Military Gender Roles

Marriage and divorce are common occurrences for many young adults. However, military members marry and divorce at different rates than the general civilian population. These trends may give some insight into why enlisted women divorce at higher rates than all others. One study reported military members marry at higher rates than civilians; 60% of high school educated military members ages 23-25 were married compared to 37% of their civilian peers. The rates decrease with education but still remain higher for military members; 40% of military members with a college education were married compared to 25% of civilians (Hogan & Seifert, 2010). As a whole, military members divorce at lower rates than civilians (Kanzler et al., 2011). This number
Karney and Crown (2007) posited military women are likely to identify with the least traditional gender roles while military men are likely to identify with the most traditional gender roles. Kanzler et al. (2011) discussed women who do not work full time and identify with traditional gender roles are less likely to be divorced. A concept that supports Karney & Crown’s (2007) data analysis concluding military men married to civilian women are the least likely to divorce. Traditional gender roles may be difficult for military women to balance with their military requirements. Dilworth (2004) stated “marital satisfaction in women has been connected to a perceived equity of domestic labor”(p. 247) supporting Kanzler et al.’s (2011) theory that military women fare better with a partner who has egalitarian views of gender roles and accommodates the demands of their occupation and lifestyle. Without an egalitarian partner, they risk a gender role mismatch potentially leading to conflict and dissolution of the
The survey is anonymous, however some demographic data will be collected. This data includes: rank, age, ethnicity, education level, relationship status, length of relationship and if there are children in the home. The survey includes questions that will not likely be used in this analysis. The questions not being used measure various constructs such as: posttraumatic stress disorder, anxiety and depression symptoms; recent stressful life events; anger management techniques; substance use; mental health history, social support and religious coping mechanisms. The focus of this analysis and questions will be on adverse family of origin environments and relationship