When it comes to the question of how a man feels if his partner makes more money than him, the response differs from person to person. Every man is not the same, and so their approach to this subject will obviously be different. Today’s post will delve deeper into this topic to understand how men generally feel when they are dating a woman who makes more money than them, so stay with us till the end!
Understanding the male psyche
The ideology of masculinity depends on the internalisation or the cultural acceptance or its definition about masculinity. In most societies, the man is the bread winner of the family and in some communities, this role of the man has been institutionalised. The link between the quality of the relationship and the ideology of masculinity depends on how the man sees or views the disparity of income between himself and his partner or spouse.
Times are changing
Traditionally, the man was the bread winner while the woman stayed at home to raise children. Movies, advertising campaigns, and television incorporated this structure of the family, however with times, roles are changing but the question is -Has the man’s feelings changed about the division of labor? Research in this area gives us some interesting facts- let us look at them below.
Power dynamics
Imagine a couple dining at a restaurant, and when the check is brought after the meal, the server typically gives it to the man, who later points him out to the female. She takes a wallet instantly and here you can understand that the emotion, interaction, body language, and the demeanour of the exchange reveals the comfort levels that the couple have between them. Now, the next question is, does this dynamic affect their romantic relationship? Well, it does.
Did the man have to ask the woman first before ordering an expensive item on the menu? Does he ask for money for shopping or does she give him a monthly allowance? Or in this relationship, it is degrading to ask these questions for either party to the relationship?
Let us see some answers that research gives us-
Patrick Coughlin and Jay C. Wade in 2012 studies the quality of relationships where the woman made more money than the man, and they observed that in relationships where the man is not the breadwinner, the psychological well-being of the man decreases when dating a woman who makes more money than them and are bigger contributors to the family income.
Men raised traditionally have problems over men who do not have the notion or the cultural internalization that they should make more money than the woman. Again, in 2021, Hania Fei Wu conducted another study between income status and the well-being of a marriage to discover that for both spouses the satisfaction in life was more when the husband made more money than the wife.
The verdict
Times have changed and roles are not the same anymore. Whether the man earns more or the woman, it is their personal choice as to whether accept this status quo or not in their marriage.
Remember priorities are paramount and in any relationship, be it marriage or love, it is based on trust and mutual respect. Money is an element that brings you bread to the table and important for survival however, it should never control the well-being of a marriage or the quality of the relationship between two people.
In short, in any relationship, its quality depends upon priorities, and those couples that focus on respect, trust and love are happier than those people in a relationship that concentrate on typecast stereotypes and roles. Remember, money can never buy love, regardless who brings the dough home and it needs a strong men without any biases for dating a woman who makes more money!
