Abstract
A successful insurance salesman remarked that his wife during their thirty years of marriage has taken care of all their financial matters and has made all of the major decisions in their family. He said that he constantly kept that fact in mind when he approached a prospective sale among white, Anglo-Saxon Protestant families: he found it expedient to learn as early as possible in the visit whether it was the wife or the husband who makes the decisions. | In selling life insurance to a black couple he noticed that the wife did most of the talking during the presentation, and before it was finished, the husband left the room to go to watch television. The salesman then assumed that he had lost the interest of the husband though the wife continued to ask questions. Finally, she made the decision that they would buy the policy, and after she signed the necessary papers, she called her husband back into the room to sign them. | Soon after this incident the life insurance salesman approached a family of Spanish-American background. When he began his presentation he noticed that he dealt entirely with the husband. In fact, the wife was rebuffed by him if she even asked some simple questions. When it was time to sign for the policy, it was the husband who announced that they had agreed, and after he signed, his wife was called into the room for her signature. | These examples illustrate the importance of decision-making in marriage. Little attention, however, has been paid to decision-making before marriage. This study will examine decision-making before marriage as an important element of premarriage counseling. The period covered will extend from 1960-1976. A glance at the literature reveals that authors use a variety of terms to describe the dyadic decision-making in terms of a paired relationship. Vladimir Cervin uses "ascendance submission. W.G. Dyer and D. Urban speak of "equalitarian arrangement—patriarchal family." N.L. Gage, George S. Leavitt and George C. Stone use "authoritarianism and acquiescence. G.F. King and M. Schiller use "ego strength, defensiveness, and acquiescence."