An Exploratory Study of the Meaning of Marriage for African Americans |
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Authors: | Melissa A Curran Ebony A Utley Joel A Muraco |
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Institution: | 1. Department of Family Studies and Human Development , University of Arizona , Tucson, Arizona, USA macurran@email.arizona.edu;3. Department of Communication Studies, California State University , Long Beach, California, USA |
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Abstract: | Using specific tenets from symbolic interactionism as a frame, we asked 31 African Americans (18 women and 13 men) including students as well as nonstudents, across a variety of types of relationships and ages, what marriage meant to them. Two major themes, commitment and love, emerged from qualitative content analysis of the meaning of marriage. Other themes, including partnership/friendship, trust, family, and covenant, also emerged as themes, although less frequently. The overwhelming meanings of marriage were positive, with only a few negative instances (i.e., marriage as unnecessary and not fulfilling). Supportive qualitative data are presented for each theme. We discuss implications for the meaning of marriage for African Americans. |
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Keywords: | African Americans commitment love meaning of marriage relationships symbolic interactionism |
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