Department of Sociology & Crime, Law and Justice
Department of Sociology & Crime, Law and Justice
211 Oswald Tower
The Pennsylvania State University
University Park, PA 16802
Phone: 814-865-2527
Fax: 814-863-7216
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Paul Amato
Distinguished Professor of Sociology and Demography
306 Oswald Tower |
EDUCATION
Ph.D. 1983 James Cook University (Australia), Social Psychology
RESEARCH AND TEACHING INTERESTS
Marital quality, causes and consequences of divorce, parent-child relationships over the life course, psychological distress and well-being.
PROFESSIONAL AWARDS AND ACHIEVEMENTS
2007 Awarded the position of Distinguished Professor, College of the Liberal Arts, Pennsylvania State University.
2006 Distinguished Career Award, American Sociological Association, Section on the Sociology of the Family
2006 Elected member of the Sociological Research Association
2004 Highly Cited Researchers, Thomson ISI, for being one of the most widely cited, influential researchers in my field
2003 Distinction in the Social Sciences Award, College of the Liberal Arts, Pennsylvania State University.
2003 Stanley Cohen Distinguished Research Award, Association of Family and Conciliation Courts.
2002 Reuben Hill Award from the National Council on Family Relations for the best article published in 2001 to combine theory and research on the family.
2002 Elected as Conference Program Chair, National Council on Family Relations.
2001 Fellow of the National Council on Family Relations.
2001 Elected as Council Member, Section on Children, American Sociological Association.
2001 Impact Award from the Coalition for Marriage, Family, and Couples Education for research on marriage, divorce, and child well-being.
2000 Reuben Hill Award from the National Council on Family Relations for the best article published in 1999 to combine theory and research on the family.
1999 Elected as Chair of the Research and Theory Section, National Council on Family Relations.
1994 Reuben Hill Award from the National Council on Family Relations for the best article published in 1993 to combine theory and research on the family.
1992 Fulbright (Indo-American) Fellowship from the Council for the International Exchange of Scholars to carry out research in India for six months.
SELECTED PUBLICATIONS
Amato, Paul R., Alan Booth, David Johnson, and Stacy Rogers. 2007. Alone Together: How Marriage in America is Changing. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
Amato, Paul R. 2007. Strengthening Marriage is an Appropriate Social Policy Goal. Journal of Policy Analysis and Management 26:952-956, 961-963.
Amato, Paul R. and Rebecca Maynard. 2007. Decreasing Nonmarital Births and Strengthening Marriage to Reduce Poverty. Future of Children 17:117-142.
Amato, Paul R., and Bryndl Hohmann-Marriott. 2007. A Comparison of High and Low-Distress Marriages that End in Divorce. Journal of Marriage and Family 69:621-638.
Amato, Paul R. 2007. Transformative Processes in Marriage: Some Thoughts from a Sociologist. Journal of Marriage and Family 69:305-309.
Sobolewski, Juliana and Paul R. Amato. 2007. Parents Discord and Divorce, Parent-Child Relationships, and Subjective Well-Being in Early Adulthood: Is Feeling Close to Two Parents Always Better than Feeling Close to One? Social Forces 85: 1105-1124.
Stanley, Scott, Paul R. Amato, Howard Markman, and Christine Johnson. 2006. Premarital Education, Marital Quality, and Marital Stability. Journal of Family Psychology 20:117-126.
Hawkins, Daniel, Paul R. Amato, and Valarie King. 2006. Parent-Adolescent Involvement: The Relative Influence of Parent Gender and Residence. Journal of Marriage and Family 68:125-136.
Amato, Paul R. and Tamara Afifi. 2006. Feeling Caught Between Parents: Long-Term Consequences for Parent-Child Relationships and Psychological Well-Being. Journal of Marriage and Family 68:222-235.
Amato, Paul R. 2005. The Impact of Family Formation Change on the Cognitive, Social, and Emotional Well-Being of the Next Generation. Future of Children 15: 75-96.
Dush, Claire K., and Paul R. Amato. 2005. Relationship Happiness, Psychological Well-Being, and the Continuum of Commitment. Journal of Social and Personal Relationships 22:607-628.
Sobolewski, Juliana M., and Paul R. Amato. 2005. "Economic Hardship in the Family of Origin During Childhood and Psychological Well-Being in Adulthood." Journal of Marriage and Family 67:141-156.
Amato, Paul R., and Jacob Cheadle. 2005. "The Long Reach of Divorce: Tracking Marital Dissolution and Child Well-Being Across Three Generations." Journal of Marriage and Family 67: 191-206.
Amato, Paul R. 2004. "Tension Between Institutional and Individual Views of Marriage." Journal of Marriage and Family 66:959-965.
Previti, Denise and Paul R. Amato. 2004. "Is Infidelity a Cause or a Consequence of Poor Marital Quality?" Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, 21:217-230.
Amato, Paul R. 2003. “Reconciling Divergent Perspectives: Judith Wallerstein, Quantitative Family Research, and Children of Divorce.” Family Relations 52:332-339.
Previti, Denise and Paul R. Amato. 2003. “Why Stay Married? Rewards, Barriers, and Marital Instability.” Journal of Marriage and Family 65:561-572.
Amato, Paul R. and Denise Previti. 2003. “People’s Reasons for Divorcing: Gender, Social Class, the Life Course, and Adjustment.” Journal of Family Issues 24:602-626.
Amato, Paul R., David R. Johnson, Alan Booth, and Stacy Rogers. 2003. “Stability and Change in Marital Quality Between 1980 and 2000.” Journal of Marriage and Family 65:1-22.
Amato, Paul R. and Frieda Fowler. 2002. “Parenting Practices, Child Adjustment, and Family Diversity.” Journal of Marriage and Family, 64, 703-716.
Amato, Paul R. 2002. “Good Enough Marriages: Parental Discord, Divorce, and Children’s Well-Being.” Virginia Journal of Social Policy & the Law 9:71-94.
Amato, Paul R. and Juliana M. Sobolewski. 2001. “The Effects of Divorce and Marital Discord on Adult Children’s Psychological Well-Being.” American Sociological Review 66:900-921.
Amato, Paul R. and Danelle DeBoer. 2001. “The Transmission of Divorce Across Generations: Relationship Skills or Commitment to Marriage?” Journal of Marriage and Family 63:1038-1051.
Amato, Paul R. and Alan Booth. 2001. “The Legacy of Marital Discord: Consequences for Children’s Marital Quality.” Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 81:627–638.
Amato, Paul R. 2001. “Children of Divorce in the 1990s: An Update of the Amato and Keith (1991) Meta-Analysis.” Journal of Family Psychology 15:355-370.
VanLaningham, Jody, David Johnson, and Paul R. Amato. 2001. “Marital Happiness, Marital Duration, and the U-Shaped Curve: Evidence from a 5-Wave Panel Study.” Social Forces 78:1313-1341.
Booth, Alan and Paul R. Amato. 2001. “Parental predivorce relations and offspring postdivorce well-being.” Journal of Marriage and the Family 63:197-212.
Rogers, Stacy J. and Paul R. Amato. 2000. “Have Changes in Gender Relations Affected Marital Quality?” Social Forces, 79: 731-753.
Amato, Paul R. 2000. “Consequences of Divorce for Adults and Children.” Journal of Marriage and the Family 62:1269-1287.
Marsiglio, William, Paul R. Amato, Randal Day, and Michael Lamb. 2000. “Fatherhood Scholarship in the 1990s: Past Impressions, Future Prospects.” Journal of Marriage and the Family 62:1173-1191.