing.
34.
EmersonR. M. (1962). Power-dependence relations. American Sociological Review, 27(1), 31–41.
35.
EmeryL. F.LeB. (2014). Imagining the white picket fence: Social class, future plans, and romantic relationship quality. Social Psychological and Personality Science, 5(6), 653–661.
36.
FalboT.PeplauL. A. (1980). Power strategies in intimate relationships. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 38(4), 618–628.
37.
FehrB. (1996). Friendship processes. Sage.
38.
FinkelE. J.SimpsonJ. A.EastwickP. W. (2016). The psychology of close relationships: Fourteen core principles. Annual Review of Psychology, 68, 4.1–4.29.
39.
GableS. L.ReisH. T.ImpettE. A.AsherE. R. (2004). What do you do when things go right? The intrapersonal and interpersonal benefits of sharing positive events. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 87(2), 228–245.
40.
GalliherR. V.RostoskyS. S.WelshD. P.KawaguchiM. C. (1999). Power and psychological well-being in late adolescent romantic relationships. Sex Roles, 40, 689–710. https://doiorg/10.1023/A:1018804617443
41.
GauntR. (2006). Couple similarity and marital satisfaction: Are similar spouses happier?Journal of Personality, 74(5), 1401–1420.
42.
GordonA. M.ImpettE. A.KoganA.OveisC.KeltnerD. (2012). To have and to hold: Gratitude promotes relationship maintenance in intimate bonds. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 103(2), 257–274.
43.
GonzagaG. C.KeltnerD.WardD. (2008). Power in mixed-sex stranger interactions. Cognition and Emotion, 22(8), 1555–1568.
44.
GottmanJ. M.KrokoffL. J. (1989). Marital interaction and satisfaction: A longitudinal view. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 57(1), 47–52.
45.
GottmanJ. M.LevensonR. W. (2000). The timing of divorce: Predicting when a couple will divorce over a 14-year period. Journal of Marriage and Family, 62(3), 737–745.
46.
GruskyD. B. (2001). Social stratification: Class, race, and gender in sociological perspective. Westview Press.
47.
HatfieldE.GreenbergerD.TraupmannJ.LambertP. (1982). Equity and sexual satisfaction in recently married couples. Journal of Sex Research, 18(1), 18–32.
48.
HatfieldE.TraupmannJ. (1981). Intimate relationships: A perspective from equity theory. Personal Relationships, 1, 165–178.
49.
HenrichJ.HeineS. J.NorenzayanA. (2010). Most people are not WEIRD. Nature, 466(7302), 29.
50.
HowardJ. A.BlumsteinP.SchwartzP. (1986). Sex, power, and influence tactics in intimate relationships. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 51, 102–109.
51.
HumbergS.NestlerS.BackM. D. (2019). Response surface analysis in personality and social psychology: Checklist and clarifications for the case of congruence hypotheses. Social Psychological and Personality Science, 10, 409–419.
52.
HuntL. L.EastwickP. W.FinkelE. J. (2015). Leveling the playing field: Longer acquaintance predicts reduced assortative mating on attractiveness. Psychological Science, 26(7), 1046–1053.
53.
HusemanR. C.HatfieldJ. D.MilesE. W. (1987). A new perspective on equity theory: The equity sensitivity construct. Academy of Management Review, 12(2), 222–234.
54.
ImpettE. A.GordonA. M.KoganA.OveisC.GableS. L.KeltnerD. (2010). Moving toward more perfect unions: Daily and long-term consequences of approach and avoidance goals in romantic relationships. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 99(6), 948–963.
55.
JacksonG. L.KennedyD.BradburyT. N.KarneyB. R. (2014). A social network comparison of low-income Black and White newlywed couples. Journal of Marriage and Family, 76(5), 967–982.
56.
JacksonG. L.TrailT. E.KennedyD. P.WilliamsonH. C.BradburyT. N.KarneyB. R. (2016). The salience and severity of relationship problems among low-income couples. Journal of Family Psychology, 30(1), 2–11.
57.
JohnO. P.SrivastavaS. (1999). The big five trait taxonomy: History, measurement, and theoretical perspectives. In PervinL. A.JohnO. P. (Eds.), Handbook of personality: Theory and research (pp. 102–138). Guilford Press.
58.
KarneyB. R.BradburyT. N. (1997). Neuroticism, marital interaction, and the trajectory of marital satisfaction. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 72(5), 1075–1092.
59.
KawachiI.KennedyB. P.LochnerK.Prothrow-StithD. (1997). Social capital, income inequality, and mortality. American Journal of Public Health, 87(9), 1491–1498.
60.
KeizerR.KomterA. (2015). Are “equals” happier than “less equals”? A couple analysis of similarity and well-being. Journal of Marriage and Family, 77(4), 954–967.
61.
KelleyH. H.ThibautJ. W. (1978). Interpersonal relationships: A theory of interdependence. Wiley.
62.
KeltnerD. (1995). Signs of appeasement: Evidence for the distinct displays of embarrassment, amusement, and shame. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 68(3), 441–454.
63.
KeltnerD. (2009). Born to be good: The science of a meaningful life. W. W. Norton & Company.
64.
KeltnerD. (2016). The power paradox: How we gain and lose influence. Penguin Press.
KeltnerD.YoungR. C.HeereyE. A.OemigC.MonarchN. D. (1998). Teasing in hierarchical and intimate relations. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 75(5), 1231–1247.
67.
KimJ. J.VissermanM.ImpettE. A. (2019). Power in close intimate relationships. In AgnewC. R.HarmanJ. J. (Eds.). Advances in personal relationships: Power in close relationships (pp. 192–224). Cambridge University Press.
68.
KlohnenE. C.LuoS. (2003). Interpersonal attraction and personality: What is attractive—self similarity, ideal similarity, complementarity or attachment security?Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 85(4), 709–722.
69.
KoganA.OveisC.CarrE. W.GruberJ.MaussI. B.ShallcrossA.ImpettE. A.van der LoweI.HuiB.ChengC.KeltnerD. (2014). Vagal activity is quadratically related to prosocial traits, prosocial emotions, and observer perceptions of prosociality. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 107(6), 1051–1063.
70.
KrausM. W.HorbergE. J.GoetzJ. L.KeltnerD. (2011). Social class rank, threat vigilance, and hostile reactivity. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 37(10), 1376–1388.
71.
KrausM. W.KeltnerD. (2009). Signs of socioeconomic status: A thin-slicing approach. Psychological Science, 20(1), 99–106.
72.
KrausM. W.PiffP. K.Mendoza-DentonR.RheinschmidtM. L.KeltnerD. (2012). Social class, solipsism, and contextualism: How the rich are different from the poor. Psychological Review, 119(3), 546–572.
73.
KurtzL. E.AlgoeS. B. (2017). When sharing a laugh means sharing more: Testing the role of shared laughter on short-term interpersonal consequences. Journal of Nonverbal Behavior, 41(1), 45–65.
74.
LangnerC. A.KeltnerD. (2008). Social power and emotional experience: Actor and partner effects within dyadic interactions. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 44(3), 848–856.
75.
LaumannE. O.PaikA.RosenR. C. (1999). Sexual dysfunction in the united states: Prevalence and predictors. JAMA, 281(6), 537–544.
LimF.BondM. H.BondM. K. (2005). Linking societal and psychological factors to homicide rates across nations. Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology, 36(5), 515–536.
78.
LuoS.KlohnenE. C. (2005). Assortative mating and marital quality in newlyweds: A couple-centered approach. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 88(2), 304–326.
79.
LutzF. E. (1905). Assortative mating in man. Science, 22, 249–250.
80.
LykkenD. T.TellegenA. (1993). Is human mating adventitious or the result of lawful choice? A twin study of mate selection. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 65(1), 56–68.
81.
LyubomirskyS. (2008). The how of happiness: A scientific approach to getting the life you want. Penguin Press.
82.
McCartyN.PooleK. T.RosenthalH. (2006). Polarized America: The dance of ideology and unequal riches. MIT Press.
83.
MontoyaR. M.HortonR. S. (2013). A meta-analytic investigation of the processes underlying the similarity-attraction effect. Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, 30(1), 64–94.
84.
MorelandR. L.LevineJ. M. (1989). Newcomers and oldtimers in small groups. In PaulusP. (Ed.), Psychology of group influence (2nd ed., pp. 143–186). Erlbaum.
85.
MurrayS. L.HolmesJ. G.BellaviaG.GriffinD. W.DoldermanD. (2002). Kindred spirits? The benefits of egocentrism in close relationships. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 82, 563–581.
86.
MurrayS. L.HolmesJ. G.DoldermanD.GriffinD. W. (2000). What the motivated mind sees: Comparing friends’ perspectives to married partners’ views of each other. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 36(6), 600–620.
87.
MurrayS. L.HolmesJ. G.GriffinD. W. (1996). The self-fulfilling nature of positive illusions in romantic relationships: Love is not blind, but prescient. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 71(6), 1155–1180.
88.
MyersD. G.DienerE. (1995). Who is happy?Psychological Science, 6, 10–19.
89.
OishiS.KesebirS.DienerE. (2011). Income inequality and happiness. Psychological Science, 22(9), 1095–1100.
90.
PappL. M.CummingsE. M.Goeke-MoreyM. C. (2009). For richer, for poorer: Money as a topic of marital conflict in the home. Family Relations, 58(1), 91–103.
91.
PiffP. K.KrausM. W.KeltnerD. (2018). Unpacking the inequality paradox: The psychological roots of inequality and social class. Advances in Experimental Social Psychology, 57, 53–124.
92.
RusbultC. E.MartzJ. M.AgnewC. R. (1998). The investment model scale: Measuring commitment level, satisfaction level, quality of alternatives, and investment size. Personal Relationships, 5(4), 357–387.
93.
RusbultC. E.VeretteJ.WhitneyG. A.SlovikL. F.LipkusI. (1991). Accommodation processes in close relationships: Theory and preliminary empirical evidence. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 60, 53–78.
94.
RussellR. J.WellsP. A. (1991). Personality similarity and quality of marriage. Personality and Individual Differences, 12(5), 407–412.
SchwartzC. R.ZengZ.XieY. (2016). Marrying up by marrying down: Status exchange between social origin and education in the United States. Sociological Science, 3, 1003–1027.
97.
SimpsonJ. A.FarrellA. K.OriñaM. M.RothmanA. J. (2015). Power and social influence in relationships. In SimpsonJ. A.DovidioJ. F. (Eds.), APA handbook of personality and social psychology: Inter-personal relations (pp. 393–420). American Psychological Association.
98.
SnibbeA. C.MarkusH. R. (2005). You can’t always get what you want: Educational attainment, agency, and choice. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 88(4), 703–720.
99.
SprecherS.FelmleeD. (1997). The balance of power in romantic heterosexual relationships over time from “his” to “her” perspectives. Sex Roles, 37, 361–379.
100.
SprecherS.SchmeeckleM.FelmleeD. (2006). The principle of least interest: Inequality in emotional involvement in romantic relationships. Journal of Family Issues, 27, 1255–1280.
101.
StutzerA.FreyB. S. (2006). Does marriage make people happy, or do happy people get married?The Journal of Socio-Economics, 35, 326–347.
102.
ThibautJ. W.KelleyH. H. (1959). The social psychology of groups. Wiley.
103.
TynesS. R. (1990). Educational heterogamy and marital satisfaction between spouses. Social Science Research, 19, 153–174.
104.
UslanerE. (2002). The moral foundations of trust. Cambridge University Press.
105.
UtneM. K.HatfieldE.TraupmannJ.GreenbergerD. (1984). Equity, marital satisfaction, and stability. Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, 1(3), 323–332.
106.
Van KleefG. A.OveisC.HomanA. C.van der LöweI.KeltnerD. (2015). Power gets you high: The powerful are more inspired by themselves than by others. Social Psychological and Personality Science, 6(4), 472–480.
107.
WatsonD.BeerA.McDade-MontezE. (2014). The role of active assortment in spousal similarity. Journal of Personality, 82(2), 116–129.
108.
WatsonD.KlohnenE. C.CasillasA.Nus SimmsE.HaigJ.BerryD. S. (2004). Match makers and deal breakers: Analyses of assortative mating in newlywed couples. Journal of Personality, 72(5), 1029–1068.
109.
WeisfeldG. E.RussellR. J. H.WeisfeldC. C.WellsP. A. (1992). Correlates of satisfaction in British marriages. Ethology and Sociobiology, 13, 125–145.
110.
WilkinsonR. G.PickettK. E. (2009). Income inequality and social dysfunction. Annual Review of Sociology, 35, 493–511.
Supplementary Material
Please find the following supplemental material available below.
For Open Access articles published under a Creative Commons License, all supplemental material carries the same license as the article it is associated with.
For non-Open Access articles published, all supplemental material carries a non-exclusive license, and permission requests for re-use of supplemental material or any part of supplemental material shall be sent directly to the copyright owner as specified in the copyright notice associated with the article.
