Although the consequences of divorce are felt across the economic spectrum, these costs are particularly high among low-income couples who experience relationship dissatisfaction and divorce at a disproportionate rate. Unfortunately, intervention efforts to improve marriages among low-income couples have proven unsuccessful. Prior studies and intervention efforts have overemphasized the role of communication and marital expectations in determining marital success, giving scant attention to the social and economic constraints of low-income couples. My research seeks to explain how couples’ cognitions about their relationship are influenced by factors far removed from the dyad itself, including the social and financial capital of couples’ social networks.

The School of Social Sciences Brown Bag Series is always free, open to faculty, staff, students, and the public, and provides a congenial interdisciplinary forum for the discussion of recent research by School of Social Sciences faculty. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the 2020-2021 Brown Bag Series will take place via Zoom.