[dsq]

Absolutely, married partners have a transactional relationship. I wasn't clear enough that I was referring more to the parent child relationship, which, although you could say is also transactional ("I pay for college and you study hard in return") it is mostly unidirectional in terms of investment.

[Ancapistani]

That’s not how I view my marriage, though I readily admit that there are a wide range of views.

I see marriage not as a transaction, but as a promise. I promised to love and support my wife, unconditionally. It’s not “if you do this, I’ll do that in return” - it’s “I promise to do this, regardless of your future actions”.

[alexvoda]

I doubt your claim that it is unidirectional or nontransactional. I would argue throughout the ages the parent-child relationship has been both bidirectional and transactional with plenty of hidden gotchas and a power imbalance to top it off.