Explores marriages in which marriage and family life are organized around the wife's job or career rather than the husband's (N=46). Found three predictive social conditions: wives having traditionally male jobs, flexibility of husbands' jobs, and absence of children. Describes techniques of deviance neutralization used to minimize costs. (JAC)

For the past decade dual-earner marriages in which wives are junior partners have been a major topic in marriage and family literature. In marriages which consider wives as senior partners (WASPs), however, the wife's career is emphasized. In an effort to study the rewards and costs of WASP marriages and to discover the structural conditions under…