Hannah E. Dupuis’s research while affiliated with University of Victoria and other places

Female breadwinner relationships (FBRs) occur when a woman earns more money than her male romantic partner. In four studies, we used diverse methods to document the threat that FBRs pose to heterosexual scripts (i.e., social conventions for heterosexual romance). First, a reflexive thematic analysis of 94 newspaper and magazine articles about FBRs identified themes concerning social stigma and feelings of gender threat (i.e., co-occurring feelings of gender nonconformity and inadequacy) that undermine well-being for FBRs, alongside themes concerning hope for a more egalitarian future. Next, two pre-registered experiments (Ns = 880 and 1612) revealed stigmatizing attitudes towards FBRs, which were perceived to be less desirable, worse quality, and less stable than male-breadwinner relationships. Finally, a cross-sectional study of married women and men (N = 511) affirmed that feelings of gender threat partially explained FBRs’ poor relationship outcomes. Across all four studies, and consistent with theories of fragile masculinity, men suffered worse gender threat than women in FBRs. These findings offer novel insight into heterosexual scripts and the punishing social consequences for people who violate those scripts and suggest that social stigma about FBRs may pose a barrier to gender equality in close relationships and in society. Supplementary Information The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s11199-025-01560-y.

The well-being literature reveals that individuals experience increases in well-being leading up to marriage, followed by a return to pre-marriage levels shortly after marriage. In contrast, the relationship/marriage literature suggests that relationship satisfaction may steadily decline across time. However, it is unclear at what point relationship satisfaction may begin to decline. In the current study, we drew data from a nationally representative sample of diverse-aged adults to examine changes in well-being and relationship satisfaction prior to marriage, shortly after marriage, and post marriage. Data were utilized from 14-years of the New Zealand Attitudes and Values Study ( N = 1,520). Participants received annual surveys and reported their well-being (life satisfaction, subjective well-being, belonging) and relationship satisfaction. We examined whether getting married was associated with average within-person changes in well-being and relationship satisfaction across the years before marriage, shortly after marriage, and across the years following marriage. Event-aligned piecewise latent growth models found similar patterns of change across marriage for well-being (life satisfaction, subjective well-being) and relationship satisfaction. On average, well-being and relationship satisfaction increased leading up to marriage, dropped significantly shortly after marriage, and continued to decline following marriage. By integrating well-being and relationship/marriage literatures, these findings provide novel insights that for continuously partnered individuals, the course of well-being and relationship satisfaction change in similar ways leading up to marriage, shortly after marriage, and years following marriage.

Do single women and single men differ in their experiences of “singlism”? This mixed-methods research examined whether single women and single men report quantitative differences in amounts of singlehood-based discrimination and explored qualitative reports of stereotypic traits associated with single women and single men. We recruited Canadian and American single adults across two Prolific studies (total N = 286). The results demonstrated that single female and male participants did not differ in their personal discrimination, but female participants perceived single women to experience more discrimination than single men. Furthermore, qualitative analyses revealed four overlapping “archetypes” of single women and men including: Professional (“independent,” “hard-working”), Carefree (“free,” “fun”), Heartless (“selfish,” “promiscuous”), and Loner (“lonely,” “antisocial”). Overall, single women and men may experience similar stereotypes and discrimination, but there are also important nuances that highlight the need for more research at the intersection of gender and singlehood.