This research examines gender as status, and gender and control (which share
the meaning of dominance) as identities by analyzing negative and positive behavior
of married couples whose task is to resolve disagreements in their marriage.
On the basis of recent extensions of expectation states theory dealing
with emotion-based behavior, we hypothesize that husbands will be more likely
than wives to use negative behavior in conversation. On the basis of identity
theory and the meanings of emotion-based behavior, we also hypothesize that
those with a more masculine and more dominant control identity will be more
likely to use negative behavior in interaction, and that those with a more
feminine and less dominant control identity will be more likely to use positive
behavior. We test these predictions on a representative sample of newly
married couples, using videotaped conversations. Although the results are consistent
with predictions from identity theory, they are inconsistent with predictions
following from the extension of expectation states theory. Specifically,
wives rather than husbands employ more negative behavior in conversation.
The results, paradoxically, are different for being female than for being
feminine, and different for being male than for being masculine; nonetheless,
we argue that understanding the implications of gender as both status
and identity helps to resolve the paradox.