Instructor: Dr. Leon James

Leon James (2000). Lecture Notes on the Unity Model of Marriage for G25. Unity 6. Online at : www.soc.hawaii.edu/leonj/leonj/leonpsy25/409b-g25-lecture-notes.htm

I. Nine succeeding phases for achieving unity in marriage

A. Dominance level consists of zones 1,2, and 3.

1. Sensorimotor conjunction.

2. Relationship is governed cognitively by tradition and affectively by reward and punishments.

3. “Disjoined” in their thinking and in their feelings.

B. Equity level consists of zones 4,5,and, 6.

1. Cognitive conjunction.

C. Unity level consists of zones 7,8, and 9.

1. Affective conjunction.

2. Husband allows the wife’s inner wisdom to lead to his own outward intelligence.

3. Willing to let go of his independent self for the sake of a new conjoint self.

4. Husband is a half-person by himself, and is completed reciprocally by his wife.

II. Progression from the Equity to the Unity level

A. Equity model is an adopted new philosophy of relationships between men and women, where all responsibilities and duties of husband and wife shared through negotiation and agreement between each other.

B. Cognitive unity is gradually achieved (Zone 5).

1. Political power sharing.

2. Since the sensorimotor interactions are more compatible, they enlarge and diversify their physical activities and enjoyments.

3. Husband resists and resents wife’s attempt to influence him to change.

C. Affective conjuction to create unity.

1. Woman craves for unity instinctively, biologically, consciously, and knowingly.

2. Woman wants her husband to give in to her inner wisdom in all three domains of the self.

3. Wife wants to be on his mind at all times.

D. Third and most inmost phase of conjunction achieves affective unity (Zone 9).

1. Both are conjoined in their affective self; feelings and motivations.

2. Husband no longer sees himself as entitled to being treated in a certain way by the woman.

3. Husband understands rationally that gender unity is based on differentiation of traits that are reciprocal.

4. Husband experiences spiritual enlightenment through realization when he understands his wife is his eternal partner.

What’s Love Got to do With it? Written by W. Bradford Wilcox and Steven L. Nock, from the University of Virginia, this site is review of the equality, equity, commitment, and the woman’s marital quality. Prior to research, the equity marriage was thought to lead to a higher marital quality for wives and higher levels of positive emotion work on the husbands, but this site has proved otherwise. Divisions of household tasks show to be more critical and that the men’s marital emotion work is very important to determine the women’s marital quality.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/national/longterm/gender/gender22a.htm

With More Equity, More Sweat- Washington Post Staff Writers review the war between sexes from the last half of this century. Now husband and wife battle new problems, like stress, lack of time, and financial pressures of living in the modern day. Survey shows that increased gender equity has enriched both sexes. Also results revealed that new strains have made building successful marriages, raising children and leading satisfactory lives more difficult. I found this review very similar to my ideas of today’s society.

http://www.evangelicalresources.org/blog/?p=34

Evangelical Resources- Here is a neat site that I found relevant to our class studying the Unity Model of Marriage. This site compares a male dominance gender roles, versus complementarian gender roles. This site is actually a site from a religious perspective on how the traditional dominant roles that men play will never prosper in a relationship since they are selfish and that he must realize that he must do for the sake of the family instead of himself.

My Home page:

www.soc.hawaii.edu/leon/409bf2006/bulda/bulda-home.htm

Class Home Page:

www.soc.hawaii.edu/leonj/leonj/leonpsy25/classhome-g25.htm